FY 2010 budget and work plan.  Please see our finalized comprehensive budget and work plan for this fiscal year.

Invent the Future workshops.  Time is running out for residents to attend a workshop -- as of now, the last one is scheduled for September 1.  See the workshop schedule.  Registration is requested but not required. You can register online, via email, or by calling Joey-Lin Silberhorn at 312-386-8814. This week we were in South Central Chicago, Joliet, Geneva, Bethel New Life (Chicago), Barrington, and DePaul University (a special youth workshop).  Here's a list of the remaining workshops:

Berkeley Public Library, Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Arlington Heights Village Hall, Board Room, Tuesday, August 18, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Elmwood Park Village Hall, Wednesday, August 19, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Lansing Public Library, Thursday, August 20, 8:30 to 10:00 a.m.
Lilydale Progressive MB Church, Chicago, Thursday, August 20, 12:00 to 2:00 p.m.
Evanston Civic Center, Thursday, August 20, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Fox Waterway Agency Offices, Fox Lake, Thursday, August 20, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Grayslake Village Hall, Tuesday, August 25, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, Wednesday, August 26, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Montgomery Village Hall, Wednesday, August 26, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Hegewisch Public Library, Chicago, Thursday, August 27, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Thursday, August 27, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Prisco Community Center, Aurora, Tuesday, September 1, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

GO TO 2040 in the Burnham blog.  The centennial's Pat Reardon has two excellent new posts recounting his experiences at one of our Invent the Future workshops in Tinley Park.  Check out part one and part two. 

More on Invent the Future.  Evanston Now also had a very nice item about Invent the Future.  Other coverage this week included the Kendall County Record, Explore Chicago, the Pioneer Press Herald Journal, and Carfree Chicago.

Geneva workshop.  A big thank you to the Village of Geneva for making a special Invent the Future sign to help guide traffic.  We got a kick out of that and added it to the CMAP "Explore Northeastern Illinois" Flickr pool.  If you'd like to submit photos, click here.  

Regional Snapshot coverage.  The Business Ledger's Dan McLeister wrote about CMAP's new Industry Clusters snapshot report.

New Tollway appointments.  Congratulations to Paula Wolff on being named by Governor Quinn to chair the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority.  She is joined by new board members Bill Morris (former mayor of Waukegan) and Tom Weisner (mayor of Aurora). 

IDOT Fall Planning Conference.  This year's IDOT conference will be held October 14-16 in Chicago, with the theme of "Burnham and Beyond."  Visit the conference website for registration details and a video preview (including interviews with CMAP Board member Frank Beal and IDOT's Les Nunes).

Stimulus website.  IDOT has also created a web page devoted to the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA, better known as The Stimulus).  It includes a slideshow with images of specific stimulus-funded projects.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.  Per our friends at Chicago Wilderness, the U.S. EPA is accepting comments through August 19 on the Great Lakes Multi-Year Restoration Action Plan Outline. Comment at http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/glri/outreach.html or by mail to U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office (G-17J), Attention: Anthony Kizlauskas, 77 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604.

CTA extensions.  See Trib and Sun-Times coverage of the CTA board's approval of the orange, red, and yellow line extensions.  The projects are already part of the current Regional Transportation Plan, and we anticipate that funding will be sought through the New Starts program of the new federal transportation bill.

Central Avenue.  Secretary LaHood was in town this week with other dignitaries to announce funding of the long-planned Central Avenue bypass.

EJ&E story.  The Journal of Commerce has a story about how CN is dealing with issues on its recently aquired EJ&E railway.  

Scenarios and renderings.  If you haven't already, please see our scenario evaluation site, where you can comment in detail on CMAP's three sample scenarios (Reinvest, Preserve, and Innovate).  At that site, we've posted renderings from a dozen or so community design workshops that we convened with municipalities and design firms to help residents depict how their towns might look in 2040, depending on strategies advanced by GO TO 2040.  The latest come from Fairmont and Rogers Park. 

iPod reminder.  We've had a surge in entries for our free iPod giveaway, sponsored by Harris Bank, to help keep public participation strong through the remaining weeks of Invent the Future, which ends in the first week of September.  We hope residents will take the time to create and submit a scenario at www.goto2040.org before entering the giveaway at www.goto2040.org/iPod.

Planning Leadership Conference.  Please remember to let planning commissioners, elected officials, and municipal staff across the region know about our leadership conference on August 22, 2009.  Highlights include Leadership and Planning Law, Comprehensive Plans and their Impact, Conservation and Preservation, Planning and Incentives, and Infill Redevelopment. This conference also features a GO TO 2040 Invent the Future workshop. Click here for more information about the event. A $15 registration fee includes continental breakfast and lunch.

In the GO TO 2040 blog.  We featured a photo demonstrating conservation efforts in the region. We recapped recent workshops in Tinley Park, Bartlett, and Bronzeville. There was also a new guest post by the Illinois Humanities Council's "Oil, Water and the Humanities" event.

Twittering away.  There were lots of tweets in our Twitter account this week as we passed along ideas in real-time from workshops at Bethel New Life, and in Barrington, Joliet, and Geneva. If you're not following us, you really should be.