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By Mary J. Cristobal  Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD — The city of Moline’s public library is only open six days a week. Its public parks’ lawn is mowed once a month. And the city staff has been cut by 10 percent, while the remaining workers are taking more furlough days and a pay freeze.

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SPRINGFIELD – With Illinois public universities facing drastic cuts as a result of the state’s record budget deficit, Richard Ringeisen, chancellor for the University of Illinois at Springfield, announced Monday that he would retire in October.

The smallest campus of the state’s flagship university is feeling the pinch as a result of the state’s $13 billion budget shortfall.

But the UIS head said the desire to spend more time with his family, not the state’s fiscal crisis, affected his decision to step away.

“The budget’s a danger…This is almost Biblical – The bad budget shall always be with us,” Ringeisen said. “We just have to make the proper moves to take care of it.”

The University of Illinois system instituted furloughs for faculty members, academic professionals and top administrators in all three of its campuses in January.

Last month, UIS reached tentative agreements on furloughs with a number of unions representing civil service employees.

Ringeisen said he and other school administrators were planning for a sizeable reduction in state aid, which makes up about half of the entire operating budget for the UIS campus.

“We have just been, for planning purposes…looking at something like a 15 percent cut in overall state support. It could be worse much worse than that if [lawmakers] don’t do anything about catching us up or it could be better if some of the plans in front of the legislature pass,” he said. “But we’re trying to be ready for a cut like that.”

Ringeisen will be the latest top U of I administrator to step down.

University president B. Joseph White and Urbana campus Chancellor Richard Hermann resigned last fall as a result of a “clout” scandal involving students being ushered into the state’s flagship university system by the state’s politically connected.

Ringeisen took over as the head of the Springfield campus in April 2001, leading UIS through big changes in spite of the state’s recurring budget problems.

During his tenure, UIS transitioned from a mostly two-year commuter school to a four-year campus with residential halls.

Ringeisen also oversaw the construction of a state-of-the-art sports center as well as the university’s transition into NCAA Division II athletics.

Ringeisen said he had not talked to University of Illinois interim President Stanley Ikenberry about a recommendation for a replacement.

The UIS chancellor said the University of Illinois system would first seek a permanent president before considering the next head of UIS.

The University of Illinois Board of Trustees is expected to discuss Ringeisen’s retirement later this month.

By Benjamin Yount    217-528-9844

SPRINGFIELD  –  One lawmaker in Springfield says kids are learning the wrong lesson from their school’s menu.  Chicago Democrat Monique Davis says kids are being served too many desserts or other sugary snacks.

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By Kevin Lee (217)528-9604
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois is set to receive $6.5 million from the sale of the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel & Convention Center in downtown Springfield.

Steve Horve, a hotel developer and a Forsythe native, had the highest bid in Monday’s auction for the 316-room hotel.

The state has ten days to accept the bid, but state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias indicated he wanted to move forward with the transaction.

“We will get it done today or tomorrow,” he said. “We don’t have any intention of dragging this out any longer. It’s been over a quarter-century, so we would like to put this to bed and move on.”

The Lincoln Hotel has been a financial drain on the state since its construction in 1980s, when a group led by political insider William Cellini used a $15.5 million state-backed loan for the hotel’s construction.

The owners soon fell behind mortgage payments, even though state officials reworked the loan agreement in 1990 so that the owners only had to make payments when the hotel made a profit.

When the state took control of the hotel last year, the amount owed to the state had ballooned to $30 million, with interest growing at more than $70,000 per month.

Giannoulias used the public auction to recoup some of those funds.

“The good news is we’re putting this behind us,” Giannoulias said. “The terrible news is that for a quarter-century, this has been a black eye to Illinois.”

Horve said he had no previous connections with Cellini or the previous owners.

If his bid is accepted, Horve would have five hotels in Illinois and one hotel in Michigan.

Horve purchased another struggling hotel from a government body in 2007, when he bought the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel from the city of Decatur for $7.2 million. Decatur took over the property in 2007 to avoid foreclosure.

Horve said he would bring in new carpets, telephones and flat-screen TVs as early as next spring. He could not say how much potential improvements would cost.