Monthly archives: July, 2010

Dying Chicago Teen: ‘Tell My Mom That I Love Her’

July 16, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandCook CountyCrime and PunishmentEthicsgun controlViolence
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From the Chicago Tribune:

Jeremiah Sterling ran away from the gunman pursuing him through a yard near his home in the Far South Side’s West Pullman neighborhood, but the teen didn’t make it.

As he laying dying, shot at least seven times, he gave a friend one last request: "I want you to tell my mom that I love her."

Sterling, 16, who was identified by family members but whose identity has not been released by authorities, was shot about 3:40 p.m. today in alley in the 11500 block of South May Street, between Aberdeen and May streets, according to Chicago Police News Affairs.

The boy initially was in critical condition on the scene, and died soon after, said Dwyer, who did not have information about where the boy may have been taken for treatment. Family members said Sterling, who lived on the 11500 block of South May Street, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Police said he died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Sixteen years young.

Prosecutors: Chicago Ridge Suburban Woman Had Sex With Daughter’s Friends

July 14, 2010
ChicagolandCrime and Punishment
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Mom was allegedly busy, and mom’s daughter, well, she is probably beside herself.

From the Chicago Sun-Times

A woman employed by a southwest suburban village held parties at her home where she allegedly sexually assaulted four teenage boys while providing them with marijuana and alcohol, prosecutors allege.

Cathleen M. Miller, 40, of the 5800 block of West 109th Street in Chicago Ridge, is charged with three counts of criminal sexual assault and one count of criminal sexual abuse, according to Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokesman Andy Conklin.

She was ordered held on $900,000 bond during a Tuesday hearing at the Bridgeview courthouse, he said.

Miller, who is employed as a secretary for the Chicago Ridge Village Hall, was arrested Monday following an investigation by police and the state’s attorney’s office, according to Chicago Ridge police.

Between Feb. 1 and June 1, Miller held parties at her home during which she provided teens with alcohol and marijuana, according to court records.

According to the report, mom allegedly had intercourse with two of the teens, oral sex with a third and fondled a fourth, according to prosecutors.

Ouch.

NAACP Takes It Up A Notch Against Tea Party

July 14, 2010
AmericaCivil LibertiesCivil RightsConservativesEthicsLiberalsRace
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The NAACP today stepped up it’s criticism of what the organization perceives as "racist acts of Tea Party protesters." In an email to members today, President and CEO of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization asked Americans to unify and "stop the racism."

From Ben Jealous at the NAACP:

We are not backing down.

Yesterday, the NAACP passed a resolution condemning the racist acts of Tea Party protesters. The backlash from the Tea Party has been furious.

But we are not an organization that shies away from controversy. The NAACP was founded on hope, not hate — and we will not stand idly by as racists work to divide our nation.

Add your name to our pledge to unify America and stop the racism:

http://action.naacp.org/PledgeToStopHate

The NAACP does not have a problem with the Tea Party, nor its existence. We have a problem with their acceptance and their welcoming of prejudice into their organization.

And in case there is any misunderstanding about what defines racism, let me be clear.

In March, racial slurs were hurled at members of the Congressional Black Caucus as they passed by a Tea Party health care protest in Washington, DC. Missouri Representative Emanuel Cleaver was spat on. People at the rally held signs covered in bigotry.

That is racism. That is racism filled with hate, ignorance and acts of violence. And we will not stand for it.

We are calling on all Americans to stand for the values that have made our country the land of the free and the home of the brave. Sign the pledge now:

http://action.naacp.org/PledgeToStopHate

The past year has been one of major triumphs and major setbacks in the fight for racial equality. But we will not let bigotry silence us.

We are one people. We are one nation. And we are all NAACP Americans.

Thank you for your support,

Ben Jealous
President and CEO
NAACP

A Pot to Pee In – Ben Roethlisberger Accused of Public Urination?

July 14, 2010
Crime and PunishmentSportsStrange
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Sometimes, a guy can’t catch a break.

Ben Roethlisberger needs positive headelines, soon.

Not like this, from USA Today:

Police in Dublin, Ohio, investigated a golf foursome that included Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger after a woman bordering the course alleged that a person in the group had urinated in public.

Dublin police spokesman David Ball told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that no charges or citations were issued and that Roethlisberger was not the person seen urinating.

"We received a call that said a member of the party urinated on private property," Ball told the paper. "We spoke to the golf course and they agreed to discuss this issue internally with their members."

Roethlisberger, a native of Findlay, Ohio, was suspended 6 games in April for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ordered Roethlisberger into a behavioral evaluation program and held open the potential for extending the ban if he wasn’t satisfied by Roethlisberger’s progress.

Double Yoy!

White House to Step Up Push for Extension of Long-Term Unemployment Insurance

July 13, 2010
AmericaBarack ObamaEconomyJobs
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From ENEWSPF:

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters today discussions with Democratic leadership included talk of extending unemployment insurance for the long-term unemployed.

Gibbs emphasized that this recession was different than previous lulls in the economy, "I think I’ve said this over the past couple days as we’ve gotten into more of this political discussion, I think there is, rightly so, a great frustration in this country with where we are economically, and understanding the depths of the numbers of jobs that were lost, the length of this recession, what it has meant for people on Main Street, what it has meant for — what we’ve talked about in this, the types of unemployment range much differently than would in a normal recession. You see this affecting not just lower-skilled workers, but higher-skilled, college-educated workers in a way that we haven’t seen in previous recessions."

Admitting that the President was frustrated over the state of the economy, Gibbs said the President is going to go to Michigan on Thursday and talk about investments that have been made in the Recovery Act that are creating jobs through entirely new industries that we’ve brought to this country.

"We’re going to continue to work, as I talked about a minute ago, on ensuring that we have an extension of unemployment insurance to deal with the long-term unemployed; increased lending to small business. All this stuff is going to take some time because it took us quite a bit of time to get into the economic situation that we’re in today." the press secretary said.

Read Gibbs’ complete remarks here.

At Turning Left, we’re hoping this is a fight the White House will stick to.

In spite of the rhetoric from the far right, this benefit is necessary to keep the economy stable.

‘Barefoot Bandit’ Lucky He Was Caught Alive

July 12, 2010
Crime and PunishmentLegal
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Yes, the dude is young, and cute.

But he’s lucky to be alive. The games he was playing were all-too-real.

And cute doesn’t make a difference, at all.

From AOL News, Mom speaks:

More than two years on the run, Colton Harris-Moore, aka the "Barefoot Bandit," was finally captured in the Bahamas, taken into custody after a high-speed boat chase. The 19-year-old suspect with a huge Internet fan club was led away — shackled and shoeless.

"I’m glad it’s over and they brought him in safe," Harris-Moore’s mother, Pam Kohler, told AOL News following his arrest. "I was afraid he would get shot if it kept going."

Harris-Moore’s arrest came just before dawn in northern Eleuthera, The Associated Press reported.

Apparently, a boat captain realized something was wrong when he saw a boat take off at 2 a.m. Sunday with no lights. He and another resident alerted the Bahamian Police, and a chase ensued.

"As we approached him, he started saying things like, ‘I’m not going back to jail; I’m going to kill myself," Jordan Sackett, a Harbour Island resident who witnessed the ordeal, told WPTV News Channel 5.

Dude, you don’t need to do that. Serve your time. Life is wonderful. It’s all we have.

You’ll probably be out sooner than you think.

You’re lucky you were caught. Life is wonderful. It’s all we have.

Mokena Loses $25,000 on Election-Day Faux Pas

July 12, 2010
Elections
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Mokena loses $25,000 on an election faux pas.

Well, that’s my take.

If the dude was more than 100 feet from the entrance to the polling place, well, then you lose.

From the Sun-Times:

A Will County arbitration panel agreed Thursday with Mokena resident Tino Lettieri that the village violated his civil rights on Election Day in November 2008 by not allowing him to pass out election materials in the village hall parking lot.

The panel of three attorneys awarded Lettieri $25,000 in damages.

"All I wanted was a public apology," Lettieri said. "They admitted to no guilt."

Jim Harvey, attorney for the village, said he was "disappointed" in the decision.

"I did not think it merited $25,000," he said. "There was no physical damage."

Each side will have 30 days to decide whether to reject the decision. If either does, the case would go to trial.

Harvey said the village will have to consult with its insurance firm to decide, because insurance would pay the damages.

Kudos to the Will County arbitration panel. This would most likely be upheld in court. This is more than a faux pas. On election day, best to err on the side of caution.

Why Does Gary Montino, Convicted Felon, Get To Keep His Pension From Melrose Park?

July 12, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandCrime and Punishment
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Vito Scavo (left) and Gary Montino arrive at court in May.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Two crooked Melrose Park cops — the chief and his deputy — got convicted of the same crime.

One got his pension yanked this week.

But the other will keep on receiving more than $5,600 a month in benefits, in a highly unusual decision by the Melrose Park Police Pension Board.

Both former Police Chief Vito Scavo, 62, and his right-hand man, Deputy Chief Gary Montino, 54, were convicted of racketeering conspiracy in 2009 for their roles in a scheme to muscle local businesses into hiring the two security firms Scavo illegally ran out of the police department.

By law, a police officer can’t get a pension if he’s been convicted of a felony related to his job.

Scavo oversaw and profited from the two security firms which used on-duty police officers and police equipment for private jobs.

His deputy, Montino, was heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the firms while working at the police department, according to government filings.

What an odd decision.

Look, this is a tough one to post. I have a great deal of respect for our men and women in blue.

But, really, why the split decision? To what extent were personal feelings an issue here?

Juror’s Hear Patti Blagojevich’s Potty Mouth

July 10, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandCook CountyCrime and PunishmentDemocratic NewsIllinoisLegalLiberalsPhilosophical
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Blago

Patti On Tape: "Tell Them To Hold Up That F***ing Cubs S***. F*** them."

I don’t have a picture of Patti Blagojevich. Never met her.

Met the former Gov. several times. This picture comes from one of those meetings, taken in Matteson’s Lincoln Mall so many lifetimes ago, it seems now.

Actually believed in him once.

Yes, I was had, as were the many who voted for him.

In spite of the huge numbers who voted for him in Chicago’s South Suburbs, Blago the Press Guy only visited our area a few times.

This week, the jury hearing the trial of His Hairness got to hear Mrs. Blago talk smack, now on the record.

From Chicago’s CBS:

While Bob Greenlee, a onetime deputy governor for Rod Blagojevich, was on the stand Thursday, prosecutors played a tape of a phone conversation Greenlee had with Rod and Patti Blagojevich.

In that conversation, the three of them are discussing Chicago Tribune articles and editorials that had been critical of the governor and the Tribune Company’s attempts to sell Wrigley Field to the state as part of a pending sale of the Chicago Cubs.

Patti is heard saying, "Tell them to hold up that f***ing Cubs s***. F*** them, f*** them. Why should you do anything for those a**holes? Sam Zell. What kind of bulls*** is that."

Later, Patti is heard complaining about the Tribune’s editorial board.
"Just fire ’em … What would … William Randolph Hearst do, say, oh, I can’t interfere with my editorial board? … They’re hurting (the Tribune Company’s) business," Patti Blagojevich says.

Greenlee adds, "They’ve lost all impartiality."

Later, Rod is heard talking about asking his chief of staff, John Harris, to approach Tribune owner Sam Zell and tell him to "fire those f***ers."

Throughout the call, Greenlee repeatedly warns Blagojevich to be careful about how to approach the Tribune about the negative editorials about the governor, telling him it would be a "sensitive" issue to even just imply the editorial board should be fired.

At one point, Blagojevich asks, "What’s so sensitive about it?"

On the stand, Greenlee testified that he knew "it’s wrong to try to fire people over an editorial opinion."

I have no idea where this trial is going. It’s hard to keep up. The press is focusing on the profanity, sometimes over substance, I think. I hope the jury is hearing the substance. In spite of all the allegations, and some of our personal feelings, His Hairness deserves a fair trial. If convicted, it should be solid.

Of course, he only has himself to blame for the sideshow.

Man Charged with Murder in Death of Infant Daughter

July 10, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandCrime and PunishmentEthicsIllinois
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Kejuan Hunt

Kejuan Hunt. (Photo: PFPD)

The sad news from eNews Park Forest:

A Park Forest man was charged with first degree murder Saturday in connection with the July 3 death of his 3-month-old daughter.

According to a press release issued by the Park Forest Police Department, on July 2, 2010, Park Forest Police and Fire Units responded to the 100 block of Hemlock Street regarding a report of a non-responsive infant. The child was revived and transported to St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights. The 3-month-old girl was later taken to Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet.

On Saturday, July 3, the child, Nevaeh Hunt, age 3 months, was pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m., the release said.

An autopsy was performed by the Will County Coroner’s Office on Monday, July 5, and showed the child died as the result of head trauma, the release said. The coroner ruled the death a homicide, according to the release.

More here.

The story mentions the victim’s age several times. This one is hard to comprehend.

As always, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and the victim, little Nevaeh Hunt.