EPA sets deadlines for pipeline spill cleanup

December 18, 2010 10:07 AM The EPA order issued Friday requires the companies to develop plans to finish the cleanup and restoration of the spill area. EPA officials say the spill is near wetlands that house several endangered species. Federal officials say about 21,000 gallons of oil were released in …

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City Clerk candidate: Sell ads on city stickers

Chicago motorists may soon pay to be advertised to. BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter Dec 18, 2010 06:52AM The flip-side of Chicago’s 1.25 million city stickers would carry advertising to generate $15 million-a-year — enough to hire 100 new police officers and give motorists a modest break — under …

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City inspector gets 3 years for demanding, taking bribes

A city building inspector was sentenced Friday to three years in federal prison for demanding and accepting bribes from developers to approve inspections at construction sites. Jose Hernandez was convicted following a trial in September on bribery charges and sentenced Friday for soliciting or obtaining cash bribes totaling about $30,000 …

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Bogus firehouse drill nets suspensions for 2

But Fire Department response to home remodeling allegation less severe than city recommendation December 17, 2010|By Hal Dardick and Todd Lighty, Tribune reporters Ten on-duty Chicago firefighters helped a colleague renovate his home under the guise of a training exercise, but they were spotted by neighbors who knew an abuse …

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Full-Body Scanner Unveiled at Midway Airport in Chicago

Full-Body Scanner Deployed at Midway Airport Updated: Wednesday, 15 Dec 2010, 12:29 PM CS Associated Press Chicago’s Midway Airport is joining the long list of airports that have deployed full-body scanners. They’re designed to detect nonmetallic weapons. But some travelers complain the scanners are unnecessarily intrusive and embarrassing. Other critics …

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Pay-to-play infects Chicago beer market, Crain’s investigation finds

What went down at the Wit is but one example of the fierce, behind-the-scenes struggle for dominance in Chicago’s $500-million-a-year beer market. The city is one of the last contested territories for the nation’s two beer giants—Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V. and MillerCoors LLC, an affiliate of SABMiller PLC—which wage a proxy …

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Emanuel skipping Chicago mayoral debates

CHICAGO, Dec. 10 (UPI) — Rahm Emanuel is skipping forums where Chicago mayoral candidates face voters directly, his campaign confirms. On at least three nights next week, all of the other major candidates plan to appear at community forums and take questions from voters or panelists, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. …

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Former CIA intelligence analyst: The Fourth Estate is dead

The Empire is ‘being threatened by a slingshot in the form of a computer’ Nathan Diebenow Raw Story Traditional lines of communication between the people and the press have fallen into such disrepair in America that a whole new approach is necessary to challenge the military-industrial-governmental complex, according to a …

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Feds: Va. Tech broke law in ’07 shooting response

Dec 10 08:41 AM US/Eastern By DENA POTTER RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Federal education officials have found Virginia Tech broke the law when it waited two hours to warn the campus that a gunman was on the loose, too late to save 30 students and faculty who went to class …

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Daley to Quinn: Veto state pension bill

Mayor Daley pleaded with Gov. Quinn on Wednesday to veto a bill that, the mayor warned, would choke Chicago homeowners and businesses with a $550 million property tax increase in 2015 to solve the city’s pension crisis. “They say the taxpayers of Chicago will pay for 100 percent of all …

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