WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

Mayor-elect Emanuel’s real counterpart in county government is dealing with an estimated budget shortfall of $487 million. In her transition report last December, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle floated some ideas on how to close that budget shortfall.

Another winter storm is expected to dump more rain and snow on Chicago tonight.Paul Merzlock is with the National Weather Service in Chicago. He says a winter weather advisory is in effect for Cook and DuPage Counties.

Cook County commissioners are scheduled to discuss a new budget this week and they're still at odds over the effects of a controversial sales tax.Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle campaigned on rolling back a one percentage point increase in the sales tax.

Cook County is slashing the nursing staffs at two of its hospitals. The cuts have been in the works for a while, but frustrated nurses are talking strike. Provident and Oak Forest hospitals will be losing about 60 percent of their nursing positions – 138 in total.

Cook County topped the country in the number of black-owned businesses in 2007, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That year the number of black-owned companies in the county reached 84,000, about 50 percent more than in 2002.

South suburban residents are pleading with Illinois officials to preserve Cook County’s Oak Forest Hospital.

 Provident Hospital, part of Cook County's medical system, will indefinitely suspend most emergency medical services on Jan. 15. Among other things that will mean Provident will no longer allow ambulances to its emergency room.