Category: Chicago

17-Year-Old Ramone Washington Shot By Coward In West Humboldt Park

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Tribune :

A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed this afternoon in the city’s West Humboldt Park neighborhood,Chicago police said.

Police believe the teen’s killers chased him down before shooting him, authorities said.

Killed was Ramone Washington, of the 700 block of South Karlov Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A neighbor called police to report screaming followed by shooting near the 1100 block of North Keystone Avenue just after 1:40 p.m., police said.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Ramone Washington.

Read more here.

Could ‘Fast Eddie’ Vrdolyak Be Heading for Prison?

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Tribune:

Saying the sentencing of former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak to probation for fraud involved "egregious error," the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday reversed the judge who made the controversial decision and took the case away from him.

A three-judge panel voted 2-1 to reverse the sentence handed down last February by U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur, a development that could mean Vrdolyak, 71, winds up serving a prison sentence for his role in a rigged Gold Coast real estate deal.

Federal prosecutors had sought a sentence of three-and-a-half years in prison for Vrdolyak, who pleaded guilty to taking part in a scheme to secretly split a $1.5 million finder’s fee when Rosalind Franklin University sold a building. Corrupt political insider Stuart Levine was on the school’s real estate committee and conspired with Vrdolyak to steer the sale to a developer that would pay the hidden fee.

The panel’s decision didn’t come as a surprise after influential Judge Richard Posner at oral argument last month signaled he had serious issues with Vrdolyak’s sentence of five years’ probation. At the time, Posner even asked the prosecution if it wanted a different judge to re-sentence Vrdolyak, saying, "You’re not going to get anywhere with Judge Shadur, because he’s made up his mind."

Friday’s sharply worded opinion, written by Posner, took Shadur to task for what were described as mistakes and suggested Vrdolyak’s sentence was too lenient.

Years ago, I shared a classroom with Ed Vrdolyak’s son at the University of Notre Dame. I never got to know the young lad — he was my age — but I remember the day the lad told the professor, Samuel Shapiro, his name, and I remember Dr. Shapiro’s reaction.

He was shocked. And probably changed his lecture on the spot.

It would appear that Dad, "Fast-Eddie" Vrdolyak, may be facing some prison time.

I’ll be watching this one closely.

No, Commissioner Tony Peraica Did Not Pull A ‘Ross Perot’ With ‘Those Folks’

Posted on by TL

Give me a break.

Look, I would never vote for Tony Peraica, but he did not use a racial slur Tuesday at a meeting of the Cook County Board, and Commissioner Deborah Sims should be ashamed.

Here’s the rub from the Chicago Sun-Times:

Peraica, who is white and represents the western suburbs, was talking about how cutting the county’s share of the sales tax could help the unemployed — mentioning specifically how the African American community has been hit especially hard by joblessness and how "those folks" could benefit from slashing the tax.

"What we need to do is concern ourselves with the taxpayers. We had 70,000 foreclosures in Cook County last year, we have conventions leaving, we have 11.2 unemployment rate in Cook County," he said.

"In the African American community, it’s probably 40, 50 percent unemployment, among males in particular. This is not the way to help them. The way to help those folks is to let them keep their money in their pockets."

At that point someone yelled out "Those folks?"

Peraica quickly responded: "All folks, all folks — everybody who makes up Cook County."

But the original two words set off Commissioner Deborah Sims, an African American whose district covers Chicago’s South Side and the south suburbs.

"I’m offended. ‘Those folks?’ If that isn’t the most racist statement that’s ever been made in this board," Sims fired back.

First off, Commissioner Sims, I’m sure that was not the ‘most racist statement that’s ever been made in [the Cook County] board." The board has had quite a ride. Peraica was obviously expressing empathy, and that’s a good thing. We could use more of that in Cook County.

More here at the Sun-Times, but it’s really not worth it. I’m not voting for Commissioner Sims in the primary. Hopefully others will follow suit.

Coward Shoots 15-Year-Old In Back Outside Hubbard High School

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

A 15-year-old student was shot in the back Tuesday afternoon just two blocks from a Southwest Side high school — one of 38 schools in the city receiving federal funding as part of a new anti-violence campaign.

The shooting happened at 63rd Street and Springfield Avenue at 1:05 p.m., police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala said. A 15-year-old boy suffered a gunshot wound to the back, but ran in the direction of Hubbard High School at 6200 S. Hamlin Ave. and was attended to by an ambulance there.

Fire Media Affairs Chief Kevin MacGregor said one person was transported in serious to critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Police said the boy was later listed in “stable” condition.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim, and we hope the shooter is brought to justice soon. May this be the last.

More here.

eNews Park Forest Editors Endorse Toni Perwinkle for Cook County Board Prez

Posted on by TL

From ENEWSPF:

The entire Chicagoland area needs the Cook County Board to work, and the fact is, for the past several years, it hasn’t. Besides the serious ethical questions it raises, political patronage is a horribly inefficient and expensive way to do government. In this, Cook County has excelled, and it needs to stop.

Board President Todd Stroger has shown repeatedly that he is not up to the task. From the beginning, Stroger isolated himself, starting with his attempt to reserve one elevator at the County Building for his use only.

Several things concern me about Dorothy Brown, from her “jeans days,” as well as reports from those close to her that employees felt compelled to give Brown cash for her birthday.

The Cook County Board needs an executive who is ethical, reform-minded and practical. Alderman Toni Preckwinkle is all three, and she will receive our votes.

This weekly, which we understand publishes news every day, is growing in popularity in the South Suburbs of Chicago. Park Forest is on the map again.

I think they made a wise move with their endorsement of Perwinkle.

Read the complete endorsement here.

We Should Be Thanking Dorothy Brown for ‘Jeans Days’

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Tribune:

Democratic Cook County Board president candidate Dorothy Brown today tried to move past an employee "jeans day" controversy that’s dogging her campaign by providing records she said shows the money was accounted for.

Brown, the county circuit court clerk, said the $2 or $3 that employees paid to wear jeans on some Fridays has gone to charities including the American Heart Association, a Hurricane Katrina victims fund and a Pakistan earthquake victims fund.

"It is unfortunate that this innocent practice that helps so many causes is being subverted and maligned by some members of the media," said Brown at a lengthy news conference. (You can read her documents by clicking here.)

Questions about jeans day follow previous stories about Brown raising money for pet causes from workers in her office, which has more than 2,100 employees. She’s also raised campaign money through her employees and they’ve been asked to contribute to gifts for her.

Today, Brown’s staff acknowledged that there’s no comprehensive accounting of the jeans day cash contributions that reach the tens of thousands of dollars each year. She said the office tries to verify that the number of permission stickers issued equals the number of contributions. Employees also are supposed to write their names on envelopes when they contribute for jeans day, she said. The comptroller in her office tracks the money, Brown added.

According to documents Brown’s staff provided, nearly $23,000 was spent last year from the employee appreciation fund, accumulated with jeans days’ contributions, to pay for an the annual appreciation dinner held at a union hall. She provided an overall accounting, canceled checks and bank account statements.

In any other season that does not begin with the word "election," Dorothy Brown would be, and should be, praised. But this is election season, and the worst dirt Toni Preckwinkle can unearth in Dorothy Brown’s professional career is the fact that she collects donations from staff for the privilege of wearing jeans, and the money goes to charity, or to a fund that can be used to show appreciation to employees.

What a great idea.

This tells me that, outside a campaign, both of these candidates are wonderful people.

Are you at that point yet where you’re wishing it was already February 3, 2010?

We haven’t even seen the deluge of commercials all the candidates are waiting to unleash closer to election day…

Poll Shows Quinn, Hynes in Democratic Dead Heat

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Tribune:

The Democratic governor primary is a toss-up between Gov. Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes as controversy over an inmate early release program and an imploding state budget cut into the governor’s once-sizable advantage, a Tribune/WGN-TV poll has found.

On the Republican side, three candidates are in a tight battle ahead of the Feb. 2 primary. Former state GOP Chairman Andy McKenna, former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan and state Sen. Kirk Dillard lead the field, but none reached 20 percent, according to the new poll.

The results show that with an early primary election coming little more than a month after the new year, candidates who placed a premium on extensive and expensive TV advertising are seeing dividends as prospective voters began tuning in to the upcoming election.

Each of the surveys, conducted Jan. 16-20, also indicate that results for this primary could depend on last-minute voter appeals through TV, radio and campaign get-out-the-vote efforts.

Among Democrats, Quinn’s better than 2-to-1 lead over Hynes in a Tribune survey six weeks ago has evaporated amid concerns about the unelected incumbent’s ability to handle the job. The poll of 601 likely Democratic voters showed Quinn with 44 percent and Hynes with 40 percent — within the survey’s 4 percentage point error margin. Thirteen percent of the voters were undecided.

While the gap has narrowed, I believe those four points are significant. Both of these candidates have character. I still favor Quinn.

Let Harold Washington Rest In Peace, Dan (Video)

Posted on by TL

I laughed so hard when I heard this today on WBBM. Harold Washington campaigns from beyond the grave for Dan Hynes.

Give me a break.

From the Sun-Times:

One of Chicago’s most iconic politicians, Mayor Harold Washington, surfaced from the grave Thursday to call his 1986 hiring of Gov. Quinn as city revenue director “perhaps my greatest mistake in government.”

Washington’s comments appear in a new ad by Comptroller Dan Hynes that debuted on Chicago television stations Thursday and could prove to be a defining moment in their bitter gubernatorial primary.

“I must have been blind or staggering,” Washington said in the ad, which uses archival video from a November 1987 WGN-TV interview of Washington. “I would never appoint Pat Quinn to do anything. Pat Quinn is a totally and completely undisciplined individual who thinks this government is nothing but a large easel by which he can do his PR work.”

Quinn, at that point an up-and-coming government reformer, was brought on by Washington in 1986 to clean up the city’s scandal-plagued Revenue Department. But Washington canned Quinn in June 1987, alleging that Quinn engaged in grandstanding and repeatedly ignored orders.

“He went in there like a bull in a closet, wouldn’t do what he was told, which was to put the systems in there which I had discussed thoroughly with him,” Washington said, showing flashes of anger as he spoke. “No, he thought that department was a PR plantation, and he didn’t do his work. He was dismissed. He should have been dismissed. My only regret is that we hired him and kept him too long.”

The ad’s emergence caused Quinn’s gubernatorial campaign to go into major damage control, quickly issuing a lengthy statement that disputed Washington’s assertion Quinn was dismissed and asserted the late mayor is “spinning in his grave today.”

Quinn’s camp also ridiculed Hynes’ use of Washington’s image when the comptroller’s father, Tom Hynes, left the Democratic Party to mount an unsuccessful, third-party bid to unseat Washington in 1987.

“It is outrageous that Dan Hynes is now invoking the name of Mayor Harold Washington in a blatant maneuver to mislead voters. That Dan Hynes would use a 24-year-old news clip of a beloved figure to attack Gov. Quinn shows there is no limit to his negative campaigning. There also is no limit to his hypocrisy,” Quinn spokeswoman Elizabeth Austin said in a statement.

This is insane.

Dan, Pat, I could give a care how bad you think the other guy is. Tell us what you bring to the job, not what the other guy lacks.

For the record, Harold Washington and Pat Quinn reconciled, and Quinn supported Washington after the events referenced in the commercial. It’s politics. That’s all.

That having been said, I’m voting for Quinn. I like both of them, but I like Pat Quinn for governor more.

Preckwinkle Tops in New Tribune Poll; Todd Stroger Comes In Fourth

Posted on by TL
Toni Preckwinkle

From NBC 5 Chicago:

Chicago Ald. Toni Preckwinkle has surged to a significant lead in the Democratic primary for Cook County Board president as she has become better known and liked among suburban voters, a Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.

Board President Todd Stroger fell to last place among the four candidates, his support dropping to 11 percent from 14 percent six weeks ago.

The Chicago Tribune adds more:

Board President Todd Stroger fell to last place among the four candidates, his support dropping to 11 percent from 14 percent six weeks ago.

During that time, Preckwinkle supplanted Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown as the front-runner with the support of 36 percent of likely Democratic voters, up from 20 percent, the poll found. Brown, who held a lead last month built upon her name recognition, fell from 29 percent to 24 percent.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O’Brien rose to 16 percent from 11 percent in the December poll.

The survey of 503 likely Democratic primary voters, conducted Jan. 16-20, found only 12 percent undecided in the contest, putting the onus on Preckwinkle’s opponents to use the final days of the campaign to try to take support away from her. The survey’s error margin was 4.4 percentage points.

I like what I hear of Preckwinkle, although I have to admit her attack ads on Dorothy Brown for holding jeans days to raise money for charity is stupid, stupid, stupid. Many schools, companies and governmental bodies hold jeans days and give the money to charity. It’s a healthy practice and good for morale. Preckwinkle needs to stop these ads already. They’re nothing but silly.

That having been said, understanding that so during elections just becomes infantile, I’m still leaning toward voting for Preckwinkle.