Category: Chicagoland

Giannoulias Says Family Bank Likely To Fail

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Tribune:

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias sought to blunt a potentially damaging political issue today about questions regarding his involvement in his family’s struggling bank, which he said he expects will likely fail in the coming months.

But questions were still left unanswered following a more than 70-minute meeting with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board. Among them were exactly what Giannoulias knew about convicted bookmaker Michael Giorango’s criminal past when he received loans from Broadway Bank, and how many of the bank’s troubled loans were made while Giannoulias was working there.


Giannoulias also sought to explain nearly $70 million the bank paid out in dividends to him and his family in recent years, saying $29 million of that was taken out of the bank to diversify the family’s investments.

Giannoulias said he didn’t see the bank’s financial situation getting better as the election progresses.

“It’s quite likely that the bank will fail,” he said. “I hope I’m wrong. I hope they can raise the capital to keep the bank going and they’re fighting hard to do so but it’s tough out there for a lot of banks of which Broadway Bank is not immune to these same challenges.”

Listen to the audio, courtesy of WGN radio, by clicking here.

Another bank failure wouldn’t be good for anyone at this point. In the context of a political campaign, I’m not sure I can trust the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board to be objective in their interpretation. Thanks to WGN for the audio link.

Comments?

Jacob B. Nodarse, 23, Suspect in Darien Killings in Custody

Posted on by TL

First from the Sun-Times:

A suspect in the triple murder of a family in west suburban Darien was arrested this afternoon in south Florida, authorities said.

Jacob Nodarse, 23, of Lemont, was sleeping in a van outside his parents’ house in Lehigh Acres, Fla., when police and deputy U.S. marshals arrested him at about 4 p.m. today, officials said.

Nodarse was the subject of a manhunt after Darien Police early today issued an alert that he might have fled to Florida in a BMW, which was found parked in his parents’ garage, authorities said.

Nodarse has been charged with obstruction of justice. Police would not say why they believe he is a suspect in the fatal shootings early Tuesday of Jeffrey R. Kramer, 50, his wife Lori L. Kramer, 48, and their 20-year-old son Michael J. Kramer.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Shortly after the arrest in Florida, four police cars pulled up to a building in Countryside where records show Nodarse once lived. About half a dozen police officers in bullet-proof vests entered the building, breaking down a door.

Nodarse’s grandmother, Ingrid Kampe, 64, of Tinley Park, was shocked at news of the arrest.

She said they had just had dinner together at a steakhouse on Sunday "and he seemed fine, he seemed really good" and didn’t act out of the ordinary at all. She described him as kind, quiet and mild-mannered.

"He’s got a heart of gold," Kampe said.

Earlier today, Hamilton County sheriff’s police had searched a stretch of rural highway in northern Florida after cell phone signals indicated he was there.

But deputies reported back to Darien police that they found nothing. "They gave us a location where the car may be located. We checked every location in the area and haven’t found anything," said Hamilton County Sheriff J. Harrell Reid.

And it’s at this point that I’ll stress everyone arrested in this country is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

What a horrible tragedy.

No, I Cannot Afford Your $100-A-Ticket Political Fundraiser

Posted on by TL
$100 bill

No, I cannot afford your $100 political fundraiser.

To all the pols out there cluttering my mailbox, inbox and voicemail, save your money. What were you thinking? Don’t invite me to your fundraiser unless the ticket price is much more reasonable.

Please, take a lesson from Barack Obama. Make your fundraisers affordable for the average person. Forget this over-priced nonsense. No, it’s not worth my while to pay $100 so I can shake hands with Speaker Michael Madigan for two seconds.

I know it takes a lot of money to run a campaign, but it takes votes to win one.

To those of you who are holding fundraisers with reasonable ticket prices, thank you. The recession hit me hard, and I’m thinking twice or thrice before I write a check or tap out a credit card number these days. I’ll give what I’m able to those of you who made modest requests.

I’m finished with my rant now. Thank you for listening.

Patronage Forever: Cicero Taxpayers Still Paying Health Insurance for Loren-Maltese’s Mom

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Tribune:

The mother of former Cicero Town President Betty Loren-Maltese continues to receive health care benefits from the town, even though coverage should have expired when she stepped down as a member of a town commission in 2001.

Kitty Loren, 88, who served on the town’s Police and Fire Commission for 10 years, said today that she is covered by the town and provided documents to the Tribune indicating she currently is in a plan for retirees over 65.

"Betty set up the insurance for me," said Loren at her home in Alabaster, Ala., today. "Nobody ever took it away from me. I didn’t know that I wasn’t supposed to have it."

A town spokesman said the town does offer health care to individuals who serve on commissions and boards, but the coverage ends when their terms are completed.

The spokesman, Ray Hanania, said he "is concerned" and doesn’t know why Loren is getting insurance from the town but said he needs more time to look into the matter.

That’s one way to add to the tax levy.

Patronage never pays.

Police Say Woman Ran Over Cop After Chase and Crash

Posted on by TL

Ouch.

From the Sun-Times:

A Back of the Yards neighborhood woman has been charged with three felonies, two misdemeanors and issued six traffic tickets after she allegedly struck an officer with a vehicle following a chase and crash early Saturday on the Southwest Side.

Police fired shots at the woman, but she was not struck by the police gunfire. She was hospitalized after being Tasered following the crash. The officer struck by the vehicle was also injured, police said.

Rosa Gutierrez, 31, of the 5000 block of South Hoyne Avenue, was charged Saturday one count each of felony aggravated battery to a police officer, felony possession of a controlled substance, felony aggravated fleeing an accident with bodily injury, misdemeanor driving under the influence and misdemeanor resisting/obstructing a peace officer, according to a police statement.

Officers responded about midnight to a report of shots fired near South Kedzie Avenue and West 60th Street and saw a vehicle matching the description of a dispatch report fleeing the scene, police News Affairs Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti said.

The officers activated their emergency equipment and attempted to curb the vehicle, but the motorist — identified in the statement as Gutierrez — refused to stop and committed multiple traffic violations in an attempt to elude police, Ursitti said.

The vehicle eventually crashed into a residential garage in the 4100 block of West Marquette Avenue at 12:07 p.m., police said. When officers approached, Gutierrez allegedly reversed the vehicle into an officer, prompting another officer to fire shots at Gutierrez, police said.

The officer was taken to a local hospital, treated, and released.

To Scott Lee Cohen: Bond With Your Kids, Drop Out of the Race for Lt. Gov.

Posted on by TL
scott lee cohen

The Chicago Sun-Times says it has a source who tells them the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor Scott Lee Cohen is looking for an honorable way to withdraw from the general election.

That’s the good news in a week when we learned some very, very bad things about Scott Lee Cohen.

Facing intense and mounting pressure to step aside, embattled Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor Scott Lee Cohen is seeking an “honorable way” out, a Cohen campaign source said tonight.

Cohen, who mostly kept out of the public eye today, said as recently as Thursday that he had no plans to quit. But with Democrats across the state urging him to re-think that decision, Cohen appears to be concerned how revelations about his private life might hurt the Democratic party.

Close advisers have been trying to convince Cohen to “do the right thing,” warning that he could be blamed for “bringing down the party” by remaining a candidate, the campaign source said.

Cohen could not be reached for comment tonight. His staff has said he plans to speak tonight to the media at a downtown night club — where a table was roped off and waiting for him at 8 p.m.

This morning, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin called on Cohen to step aside, and several local women’s groups blasted the media and Cohen’s political opponents for “burying” and “ignoring” domestic violence issues.

“I’ve heard enough,” Durbin said. “And if there’s more — I don’t know what it might be — but I’ve heard enough to suggest that he should have not run for office.”

The senator added: “He really should spare himself, and his friends and family what he’s about to go through. I’m afraid the disclosures so far really disqualify him.”

I’ve stayed away from this one. Last night I watched WTTW’s Phil Ponce grill Cohen and his ex-wife on Chicago tonight. Generally amenable and courtly when he interviews, last night was the closest I’ve seen Ponce get to taking the gloves off. I felt for Cohen and ex-wife Debra York-Cohen, but I couldn’t help thinking that these two polite adults on WTTW were at each other’s throats just a short time ago. Ponce aired more dirt about the former couple than I cared to hear.

This is bad.

I also thought of former U.S. Senate candidate Jack Ryan, who saw records from his 1999 divorce from actress Jeri Ryan become public knowledge in 2004. Insiders with the Obama for Senate campaign told me Barack had no desire to use any personal information like this against Jack Ryan. The Obama campaign knew there were issues with the divorce, but then-candidate Obama ordered that the campaign focus on public issues, not issues personal to Ryan and his family. I believed them at the time, and I still do.

The Chicago Tribune and WLS-TV sought to have the divorce records opened. Eventually, we learned more than we ever cared to learn about Jack and Jeri Ryan and their tepid break-up, and none of that really mattered at all. Voyeurism got the better of the media, and many of the records were ordered unsealed by the court. What happened to Jack Ryan was unfair.

In October 2004, Jack Ryan told the Dartmouth Independent, “What was totally unprecedented in US politics is a paper suing to get access to sealed custody documents, sealed divorce records. No real precedent for that happening. Senator Kerry, for instance, has sealed divorce records and they’re not asking him to turn them over. After I dropped out of the race, people would say, “Hey, since Senator Kerry has sealed divorce records and they sued to have yours opened, in fairness, shouldn’t they sue to have Senator Kerry’s records opened?” And I said absolutely not. That’s the exact wrong thing to do. Just because it happened to me, it doesn’t mean that it should be the new standard. This is the new low for politics in America.” (Emphasis added)

Jack Ryan was right, but the media’s sanctimony and puritanical nature prevailed.

The circumstances with Scott Lee Cohen are much worse, however. Allegations of missed child support payments, domestic abuse and steroid use make the Ryans’ story look like a fairy tale wedding. According to the Sun-Times, as recently as two months ago, Cohen owed his ex-wife $54,000 in back child support payments. He also had to explain his October 2005 arrest, ” when he was accused of domestic battery. His accuser was his live-in girlfriend, who had been arrested on a prostitution charge earlier that year. She was later convicted,” the Sun-Times reports.

There has been a fair amount of finger-pointing throughout Illinois over this election. Why did we not know any of this during the campaign? Where was the media? Isn’t Carol Marin supposed to find out all of these things and tell us in her Sunday column? Cohen and his ex-wife insist it was all “out there,” but, if it was, no one paid attention. None of us paid attention. Maybe the media was preoccupied watching Todd Stroger’s ship sink. Perhaps the media was enthralled with the numerous races for governor. To tell you the truth, I hardly gave the race for lieutenant governor any thought at all. What does the lieutenant governor do anyhow?

Nothing. Except wait to be governor. And we all know now that can happen.

I vow in the future to do my own work vetting candidates for lieutenant governor candidates, but a late-night promise won’t do any of us any good right now.

They’re more important than anything.

Do I want a lieutenant governor who admits he used steroids to such a degree that he allegedly became violent and unpredictable. Am I comfortable with a man arrested on a domestic abuse charge even if he was never convicted?

No. No way.

Is Scott Lee Cohen electable in November?

No. Not now. Not at all.

Scott, whatever face you have left after this, save it. No one is asking you to “go gentle into that good night,’ but we do ask that you go.

I hope that Scott Lee Cohen and his ex-wife find some peace after all the dust has settled. I hope Scott Lee Cohen does the right thing and establishes a plan to get current with his child support payments. Anyone who can afford to drop $2 million of his own money on an election can afford to give his ex-wife $54,000 and then some for his children. Scott, pay up, get to know your children better. Bond with them. They’re more important than any elected office. They’re more important than $54,000.  They’re even more important than $2 million.

Alert: Police Locate Vehicle of Missing Park Forest Woman

Posted on by TL

From ENEWSPF:

Deputy Chief Mike McNamara said in a statement Friday that the vehicle driven by Dana Hayes, who is missing from her Park Forest home, was located by members of the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force in Harvey last night. The vehicle was unoccupied and there were no signs of foul play. However, Ms. Hayes has not contacted her family since Monday morning.

She is considered a missing/endangered person, McNamara said in the statement.

Related: Police and South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force Seek Missing Park Forest Woman

The related story is from eNews Park Forest.

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.