Turning the tables  

Here's a cool twist on the usual story of utility privatization: The cities of Peoria and Pekin are using emminent domain laws to try to buy the local water company. They think they can provide the water more cheaply, since they don't have to pay state and federal taxes and have much of the necessary infrastructure already in place. The motivation is money - they hope to use the expected savings as revenue to beef up their budgets. (Sorry there aren't any good links on this... I heard the story on WBEZ this morning, but the report isn't online yet.)