Gather round the trough little piggies. “If history repeats itself, Sears will be offered substantial incentives to remain in Illinois” after it leaves the Sears Tower, writes Elizabeth A. Lesly in Chicago Enterprise (March 1989). “In 1984 Chrysler Corp. threatened to close its Belvidere auto plant [near Rockford] and lay off 4,200 workers; in 1985 Chrysler and Mitsubishi Motor Corp. offered to plop their 2,900-worker Diamond-Star auto plant in Normal; in 1986 the Chicago White Sox publicly considered moving to Florida. In all cases, state and local governments offered assistance–$15 million to Chrysler, $86 million to Diamond-Star, $150 million to the Sox–and the corporations chose Illinois. A subsequent study by the Center for Government Studies at Northern Illinois University says that Chrysler, at least, would have stayed in Belvidere without any incentives.”
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Maybe his mother is chief judge. How to cure writer’s block? Mark Mathewson in Student Lawyer (March 1989) suggests that you replace your “internal critic” with a friendlier audience. “In a recent writing workshop for the Illinois State Bar Association, federal district judge Charles Wolle of Iowa, a writing teacher at the Judicial College in Reno, Nevada, told participants that he often begins his first draft of judicial opinions with ‘Dear Mom.’”
Caution: this plant is not thirsty. The Chicago Botanic Garden’s Plant Information Service (835-0972, 10-3 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) notes that houseplants grow more slowly in winter–cooler temperatures and less daylight means that they need less water and less fertilizer than in warmer months.
