Crain's Chicago Business articles from February 2004

Crain's Chicago Business archives from February 2004

Quote of the Week.(Quotes)
February 2, 2004... It's going ahead famously. It's going to be fabulous. Kohl Children's Museum President and CEO Sheridan Turner, on the museum's new Glenview facility PAGE 3

Hartmarx venture is in the (golf) bag; Bobby Jones clubs aimed at high-end duffer.(News)
February 2, 2004... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY Hartmarx Corp., hammered by the long decline in men's suit sales, is moving into another growth-challenged business: golf equipment. The Chicago-based clothing maker is launching a line of golf clubs under the...

Unions' Rx for nursing home pain; We lobby for you; you let us organize.(News)
February 2, 2004... Byline: SARAH A. KLEIN Three national labor unions are leveraging their political clout to organize Illinois nursing homes, helping owners push for more state Medicaid funding in exchange for less resistance to their organizing efforts....

Late News.
February 2, 2004... UNION AD CAMPAIGN WILL TARGET UNITED United Airlines' flight attendants union is organizing an advertising campaign to inform passengers about the company's proposed cuts in retiree health benefits. The union promises a "major...

Rivals put squeeze on Alberto lines; Firm focuses on shampoo sales in its own chains.(News)
February 2, 2004... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY Bigger rivals are horning in on Alberto-Culver Co.'s shelf space at big chain stores, forcing the shampoo maker to sell more products through its own wholesale and retail arms. In the 52 weeks ended Nov. 29,...

Time for CEOs to stop passing the buck.(Opinion)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Last week, two chief executives did something corporate leaders rarely do: They took responsibility for foul-ups and poor performance at their companies. Gavyn Davies stepped down as chairman of the board of governors at the BBC after an...

Mail-order drugs will test Walgreen's old ways.(Opinion)
February 2, 2004... Chicago has a front-row seat to one of the great management challenges in American business, Walgreen Co.'s effort to hang onto its lucrative pharmacy customers in the face of cheaper, mail-order competition. Drugstores seem a sleepy...

Baxter: Inspire, fix or bust up; A look at the disparate businesses-and problems-that Kraemer's successor inherits.(News)
February 2, 2004... Byline: SARAH A. KLEIN Financial fixer, scientific visionary or bust-up specialist? Baxter International Inc., whose CEO, Harry M. Jansen Kraemer Jr., quit last week, could use one of each as it searches for his successor. Its stock...

A church divided can offer lessons in managing crises.(Opinion)
February 2, 2004... Byline: Scott McMurray Management by Schism. Not the type of course description you're likely to find offered by graduate business schools in Evanston or Hyde Park. But it's the approach being followed by the Episcopal Church-a messy,...

Tantrum at kid museum; Finance chief ousted as Kohl preps bond issue.(News)
February 2, 2004... Byline: JEREMY MULLMAN The Kohl Children's Museum has fired its top financial executive just as it prepares for a $13-million bond offering to raise money for a new building. Jane Ames, who served as the Wilmette museum's...

Conventions.(Calendar/Datebook)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
February 2, 2004... WEEK OF FEB. 2 Feb. 6-8: Chicago International Motorcycle Show, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, public. Feb. 6-15: Chicago Auto Show, McCormick Place South, public. Feb. 7-10: American Assn. of Colleges for Teacher Education,...

Executive Moves.(People)
February 2, 2004... ARCHITECTURE/ENGINEERING Zurich Esposito, 38, to vice-president of development at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, from vice-president of programs. Gregory J. Randall, 42, to principal at Guajardo Associates LLC, from principal at...

Profile: Firm vies for role in downtown derby.(Real Estate)
February 2, 2004... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY As more suburbs look to refurbish aging downtowns, a local firm that once had a purely residential focus is trying to be a bigger player. LaGrange-based Gammonley Group has become an aggressive bidder on...

S&C looking for fed, city funding jolt.(News)
February 2, 2004... Byline: PAUL MERRION S&C Electric Co., the largest privately held manufacturer based in Chicago, is making connections with city and federal officials to jump-start a $25-million project for testing high-powered electrical equipment at its...

Kraft to cut 6,000 jobs.(Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Kraft Foods Inc. said it will cut about 6,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, and shutter 20 plants as part of a three-year restructuring plan to boost sluggish sales and earnings. The Northfield-based maker of Maxwell House coffee and Oreo...

Shop, or stop? Inland Group, the most active buyer of U.S. retail real estate last year, is raising funds for a West Coast push. But some wonder if now's the time to go on a buying spree.(Real Estate)
February 2, 2004... Byline: ALBY GALLUN G. Joseph Cosenza bought more retail real estate in the U.S. than anyone else last year, and he's not about to slow down. Is that a good thing? Inland Group Inc., where Mr. Cosenza is vice-chairman, is trying to...

City's average home price gets a bump from Trump.(Real Estate)
February 2, 2004... Byline: ALBY GALLUN Call it the Donald effect. The average new home in Chicago sold for $618,181 in fourth-quarter 2003, a whopping 25% increase from the year-earlier period, according to Tracy Cross & Associates Inc. The reason has a...

Suppliers squeezed in productivity vise; More stuff, made by fewer people, can be bad news.(News)(W. W. Grainger Inc.)
February 2, 2004... Byline: JAMES B. ARNDORFER Corporate America's drive to wring more work out of fewer people is also squeezing W. W. Grainger Inc. and other companies that sell supplies for manufacturing workers. Sales at Lake Forest-based Grainger,...

HOLLINGER PUTS SUN-TIMES ON THE BLOCK.(News)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2004... Byline: JEREMY MULLMAN Hollinger International Inc. is seeking a buyer for the Chicago Sun-Times and its other Chicago-area newspapers. Lazard LLC, the investment bank Chicago-based Hollinger International hired to solicit bids for its...

Block 37 gets CBS as tenant; Crucial anchor for stalled Loop project.(News)
February 2, 2004... Byline: ALBY GALLUN and GREG HINZ In a crucial step that may finally lead to the development of Block 37, key executives at Viacom Inc. have all but signed off on a plan to build a showcase television studio for WBBM-TV/Channel 2 on the...

Mergers squeezing service sector here; Lawyers on bubble at Bank One.(News)
February 2, 2004... Byline: STEVEN R. STRAHLER Bank One Corp.'s pending acquisition by J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. threatens to inflict more pain on Chicago's professional services firms, already reeling from losses of other corporate headquarters. Law...

Lot for sale, rezoning included; Dan Rostenkowski profits from zoning upgrade pushed through by protege; neighborhood group fumes.(News)
February 2, 2004... Byline: GREG HINZ Former U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski and members of his family have begun cashing in on property they own on Chicago's North Side, property whose value in one case sharply increased after a rezoning was pushed through the...

Some factories stay put; But the pay is lower in the jobs U.S. is keeping.(News)
February 2, 2004... Byline: KEVIN DAVIS Republic Windows & Doors Inc. isn't joining the rush to export manufacturing jobs. Despite the prospect of cheaper labor in Mexico or Asia, pulling up stakes makes no sense for the 39-year-old company, which turns...

Loop's Poag Mahone's gets its Irish up.(Dining/Restaurant Review)(Poag Mahone's)(Restaurant Review)
February 2, 2004... Byline: ANNE SPISELMAN Daniel Burnham's 1911 Insurance Exchange Building, otherwise known as the 175 W. Jackson Building, deserves a restaurant worthy of its architecture and location. What it's gotten, as part of a massive renovation, is...

Bids rejected for big industrial site; City pushing to keep manufacturing on N. Side parcel.(News)
February 2, 2004... Byline: ALBY GALLUN Hopes that the Chicago Paperboard Corp. property in River West would be redeveloped sank last week when the owner of the abandoned 17.5-acre property rejected bids from several buyers. One of the largest available...

High-speed rail could ease strain on congested skies.(Opinion)(O'Hare International Airport )
February 2, 2004... Byline: Howard A. Learner It's deja vu all over again: Congestion at O'Hare International Airport is leading to continual delays. Business travelers' frustration is rising as O'Hare has fallen to last place for on-time arrivals among the...

Walgreen: trouble ahead; Mail-order drugs threaten business model.(News)
February 2, 2004... Byline: SANDRA JONES The growing popularity of ordering prescription drugs through the mail calls into question Walgreen Co.'s long-successful business model. An estimated 70% of drugs sold in the U.S. are for chronic conditions, such...

Salad bars mixing it up with creative offerings.(Dining/Restaurant Review)
February 9, 2004... Byline: ANNE SPISELMAN If you've already broken your New Year's resolutions to eat healthier and are feeling guilty about it, consider heading to these salad bars for lunch. 1 Fogo de Chao 661 N. LaSalle St.; (312) 932-9330; ...

That Michael Reschke? Developer tries to live down REIT problems and relaunch career; too many deals?(News)
February 9, 2004... Byline: ALBY GALLUN Overcoming soured real estate deals is a fact of life for just about any developer. But how do you come back if you're Michael W. Reschke, who presided over the dismantling of an empire with assets once valued at $4.5...

Executive Moves.(People)(appointments)
February 9, 2004... ARCHITECTURE/ENGINEERING Mark Knobel, 56, to senior vice-president at Bowman Barrett & Associates Inc., from vice-president. FINANCIAL SERVICES M. Hill Hammock, 57, to vice-chairman at LaSalle Bank Corp. and continuing as chief...

Nuke cleanup needs more cash; Tallies on Exelon differ by over $1 billion.(News)
February 9, 2004... Byline: STEVE DANIELS With the most recent data showing Exelon Corp. short by between $558 million and $1.8 billion in its Illinois nuclear clean-up funds, the company is facing new questions about its ability to eventually dismantle its...

Lack of foes gives Daley a free pass on scandals; But will property tax hike slide off Teflon mayor?(News)
February 9, 2004... Byline: GREG HINZ For any other mayor, it would be time to sweat. On top of scandals and federal probes into the government he heads, a whopping property tax hike is about to clobber the mayor's home-owning political base. When the...

Successful niche may require a long road.(Small Business)
February 9, 2004... Byline: JOHN T. SLANIA Dramatic cultural differences divide a group of prominent Chicago restaurateurs, some poor farmers near Kankakee and an Amish community near Springfield. But they've formed a common bond through an unlikely...

Deals on wheels; Entrepreneurs armed with Internet data getting discounts.(Small Business)(Pinnacle Services Inc)
February 9, 2004... Byline: BILL CLEMENTS Bill Olander, co-owner of a suburban electrical contracting company, used to put on his game face when shopping for new business vehicles. "You had to be really sharp,'' says Mr. Olander of Pinnacle Services Inc....

Triple feature in the works.(Illinois Film Office expects 2004 department revenues to double )(Brief Article)
February 9, 2004... The dry spell for movies shot in Chicago might be ending. With three feature films already slated for production this year, Illinois Film Office officials expect 2004 department revenues to double from 2003's $25-million total (down from about...

Piper mulls U.K. merger; Deal would create third-largest law firm in the world.(News)
February 9, 2004... Byline: STEVEN R. STRAHLER A merger that would create the world's third-biggest law firm is under discussion at Piper Rudnick LLP and an 1,800-attorney firm headquartered in London. Each side acknowledges interest in a deal that would...

Cooperatives create buying power; Smaller players get edge dealing with suppliers.(Small Business)
February 9, 2004... Byline: BILL CLEMENTS Entrepreneurs, whose buying power with suppliers is dwarfed by larger competitors, can find strength in numbers by forming purchasing cooperatives. William "Bud'' Barnett, president of Westmont Building Products,...

Indies embracing `piracy'; Music file-sharing a marketing tool for smaller labels.(Small Business)
February 9, 2004... Byline: ETELKA LEHOCZKY The Recording Industry Assn. of America calls the online sharing of music files "piracy'' that siphons off some $4 billion annually in sales. Independent label owners in Chicago call it the cost of doing...

Conventions.(Calendar/Datebook)(Calendar)
February 9, 2004... WEEK OF FEB. 9 Feb. 10-11: Construction Safety Council, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, estimated attendance 800. Feb. 12-13: Chicago Principals and Administrators Assn., Hilton Chicago, estimated attendance 700. FOUR WEEKS...

Late News.
February 9, 2004... CITY TAKES ON UNITED OVER O'HARE GATES Chicago is seeking a Bankruptcy Court order to enforce its right to evict United Airlines or rescind its exclusive use of gates for failing to make payments on bonds used to build United's main...

Date-rape drug hits law group partygoer; GHB detected; some seek care.(News)
February 9, 2004... Byline: STEVEN R. STRAHLER Several attendees at a Rush Street party for law firm marketers ended up going to the hospital, where one was diagnosed as a victim of the "date-rape'' drug GHB, says the party's sponsor. The Chicago chapter...

Overseas markets lift Telular results; But GATX suffers from lack of altitude.(News)
February 9, 2004... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY A spurt in overseas orders for its fixed-wireless network equipment boosted Telular Corp. stock in January as investors crowded back into the telecommunications sector. In spite of the company's mixed results,...

Quote of the Week.(Quotes)
February 9, 2004... I don't get a sense that people see a weakness in Rich Daley, any feeling that the Teflon's wearing off. Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce CEO Gerlad Roper, Page 1

'Super Size' film going nationwide.(News)
February 9, 2004... Byline: ALBY GALLUN A documentary that will hit movie theaters in June could create a super-sized image problem for McDonald's Corp. "Super Size Me,'' a hit at last month's Sundance Film Festival, is generating the kind of buzz that...

United's cloudy flight path out of Bankruptcy Court.(Opinion)
February 9, 2004... A wing and a prayer is no way to exit Chapter 11. But that's what United Airlines is trying to do. After wringing a series of concessions out of its unions, suppliers and aircraft lessors since entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection...

McD's cleans up its act, but service lags; Focus on smiles, speed as CEO aims to boost scores.(News)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2004... Byline: JAMES B. ARNDORFER The food is better. The rest-rooms are clean. But, at McDonald's Corp., service remains spotty, according to internal rankings. "We have made some progress in delivering fast, accurate and friendly service,...

Can Ted fly? United's new biz must pass 3-point test.(Opinion)
February 9, 2004... Byline: Michael Dunn The bets are still out on whether United Airlines can capitalize on the anticipated 2004 recovery in international air traffic and, specifically, what role its quirky discount carrier Ted-taking off this month-will...

Time to break deafening silence over city scandals.(Opinion)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2004... The easy thing to do in this space would be to call for Richard M. Daley's head. The truck scandal is, after all, just the latest in a series of outrages. You know the drill: Political insiders get city work. They make some campaign...

Allstate: We'll skip price war; Risks marketshare in auto policies.(News)
February 9, 2004... Byline: STEVE DANIELS Allstate Corp., its bottom line fattened by three years of car-insurance rate hikes, now faces price-cutting by major competitors, but is vowing not to match the reductions. The Northbrook-based insurance giant,...

Power powder; Argonne alums think they've found a low-cost way to process titanium. Who cares? Boeing and the Pentagon. Here's why.(Technology)
February 9, 2004... Byline: PAUL MERRION In a western suburb of Chicago, a group of revolutionaries is planning to disrupt the titanium industry. Pentagon officials, members of Congress and big users of titanium such as Boeing Co. are watching, knowing...

Crain's seeks Nominations for `100 most influential women' feature.(News)
February 9, 2004... Crain's Chicago Business is seeking nominations for its June 7 feature spotlighting the 100 most influential women in Chicago. To nominate someone for this feature, send us a letter describing the woman you have in mind, her background and her...

Aon reorganizing in bid for efficiency savings; Consolidating lines into fewer, regional offices.(News)
February 9, 2004... Byline: STEVE DANIELS Aon Corp. is realigning its U.S. operations in a bid to boost efficiency and trim overhead. The Chicago-based insurance company is scrapping an organizational structure based on its major lines of business in...

Diagnosis easier to swallow with pill-sized camera.(Technology)
February 9, 2004... Byline: SARAH A. KLEIN A pill-sized video camera first used in Chicago three years ago is becoming a more common diagnostic tool at hospitals around the country. Patients swallow it, giving doctors an inside look at the digestive tract....

Total meltdown could be just the ticket for NHL.(Opinion)(National Hockey League)
February 9, 2004... Byline: Randy Minkoff Die-hard Chicago Blackhawks fans often long for the days of the original six-team National Hockey League, when rivalries were intense, skating was crisp and the regular season actually meant something. Be careful...

New fax rules aim at blasters; Senders must get okay from recipient or risk hefty fines.(Small Business)
February 9, 2004... Byline: MARY ELLEN PODMOLIK Blasting faxes to customers and association members is about to require a bit of old-fashioned technology-a signature. Beginning next January, businesses will be prohibited from transmitting advertising...

United's numbers don't fly; Cost cuts not enough to lift airline into the black.(News)
February 9, 2004... Byline: PAUL MERRION The most basic rule of business is that revenues must exceed costs. After 14 months in bankruptcy, United Airlines hasn't shown it can live by that rule. Despite squeezing concessions out of its unions,...

Can't Buy Me Love; Men see Valentine's Day as a test. And they fear they're flunking.(News)
February 9, 2004... Byline: SANDRA JONES Hearts across Chicago are beating faster as Valentine's Day approaches. Not from ardor. It's anxiety. The day set aside for romance is taking a toll on lovers' pocketbooks and stressing relationships. Ken...

Quote of the Week.(Quotes)
February 16, 2004... "What we have heard from customers is that we had an issue with arrogance." An Abbott Laboratories spokeswoman PAGE 1

Candidate: Gery Chico.(U.S. Senate Race: The Democrats)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... Repeal Bush tax cuts on income over $200,000 a year to reduce deficit. Keep inheritance tax on estates worth more than $2 million. "Revisit'' cut in capital gains tax. Double to $3,000 a business tax credit for each worker hired in "renewal...

Once hot, Wrigley's newer items chill out; Novelty wears off quickly in a crowded market.(News)
February 16, 2004... Byline: JAMES B. ARNDORFER Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.'s recent success with new products cooled last year. Sales of new products in 2003 slipped 17% to $524.8 million, or 17% of total sales of $3.07 billion. That's the first decline under the...

When marketing to teens, trends live fast, die young.(Opinion)
February 16, 2004... Byline: Peter Zollo Thanks to teens' enormous and growing consumer power-they spent $175 billion in 2003-the age group is more than enticing. And teens are trend-obsessed. Yet their preoccupation with the "next big thing'' can be a...

In support of democracy at public corporations.(Opinion)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... Few things frighten the CEO of a public company more than the thought of shareholders acting like they own the place. Owners, after all, can be stingy with raises and have even been known to fire underperforming employees. That terror of...

Abbott's next test: winning back clients; Some diagnostics customers in no mood to return.(News)
February 16, 2004... Byline: SARAH A. KLEIN Abbott Laboratories finally has a green light to sell all of its diagnostic tests in the U.S., but persuading customers to use them again won't be easy. Since 1999, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...

Candidate: Maria Pappas.(U.S. Senate Race: The Democrats)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... Repeal Bush tax cuts for top 1% of taxpayers, , but leave in place for all taxpayers the Bush child care credits and elimination of the "marriage penalty.'' Keep estate tax for couples with estate worth more than $7 million; $3.5 million for...

Chicago-style delis keep the comfort food coming.(Dining/Restaurant Review)(Manny's Coffee Shop & Deli, Perry's, Mrs. Levy's Delicatessen, Ada's Famous Deli & Restaurant)(Restaurant Review)
February 16, 2004... Byline: ANNE SPISELMAN The Windy City doesn't have a real New York deli-and probably never will. What it does have is several wannabes and a bona fide Chicago institution. 1 Manny's Coffee Shop & Deli 1141 S. Jefferson St., (312)...

Woodward gains control in first qtr.(News)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY Woodward Governor Co., a parts manufacturer hit hard by the commercial aviation slump, is getting some lift from its industrial customers. Orders for airplane engine parts haven't picked up yet, but...

BLOCK 37 PLAN GETS MAYOR'S OK; Developer unveils lineup of Ch. 2, CTA, retail, offices.(News)
February 16, 2004... Byline: GREG HINZ and ALBY GALLUN Mayor Richard M. Daley has given a green light to the first phase of development of Block 37, people close to the project report-a sign that work on the long-vacant parcel finally may be about to begin. ...

Late News.
February 16, 2004... A HERSHEY'S KISS FOR BILL WRIGLEY Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. paid a special cash bonus to CEO William Wrigley Jr. in 2003 "for his contributions and efforts in the exploration of a business combination with Hershey Foods Corp.,'' according to the...

Casino firm craps out in La. Top bidder for Illinois license defaults on debt.(News)
February 16, 2004... Byline: BOB TITA The top bidder for Illinois' 10th casino license is in default on debt on a Louisiana casino. Since acquiring Hollywood Casino Shreveport in its purchase of Dallas-based Hollywood Casino Corp. last year, Penn National...

CEOs keep closer watch than Daley.(News)
February 16, 2004... Byline: STEVEN R. STRAHLER The city of Chicago and Unitrin Inc. have similarly sized annual expenditures-more than $2 billion each-but their top officers take very different approaches to policing that spending. While Mayor Richard M....

Arlington's downtown retail revival hits a rough patch.(News)
February 16, 2004... Byline: BOB TITA The Gap is gone. McDonald's and Seattle's Best, too. A handful of longtime local retailers have also bit the dust. Six years after it began, the reshaping of downtown Arlington Heights is hitting a speed bump. The...

Family trimming its stock ties to Alberto; But Lavin clan still holds top jobs.(News)(Alberto-Culver Co.)(Leonard Lavin)
February 16, 2004... Byline: JAMES B. ARNDORFER Leonard Lavin and his heirs are relaxing their grip on Alberto-Culver Co., the company he founded in 1955. Family trusts sold 1.5 million Alberto-Culver shares earlier this month at $60.25 apiece, for a total...

Artsy makeover for Water Tower Place concourse; Planting sculpture garden at mothballed taxi drop-off.(News)
February 16, 2004... Byline: SANDRA JONES Water Tower Place has a preliminary agreement with an art-collecting family from Spain to create a sculpture garden in the motor concourse that divides the Michigan Avenue shopping mall from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. ...

Radical treatment needed to cure nursing shortage.(Opinion)
February 16, 2004... Byline: Jane Llewellyn We are facing a nursing shortage today that is profoundly different in nature, scope and degree from that of any other we have experienced in the past 25 years. With an ever-increasing need to care for an aging...

Complaints follow small biz consultant; IPA says gripes come from a fraction of total client base.(News)(International Profit Associates Inc.)
February 16, 2004... Byline: JULIE JOHNSSON International Profit Associates Inc., a Buffalo Grove-based consulting firm under investigation by the Illinois attorney general's office for its marketing practices, used telemarketing and a compelling sales pitch...

Thanks are a memory; Handwritten notes rare in e-mail age.(News, handwritten thank-you note )
February 16, 2004... Byline: SANDRA JONES In this day of clickety-click e-mail, a handwritten note is as rare as a day without spam. Just ask Susan Fignar. The Itasca-based corporate image consultant spent nearly four years training 7,000 newly hired...

Developers' school fees rising in burbs; Paying more in fast-growing Will and Grundy.(News, residential developers agreement with school districts)
February 16, 2004... Byline: BOB TITA Residential developers in fast-growing suburbs in Will and Grundy counties have agreed to pay an extra set of fees toward the cost of building new schools after opposing the idea for years. But they'll pass along their...

Candidates sing from same song sheet.(U.S. Senate Race: The Democrats)
February 16, 2004... Byline: GREG HINZ Support for liberal free trade rules long has been a bipartisan standard of Illinois politics, given the state's huge exports of manufactured goods and farm products. Only a decade ago, both of the state's senators,...

Short-sellers circle Navigant Consulting; Big run-up leaves shares looking pricey.(News)
February 16, 2004... Byline: STEVE DANIELS Navigant Consulting Inc.'s shares keep rising, but not as fast as bets that the stock is headed for a fall. The Chicago-based consultancy's stock price has jumped about 70% since June. During the same period, the...

Profile: New finance chief hits the books at CPS.(Finance, Cicago Public Schools)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... Byline: GREG HINZ The task of Pedro Martinez, named budget director of the Chicago Public Schools in September, is to make sure everything balances in the district's $4.8-billion annual budget. The job is formidable, given that the school...

Gordon tapped to run Chicago futures firm.(People)(appointments)(Rosenthal Collins Group LLC)
February 16, 2004... Byline: STEVEN R. STRAHLER Rosenthal Collins Group LLC is turning to former Chicago Mercantile Exchange Chairman Scott Gordon to lead the Chicago-based futures firm. Mr. Gordon, who takes over as CEO March 1, is charged with doubling...

Tribe makes bet on casino near Aurora; Controversial plan only requires governor's nod.(News)(Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Indian Tribe plans cassino in Shabbona)
February 16, 2004... Byline: H. LEE MURPHY While various investment groups wrangle over a 10th casino license in Illinois, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Indian Tribe is pushing a plan for its own casino in Shabbona, a town of 1,000 people 30 miles west of...

Feds find fraud in McPier case.(Briefs, Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... Federal prosecutors indicted a lobbying firm, the imprisoned former chief of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (known as McPier) and several others for bid-rigging. Authorities say Scott Fawell, former CEO of the agency that...

Candidate: Nancy Skinner.(U.S. Senate Race: The Democrats)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2004... Repeal Bush tax cuts on income of more than $200,000 a year. Reinstate inheritance tax for estates worth $2.5 million or more. Give incentives to manufacturers that agree to locate production facilities in U.S. Backs White House view that...