The question isn’t whether Illinois’ finances are in dreadful shape, it’s how to fix the problem. Or perhaps more accurately, will legislators have the political will to fix it when they return to Springfield for their spring session?

Even though the legislature and Gov. Pat Quinn last year imposed a temporary 67 percent state income tax increase, Quinn’s office expects to have a $500 million budget deficit this year.

Quinn is calling for a 9 percent cut in most areas of state government, except education and health care. But even with cuts at that level, the state would have a projected $800 million budget deficit for fiscal 2015, the year when most of the tax hike expires.

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“If foreclosure mediation is such a good idea, why haven’t more jurisdictions taken up the mantle? What are barriers to implementation and program participation, and is the conventional wisdom that mediation takes a long time and is costly supported by the evidence?”

These were some of the critical questions posed last spring by Raphael Bostic, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at a workshop hosted by the Access to Justice Initiative at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. in Ma

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The City of London Corporation (COLC) has won its High Court bid to evict protestors from their camp outside St Paul’s Cathedral after Mr Justice Lindblom granted orders for possession and injunctions against protestors in December.

The corporation filed High Court proceedings against the protestors in November, after the Occupy London Stock Exchange (LSX) group failed to leave the camp. N

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– Gov. Mark Dayton says a legislative vote on a Minnesota Vikings stadium package has been jeopardized by lingering concerns over sites and financing mechanisms.

It appears that Arden Hills is all but eliminated; Dayton said two sites are still feasible for a Vikings stadium on Wednesday at a news conference.

After reviewing all stadium proposals that were submitted last Thursday, Dayton shared his thoughts on all of them. In his judgment, the Arden Hills site that the Vikings preferred all along is not financially viable. The Vikings would either have to find a local partner to pay the local contribution or pay $700 million themselves.

They wanted to use a three percent tax in Ramsey County on food and beverage sales, but that cannot be done without a referendum, Dayton said. T

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