False Emergency Alert Hits Chicago Airwaves

Tribune staff report
Published June 26, 2007

If you were listening to the radio or watching television this morning, you might have been confused by what appeared to be an emergency alert.

Numerous local stations were interrupted around 7:45 a.m. by what seemed to be an announcement from the Emergency Alert System. There was no indication it was a test message, and on-air hosts such as WGN-AM 720's Spike O'Dell were as surprised as listeners were.

"This is Spike at WGN," O'Dell said on the air after the station had gone silent for more than 2 minutes. "We are trying to figure out what's going on."

State officials said they believe the problem originated at the federal level.

On Monday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency installed a new satellite warning system for Illinois as part of a program set for all 50 states, Illinois Emergency Management Agency director Andrew Velasquez III said in a news release.

He said FEMA conducted a test of the new system this morning, but rather than sending an internal test message the signal was mistakenly sent out to broadcast stations.

"We don't know why the federal government used a 'hot' or active code rather than a test code when they sent out this test message," Velasquez said.

He said four messages were reportedly sent out as part of the test.

There was no emergency, and the state agency was not told that the test would be conducted, the news release said.

Calls to the Federal Emergency Management Agency were not immediately returned.

The Federal Communications Commission received reports of problems in Illinois and the St. Louis area, spokesman Rob Kenny said.

FCC officials were investigating the series of glitches that broadcast stations said included periodic interruptions of programming by the Emergency Alert System's tone, sometimes lasting 3 or 4 minutes at a time.

Others said their signals were scrambled and that other stations were being broadcast on their frequencies.

The Emergency Alert System replaced the former Emergency Broadcast System. It can be activated by the federal government, by states or by the National Weather Service.

Gov's Commute Costing Ill. Taxpayers Big

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich's practice of flying from his Chicago home to the Capitol in Springfield and back for daily budget negotiations is costing Illinois taxpayers more than $5,800 a day -- roughly $76,000 since late May and climbing.

An Associated Press analysis of state flight records shows Blagojevich made nine round trips on state airplanes from May 22 to June 7, and he appears to have made at least four more since then.

Several of those flights came while the governor's aides were admonishing lawmakers for not spending enough time in the Capitol working on the budget.

With the first eight flights, Blagojevich averaged less than five hours in Springfield per trip. On the ninth, he stayed two nights as lawmakers tried to meet a May 31 budget-approval deadline. They missed that deadline, and the Democrats who dominate Illinois government remained deadlocked Thursday, which likely means more flights for the governor, a fellow Democrat.

Based on the state auditor's calculations, the actual cost of flying the governor's plane between Chicago and Springfield is $9.81 per mile.

That puts the cost of Blagojevich's nine flights for which official records are available at $52,540. Detailed records aren't available for the flights since June 7, but averages from previous day trips suggest an additional cost of $23,300.

Blagojevich's office refused to answer questions about the matter.

Sen. Chris Lauzen, an Aurora Republican who serves as co-chairman of the Legislative Audit Commission, called the governor's travel an "enormous waste" and noted that it amounted to more than a teacher's annual salary.

Illinois has an Executive Mansion in Springfield, and past governors have either lived in the capital or at least stayed there while the Legislature was in session. Blagojevich lives in Chicago and prefers to go home at the end of each day.

Lawmakers typically meet in Springfield three days a week, and Blagojevich has been flying to Springfield each day. If he arrived at the start of each week's session and stayed at the Executive Mansion until the end, the cost of his flights would be about two-thirds less.

By JOHN O'CONNOR