At Wrigley for the Cubs v Cards!

Hello from HIMSS09!

I am in Chicago this week, attending HIMSS09! What is HIMSS you ask? Well... The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare.

I will be scoping out the best the Health IT industry has to offer!

Pay Your Bills! Obama victory bash still owes Chicago $1.74 mil

February 20, 2009
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com
Chicago has yet to recoup the $1.74 million cost of President Obama's victory celebration in Grant Park -- despite a burgeoning $50.5 million budget shortfall that threatens more layoffs and union concessions.

"The Democratic National Committee has not yet paid us,'' Peter Scales, a spokesman for the city's Office of Budget and Management, said Thursday after questions from the Chicago Sun-Times. "We're reaching out to them this week."

Stacie Paxton, a spokeswoman for the Obama-controlled DNC, explained the reimbursement delay by saying, "We are still looking at various costs and bills.'' She would not say whether parts of the bill are disputed.

The city spent $1 million on police protection for the rally. The Office of Emergency Management and Communications racked up more than $120,000 in expenses, including $19,500 paid to police official Neil Sullivan to quarterback election night logistics.

In late October, Mayor Daley assured that the cash-flush Obama campaign would reimburse the city for every penny spent on the rally. "We have a financial crisis," he said at the time. "The City of Chicago could not afford $2 million on this because we're gonna be laying off people, cutting back. That [cost] would really be unfortunate. . . . It's a huge cost to the City of Chicago.

"This is not a presidential visit. . . . This is a political event, and they've agreed to pay for all those services -- all the expenses of that. ... It's costly, but they raised quite a bit of money. There's no [shortage] of money in that campaign."

The day after the Nov. 4 election, Daley was asked again whether the Obama campaign would pay up.

"Yeah. I don't know why you're so negative. ... What is this? He just won for president, and you say, 'He's not gonna pay his bills,' " the mayor said then.

On Dec. 9, the day the Sun-Times disclosed the $1.74 million tab, Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt referred questions to the DNC.

Paxton confirmed then that the rally was a "DNC-sponsored event" and that the party was discussing the itemized bill with the city.


THE BILLThe bill for Barack Obama's election night rally at Grant Park
Police $1 million
Emergency Management and Communications Office $121,578
Fire Department $85,965
Streets and Sanitation $71,694
Transportation $49,659
Cultural Affairs $2,567
Environment $2,309
CTA $201,500
Chicago Park District $202,440
(Park District breakdown):
Giant video boards $68,900
Electrical $37,185
Sound $37,500
Stagehands $29,850
Portable toilets $12,500
Security $7,505
Stage rental $6,000
Bike racks, barricades $2,000
Heavy equipment $1,000
Total bill $1,737,712

Link to this story

Details Emerge on Chicago's Olympic Bid

Complete Details Here

The Ice Man Cometh

Ice paralyzes area roads
December 26, 2008 at 8:51 AM



Some of the worst icy driving conditions in years hit the Chicago area early this morning, causing crashes too numerous to count.

"If we had the manpower, we'd close down every expressway in the area," a harried Illinois State Police dispatcher said this morning. State police called out day-shift troopers two hours early to handle the crisis.

Every expressway had multiple crashes in both directions -- even with many drivers creeping along at 5 to 10 m.p.h. Those going any faster often found they couldn't control their vehicles. The most recent incidents involved a jackknifed semi blocking all lanes of the outbound Stevenson near Ill. Hwy. 53 and icy conditions blocking all lanes on I-80/94 between the Illinois state line and Indianapolis Blvd.

And conditions were bad enough that officials closed the entire Indiana Tollway -- from the Illinois border to the Ohio border for a time. It's open again now -- but conditions remain icy.

CTA and Metra were reporting substantial delays on buses and trains, as well as some service suspension.

Police in southwest suburban Lemont took the unusual step of closing the entire village to traffic for about two hours, then reopened some key thoroughfares.

A freezing rain advisory elapsed at 6 a.m. The system started moving into the area around 2:30 a.m. and quickly spread over the entire metropolitan region, coating all roads with a thin, treacherous coat of ice.

The problem is expected to end as temperatures climb this morning, reaching the 40s later in the day. But until then, police warned drivers to slow way down or, better yet, to not even go out.


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Good thing I made the midnight trek last night!

Merry Christmas!

I spent the day entertaining the crowd at Church Creek - Independent and Assisted living facility today. Here are some highlights:

Bundled Up and Headed Back to Chicago

I am leaving sunny 30 degree Washington, D.C. en route for Chicago today. I am looking forward to seeing everyone, but not looking forward to the single digit temps! Over the weekend, the wind chill in Chicago was reported as -30. Oh my!

University of Illinois at Chicago Receives $10 Million Gift for Polish Studies

University of Illinois at Chicago Receives $10 Million Gift for Polish Studies

A $10 million gift to the University of Illinois at Chicago to enhance studies in Polish history, language and literature will transform the study of that country and its culture in the city with the largest Polish population outside of Warsaw.

The donation, a bequest from the late Romuald Hejna, is the second-largest gift from an individual that UIC has ever received and the biggest single gift to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Hejna's bequest will create two chairs in the history of Poland and one chair in Polish language and literature.

"Mr. Hejna's gift has ensured not only that the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will remain on the map for Polish Studies -- so vital already in Chicago with its storied and strong connections to Poland -- but also that UIC will become a beacon for scholars who wish to research and teach in this specialization," said Dwight A. McBride, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

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So Long Chicago!

Back to D.C. I go, but so long and thank you for all of your amazing food and your lack of humidity! See you again soon!

Batman in IMAX!

While back in the Chicago-land area, I decided to take in the new Batman movie. Everyone I spoke with raved about the movie and everyone suggested I see it in IMAX. So I did just that. What a great movie. The acting was super, and the fact that the movie was shot in Chicago made it even better. I highly recommend you see this one, before it leaves the theaters. Rating: Two thumbs up!

Sweet Home Chicago

Back in Chicago for a few days - sure is nice to have a break from the DC Humidity!

So Long Chicago

So Long for now Chicago, but fear not I will be back soon and will be devouring some more great pizza, hot dogs, and Italian beef!

Interesting Foot Rest

Americans overweight? Nah... As seen on the Metra train when leaving Chicago