Although Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he was “livid” over a set of super PAC ads targeting President Obama, he indicated he won't allow the matter derail discussions involving millions of dollars in renovations to Wrigley Field, despite efforts by members of the Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, to fund the $10-million ad campaign. Emanuel, who formerly was Obama's chief of staff, told reporters “the point has been made,” about the campaign, which sought to tie Obama to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a controversial figure from whom Obama severed ties in 2008.“We will [talk] at the appropriate time. …
A contract worker for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) was killed Tuesday morning by an automobile that veered into into a highway striping truck on Interstate 64 (I-64) near O'Fallon. Three other workers were injured in the accident, two of whom were airlifted to an area hospital in critical condition, according to the Illinois State Police. The man who died was identified Tuesday afternoon as Dennis J. Beard, 48, of Pocahontas, Ill.Eyewitnesses indicated the automobile driver was weaving through traffic at irregular speeds before steering around construction signs and striking the IDOT vehicle on the road's inside shoulder. An
Engineers and environmentalists around the world are keeping an eye on Decatur, Ill., where the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) has begun injecting dense-phase carbon dioxide into a porous rock layer more than a mile below the earth's surface. The methodology could provide a means for point sources of CO2 throughout the 60,000-sq-mile Illinois Basin, including more than 100 fossil-fuel-burning powerplants, to improve their environmental friendliness, given concerns about the contributions of CO2 emissions to global climate change. But the project will take an even more interesting turn in a little more than a year, when crews complete a second
Due to poor gains in industrial production, the Midwest continued to lag other U.S. regions in average backlogs, or the amount of construction work under contract, during the first quarter of 2012, according to a newly released survey by Washington, D.C.-based Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC).Midwest backlogs averaged 6.34 months for the third quarter, as compared to a 8.88 months in the South, where backlogs are the longest in the nation due to the “rapidly expanding, commodity-rich states” in the region, says ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu.“Construction backlog expansion in the Middle States continues to be stifled,” he says.
Minnesota lawmakers extended a legislative session scheduled to conclude Thursday in order to complete unfinished business, including a vote on Monday on plans to construct a new $975-million stadium for football's Minnesota Vikings. A push to pass a public subsidy for the project stalled Tuesday after Republican legislative leaders introduced an alternative to a plan negotiated by Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, the Vikings and the City of Minneapolis.Republicans, who control the legislature, have since scrapped the plan, which would have reduced the amount of project costs funded by taxpayers.Dayton's plan relies heavily on taxes derived from gaming, a source opponents
Chicago's City Council on Tuesday approved plans to create a $1.7 billion infrastructure trust that will rely on private investment and bank loans to fund hundreds of millions of dollars in energy and transportation projects. The initiative is part of a larger plan by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to invest $7.2 billion in the city's aging subways, sewers and schools, including $1 billion to upgrade more than 100 city rail stations and $1.4 billion to expand capacity at O'Hare International Airport.“I won't tie the city to [Washington's] dysfunction,” Emanuel said on Tuesday. “Working together, we have a tool here take
Three weeks ago, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called on American and United Airlines to support construction of a fourth runway at O'Hare International Airport in order to raise capacity and reduce delays at the Midwest's largest hub. Thursday, United Continental Holdings CEO Jeff Smisek responded, but not with an answer Emanuel wanted to hear.When asked during a public appearance what type of additional expansion O'Hare would require to meet current or future demand, Smisek replied, “None. The project that we have now is more than sufficient for any reasonably foreseeable demand.”American and United, O'Hare's two largest carriers, must approve capital
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said Wednesday that while the wind power industry is gaining momentum in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Ohio, expiration of a key tax credit could curtail future projects and trigger massive lay offs in the Midwest and elsewhere. In its Annual Market Report, released earlier this week, AWEA indicated the Midwest continues to generate and consume greater amounts of wind power, with Illinois ranked fifth among states involved in construction of wind-related projects and Iowa ranked second among states that consume wind power, as a percentage of their portfolios.The report also indicates that the number
Despite efforts by U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) to garner support for construction of a new airport in south suburban Chicago, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has indicated construction of a fourth runway at Chicago's O'Hare Airport would eliminate need for a third regional airport. “I understand what he has to do as a congressman, but as a mayor, I have my interests representing the city and that means expanding O'Hare and its capacity, because if it runs on rails, if it runs on roads and if it runs on runways, it's coming through Chicago,” Emanuel said Tuesday, while attending
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