Category: Chicagoland

Mark Kirk Bumbles Again: Exaggerates Role in Berman Bill

October 18, 2010
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Yes, Mark Kirk did it again.

He claimed credit for something he did not do at all. Claimed credit for a bill the Democrats passed.

Mark Kirk claimed credit for a Democratic initiative.

Yet another Democratic wannabe.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Rep. Mark Kirk claims credit for being a driving force behind a bill signed into law this year that requires the president to crack down on companies doing business with Iran.

But the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Howard Berman, says Kirk is guilty of "exaggeration" when he says the "Kirk bill" became the "Berman bill" so it could pass the Democratic Congress.

"We didn’t even look at his legislation at the time," Berman said. "Our bill did so much more and went so far beyond his bill, I would have to put it in the context of an exaggeration."

Kirk told the Sun-Times editorial board last month, "The Iran Sanctions Bill, it was originally Kirk-Andrews, but if you were going to move it, that means you need to adjust to the power of the House. This legislation eventually became Howard Berman’s legislation, who is the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He had my full approval in moving that forward under his badge."

For years, Kirk has been an apostle of trying to hold Iran’s feet to the fire by choking off its supply of gasoline. He passed a resolution this year to do that — H.R. 3081. (His staff had inadvertently listed the resolution as 3801 — a bill dealing with mortgages — on his campaign website but corrected it Monday morning after a Sun-Times story was published.) Kirk is listed as a co-sponsor of Berman’s bill.

"There is no doubt that Mark was a committed person on this idea, which wasn’t his idea, it was out there in the press," Berman said. "He introduced legislation in the previous Congress on refined petroleum products. He did chair a group I occasionally went to, the Iran Working Group.

"The bill that I was involved with, we didn’t even look at his legislation at the time. It was a much broader bill than his bill and, in fact, we were persuaded that while the refined petroleum sanctions were valuable and useful, Iran has a way of reducing its reliance on imported petroleum."

Illinois, you need to get it. Mark Kirk is not your man.

Alexi Giannoulias is the only coherent vote for United States Senate.

NYTimes Explosive Report: Sam Zell’s Culture of Stupidity at the Tribune Company

October 6, 2010
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I heard Sam Zell speak a couple of years ago at the Inland Press Association’s Annual Meeting. He was funny. Seemed full of energy, off the cuff, eccentric.

An article in today’s New York Times reveals so much more, reporting on the bizarre culture Zell and those he has brought in have created at the Chicago Tribune and elsewhere at the Tribune Company.

Clearly, Zell is steering company into the ground.

From the NYTimes:

In January 2008, soon after the venerable Tribune Company was sold for $8.2 billion, Randy Michaels, a new top executive, ran into several other senior colleagues at the InterContinental Hotel next to the Tribune Tower in Chicago.

Mr. Michaels, a former radio executive and disc jockey, had been handpicked by Sam Zell, a billionaire who was the new controlling shareholder, to run much of the media company’s vast collection of properties, including The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, WGN America and The Chicago Cubs.

After Mr. Michaels arrived, according to two people at the bar that night, he sat down and said, “watch this,” and offered the waitress $100 to show him her breasts. The group sat dumbfounded.

“Here was this guy, who was responsible for all these people, getting drunk in front of senior people and saying this to a waitress who many of us knew,” said one of the Tribune executives present, who declined to be identified because he had left the company and did not want to be quoted criticizing a former employer. “I have never seen anything like it.”

The report goes downhill from there, where sexual harassment is justified as path to creative thinking, with disclaimers like this in the Tribune’s revised employee handbook:

“Working at Tribune means accepting that you might hear a word that you, personally, might not use,” the new handbook warned. “You might experience an attitude you don’t share. You might hear a joke that you don’t consider funny. That is because a loose, fun, nonlinear atmosphere is important to the creative process.” It then added, “This should be understood, should not be a surprise and not considered harassment.”

My jaw dropped several times reading this article. So sad. I don’t see how the Tribune can be taken seriously any more.

Todd Stroger Is There For You 24-9

October 5, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandCook CountyCrime and PunishmentDemocratic NewsElectionsEthicsIllinoisLiberals
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24-9: the new magic number to watch for in upcoming indictments.

A top aide to Cook County Board President Todd Stroger was arrested and charged Monday with several felonies relating to alleged money laundering and theft.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Carla Oglesby, Stroger’s deputy chief of staff, was taken into custody about 4 p.m. by members of the Cook County state’s attorney’s financial crimes unit, said Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.

Oglesby is charged with several felonies, including theft of government property over $100,000, money laundering and official misconduct.

“It’s in connection with the ongoing financial crimes investigation conducted by the state’s attorney’s office into the awarding of so-called 24-9 contracts,” Daly said.

The “24-9” reference is to contracts that fall below the $25,000 mark, the threshold requiring approval by the Cook County Board.

On Monday afternoon Oglesby was pulling out of a Loop parking garage when investigators — armed with an arrest warrant — stopped her vehicle and took her into custody, placing handcuffs on her before they drove her to a nearby police station.

Her attorney did not return a call for comment.

Todd Stroger could not be reached for comment either, the Sun-Times reports.

I remember when Todd Stroger was running to be elected to the seat his father held. I was at a meeting of a local township’s Democratic organization when a young college student asked the Democratic Committeeman if Stroger received the nod just because of his name. The committeeman responded with a lecture, “Young lady, you need to understand how things work.”

“How things work” at the time essentially meant “fall in line.” The young college student was too naive.

Weren’t we all…?

Toni Preckwinkle, clean up this mess. Please.

And work for the taxpayers of Cook County 24-7, not 24-9.

County Board Twits Can Continue to Tweet

September 28, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandConservativesCook CountyHumorRepublicans
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With all due respect and apologies to the Cook County Board for the title, I think it’s just too funny that this even came up for discussion. I would have loved to have been at the meeting only to hear Elizabeth Gorman call Tony Peraica a twit.

From the Chicago Tribune:

The electronic chirping can continue during Cook County Board meetings, as commissioners shot down a plan today to ban members from Tweeting during meetings.

Several members of the board’s Rules Committee expressed frustration with the messages Commissioner Tony Peraica sends out to followers of his Twitter account as debates rage. In the end, however, only Commissioner Joseph Moreno, D-Chicago, voted to prohibit the practice.

Commissioner Larry Suffredin, D-Evanston, said silencing the Tweets would infringe on board members’ freedom of speech. "In this situation, we are trying to limit First Amendment access — which has been guaranteed by both the federal and state constitution — between the elected officials and their constituents, and more importantly, between the constituents and the elected officials," Suffredin said.

Peraica, R-Riverside, was not on hand for the meeting, but his presence was felt throughout the debate.

"I’ll chime in, since I’ve been the target of erroneous tweets by the twit in question," said Commissioner Elizabeth Gorman, R-Orland Park.

Gorman said Peraica has inaccurately Tweeted about her positions on county issues, but she acknowledged it’s a "behavioral issue" that shouldn’t be outlawed.

Yes, there was actually action taken by the Cook County Board regarding Twitter.

I think I’ll have to Tweet this.

Former Cicero Town President Betty Loren-Maltese May Lose Home

September 23, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandCook CountyCrime and PunishmentEthicsHomelessnessLegalStrange
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Maltese home
(Photo: Cook County Public Auction Notice)

Betty Loren-Maltese may lose her home, but right now the auction is on hold.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

An attorney for former Cicero Town President Betty Loren-Maltese persuaded a federal judge today to postpone the auction of her Cicero home until she can challenge her 2002 corruption conviction.

The government was scheduled to auction her one-story brick home Thursday to recoup a portion of the $8.3 million in restitution that she owes.

But Judge John Grady granted a stay of the auction until Loren-Maltese can challenge her conviction based on the so-called "Skilling" defense, said her lawyer, Leonard C. Goodman.

"It’s been hard for her," Goodman said of his high-profile client, who was sentenced to a 97-month prison term in 2003 and was released to a halfway house in February. "She’s been trying to get steady work." Since her release to a halfway house, Loren-Maltese has worked as a restaurant hostess and written a blog.

Her attorneys are seeking to have her conviction thrown out based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s conviction for theft of honest services.

The high court found the honest-services fraud law was unconstitutionally vague and that violations must include acts of bribery or kickbacks.

I certainly don’t want to see anyone lose a home, but Betty was convicted. There’s no reason to say "alleged" here.

There was no minimum price set for the home, according to the notice.

Holiday Star Theater Operator Duped Park Forest, Officials Say

September 16, 2010
ChicagolandCrime and PunishmentJobs
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More on the mess in Park Forest due to a lapse at Matanky Realty (why, exactly, did they not perform a credit check on this man????):

A man who served 18 years in prison for fraud duped the village of Park Forest into letting him run The Holiday Star Theater by giving them a phony name, village officials said.

Kenneth Arron, of Lombard, was charged Thursday with felony forgery and fraud. He had operated the theater under the name Kenneth Yochelson for six months, village officials said.

Arron’s world allegedly unraveled during a traffic stop Monday morning. Police recognized him as the theater operator, but he “quickly admitted his legal name was not Kenny Yochelson,’’ village officials said in a written statement.

Arron admitted he used the Yochelson name because he feared his criminal background would keep him from doing business in the area, officials said.

Yoy.

And Double-Yoy.

As Pittsburgh’s Myron Cope would’ve said.

Yes, Mayor Daley Is Right to Move 200 Cops to the Streets

September 16, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandCook CountyCrime and PunishmentDemocratic NewsViolence
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Mayor Daley

Look: Yes, crime is a problem in Chicago.

No, it is not the fault of Mayor Daley.

No politician should have to deal with this much madness.

It is the fault of Chicago’s gangs.

So, I don’t quite understand the "controversy" in this story from the Chicago Sun-Times:

Mayor Daley said Thursday he wants to take the police out of community policing to put 200 more officers on the street.

Daley said Chicago’s Alternative Policing Strategy, known as CAPS, was conceived as a civilian-run program in the 1990s but now involves many more uniformed officers than was originally intended.

“Over 200 police officers or more were assigned to CAPS over years — lieutenants and sergeants and patrolmen. In some districts, they had 8 to 10 or 12 people assigned to CAPS. . . . All the sudden, a civilian thing  . . . went to a Police Department [program]. That was not the concept,” the mayor said.

The decision to yank the officers out of community policing comes three months after Daley asked Ron Holt, the police officer father of a 16-year-old gunned down on a CTA bus, to breathe new life into the CAPS program.

“When Ron took it over, he couldn’t believe how many police officers were assigned and transferred over many years into it. It became a huge amount of police officers,” the mayor said.

Good for "Da Mayor." This is a good move on his part.

Park Forest Theater Operator Was No Harold Hill

September 16, 2010
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Kenneth Arron
Kenneth Arron addresses the Park Forest Village Board as “Kenny Yochelson.” (Photo: ENEWSPF)

First, the sad news from ENEWSPF:

In the 1957 musical The Music Man, Professor Harold Hill arrives by train in River City Iowa and begins to work his a scam convincing parents he can teach their children music. At the end of the comedy when Hill’s fraud is exposed, parents and the town forgive Hill when they hear their children attempt to play Beethoven’s Minuet in G.

Officials in Park Forest are not laughing, however, at the fraud allegedly committed by Kenneth Arron, who represented himself to the community as Kenny Yochelson.

According to a press release from the Village of Park Forest, criminal charges were filed today against the operator of Holiday Star Theater in Park Forest.

Kenny Arron, who had presented himself as Kenny Yochelson since first approaching Park Forest officials in January about taking over the then?Eagle Theater, was arrested Monday, the release said.

Park Forest is a town that has struggled to regain a local business foothold for years. At one time the “Centre” of businesses in the south suburbs, Park Forest watched as businesses left for Matteson, IL, and then migrated north of Interstate 80. Many businesses have returned to Matteson, due, in no small part to the work of Park Forest’s current Director of Economic Development and Planning Hildy Kingma, who Park Forest wooed from Matteson where she worked in a similar capacity. Kingma was largely responsible for populating the plaza at the northwest corner of Cicero and Rt. 30 (Panera Bread, Borders, etc.).

However, current Matteson Village officials deserves credit too. Mayor Ashmore has worked hard to move Matteson from the red, and it looks like he will succeed. Matteson suffered much during the Great Bush Recession, drastically understimating the impact the Great Recession would have on its sales tax revenue.

All of that having been said, back to our topic.

Village Officials in Park Forest were “had” by a professional con-man. Kenneth Arron, a.k.a. “Kenny Yochelson,” represented himself as the answer to all of Park Forest’s woes. Declaring that Park Forest Village officials had their “heads up their ass,” Yochelson was actually contemplating a run for Village Trustee in Park Forest, according to a group on Facebook.

The problem?

‘Kenny Yochelson‘ does not exist.

His real name is Kenny Arron, and he is no Harold Hill.

Professor Harold Hill eventually discovered his conscience.

Kenneth Arron never did.

How sad for this man. According to the press release from Park Forest, he has spent 18 years, most of his adult life, behind bars.

How sad.

Park Forest deserves better.

I hope the Holiday Star Theater survives.

Park Forest deserves better.

Obama Sidesteps Senate Fight: Taps Elizabeth Warren to Launch Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

September 15, 2010
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From Lynn Sweet at the Chicago Sun-Times:

President Obama found a way Wednesday night to sidestep a Senate confirmation blockade and install Elizabeth Warren to launch the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Warren was the first to suggest that consumers needed a government watchdog to prevent financial institutions from exploiting and tricking their customers. HOPE SHE WORKS ON TRANSLATING the small print INTO PLAIN ENGLISH.

Thank you, President Obama!

And Lynn Sweet better add ENEWSPF as one of her Sweet Links after this post!

Family: Evanston Man Killed By Bomb Committed Suicide

September 15, 2010
ChicagoChicagolandEthicsIllinoisLegalViolence
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How sad.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The family of a man who died when a pipe bomb blew up in an Evanston park declared Wednesday that his death was a suicide.

“We are devastated that our beloved son, Colin Dalebroux, lost his 15-year battle with depression,’’ the family said in a statement issued through a school district in Madison, Wis., where the family lives. “We know that Colin committed suicide.’’

Evanston police, however, said Wednesday they weren’t ready to draw that same conclusion until further FBI forensic tests on the Dalebroux’s computers are completed.

Police did confirm that Dalebroux, 21, struggled with mental health issues, and said investigators will speak with his mental health providers.

Evanston Police Cmdr. Tom Guenther said Dalebroux was acting alone at the time of the incident.

“There is no immediate danger to the public,” he said in a statement.

How sad.