Regional budget: 11/17/07 and weekend
GateHouse News Service Regional Budget (11/17/07)
Here are the top Illinois stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at www.gatehousenewsservice.com
*Please check this Web site in the evening for changes to story lineup, including breaking news.
Contacts:
Regional Editor Jonie Larson, (217) 816-3343, jlarson@gatehousemedia.com
National Editor Jean Hodges, (630) 348-3350, jhodges@gatehousemedia.com
News
PROTON THERAPY (20-25): NIU plans to build a world class proton therapy center, complete with a proton accelerator, near Fermilab. It will be one of only about a half-dozen such centers in the nation, featuring a cutting edge cancer treatment whereby the beam become a mirror image of the tumor and does not harm healthy tissue. It is particularly effective in treating pediatric, head, neck and prostate cancers. Meanwhile, Central DuPage Hosptial also is planning to build a proton therapy center. By 2010, Illinois may have two of these centers within 10 miles of each other. CHAMBERS/BURKE/CAPITOL BUREAU/moving Friday afternoon/Illinois
BOTTLED WATER TAX: CHICAGO - Gulp. The Chicago City Council on Tuesday approved what is believed to be the first-ever special tax on bottled water. Aldermen approved the 5-cent levy on each plastic container, meaning consumers here will have to fork over 30-cents for a six-pack and so on. RAMSEY/posted/Illinois and Illinois News, Midwest, GHNS-News, Home page.
FRIVOLOUS SUITS: Imagine getting sued for flatuence during dinner. That's what a suit says happened when a McLean County Sheriff's Department jailer served dinner to inmate Anthony L. Fletcher, 44, while he was an inmate at the facility last year. And that wasn't the only lawsuit faced by the McLean County Jail. Fletcher filed three additional lawsuits that were also dismissed, said a McLean County Circuit Clerk's Office employee. PEKIN/posted/Illinois News
STATE BRIEFS: A collection of briefs from GateHouse newspapers across the state. Posted by 6 p.m./Illinois and Illinois News.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW: Snapshots of Chicago, including Wicked racks up big numbers. RAMSEY/CHICAGO BUREAU/posted.
SPEAKING ON THE FARM BILL: Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, brought the Saline County Farm Bureau up to speed on issues important to farmers in the political arena at the annual meeting and dinner Thursday night. "We're going to see more change in 10 years than we've seen in the last 50," Stallman predicted. ELDORADO/posted/Illinois and Illinois News, Agriculture, Midwest and GHNS-News
ILLINOIS MAN DIES IN FIERY CRASH: LINN CREEK, Mo. - A fiery crash claimed the life of a 32-year-old Gravois Mills man and tied up traffic for hours Thursday on Highway 54. (with art) Posted/Illinois and Illinois News
KLUTZO CLOWN DIES: Clown/sex offender dies of heart attack suffered while in county jail. ANTONACCI/SPRINGFIELD/Illinois News/this evening.
DEER SEASON: Opener. YOUNG/SPRINGFIELD/w/photos/M.Bittle/Illinois News and Outdoors.
AMEREN: Offering incentives for customers to replace light bulbs and more, as required by ICC. COLINDRES/CAPITOL BUREAU/Illinois News
LAPTOPS: Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn announces that 40 laptops are being given to elementary students at the Illinois School for the Deaf through the "One Laptop, One Child" program. COLINDRES/CAPITOL BUREAU/this evening/Illinois News
VETERANS HEALTH CARE: Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth gives a speech on veterans health care. FINKE/CAPITOL BUREAU/this evening/Illinois News
THEY'RE BACK: AT&T unveiling its new area-wide, high-speed wireless network ... and, no, it isn't free. WETTERICH/SPRINGFIELD/Illinois News
OLD DIARY: (PUBLICATION SUNDAY AND AFTER) As a result of our request for springfield race riot info, a local guy has produced his great-grandfather's diary, kept from 1867 until about the 1920s. includes a couple entries about the riot, but also much more. SHERMAN/ w/centerpiece art of diary/Saal/Illinois and Illinois News
TRAVEL DEFENSIVELY: (PUBLICATION SUNDAY AND AFTER) Holiday travelers will be greeted this year by gasoline at $3-a-gallon plus, fuel surcharges, crowded airports and rising fares for the Thanksgiving/Christmas travel period. Still, groups such as the Air Transportation Association and AAA Motor Club expect a busy holiday on the road and in the air.Their advice? "Travel Defensively."Bullet point tips for traveling by air, car, personal safety, with children, pets and for people with disabilities. Compiled by Landis w/photo or illustration./Illinois News
DEER ACCIDENTS. (w/factbox) There have been a slew of car deer accidents in the past week in the Peoria area, a lot more than police have seen in past years, even though this is common around this time of year. Just this morning, there were three accidents on Route 24. Help may be on the way though, with shotgun season this weekend. (merits; by 9 p.m.) MCMENAMIN/PEORIA/this evening. Illinois, Illinois News and Outdoors
NEW MANAGING EDITOR: John Plevka has been named managing editor of the Journal Star. Publisher Ken Mauser announced Plevka's appointment this morning, two days after longtime managing editor Jack Brimeyer revealed his plans to leave the newspaper in December. GORDON/PEORIA/Illinois News
NO WATER FOR SIX YEARS (back on budget): Terence Reneau said he showed the city inspector where their contractor had broken the water pipe leading to his home. The inspector looked over the area and said "I'll get back to you." That was six years ago, in April 2001. And Reneau was still waiting last Monday when he went to the South Beloit City Council to ask them to help pay for the broken pipe that has left him without water since. "Let me get this straight. You haven't had water for six years?" Mayor Randy Kirichkow asked. "That's what I said," Reneau responded. "Wow," the mayor replied. MIKE WISER/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR/Illinois News/posted
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE (good one to locallize, check school rankings): ROWVA administrators are pleased with recognition the district received recently for academic excellence. District 208 has received a Bright Star Award. GALESBURG REGISTER-MAIL/Illinois News/posted.
Sports
ILLINOIS FOOTBALL: Chris Norwell is like most of the other seniors on the Illini roster. They either arrived as unknowns or played an unsung role while helping Illinois to its best season in six years. Serves as Illinois-Northwestern preview. With preview capsule. SUPINIE. Champaign. Illinois sports and Big Ten. Moving early evening.
BEARS PREVIEW: Going into their 10th game Sunday, the Chicago Bears are seeking to do something they haven't done this season: post back-to-back wins. SCHRECK/ROCKFORD/posted/Illinois Sports, GHNS-Sports, Pro-football, Bears.
GETTING A CHANCE?: LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Patience: Chicago's Adrian Peterson's got that. Opportunities, they haven't come knocking.The sixth-year Bear basically is to running backs what backup quarterbacks are to Green Bay's Brett Favre. You rarely get a chance, and never a start. SCHRECK/ROCKFORD/Illinois Sports, GHNS-Sports and Bears/posted.
BEARS: LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Last Sunday was the day the Chicago Bears special teams had been waiting for. True to his word, Oakland head coach Lane Kiffin had his Raiders kick to Bears return specialist Devin Hester all day. Recent opponents preferred pooch kicks on kickoffs and sailing the ball out of bounds on punts to prevent Hester from producing any more highlight touchdown returns. SCHRECK/ROCKFORD/Illinois Sports, GHNS-Sports and Bears/posted.
FANTASY FOOTBALL: The trading deadline is upon us. Teams are looking for one more starting receiver or depth at running back as we count down the final weeks of the regular season. Here are some players who are playing well and could be available. ARCO/ROCKFORD/posted/Illinois Sports, GHNS-Sports, Pro Football and Bears.
QUICK SHOTS: CHICAGO - Lovie Smith couldn't go wrong. Or maybe he couldn't go right. Smith picked Rex Grossman to start today against Seattle, and that's fine. No quibbles here. Not after Brian Griese threw 10 interceptions in six games and fumbled almost as often as Rex. TROWBRIDGE/ROCKFORD/posted/Illinois Sports, GHNS-Sports and Bears.
MORE SPORTS FOR WEEKEND AT BOTTOM OF BUDGET
Opinions
SPEAKING OUT ON SILENCE: We hate to tell you we told you so. OK, actually we kind of enjoy it in this case. The court battle has begun with Illinois' ridiculous "moment of silence" law, and the law's chances of surviving that battle do not look good. EDITORIAL/SPRINGFIELD/posted/Illinois Opinions
CAPITOL NOTEBOOK: Five quick hits put together by the Capitol Bureaus. Illinois Opinions/this evening.
STATEHOUSE INSIDER: Doug Finke, capitol bureau staffer, details the political twists from the week in Springfield. FINKE/CAPITOL BUREAUS/this evening./Illinois Opinions
BRITT: Thanksgiving-themed toon on overstuffed Illinois state budget. CHRIS BRITT/Illinois Opinions.
VIOXX REDUCTION: The rise and fall of Merck's arthritis drug shows what's wrong with how medicines are approved and marketed in the U.S. EDITORIAL/PEORIA/this evening/Illinois Opinions and GHNS-Opinions
GANGSTER GRIT: "American Gangster" protagonist is not a man to admire.(NOTE THIS ONE HAS A PEORIA REFERENCE AT END, BUT CAN BE WRITTEN AROUND AND/OR LOCALIZED) EDITORIAL/PEORIA/this evening/Illinois Opinions
LAW ON BLAGO'S SIDE?: The Capitol is rife with talk about Blago gearing up to challenge the constitutionality of the special committee that blocked his latest health care plan. He may have the law on his side: Though courts in Illinois have not fleshed out this matter, a vast majority of courts in other states have invalidated similar committees as unconstitutional checks on executive power. AARON CHAMBERS/ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR/this evening/Illinois Opinions
Moving on cycle this weekend
SATURDAY FOR SUNDAY
TOY SAFETY. CHICAGO : Toy manufacturers and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin are scheduled Saturday to participate in a roundtable discussion on toy safety, in the wake of a series of safety recalls. RAMSEY/CHICAGO BUREAU/Illinois
For Sunday in Sports
ILLINOIS FOOTBALL
Illinois vs. Northwestern. SUPINIE. Champaign. Moving Illinois sports and Big Ten.
Game story with quotes. Kickoff is 11 a.m. Story moving about 5:30 p.m.
Report card. Analysis of Illinois' performance in the final regular-season game.
Notebook. New and notes from the locker room. Moving about 6:15 p.m.
Blog. Available at www.sj-r.com <http://www.sj-r.com> and www.pjstar.com <http://www.pjstar.com> .
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL
Illinois vs. Hawaii. Follow up story from Illinois's game against Hawaii that tipped off at midnight Friday and concluded early Saturday morning. SUPINIE. Champaign.
For Monday in Sports
ILLINOIS FOOTBALL
Follow up: A look back at the Northwestern game and a look ahead to bowl season. SUPINIE. Champaign. Illinois sports and Big Ten. Moving early evening.
ILLINOIS BASKETBALL
Preview of Illinois' game against Arizona State in the first round of the Maui Invitational. Including preview capsule and short graphic on the other six teams in the field. SUPINIE. Champaign. Illinois sports and Big Ten. Moving early evening.
NADEL: Bears at Seahawks. COLUMN/Mike Nadel, Illinois Sports, Pro-Football and Bears.