Category: Chicagoland

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.

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.

Would You Kill For Drew Peterson?

Posted on by TL

Drew Peterson’s stepbrother, Thomas Morphey (left), took the stand Thursday in a hearing to decide whether prosecutors can use ‘hearsay’ evidence.

I shudder just to write that headline. Hearing a question like that from someone I’m close to would really give me pause.

Drew Peterson allegedly said something like that to his stepbrother.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

A day before Stacy Peterson vanished, Drew Peterson confided that his fourth wife was seeking a divorce — then asked a startling question, Thomas Morphey testified Thursday.

“How much do you love me?” Peterson asked, according to Morphey, his stepbrother. “Enough to kill for me?”

Their Oct. 27, 2007, conversation left Morphey shaken — and convinced that Peterson was planning to kill his 23-year-old wife, Morphey said.

Those fears grew a day later when Drew Peterson asked for help in moving a 3 1/2-foot-tall blue barrel out of his Bolingbrook home, particularly when Morphey picked up one end of the 140-pound container.

“It felt warm,” said Morphey, whose courtroom statements closely followed information he provided in an exclusive 2008 interview that ran in the Chicago Sun-Times. He said in that interview he believes Stacy Peterson’s body was in the plastic container he helped Peterson carry out of the house on Oct. 28, 2007.

The Sun-Times reports that Morphey acknowledged he was so upset by his actions that he took an overdose of prescription drugs the next day in a suicide attempt. He said he was contacted by police investigators after being released from the hospital and provided them information about Peterson’s alleged actions.

Innocent until proven guilty, and I hope the court does everything possible to ensure this is a fair trial.

Because it’s going to be incredibly ugly.

More here at the Sun-Times.

It’s On: Hynes Calls Quinn a Liar

Posted on by TL

From NBC Chicago:

Gov Pat Quinn says a new television ad from his Democratic opponent reminds him of when President Obama was heckled during an address to Congress.

"I think that just is not a good way to go in a democracy. I believe in civility and decency. I’m going to run a positive campaign," Quinn said Friday.

In the ad, Comptroller Dan Hynes says Quinn "is lying" about the early prison release program.

In the Quinn ad, the narrator says the governor supports moving some non-violent criminals to half-way houses so prison space can be used to house the state’s most violent offenders.

It’s on, South-Park-style.

Let’s remember as this madness continues that both of these guys are good men, both men of good character.

Through February 2, however, they’ll both be acting like characters.

Gentlemen, please, under no circumstances are you permitted to say in an ad, "What’s he thinking?"

If you do, I won’t vote the office at all.

Schools Supt. Charles Flowers Charged With Theft

Posted on by TL

Charles Flowers, superintendent of the Suburban Cook County Regional Office of Education, is led toward the Cook County sheriff’s office this afternoon after being arrested by Cook County state’s attorney investigators in Maywood.

"Lead us not into temptation." –The Lord’s Prayer

Kudos to the Southtown Star:

Regional Supt. Charles Flowers was charged today with theft by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

The arrest comes after a yearlong investigation by the Southtown Star into operations of Suburban Cook County Regional Office of Education.

Flowers turned himself in about 1 p.m. to sheriff’s police in Maywood. He was accompanied by his attorney, Tim Grace.

At a news conference this afternoon, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said Flowers is charged with felony theft and official misconduct. She said he faces a prison term of four to seven years if convicted.

"Just when you think you may have seen it all, along comes a case like this one today that just shocks you with the level of egregious conduct that is involved," Alvarez said.

Flowers is in custody pending a bond hearing Friday morning in a Maywood courtroom.

Temptation is an ugly thing. It’s so hard to resist. No doubt that’s one of the reasons mention of temptation found its way into The Lord’s Prayer.

There’s an old Christian teaching about an ‘occasion of sin.’ While often associated with Catholic sisters and priests on dance floors telling dancing teens to separate, there’s actually a lot of wisdom to this one. There’s a lot of wisdom is setting up boundaries in an office to isolate oneself from temptation. In generic accounting terminology, we might talk about setting up internal audits.

It may be too late for Regional Supt. Charles Flowers. He is innocent until proven guilty. For anyone else in elected office, this is a sobering lesson.

Set up checks and balances so neither you, or those you hire, will be tempted, and, heaven help us, give in to temptation.

More at the Star.

Chicago Tribune Endorses Toni Preckwinkle … For Reform; I’m Listening

Posted on by TL

I was persuaded by Dorothy Brown, but I am fearful that she is just too much part of the old pseudo-Democratic order: Those Who Just Want To Be Elected.

I’m intrigued by the Chicago Tribune’s endorsement of Toni Preckwinkle for Cook County Board President.

Hmmmmm.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Most of the Illinois Democrats who endorsed Stroger in 2006, from Congress to state government to City Hall, wriggled away long ago. They’re frantic to forget that they wholly own Stroger and his reign — even if they didn’t formally sign off on his Friends and Family Hiring Extravaganza, that felonious steakhouse busboy included.

This year’s primary gives Democrats a do-over. We hope they dump Stroger and instead nominate the honorable and no-nonsense Chicago alderman — yes, there are some — who offers her party its best hope of redemption after the Stroger humiliations.

Toni Preckwinkle, a University of Chicago-educated history teacher turned South Side politico, isn’t a household name in much of Cook County. But she has built an impressive city-suburban alliance of African-American, Latino and white supporters. And on the signature issue in this campaign for many voters, yes, she says she would retire the second half of the 2008 sales tax increase that Stroger engineered.

We think Preckwinkle has the best potential of the three Democrats challenging Stroger to deliver on his badly broken promises for a streamlined and modernized County Building. Appearing before our editorial board, she was the only one of the four to say she would fully protect the independence of the panel that now runs the county’s health care system. That’s crucial: Keeping that system out of the mitts of County Board members, the board president and other bosses is the only hope that patients and taxpayers have for good health services delivered economically.

Interesting.

Read the rest here at the Trib.

Interesting.