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Metra union members in line for 20 percent pay hikes over 6 years By Richard Wronski, Chicago Tribune reporter 6:03 p.m. CDT, November 2, 2013 Members of one of Metra's biggest labor unions could get raises worth more than 20 percent over the next six years and a $3,000 "signing bonus", according to a proposed contract negotiated between the commuter rail agency and the union. The proposed pact, awaiting approval from about 337 clerical workers and ticket agents belonging to the Transportation Communications Union, was announced last week and comes as Metra continues to negotiate with 12 other unions, including...

Around the world, scientists are now beginning to examine samples of the virus with a significant question in mind: Could this strain of the disease cause a global pandemic? This international network of scientists keeps constant watch for good reason. In 1918 and 1919, a flu pandemic killed between 20 million and 40 million people, more than the total death toll of World War I, more in a year than the Black Death of 1347 to 1351. More recently, an H1N1 swine flu pandemic was blamed for more than 284,500 human deaths worldwide between April 2009 and August 2010. So...

CINCINNATI—Mitt Romney raised nearly $112 million for his presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee in the first half of October—putting him on pace for a potentially record-breaking fundraising month for his campaign. Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul announced the number in a message on Twitter. The total included cash raised between Oct. 1 and Oct. 17, according to the campaign. No further details were offered, such as the breakdown of how much money went to the Romney campaign versus the Romney Victory Fund, a joint committee formed between his campaign and the RNC. According to the campaign, the Romney effort...

Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs lashed out against Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday, saying it was a “remarkable turnaround” for the Republican presidential candidate to say he was passionate about America just a few years after he was talking about the possibility of Texas seceding from the U.S. The current White House spokesman, Jay Carney, also took issue with comments Perry made on Monday, warning that political candidates have to be careful about what they say.

Jesse White gives raises while other Illinois agencies freeze pay By: Greg Hinz July 18, 2011 Pay hikes in Jesse White's office amount to an extra $78,000 a month in salary costs. At a time when pay raises are a distant memory and unpaid leave a reality for many area government workers, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has handed out pay hikes exceeding 6% to his entire executive staff. According to payroll data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Better Government Assn., Mr. White in the 12-month period ended May 31 gave 4% and then 2%...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix has provoked the ire of some of its 23 million subscribers by raising its prices by as much as 60 percent for those who want to rent DVDs by mail and watch video on the Internet.</p>

Los Angeles, CA (AP) -- Newly released documents show that Bell officials defended enormous salary increases to the California pension system, which decided not to challenge them. The California Public Employees' Retirement System released documents Thursday noting that its 2006 audit found the City Manager, Robert Rizzo, had received a 47-percent salary increase in one year. But the assistant city manager wrote CalPERS that the raise reflected Rizzo's contributions to the small Los Angeles suburb, including helping it resolve a multimillion-dollar debt. She also defended pay increases for herself and the City Council. CalPERS then ruled the city had provided...

<p>Instead of quelling a growing outcry for more information on an alleged political bargain, the White House has raised more questions and calls for an investigation after its shocking revelation on Friday that it recruited former President Bill Clinton to pitch a possible administration role to Rep. Joe Sestak if he would sit out the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary.</p>

Could the swine flu usher in martial law? An emergency physician from Fort Hood, Texas, weighs in on that possibility. Lawmakers in Massachusetts are considering Senate Bill 2028, a pandemic response bill that will give public health officials and law enforcement complete control over citizens of the Commonwealth. Under the bill, should a pandemic be declared, the aforementioned officials will have authority to quarantine and forcibly immunize citizens. Any citizens resisting will face stiff fines and up to 30 days in prison. The bill also gives authorities the right to seize private property and supplies and redistribute them as they...

Several Miami-Dade commissioners are demanding drastic cuts to Mayor Carlos Alvarez's budget amid revelations he gave generous raises to favored staffers while pushing for unprecedented job and salary cuts throughout the rest of County Hall.

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry, raising the specter of a showdown with the Obama administration, suggested Thursday that he would consider invoking states’ rights protections under the 10th Amendment to resist the president’s healthcare plan, which he said would be "disastrous" for Texas. Interviewed by conservative talk show host Mark Davis of Dallas’ WBAP/820 AM, Perry said his first hope is that Congress will defeat the plan, which both Perry and Davis described as "Obama Care." But should it pass, Perry predicted that Texas and a "number" of states might resist the federal health mandate.

WASHINGTON – The increased use of ethanol could cost the government up to $900 million for food stamps and child nutrition programs, a congressional report says. Higher use of the corn-based fuel additive accounted for about 10 percent to 15 percent of the rise in food prices between April 2007 and April 2008 .. The CBO said other factors, such as skyrocketing energy costs, had an even greater impact than ethanol on food prices during that period. .. Ethanol's impact on future food prices is uncertain, the report says, because an increased supply of corn has the potential to eventually...

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon said today that she intends to keep a $3,700 pay increase quietly granted last month by a powerful city spending panel on which she serves. Dixon said that she, City Comptroller Joan M. Pratt, City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake and other members of the City Council all deserved increases because city employee union members this year also got pay hikes.

SACRAMENTO — – Fed up with large pay raises for executives of California's public universities, the chairman of the Assembly's higher-education committee introduced legislation yesterday that would freeze salaries of state employees who make more than $150,000 a year. The measure specifically includes executives and other high-paid officials at the California State University system. It urges the University of California system – which enjoys constitutional autonomy – to impose the same restraints. “I've been pretty outraged by CSU's and UC's continued executive-compensation practices during a time of, first, budget uncertainty and now full-blown crisis,” said committee Chairman Anthony Portantino, D-Pasadena....

The Legislature's nonpartisan fiscal watchdog says prison guards already earn enough money and don't need a 5 percent pay raise proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill says the state can't afford raises for 30,000 prison guards as it battles a widening budget gap. Veteran guards draw nearly $74,000 in salaries - not counting overtime and annual benefits worth $16,000. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, welcomes the analysis. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association spent $2 million to defeat Nunez' proposal on Tuesday's ballot for term limit changes that would have let Nunez and Senate leader Don...

It's starting to seem like a tradition in the Golden State: pay raises for the highest-paid elected officials in the country while their budgets go bare. This week, Sacramento's legislators got a boost to their paychecks. They were already the best-paid legislators in the country, but still they got a $3,111 a year raise, to $116,208 with only a few declining the increase. That's on top of their generous per diems, state cars, and large office staffs. And what have these pols done to earn this boost? Let's see: redistricting legislation? Nope. Health care reform? Nope. Solved the budget problems?...

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2007 – As the nation’s servicemembers continue to fight the global war on terrorism, a group is working to make sure the Americans they’re defending are aware of their sacrifices. “The Greer Foundation raises public awareness of the sacrifices of serving the nation through outreach and commentary on the war on terror,” said Steve Greer, the group’s founder. His experiences as an Army command sergeant major in Kosovo and other places that give him the knowledge base for this endeavor, he added. Greer retired from the Army in January 2003, and started the foundation that same...

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that a planned U.S. missile shield in Central Europe was unacceptable because it would extend American control deep into Russian airspace, not deter Iran as Washington claims. NATO officials called for calm in the dispute, which escalated when Putin threatened on Thursday to pull out of a key European arms-control treaty if no agreement was reached.

ARTESIA, N.M. - The U.S. Border Patrol's push to expand the number of agents on the lookout for illegal crossings has some current and former agents worried that the pressure will lead to corner cutting and will jeopardize public safety. Raising the Border Patrol's numbers from about 12,000 to 18,000 by the end of 2008 is a key element of President Bush's plan to improve security along the border, crossed by tens of thousands of illegal immigrants each year. The sprawling Border Patrol Academy here in southeastern New Mexico recently started launching two 50-student classes each week, compared to one...

SACRAMENTO — The top aide to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could earn a state salary exceeding $200,000 a year as part of a round of raises the governor is preparing to award his senior deputies. The raises could lift some salaries among the 185 people working in the governor's office to $169,500 in certain cases, with the governor's chief of staff, Susan P. Kennedy, eligible for up to $225,000. Kennedy now collects a state salary of $143,000, and the most senior aides beneath her earn about $134,000. The pay hikes were set in motion last year, when the governor signed a...