China's CRRC wins $1.3 billion deal to supply Chicago rail cars

(Hat tip: KimR) - China's CRRC Corp has won a $1.31 billion order to build rail cars for Chicago, the city's transit authority said, marking the train maker's second major supplier deal in the United States. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) said on Wednesday that it had awarded the order to build 846 railcars to CRRC subsidiary CSR Sifang America, which had submitted the lowest bid. It did not name the other bidders. Read more at Reuters Read More......

Burger King manager: Chicago cops erased shooting video

A Burger King manager who accuses Chicago police of erasing surveillance video in the case of a black teenager shot last year by a white officer says he has testified before a federal grand jury investigating the shooting. --It's not clear what that video might have shown, but the accusation of tampering has fueled the anger of protesters who say the city, the police and local prosecutors have mishandled the case.

Read more at CBS
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Chicago credit rating plummets to junk status following pension ruling

A major rating agency downgraded the city of Chicago's creditworthiness two notches to junk status, a move likely to increase the city's borrowing costs and make investors skittish as the financial world reacts to last week's Illinois Supreme Court ruling that bodes ill for city efforts to resolve its massive pension fund shortfall. --Moody's Investors Service downgraded the city's debt rating on bond issues backed by property, sales and fuel tax revenue to Ba1, one notch below investment grade, from Baa2, specifically citing last week's Supreme Court ruling on an attempt to cut state pension costs. Moody's calls the Ba1 rating "speculative," which many investors simply call "junk," meaning investments in them carry far greater risk of a loss.

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Puerto Rico exports its drug addicts to Chicago

It all started about a year ago when I began noticing more homeless men in the Chicago neighborhood where I work. Back of the Yards is a community that faces some of the city’s toughest problems: joblessness, crime, drug use.  Many of these men would be sitting in doorways or shuffling along, many times asking for money.  One day, I asked one of them: “Where are you from?” He told me a story that I later heard again and again and again.  The men told me they were from Puerto Rico. They were addicted to heroin and they ended up in Chicago because someone in Puerto Rico drove them to the airport and put them on a plane with a one-way ticket to Chicago. They were promised a great rehab place, with over-the-top services and plenty of medical staff. One of them is Angel, a short and dark-skinned man. He’s missing most of his top teeth. He said he came to Chicago from Puerto Rico seven years ago for help kicking a heroin addiction.

Read more at WBEZ
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WSJ: Why Chicago Loves Portland

WALL STREET JOURNAL/OPINION, 2/2/2010 (Hat tip: Linda Bartcher) - Mayor Daley has his eye on jobs from high-tax Oregon: The bright idea comes from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who is looking to lure employers from Oregon after that state's voters approved a huge tax increase last week. The tax hike in Oregon "will help our economic development immediately. You'd better believe it," Hizzoner told the Chicago Sun Times late last week. "We'll be out in Oregon enticing corporations to relocate to Chicago." Read more at WSJ...
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AIM: Van Jones Mystery Solved?

ACCURACY IN MEDIA, 9/4/2009 by Cliff Kinkaid - The Obama Administration refuses to say how communist Van Jones was hired as the "Green Jobs Czar" and who recommended him. The administration refuses to say who knew what about his communist background. The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), where Jones is employed, told me, in response to a series of Freedom of Information Act requests, that it had no documents about his hiring or communist background. But some possible explanations for the mysterious appointment are now coming into focus. Read more at AIM... Read More......