Arkush: Bears will have to earn new contracts
THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013
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No perks Delivering for seniors for future appointees SALVATION ARMY MEALS PROGRAM
Quinn signs law ending benefits for mass-transit board members By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com
Lathan Goumas – lgoumas@shawmedia.com
Ted Schmidt of The Salvation Army Golden Diners program delivers meals Monday to a client at her home in McHenry. According to a White House news release, one of the consequences of the federal sequestration is that four million fewer senior meals will be delivered. The Golden Diners program has been able to avoid cuts in services thus far by delaying capital purchases.
Golden Diners finds way to avoid cuts in service By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com
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ive days a week, Crystal Lake resident Ted Schmidt drives around McHenry and Island Lake delivering brown bags that contain trays with cooked meat and vegetables, as well as milk, bread and fruit, to area seniors. Luckily, Schmidt and other drivers who deliver lunches for The Salvation Army’s Golden Diners program have not had to cut back delivery of the 50 to 60 meals a day because of the federal sequestration. The federal sequestration was a set of automatic budget cuts that started in March when lawmakers and the president could not come to an agreement to reduce federal spending. The spending reductions are meant to cut $85.4 billion in federal spending this year and $1.1 trillion in federal spending over 10 years. Among the cuts was senior meals funding, which meant federally assisted programs such as Meals on Wheels would be able to serve 4 million fewer meals, according to the White House. The Salvation Army’s Golden Diners program, which operates in both Kane and McHenry counties, has a $1.6 million annual operating budget, of which $600,000 comes from the USDA’s Nutrition Services
By DONNA CASSATA The Associated Press
Michael Miller of The Salvation Army Golden Diners program prepares meals for home delivery Monday at the Senior Services offices in Johnsburg.
Voice your opinion How concerned are you about federal sequestration? Vote online at NWHerald.com. Incentive Program. Golden Diners projects it will serve 196,000 meals in both counties to seniors this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Because of the federal sequestration, the Golden Diners program had a $32,000 cut in its USDA funding, said Maj. Ken Nicolai, who administers the program for The Salvation Army.
Nicolai said the organization hopes the money will be restored in the future, but if the cuts stay in place, money for vehicle and kitchen equipment replacements would have to come from other sources, “or we have to get it out of our operating budget.”
See DINERS, page A4
WASHINGTON – The House narrowly rejected a challenge to the National Security Agency’s secret collection of hundreds of millions of Americans’ phone records Wednesday night after a fierce debate pitting privacy rights against the government’s efforts to thwart terrorism. The vote was 217-205 on an issue that created unusual political coalitions in Washington, with libertarian-leaning conservatives and liberal Democrats pressing for the change against the Obama administration, the Republican establishment and Congress’ national security experts.
ISLAND LAKE
CURRAN HEADS BACK INTO OCTAGON Jeff Curran, an Island Lake resident and founder of Team Curran MMA in Crystal Lake, will face Pedro Munhoz in the main event of Resurrection Fight Alliance’s card Aug. 16 in Carson, Calif., replacing Keoni Koch, who backed out of the fight because of an injury. It will mark Curran’s return to the octagon after he pulled out of his last scheduled fight. For more, see page C1.
Mike Neals (left) and R.N. Fe Quiring
Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
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You can read House Bill 140, which strips pension and insurance benefits from future appointees to mass-transit boards, and House Resolution 521, which calls for the immediate resignation of Metra Board President Brad O’Halloran, at www.ilga.gov.
wrote the bill, called it a step in the right direction toward reforming the boards and improving state government’s ailing fiscal health. Franks and other lawmakers have taken aim at the boards, and Metra in particular, since the 2010 scandal surrounding former Metra CEO Phil Pagano. “Given the recent scandal at Metra, this legislation is also especially important to truly hitting the ‘reset’ button and
See METRA, page A4
House rejects bid to end NSA spying
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Members of the Metra Board will have benefit package issues of their own with a new law stripping them of future pensions and insurance. Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill into law that takes the benefits away from future appointees of Metra, Pace, the Chicago Transit Authority and the Regional Transportation Authority. The signing Tuesday comes in the wake of the latest scandal at the embattled suburban rail agency. Ousted CEO Alex Clifford, who could receive up to $718,000 from a buyout package approved by the Metra Board, has alleged he was forced out because he would not turn a blind eye to patronage requests, some of which lead up to powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan. State Rep. Jack Franks, who
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Inside Snowden lawyer says leaker staying in Russia for now. PAGE A4
The showdown vote marked the first chance for lawmakers to take a stand on the secret surveillance program since former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden leaked classified documents last month that spelled out the monumental scope of the government’s activities. Backing the NSA program were 134 Republicans and 83 Democrats, including House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio,
See NSA, page A4