The first four of Chicago’s small banks to pay back the federal
government for the Troubled Asset Relief Program funds they received turned around and refinanced with a cheaper federal bailout program, despite the fact that all but one were profitable during the first half of the year.
The
banks, including Hanover Park’s First Eagle Bank, Wilmette’s Premier
Bank, and Chinatown’s Pacific Global Bank, are all designated as
“community development financial institutions” that serve low-income
and underserved communities. The program they refinanced
into was created specifically to help these sorts of institutions.
Also in the news…
- The state’s unpaid bills, now totaling $4.6 billion, are piling up so much that Illinois social service agencies are sending hundreds of hardship letters to the comptroller’s office begging, pleading, and demanding their payment.
- Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund officials want local governments to be penalized if they attempt to pad employees’ pensions. Meanwhile, many Illinoisans may have to delay retirement if the economy doesn’t improve.
- Southside Together Organizing for Power, or STOP, is demanding a trauma wing at a local hospital after the shooting death of one of its members. The victim, Damien Turner, died while being driven to the trauma wing of Northwestern Memorial Hospital instead of the closer University of Chicago Medical Center.
- Rahm Emanuel, who may be leaving his position in D.C. by Friday, is having trouble getting his Chicago home back. The current tenant, who renewed his lease just six days before Mayor Daley announced his retirement, refuses to leave.
–Compiled by Louis McGill
Filed under: Employment/Labor, Government and Politics, Health
Tags: bailout, banks, budget crisis, hardship letters, hospital, mayor, pension, Race, Rahm Emanuel, retirement, social services, TARP
