Sox, Bulls chairman Reinsdorf to headline Southland Chamber luncheon

Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the White Sox and the Bulls, will headline the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce Regional Consensus Luncheon at the Tinley Park Convention Center on Aug. 9. The event, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., is open to the public. Chamber officials expect a large turnout.

“There’s not another Chicago sports owner like Reinsdorf, and it will be interesting to hear how he made big decisions and brought such success to Chicago teams,” Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman Maureen Kelly said.

Reservations for the luncheon are $25 for Chamber members and $35 for non-members. They can be made by calling (708) 957-6950 or by visiting www.ChicagoSouthland.com.

The Tinley Park Convention Center is located at 18501 Harlem Ave. (entrance off 183rd Street only).

Bridgeview driver's license office to be closed during move

By Southland Savvy

The Secretary of State driver's facility at 7200 W. 84th St. in Bridgeview will close Thursday and Friday while it moves to a larger location.

The new office will open Monday three blocks away at 7350 W. 87th St. in Bridgeview. The new office is larger and will offer more parking. Hours will remain the same, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

During the two days the office is closed, motorists can visit driver's facilities in Midlothian, 14434 Pulaski Road, and on Chicago's South Side, 9901 King Drive. An express office is at Orland Park Village Hall, 14700 Ravinia Ave.

A phone freeze in a hot summer

By David Kolata
Executive Director, Citizens Utility Board

The best calling plans in the Land of Lincoln just got better thanks to consumer advocates in Springfield — and that could save AT&T customers nearly $200 a year.

During the recent rewrite of Illinois’ Telecommunications Act, phone-industry lobbyists pushed for the eventual elimination of AT&T’s low-cost Consumer’s Choice plans, which were created by the Citizens Utility Board under a legal settlement back in 2006. But CUB, the Attorney General’s Office and AARP-Illinois fought to save the plans and freeze their low prices through at least June of 2013, when lawmakers revisit the act.

As we hold phone clinics across Illinois, one thing is certain: A lot of people are chained to bloated calling plans. In fact, a CUB study last year estimated that Illinois consumers were overpaying by more than $1 billion a year on their local, long-distance and cell-phone service.

AT&T customers could cut those costs roughly in half, the study found, by switching to AT&T’s standard pay-per-call rates or the Consumer’s Choice plans for local calls (to places within about 15 miles from home). CUB designed those plans to fit the needs of the average caller.

• Consumer’s Choice Basic, ranging from $3.05 a month in downtown Chicago to $9.50 per month in the rest of Illinois, includes AT&T’s Line Charge and 30 local phone calls. Local calls beyond the first 30 are billed at 6 cents per call.
• Consumer’s Choice Extra costs $9 to $15 per month and includes unlimited local calls. It’s best for someone who doesn’t want extra features, but makes roughly 100 local calls or more per month.
• Consumer’s Choice Plus, costing $16 to $19.70 per month, is popular because it includes two calling features, such as Caller ID or Voice Mail, along with unlimited local calls.

So what plan’s best for you? Call CUB at 1-800-669-5556, for a free phone-bill analysis. Or, visit the online Phone Savings Center, at http://www.citizensutilityboard.org/. There, AT&T customers can use the Local Phone Cost-cutter to find out the best local option based on their calling habits. The online tool has shown 40,000 customers how to save a total of $7.8 million a year, or $194 per customer.

The Phone Savings Center also has the details on extremely low long-distance rates, sweetened with an automatic $10 credit. Of course, a lot of people don’t have landlines. That’s why the center features the CUB Cellphone Saver, which has shown people how to cut costs by $300 a year on up.

There are few household costs that are as easy to cut as your phone bill, and that’s good news in any economy. So, pick up your phone bill and call CUB.