Shakman: Monitor not political, but patronage Is

[October 27, 2014]  By Greg Bishop  

Greg Bishop’s full read of the latest from Illinois News Network Radio (3 minutes and 53 seconds): https://www.dropbox.com/s/gut425vydtaryrd/INN-102714-GABFULL3m53s.mp3?dl=0

Quinn Orders Quarantine of Those in Contact With Ebola Patients

Have direct contact with any Ebola patients while traveling in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea? Expect to be quarantined for at least twenty-one days. That’s the order from Illinois Governor Pat Quinn. The announcement last week is for high-risk individuals who have had direct contact with anybody with the deadly virus and includes any medical personnel that may have performed services to people infected with Ebola in West Africa. Local health departments are to implement the quarantine across the state. Several governors with major travel hubs similar to Chicago’s international airports made the same order. You can find more about Illinois’ response to Ebola online at Ebola (dot) Illinois (dot) gov.
 

Quinn Announces More Money From Open Lands Trust Fund

More money from the Open Land Trust fund for public areas, this time the state will buy over two-hundred-eighty acres for nine-million dollars. The purchase of the parcels around Lake Calumet is expected to provide more recreational opportunities for the public. Department of Natural Resource officials say they will take the next several months to plan with partner agencies, organizations and the public to develop a vision for the Lake Calumet project. Earlier this month Governor Pat Quinn announced spending six-point-five-million dollars from the fund for fifty-one acres of land adjacent to Starved Rock State Park. In June the state announced two-point-two million dollars from the Open Land Trust fund for various trails and parcels across the state. The Open Land Trust Act offers grants, loans and other funds to purchase property for conservation purposes.

Medicaid Changes Due in Less Than Two Months

Receive a packet from Illinois Healthcare and Family Services about your Medicaid plan changing? You’ve got less than two months to choose your plan and physician or else one will be chosen for you. The packets sent out to Cook and surrounding counties from the state’s HFS to participants provides the details about Illinois’ shift to coordinated care. A press release from HFS says the change will provide participants with a primary care physician and access to any specialists needed and replaces the traditional system where clients would find their own doctor who was willing to accept Medicaid. Reminders will be sent out a month from the deadline for updating the Medicaid plans.

Waukegan Teachers and Administrators Continue Negotiations Monday, School Closed

It’s into week number four with no school Monday for Waukegan students as teachers and administrators meet for more negotiations. A statement to the Waukegan School District website says the district’s two year deal includes a four percent raise the first year and three-and-a-quarter percent raise the second year for teachers who have served up to twenty-two years. Teachers in their twenty-third year will get five-and-three-quarters percent raise for each year of the two year deal offered by the district. Those serving more than twenty-three years will get just over three-percent for the first year and three-percent the second year. The deal also includes the district fully subsidizing health insurance premiums. The Lake County Federation of Teachers originally asked for a three year deal with a nine percent raise the first year and seven percent for the two additional years, something the district claimed would take away from reserves meant to keep the district solvent moving into the future. Meanwhile members of the public are taking to the Waukegan Teachers Council Facebook page expressing mixed feelings about no negotiations through the weekend in hopes of ending the extended strike.

Copper-door Architects Honored With Award

The Chicago architects responsible for the costly copper-plated entryways at the statehouse in Springfield got an award for their work. The Associated Press reports the architects firm Vinci-Hamp was honored Friday during an American Institute of Architects gala at Navy Pier. The three sets of copper-plated entryways cost taxpayers six-hundred-seventy thousand dollars. The doors were part of a fifty-million dollar Capitol renovation project, something critics say was unnecessary given the state’s fiscal situation.

The Illinois News Network is a free service of the Illinois Policy Institute.

[This article courtesy of Watchdog.]