Chicagoland Archives - Page 16 of 27

Jennifer Clark, Mother of Three, Killed at Party

Posted on November 3, 2009 by TL

This is wrong any way you look at it. A young mother of three lost her life Sunday in Chicago.

Jennifer Clark had three children at a young age but tried hard to improve her prospects, continuing her education after high school and working as a home health-care aide.

Her life ended early Sunday in a hail of bullets at a West Side party. Clark, 24, died of a gunshot wound to the chest when someone fired into a party at Hau’t Sneakers and Gear, 5360 W. Division.

Police said the shooting happened about 1:05 a.m. after a man was asked to leave the event for "rude behavior." Once outside, the man filed several shots through the door, hitting Clark and a 16-year-old girl, said Police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak.

The teenager was wounded on the bottom of her left foot and was in serious condition at West Suburban Medical Center, Oak Park. The Cook County medical examiner’s office said Clark, of the 3200 block of West Crystal, was pronounced dead at 1:41 a.m. at Mount Sinai Hospital.

All because a dude was asked to leave a party.

Dude, you gotta step up. A woman lost her life because your pride was hurt.

And three children lost their mother.

Dude, you gotta step up.

Rep. Danny Davis Goes Overboard Filing for Office

Posted on November 2, 2009 by TL

Look: Decide what office you want to run for, and go for it.

Don’t play games with the voters, like Danny Davis.

From the Southtown Star:

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis has officially filed paperwork for two positions in the February primary election, saying he’s still unsure which race he’ll pursue.

The Chicago Democrat today submitted his petition for re-election to his 7th congressional district post. Last week, he submitted a petition for Cook County board president.

Davis has until next Monday to drop out of one of the races.

Is Rep. Davis confused? We know how this is going to end. Rep. Davis will drop out of the race for Cook County board president, and run for and be re-elected to Congress.

Someone else must defeat Todd Stroger.

And Todd Stroger must be defeated.

For the good of Cook County.

Woman Robbed While Urinating in Public; Witness Also a Urinator

Posted on November 2, 2009 by TL

I would love to talk to the officer who wrote this one up.

From ENEWSPF:

A woman reported two bags stolen from a bench at the bus stop at the corner of Victory Drive and Main Street shortly after 10 p.m. on October 23. According to the complainant, she stated that after getting off the bus, she set her bags down on the bench at the bus stop, and went into the bushes to urinate, leaving her bags unattended. When she came out of the bushes, she noticed that her bags had been taken from the bus stop bench, and observed a black female dressed in a dark hooded sweatshirt walking away from the bench with her bags. Another passenger on the bus reported that he also got off the bus, went into the bushes to urinate, and saw a woman dressed in dark clothing take the two bags from the bench.

First, I cannot imagine myself ever witnessing a crime and having to tell the officer taking the report that I was in the bushes taking care of urinating — at least not since my college days.

The victim and the witness were not ticketed for “pubic elimination of bodily waste,” as the charge would stand (and even that sounds funny), most likely because of the theft.

Still, I think I’ll to avoid that bus stop.

Matteson Mayor Was Wrong to Fire Haney

Posted on October 30, 2009 by TL

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when I read this in the Southtown Star:

Matteson village administrator Napoleon Haney was let go this week after just four months on the job.

Haney, who had a four-year, $120,000 per-year contract was hired in June.

“I don’t really know (why this happened),” Haney said Thursday. “I was called in, and the mayor informed me that my contract was terminated.”

Haney said there was a provision in his contract that he could be terminated without cause.

Haney, who moved his family from Reno, Nev., and bought a house in Matteson in late July, said he thought he was on the right track.

“I thought I was. I came from a large city. My goal was to bring added value to the community,” he said.

Mayor Andre Ashmore did not return messages left for him.

Daley Blames Houlihan for Tax Hikes; Look in Mirror, Richie

Posted on October 28, 2009 by TL

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley wasted no time pointing hizzoner’s finger at Cook County Tax Assessor Jim Houlihan over this year’s sharp spike in property taxes. But his wag of the finger ignores a $65 million City Hall property tax increase passed two years ago.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Mayor Richard Daley on Tuesday tried to offer up a scapegoat for the puzzle of why property tax bills are soaring as home values are plummeting: Cook County Assessor James Houlihan.

As he promoted a modest city tax relief program, Daley also lashed out at the assessor, accusing him of not doing his part to keep a lid on tax bills expected to arrive in mailboxes the next few days.

"The thing I can’t understand (is) this whole assessment deal," the mayor said. "Now, no one’s value is going up in the city. … I’m asking him how he does it."

Despite the attack, Daley didn’t make clear how the assessor could have acted legally to alter the trajectory of the latest round of bills. The mayor also did not mention that new bills to Chicago residents reflect a $65 million City Hall property tax increase passed two years ago but that’s only showing up now. Houlihan spokesman Eric Herman blamed big hikes largely on the General Assembly’s decision to phase out a program designed to soften the effect on taxes of soaring property values earlier this decade. "This idea somehow that we’re going around jacking up everybody’s assessments is just fiction," Herman said.

The finger-pointing took place after Houlihan released new data showing that homeowners across much of the city and county can expect to be hard hit by the latest installment of tax bills.

Mayor Daley has been around long enough to know exactly "how [Houlihan] does it." These assessments the tax bills are based on are already two years old, according to the Tribune, "The latest round of bills actually reflects 2008 taxes. For city neighborhoods, those bills were calculated using assessment values from 2006."

Then the bottom dropped out:

The bubble burst last year, too late to be factored into the tax bills that West Garfield Park homeowners have to pay this year. "We are legally prohibited from using current market conditions to go back and change assessments for a previous year," [Houlihan spokesman Eric] Herman said.

Houlihan said the legislature must shoulder responsibility. From the Sun-Times:

"This is a direct result of Speaker Madigan’s phaseout of the 7 percent homeowner exemption," Houlihan said. "This is the one thing that worked. For the first three years, when it was really going, it protected homeowners. I met with the mayor and urged him to go to Springfield and try to reverse that. The budget indicates how serious the problem is: The mayor has $35 million to deal with that."

Daley supported the "7 percent" cap on property tax increases, but a $65 million property tax increase from Chicago’s City Hall does make a difference, and the mayor owes it to the citizens of Chicago to admit that.

Read more here at the Trib, and read more here read more here from the Sun-Times.

Owners of Original Mother’s Bar Urged to Apologize After Blocking Black Students

Posted on October 24, 2009 by TL

Some people say even bad news is good news, because any news means free advertising.

I don’t buy that. One Gold Coast bar in Chicago has some powerful civil rights groups creating bad press all around.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Two Chicago civil rights groups on Friday called for formal apologies and retraining for employees at a popular Gold Coast bar, citing allegations that six black college students were prevented from entering last weekend because their pants were too baggy while white friends with similar clothing were admitted.

The Anti-Defamation League and the Chicago Urban League made their request in a letter to the owners of the Original Mother’s bar at 26 W. Division St.

"We strongly suggest that Mother’s re-examine its dress code, conduct immediate retraining of all employees to avoid any future racial discrimination or appearance thereof, and issue a formal letter of apology to the six students who were denied entry," the letter read.

A public apology would be the best thing right now. This part of the story is especially interesting:

The black students offered to change clothes in their hotel, but the bar told them it wouldn’t matter, students said. They also said a white student traded pants with a black student and got into the bar without trouble.

Ouch. A white student got into the bar without trouble? Dressed like that?

Ouch.

Sympathy for the Devil: James Degorski Spared the Death Penalty

Posted on October 20, 2009 by TL

From the Chicago Tribune:

A Cook County jury today spared James Degorski of the death penalty three weeks after he was convicted in the murders of seven workers at the Brown’s Chicken restaurant in Palatine in 1993.

He will be sentenced to life in prison.

The jury began deliberations at about 12:20 p.m. after hearing closing arguments from lawyers on both sides.

Degorski, 37, is charged with killing seven workers in the suburban restaurant 16 years ago in an attempt "to do something big." His co-defendant and high school friend, Juan Luna, was sentenced to life in prison two years ago for the murders.

"He slaughtered them that night," Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Tom Biesty said in his closing. "He wanted to do something big and he wanted to be famous. Well, he did do something big and he is famous…and now it’s his judgment day."

In rebuttal, Mark Levitt, a senior Cook County assistant public defender, encouraged jurors to look deep into their hearts and give Degorski a life sentence instead of death.

"Finding mercy where it shouldn’t exist is exactly what mercy is," said Levitt, who spoke in a soft tone during closing arguments and referred to Degorski as "Jim."

Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Tom Biesty pulled out all the stops, mixing crime scene pictures with photographs of the victims smiling, according to the report. Family members wept as images of loved ones flashed on the screen.

But the Public Defender Mark Levitt won the day, especially after recounting Degorski’s childhood:

In his closing arguments, public defender Levitt recounted the convicted murderer’s abusive childhood abd showed school-age photos of Degorski and his four siblings while recalling the sexual and physical abuse they suffered at their father’s hand. Levitt portrayed Degorski as a young child willing to take extra blows in the hopes of protecting his siblings, a role that left him with deep psychological wounds.

At moments, a typically stone-faced Degorski swallowed hard and looked away as Levitt described a tyrannical and sexually-perverse father. Levitt said his client suffers from neurological problems, was in special education classes from an early age and wet his bed until the age of 14.

Another violent chapter in the Brown’s Chicken murders comes to a close.

I can’t help thinking how violence begets violence, considering Degorski’s childhood. From that violent past, seven more lives lost.

From WGN as the jurors heard closing arguments:

Roseanne Rosanadana on Smoking and The Hasty Heart

Posted on October 17, 2009 by TL

A little blast from the past. I always liked Gilda Radner.

I actually dropped over at the SNL site because I was looking for, "If it isn’t Scottish, it’s crap!" But I couldn’t find it there. I just came from an awesome performance of The Hasty Heart at Marian Catholic High School. Honestly, these kids were awesome. I was expecting over-acting or melodrama. Sorry, call that my prejudice with high school performances.

Instead, I found acting.

This performance was particularly awesome. Really gripping. And, if you see it at the Sunday matinee, you’ll understand my very weak allusion to that old SNL skit.

The kids are going to compete with this performance, and I look forward to hearing good things.

I was particularly impressed.

At any rate, enjoy Gilda. I really loved Gilda.

Ramiro Guevara, 17, Shot and Killed in Chicago Club

Posted on October 15, 2009 by TL

Sad news out of Chicago.

From the Chicago Tribune:

A 17-year-old boy was shot to death this morning in a Logan Square neighborhood nightclub, police said.

Police were notified about the shooting at about 2 a.m. inside the V Live night club at 2047 N. Milwaukee Avenue, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro.

Ramiro Guevara got into an argument with another man inside the nightclub, and the other man pulled out a handgun and started firing, Alfaro said. Alfaro said Guevara was shot in the head, but a police source said Guevara was shot in the back.

The shooter fled the nightclub, and no one was in custody this morning, Alfaro said.

As always, our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim. If anyone knows anything, please step up and contact the Chicago Police Department. You can also use your cellphone to TEXT a crime TIP.

CTA Cutting Service, Raising Fares

Posted on October 13, 2009 by TL

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The CTA’s plan to cut service dramatically and raise fares as high as $3 for express bus and rapid transit service is “very, very ugly,” but so is the 30 percent drop-off in local tax revenue that created the crisis, Mayor Daley said Tuesday.

Although the plan to erase a $300 million shortfall was crafted by the mayor’s handpicked CTA president, Daley stopped short of giving it his blessing in an apparent attempt to avoid taking the blame.

“No. This is only proposed. And like anything else, that’s the last resort. No one wants to see fare increases or service cuts. But they are in a very difficult position,” the mayor said.

“When you raise fares, it drives people away. You know that. That’s why they’re coming up with every form of cost savings . . . to keep the CTA reasonable and fair to everyone….You have to analyze everything and try to come up with some new solutions, if it’s possible.”

A $300 million shortfall is unconscionable.

The Great Recession.

Everything must change.