Second City Cop

• The trial for the two remaining defendants in my brother's murder (P.O. Alex Valadez 9534 - EOW 01 June 2009) will commence on Monday, September 30th. Opening statements will begin at 1000 - 26/Cal room 606.
  
  Any officers that attend in uniform are asked to please cover up their shirts so that the defense doesn't find anything to use against us.
  
  Thanks.

Labels: officer down

• The 19th district ran out of cops again, entering "Radio Assignment Pending" status at 2:43 this morning. The RAP was lifted at 6:18AM.
  
  Six of the district's 15 police beats did not have cars assigned to them, according to an online report. Who makes the schedule around here? You're having people robbed and beaten every Friday and Saturday night for months, if not years, yet they decide a Friday night is the right time to have nearly 50% of the district's beat cars unmanned?
  
  It actually seems like the 19th district leadership intentionally understaffs busy nights in order to reduce the number of officers available to record the crap that is going on.
  
  And then, there's this:
  
  While common citizens were being robbed and enduring long waits for the police, one 19th district resident enjoyed premium police service.
  
  At 4:06AM, a 19th district car that is assigned to park in the alley behind Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home reported "suspicious activity."
  
  A white male walked through a gate a couple of doors away. The officer reported that the man was "knocking on a door, coughing and stuff."
  
  Within 45 seconds, another police unit was told to go to the mayor's alley to help deal with the "suspicious man." At the same time another 19th district car that is assigned to the mayor's house also moved in on the suspicious man.
  
  Friends, neighbors, you can relax. The mayor is safe. The "suspicious man" was setting up for a Saturday morning yard sale. Don't you beating victims feel stupid for trying to suck police protection away from important matters like suspicious yard sale set-up?

Labels: un-fucking-believable

• The United States Federal Reserve announced last week that it would not draw down its 85ドル billion-a-month bond-buying program (i.e. no "tapering"). The Fed made the announcement at precisely 2:00 p.m. EST, "as measured by the national atomic clock."
  
  However, just seven milliseconds after the Fed made its announcement, the Chicago exchanges went crazy with huge orders. Seven milliseconds.
  
  The Fed’s decision, as always, was closely guarded before it was announced.
  
  How did Chicago react so quickly?

Labels: scandals

• This year's Taste of Chicago turned a profit for the city for the first time since 2007, officials said.
  The festival earned 272,000ドル in profit, one year after losing 1ドル.3 million, according to the city.
  Officials estimated that the festival brought 106ドル million in total business activity to the Chicago economy, according to a release from the Mayor's Press Office. Estimates are that the festival also drew 2ドル.35 million in tax receipts for the city, officials said.

Labels: money questions

• The ABC7 I-Team has learned that one of Chicago's most popular entertainment corridors is getting some special police attention, and it's a direct result of the violence that followed the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup victory.
  
  The nastiness on North Clark that night the Blackhawks won the cup marred an otherwise spectacular sports event. But now because of the violence of June 24, Chicago police will be putting their foot down, literally, with the addition of an old fashioned walking patrol on Clark Street.
  
  The newly-deployed cop on Clark started last week and will be assigned to a foot patrol every evening.

• The Blackhawks win the Cup on 24 June;
• The I-Team reports on 26 September that this foot patrol began last week

Labels: media, silly people

• With backing from the local alderwoman and money from City Hall, a new liquor store opened earlier this year in South Austin -- one more purveyor of alcohol, cigarettes and lottery tickets in a neighborhood desperate for something more.
  
  Informing the original backer of the store that he would be getting 105,000ドル in city funds, a letter from the Department of Community Development exclaimed: "Thank you for reinvesting in the City of Chicago!"
  
  Many residents weren't so enthusiastic. To them, the new business was an insult.
  
  But what even they didn't know was that the store was bankrolled and launched by a convicted drug-dealer who has been tied to a street gang and is facing yet another narcotics charge.

Labels: un-fucking-believable

Labels: sports

• Police shot and seriously wounded a woman who they say pointed a gun toward them in a Pilsen alley.
  
  A group of people called 911 after the woman aimed a gun at them in the 1000 block of West Cullerton Street about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, police said.
  
  The woman had been walking with the gun when the group approached her. The woman continued north on Morgan Street and west into an alley between 19th Street and Cullerton Street, police said.
  
  Plainclothes officers approached her in the alley and the woman pointed the gun toward them, police said. The officers fired at her, hitting her several times, police said.

• Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Patrick Camden said the weapon was a BB gun and that she had ducked behind a garbage can before poking back up and pointing it toward the officers.
  
  "Nobody's going to wait around to see if it's real or a toy," Camden said.

Labels: shooting

• U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced Friday the federal government will give the city nearly 1ドル.9 million to hire 15 police officers.
  Chicago is one of 263 cities that will be given money through the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services program, according to a statement from Durbin.
  In total, five communities in Illinois received a total of 3ドル.5 million, according to the statement. Southwest suburban Broadview is the only other Chicago area community to receive money, and will get 125,000ドル for one police officer.

Labels: department issues

• Transparency first. Mike Shields held an emergency Board meeting today to pick a panel to hear his case. If you haven't heard Mike was brought up on charges for violating the FOP by-laws by not sending the city the retro letter. Shields does not believe he has to follow Roberts Rules of Order and let the Board pick the panel. So in violation of evrything Mike appoints Mike Underwood, John Lipka and Denis Doherty to the panel. the Board vited 14 to 11 in favor of Shields. Mike is just like all the other politicians in crook county. He is on trial so he picks the judge and jury. What's really sad is he doesn't se. Anything wrong in his actions. We must hold the FOP Board of Directors and this trial panel accountable for their actions. It's time for acTion.

• SCC - Please alert membership that FOP President Michael Shields' hearing on the charges filed against him is scheduled for Monday, 30 September 2013, 1000 hours, at the FOP Hall.
  
  Members are invited to attend this meeting to see Shields' hand picked committe (kangaroo court) find him not guilty. The fix is sure in!

Labels: FOP

• New book coming out on Rahm, on Amazon, recommended by Ben Joravsky:
  
  Mayor 1%: Rahm Emanuel and the Rise of Chicago's 99% by Kari Lydersen
  
  "I urge everyone to read Lydersen's book. Over the last few months, many Chicagoans have told me they didn't realize who they were voting for when they cast a ballot for Emanuel. Thanks to Lydersen, they'll have no excuse in 2015."
  —Ben Joravsky, Chicago Reader

Labels: city politics

• Dear SCC,
  
  worked 1st watch last nigh and heard form a Sgt in 008, that McNaughton the commander who is currently chasing his deputy chief's star off our backs has cut a deal with (sic) "SWAP". Supposedly SWAP got a 3 million dollar grant and are using it to force sgts, lt's and capt's for now with P.O.'s being forced into this nonsense come January. The cops will HAVE TO meet with a stake holder in the community one on one and discuss problems and solutions for them. Going to be in a neutral location. The simulation had these liberals asking the cops all kind of personal questions, kids, families, sports, neighborhoods, marriage; and the cops were responding. Now we are going to share with some east end citizen I use the term loosely, on department time 99.
  
  Is he fucking nuts! Since when does liberal community activist fall into our job description. Again this is being FORCED upon us, not a voluntary thing. So here you are going to meet with Joe citizen, and u are sideswiped in Dept vehicle, or fall off your chair while while in deep conversation with thugs mama, or ambushed cuz your 99. With all the IOD claims being denied and this really not being "duty related" Where's the GO, or SO, now you're screwed. What the hell happened to CAPS, the fed money is still rolling in. It's their job to make nice with these idiots. What else do they do? Oh yeah, they make sandwiches for the seniors and proctor. Bingo events. Who's gonna be stuck next, Detective division , because they truly are the best talkers. Gonna check with the FOP and see what this clown is up to. This guy ought to go back to la la land in 016. Geez, what happened to real bosses?

Labels: rumors

• As we announced in April, this fall we will have the first promotional exam for the rank of Sergeant in seven years.
  
  The Written Qualifying Exam will be administered on Saturday, October 26, 2013. The second part of the exam, the Assessment Exercise, will be administered on Saturday, January 11, 2014.
  
  You will receive additional information via email and postal mail regarding the exam location and reporting time.

• When is the last class being made off the old list?

Labels: promotions

• It's amazing how the first line in the Sun-Times reads, "cash-strapped city must pay 1ドル million in disputed overtime..." How come it never reads, "cash-strapped city to finance new basketball stadium for DePaul..."

Labels: from the comments

• Hey, Chicago . . .
  
  While your kids were sweltering in the heat of schools that can't afford air conditioners, or ducking bullets fired by gangbangers who operate more freely because we can't afford police, Mayor Emanuel was coming up with 92ドル million to spend on something you don't want.
  
  In this case, the South Loop project at Cermak and Michigan that will feature a DePaul basketball arena and a Marriott Hotel. The 92ドル million will come out of the good old tax increment financing slush fund, which is like a magical drug for creating new money for the mayor to waste.
  
  Good thing he supposedly reformed it.

• Chicago homeowners and businesses would face annual property tax increases to solve the city’s pension crisis — but a balloon payment to shore up police and fire pensions would be put off until 2022 — under legislation backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel that is drawing fire from all sides.
  
  Fraternal Order of Police President Mike Shields flatly declared that the bill introduced at the close of the spring legislation session by Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) stands no chance of passing because police and fire unions will work to defeat it.
  
  In 2015, the city is required by state law to make a 600ドル million contribution to stabilize police and fire pension funds that now have assets to cover just 30.5 and 25 percent of their respective liabilities.

Labels: money questions, pension

• A Cook County judge decided Thursday that Gov. Pat Quinn’s move to stop paying lawmakers was unconstitutional and ordered Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka to pay them immediately — plus interest.
  
  Cook County Judge Neil H. Cohen ruled that Quinn violated the section of the Illinois Constitution that holds that state lawmakers’ salaries must not be changed during the term in which they were elected.
  
  Quinn, who yanked lawmakers’ salary in a bid to leverage passage of stalled pension-reform legislation, said Thursday he would appeal and seek a stay of the judge’s decision.
  
  Cohen, who surprised both sides of the dispute with his unannounced decision on the matter Thursday, could take up the question of a stay as early as Friday morning.
  
  The ruling was a decisive legal setback for the governor. Cohen’s opinion, if upheld, would deprive Quinn of a key leverage point to hold over legislators’ heads to help broker a deal in Springfield’s long-running pension impasse.

Labels: state politics

• Some random clicking led me to this NPR piece on red light cameras which was interesting.

  What's the point of a red-light camera — to make intersections safer or to generate revenue? That's the question prompted by researchers at the University of Tennessee, who say the cameras are sometimes used in ways that are more likely to make money than to improve safety.

  Real shocker that something sold to the public for "safety" would be perverted into a revenue maker that might actually compromise safety, right?
  
  OK, you're done rolling your eyes now I suppose...moving on...

Labels: money questions

• Minutes after he was sentenced Wednesday to six months in prison on tax evasion charges, an unrepentant former Cook County Commissioner William Beavers stood in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, flashed a grin and insisted life was good.
  
  "Look, I'm retired. I shop. I go to the store. I golf," the 78-year-old Democratic stalwart said in his trademark gravelly voice. "I do anything and everything I want to do."
  
  For Beavers — convicted in March of failing to pay taxes on hundreds of thousands of dollars he took out of his campaign fund and used for gambling and other personal expenses — it was a typical exchange with reporters, sprinkled with his mix of sharp wit, indignation and a few choice expletives.

Labels: scandals

• A student was injured in a shooting near a Northwest Side high school Wednesday afternoon and the shooter is reportedly in custody, according to Chicago Police
  
  The shooting happened about 2:25 p.m. in the 4700 block of North Kimball, said Chicago Police [...] [D]epartment spokesman. It was near Roosevelt High School at 3436 W. Wilson.

• Darnell D. Hamilton has big plans for college, but getting to and from high school every day has been difficult, his family says.
  
  Since he was a freshman, gangs have been threatening him as he takes two CTA lines from his Logan Square home to Urban Prep Charter Academy on the West Side, according to his mother, LaDonna Petty. "They wait for him when he gets off the train," she said.
  
  Finally, Hamilton, 17, got a gun from a friend and brought it to school Tuesday, according to Chicago police and his family. Someone saw the weapon and reported it to the principal, who called police.

Labels: we got nothing

• Oregon mandates that pharmacies report information on people receiving certain drugs to a centralized database (ostensibly to "...help people work with their health care providers and pharmacists to know what medications are best for them."). State law does allow law enforcement to access the records, but only with a warrant. The DEA, however, thinks that, because the program is public, a citizen is knowingly disclosing that information to a third party thus losing all of their privacy rights (since you can always just opt out of receiving medical care) thanks to the Controlled Substances Act. The ACLU and medical professionals (PDF) don't think there's anything voluntary about receiving medical treatment, and that medical ethics override other concerns.

Labels: national politics

• Chicago Police Officers worked tirelessly during the NATO Summit in May 2012. Many Officers worked six and sometimes seven consecutive days in a single workweek. These Officers submitted overtime requests that were denied. The Lodge filed a class-action grievance.
  
  The grievance went to hearing before Arbitrator Steven Bierig. Arbitrator Bierig issued a binding arbitration award ruling in favor of the Lodge and the Officers who were denied overtime pay. This means that the Department must pay any Officer who worked six or seven consecutive days during the NATO Summit overtime pay for the 6th and 7th day(s) worked.
  
  The Lodge is seeking to compile its own list of Officers who worked six or seven consecutive days to compare it to any list that will be submitted by the Department. Please click on the following NATO Overtime Survey and complete the survey. All submissions will be checked for accuracy.

Labels: FOP, good news

• Well YTD 13 more homicides in 2013 than 2011. That's puts Chicago homicides up about four percent.
  
  Two more homicides and we are dead even with the homicide count of 2009.
  
  Chicago is just 18 homicides away from tying the 2010 count. That can happen in what...about one weekend here?

Labels: from the comments, stats

• Robert Danno and Jose Fernardo Martinez-Hernandez barely looked at each other as a prosecutor described how Danno allegedly strangled his wife and his 79-year-old mother-in-law in their Southwest Side home, then drove the bodies to a suburban forest preserve and set them on fire.
  
  Martinez-Hernandez fought back tears as Judge Kerry Kennedy ordered the two men held without bond on charges of first-degree murder and concealing a homicide in the killing Saturday of Mary Ann Urban-Danno and her mother, Theresa Urban. Standing just a few feet away, Danno, dressed in a baggy blue T-shirt, was impassive.
  
  Detectives said Danno and Martinez-Hernandez lived together in the basement of a house in the 5600 block of South Neenah Avenue on the Southwest Side, a home they shared with Urban-Danno and her mother, who had dementia. On Saturday, Urban-Danno went to the basement and argued with her husband, who wrestled her to the floor with Martinez-Hernandez, authorities said.

Labels: crime, stats

• Two men in their 20s opened fire into a park on the South Side -- wounding a 3-year-old boy and 12 other people -- after one of the men had been grazed in the arm hours earlier, police said today.
  
  They did not aim at anyone in particular but "just shot into the park" because they believed it was controlled by a rival gang, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy told reporters this morning.
  
  
• Champ had been convicted of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon in July 2012 and was sentenced to boot camp at the Cook County Department of Corrections. McCarthy said the mass shooting likely would not have occurred had he gotten jail time instead.
  
  "He received boot camp for that gun crime and was back out on the streets to be a part of this senseless shooting," McCarthy said. "That is unacceptable. To truly address violence for the long-term, we need state and federal laws that keep illegal guns out of our communities and provide real punishment for the criminals who use them."

Labels: crime, gun issues

• Rank-and-file Chicago Police officers are not the only ones at risk of losing their retroactive pay raise. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is trying to deny nearly two years’ worth of back pay to 3,000 civilian city employees, their union charged Tuesday.
  
  The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 disclosed that portion of the city’s offer in an attempt to turn up the heat on Emanuel to negotiate a fair replacement for a contract that expired more than a year ago and last gave AFSMCE members a pay raise on Jan. 1, 2012.

Labels: city politics

• For at least the second time since taking office, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has gone on a nighttime "ride-along" with Chicago Police officers, this time in two of Chicago’s most violent districts.
  
  It happened Sunday night when Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy joined officers regularly assigned to the Gresham and Grand Crossing districts.
  
  The mayor’s office disclosed the ride-along without revealing details.

Labels: we got nothing

• The architecture firm that proposed a glass-walled DePaul University basketball arena topped with an undulating roof was awarded the design contract Monday morning by McCormick Place officials.
  
  The board of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority voted unanimously to approve a 7ドル.2 million contract to New Haven, Conn.-based Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, one of six firms vying for the contract.
  
  The firm also designed DePaul's new theater school.
  
  Board chairman Jack Greenberg and board member Frank Clark Jr., both of whom also serve on DePaul's board, participated in the vote, as did board member Dan Hynes, whose father, Thomas, has served as DePaul's lobbyist.
  
  All three abstained from voting earlier this year when the authority decided to proceed with the project

Labels: we got nothing

• Three Chicago Police officers were hospitalized Sunday night after they were involved in a crash on the Far South Side.
  
  The crash occurred in the 10000 block of South State just before 8:30 p.m., according to Fire Media Affairs.
  
  All three were taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers in Evergreen Park in good condition, fire media said.
  

Labels: officer injured

• A Chicago police sergeant shot and wounded a gunman involved in a shootout in the South Side's Fernwood neighborhood Sunday night, authorities said.
  
  As the sergeant responded to a domestic disturbance call in the 10000 block of South State Street about 8:30 p.m., he saw two people shooting toward each other, according to a preliminary statement from the Chicago Police Department.
  
  One of the shooters turned toward the sergeant, prompting the sergeant to demand that the gunman drop his weapon, according to the statement. The gunman did not comply, and the sergeant fired, striking him in the foot, police said.
  
  The gunman, whose age was not released, was taken to Roseland Community Hospital and expected to survive.

Labels: shooting

• The recent ruling to reform the New York Police Department's controversial 'stop-and-frisk' tactic has already led to a sharp rise in shootings, new figures reveal.
  In the month after the policy was ruled unconstitutional shootings spiked nearly 13 per cent while gun seizures fell almost a fifth, the figures show.
  In the 28 days up to September 8 there were 140 shootings across the city, compared with 124 over the same period last year, according to NYPD statistics.

Labels: out-of-state

Labels: department issues

• Emails leaked to the APshow the U.S. and other governments pushed scientists preparing a new UN climate report due out next week to omit or downplay evidence that the earth’s atmosphere has stopped warming for the past 15 years.
  
  From the wire - "Germany called for the reference to the slowdown to be deleted, saying a time span of 10 to 15 years was misleading in the context of climate change, which is measured over decades and centuries. The U.S. also urged the authors to include the ‘leading hypothesis’ that the reduction in warming is linked to more heat being transferred to the deep ocean."

Labels: silly people

• Hey SCC! Ask Gary were his gang teams were while this was all happening! McStupid had a hard on for some dude who created a fake face book page. Delve into this a little more. I'm sure you may have some other commentors on this

Labels: general

• Gov. Pat Quinn is willing to discuss sending in reinforcements from the Illinois State Police to help Chicago authorities deal with the violence, after a mass shooting Thursday night left 13 people injured, including a 3-year-old boy.
  
  The governor "stands ready" to talk with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and law enforcement officials in Chicago "about the possibility of providing additional Illinois State Police reinforcements to help stop the violence," Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said Saturday.
  
  Quinn told reporters earlier in the day he hadn’t spoken yet with the mayor or Police Supt. Garry McCarthy.
  
  "If they want to speak to me about that," Quinn said, "I’m certainly always willing and able to sit down."

Labels: dumb ideas

• Coleman was one of at least five people, including a 14-year-old boy, shot to death between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. The spate of fatal shootings came hours after 13 people were shot in a South Side park, once again drawing international attention to gun violence in Chicago.

Labels: crime

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Labels: FOP

Labels: sports

• A Chicago alderman said Friday that police told him that they have a person of interest in the shooting of 13 people, including a 3-year-old boy, at a South Side park.
  
  Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) said police informed him just moments before Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy had a news conference on the shootings Friday morning.
  
  McCarthy said at the news conference that police were talking to "several people" concerning the shootings, although no one he would call "in custody" at this point. The shooting was gang-related, and McCarthy called the fact that no one was killed in the shootings "a miracle."

Labels: crime

Labels: stats

• One person was seriously injured when a Chicago Police officer fired on a suspect in the Cragin neighborhood this afternoon, authorities said.
  
  The Independent Police Review Authority was notified around 6 p.m. of a shooting that happened about 5:20 p.m. involving a police officer firing upon someone near Lavergne Avenue and Roscoe Street, a spokesman for the office said. No officers were injured.
  
  One person was taken in serious-to-critical condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center following the shooting, according to the Chicago Fire Department's news office.

• A Chicago Police officer fired a shot during a confrontation with a suspect Friday afternoon in the Portage Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.
  
  Officers responded about 3:30 p.m. to a call of a person with a gun near the 3500 block of North Cicero Avenue, police said.
  
  A suspect confronted an officer, who fired a weapon, police said. Nobody was struck.
  
  One person was taken into custody and the suspect's weapon was recovered, police said.
  

Labels: shooting

• Thirteen people, including a 3-year-old boy who suffered a gunshot wound to the head, were shot at a Chicago park in the Back of the Yards neighborhood Thursday night, authorities said.
  
  Ten adults and the 3-year-old were transported by Fire Department ambulances after the attack in the 1800 block of West 51st Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, said Fire Department Deputy District Chief James Mungovan at the scene. A 12th victim was believed to have driven himself to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, a source said, citing preliminary information.
  
  Police said later a total of 13 people were shot, the boy, two teens, and 10 adults, with the boy the most seriously wounded. The boy suffered a gunshot wound to the head at an ear that exited through his mouth, and was in critical condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.

Labels: we got nothing

• Statistics released by the FBI earlier this week show that Chicago passed New York as America's murder capital in 2012 despite the Windy City only having a third of the Big Apple's population.
  
  The FBI recorded 500 murders in Chicago in 2012, up from 431 in 2011. New York reported 419 murders in 2012, down from 515 the year before.
  
  However, on a per-capita basis, the bureau reported that Flint, Michigan was more dangerous than the two larger cities. One in every 1,613 residents of Flint were murder victims last year, as the city of 101,558 reported 63 murders in 2012.

Labels: crime, stats

• A prominent "Dreamer" activist named Alaa Mukahhal took to social media to laugh about her cynical use of the American flag as a prop for "messaging" after her story was highlighted by Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin.
  
  In 2012, Sen. Durbin took to the floor of the Senate and held up a gigantic photograph of a smiling young woman wearing a Muslim hijab with an American flag in the background. He introduced her as Alaa Mukahhal, a Kuwaiti-born 'Dreamer' activist whom he described as being 'of Palestinian descent,' and who was brought to the country illegally at a young age by her parents, went on to become an honor student, get a degree in architecture and now needed a path to citizenship so, Durbin said, she could fufill her American dream. Durbin even went so far as to feature Alla on his own official webpage.

• A look her Facebook page paints a different picture of Alaa than Sen. Durbin's glowing ode: she's a potty mouthed, politically correct, Israel hating radical activist who drops F bombs and politically correct buzzwords with equal acumen.
  
  After Sen. Durbin held up the photo of her with the US flag featured prominently, Alaa took to her Facebook page to chortle about how the flag wasn't there to show any love for the United Stated -- a country she said she hated when she came here -- but a PR prop.
  
  On February 3, 2012 she said:

  Did ya'll notice the flag in the background of the pic? That was no coincidence #messaging #lol

  The photo that Dick Durbin held up mocked patriotism. It was a completely cynical use of American iconography in order to serve a propoganda agenda. Alaa not only brags about it, she laughs about.
  
  In an open letter to her parents, Alaa doesn't discuss architecture but her passion for community organizing.

Labels: un-fucking-believable

Labels: contract stuff

• Nearly 10 months after former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s nephew Richard J. "R.J." Vanecko was indicted in the 2004 death of David Koschman, a grand jury investigation into the way police and prosecutors handled the case has ended, and no new indictments will be issued.
  
  The 17-month-investigation led by court-appointed special prosecutor Dan K. Webb didn’t clear police and prosecutors of wrongdoing in their original investigation of Koschman’s death. Instead, Webb said Thursday in announcing the end of the probe that the statute of limitations on bringing criminal charges in that investigation had run out.
  
  "No additional indictments have been sought because the applicable statute of limitations bars any prosecutions under state law for the Chicago Police Department and Cook County state’s attorney’s office actions taken in 2004," Webb said in a court filing.

Labels: scandals

• A 30-year-old woman gunned down her rival at a West Side gas station last month after the pair got into a fight on Facebook, Cook County prosecutors said Thursday.
  
  Khalila Southall, who fled to Rochester, Minn., following the Aug. 26 shooting, allegedly admitted to Chicago Police that she and Lakeisha Tate had a previous argument on the social media site and "did not like each other."

Labels: un-fucking-believable

• Chicagoans near a liquor store or bar on the city's South or West sides are up to roughly 500 times more likely to be shot than other people in the neighborhood, according to an abstract of a study released Wednesday by Northwestern University.
  Though violent crime is a persistent issue in some distressed neighborhoods, Dr. Marie Crandall says there is a link between a troubled neighborhood resident's proximity to a liquor retailer and the risk of becoming a victim of gun violence.
  Crandall, an associate professor of surgery at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine and a trauma surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said she expects the study's conclusions to be controversial.

• The study found that gun violence rates near liquor stores in Chicago's southern and western portions stand in stark contrast with the rest of the city. Crandall found no clear link between liquor retailers and gun violence in more affluent areas but said clear risks are apparent in more impoverished areas such as Austin, Woodlawn, Roseland and Englewood.

Labels: we got nothing

• Welcome to the one and only, official, accept-no-substitutes Talk Like A Pirate Day Web site.
  
  Ever since Dave Barry mentioned us in his nationally syndicated newspaper column in 2002, what once was a goofy idea celebrated by a handful of friends has turned into an international phenomenon that shows no sign of letting up. Maybe you read about us on line.. Maybe you caught one of our radio or TV interviews. Or maybe you just stumbled on to our site while googling around for sites your mother probably wouldn't approve of. Or perhaps you're one of the millions of people from South Africa to the South Pole, from New York to the Pacific Northwest, who've made it your own personal excuse to party like pirates every September 19th (and sometimes for days before and after)!
  
  However you got here, stick around an' learn all about September 19 - International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Labels: events

• More than 25 people, mostly children, were hospitalized after a student discharged pepper spray at a Deering neighborhood elementary school Wednesday afternoon on the South Side.
  
  A student brought pepper spray to Marsh Elementary School in the 9800 block of South Exchange Avenue that discharged about 1 p.m., prompting a hazardous materials response, authorities said.
  
  A Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman said the incident occurred in the cafeteria and affected 8th-graders.
  
  A Marsh student inadvertently discharged the spray and some students complained of headaches, according to CPS, which said all parents were notified.

Labels: silly people

• A man who was wounded in a shooting in August in the Austin neighborhood has died, officials said.
  
  Lamarius Tatum, 23, of the 900 block of North Laramie Avenue was pronounced dead at 6:23 a.m. today at Loyola University Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
  
  Tatum was was shot at about 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, on the 1100 block of North Waller Avenue, according to police. He sustained wounds to his chest and back and was taken to Loyola medical center in critical condition where he later died.

Labels: stats

• CAROL COSTELLO: I used to work in Washington, live in Washington. This seems so unusual to me that a gunman could create this kind of havoc at a U.S. military facility.
  
  BRIAN TODD: Yes.
  
  COSTELLO: Have you ever heard of it happening before, Brian?
  
  TODD: I'm sorry, Carol. I missed that question. Could you repeat it please?
  
  COSTELLO: I was just saying that this is so unusual, because this is such a heavily-secured military facility. I've worked in Washington for many years, I've never heard of such a thing happening.

• The only AR-15 style weapon used was the one police killed the gunman with;

Labels: gun issues

• Getting through a security checkpoint can be a hassle. It's a modern day reality most of us have to deal with. But, some Cook County judges are thumbing their noses at strict new security measures at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.
  
  It all started earlier this year when Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart tightened up the security procedures for the criminal courts and jail complex at 26th and California.
  
  FOX 32 and the Better Government Association have obtained copies of incident reports, showing a dozen judges are flatly refusing to obey the new rules and displaying behavior that some might call "injudicious."

Labels: silly people

• Even as Chicago Public Schools has closed about four dozen schools and blamed a financial crisis for slashed school budgets across the city, Mayor Rahm Emanuel this past week has been busy announcing district construction projects.
  
  On Sunday, the mayor was at Gallistel Elementary Language Academy on the Southeast Side, pitching plans for a new 35ドル million elementary school to be built nearby to ease overcrowding. Parents complain that the site is potentially toxic, lies near a highway and was acquired in a land deal that profited a relative of former Ald. Ed Vrdolyak, who served prison time for his role in a real estate scam.
  
  On Monday, Wildwood Elementary in the North Side community of Edgebrook got the answer it wanted after months of complaining at board meetings about classes being conducted in hallways: A 15ドル million annex that will address the overcrowding and be ready in fall 2015.
  
  On Tuesday, the East Garfield Park community, which has seen a spate of school closings this year, was told that Raby High School would be refurbished and turned into a science- and math-focused high school. Two of its feeder schools, Melody and Faraday, will receive new computer and engineering labs to get students ready for Raby. The total price tag: 24ドル million.

Labels: money questions

• Bill Daley abruptly ended his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor today, telling the Tribune that a lifetime in politics had not prepared him for the "enormity" of his first run for office and the challenge of leading the state through difficult times.
  
  Daley, a member of two White House administrations, a presidential campaign manager and the son and brother of two former Chicago mayors, dropped out of the race less than four months after declaring his political resume gave him the best credentials to replace Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.

Labels: state politics

• I read on the local news on Yahoo the other day. It stated that there was a riot on the loading docks. Made reference that there were over 100 gangbangers hired to help take down the print show. Went on to say that some supervisor was hit in the head with a 2/4. The report was up on the cbs2.com site.
  
  Went back later on to see if there was anymore info. The story was pulled down off there website. Just thought you would like to know.
  

Labels: rumors

• Chicago’s looming pension crisis — and the 1ドル billion shortfall it creates in 2015 — has prompted Standard and Poor’s to change from stable to negative the outlook on Chicago’s A-plus general obligation bond rating.
  In mid-July, Moody’s Investors ordered an unprecedented triple-drop in the city’s bond rating, citing Chicago’s "very large and growing" pension liabilities, "significant" debt service payments, "unrelenting public safety demands" and historic reluctance to raise local taxes that has continued under Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
  Now, Standard and Poor’s has cited those same factors for its negative outlook on Chicago’s A-plus rating.

Labels: money questions

Labels: FOP

Labels: open posts

Labels: sports

• Battling gang violence has been one of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s top priorities.
  
  But one of Emanuel’s top appointees, CTA Chairman Terry Peterson, appears to have taken a different tack in the mid-1990s: Lobbying for the early release of the imprisoned leader of the Gangster Disciples — one of the largest and deadliest street gangs in Chicago, the Better Government Association has learned.
  
  [...] The BGA recently obtained a letter — on City Council letterhead and bearing the names of Peterson and Streeter — that asks the chairman of the prisoner review board for Hoover’s release on parole and that portrays Hoover in glowing terms.
  
  Peterson, who is in the process of being reappointed to the CTA board by Emanuel, declined an interview request. But in a statement, he denied writing or even signing the letter.
  

Labels: city politics

• A judge set bail at 400,000ドル today for a man accused of carjacking an off-duty Chicago police sergeant on Sept. 6 in the South Shore neighborhood.
  
  Christopher D. Jones, 19, of the 1300 block of East 69th Street, was charged with vehicular hijacking, vehicular invasion, and aggravated battery for the carjacking, police said.
  
  Jones is also facing theft and burglary charges for three unrelated crimes that happened Sept. 12 and Aug. 25 on the South Side.

Labels: good news

Labels: sports

• Charles Ramsey is in town and was seen at a cafe with Rahm on Montrose Ave. I think Garry's days are coming to an end. Makes sense for Rahm. A knowledgeable black man leading the CPD. A no lose situation for Rahm. The alderman are fed up with Garry and have let Rahm know of their displeasure. Stay tuned.

Labels: rumors

Labels: department issues, gun issues

Labels: events

Labels: we got nothing

• The owner of Gurnee’s Kenall Manufacturing Co., a leader in commercial lighting, said the decision to move his company — and 400 jobs — to Kenosha was based on the future needs of the business, not just the economic incentives offered by Wisconsin.
  
  
• This week alone, Wisconsin has bagged two from Lake County. In addition to Kenall, Hanna Cylinders of Libertyville said it planned to relocated its operations and 100 jobs to Pleasant Prairie.
  
  While the two moves may still be viewed as a trickle, observers pointed out that over the years a coterie of Lake County companies have opened facilities across the border. The list includes Hospira, Jelly Belly Candy, Rust-Oleum and Cherry Electric, now part of ZF Industries.

Labels: state politics

• A CeaseFire office in North Lawndale has closed its doors after a $ 1 million dollar grant from the city was exhausted.
  
  The grant was part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's efforts in 2012 to decrease violence on the South and West sides of the city and funded offices in North Lawndale and Woodlawn.
  
  The organization uses "Violence Interrupters," most of whom are former gang members, to return to the streets in an effort to stop neighborhood violence. The office provided jobs for individuals, often with criminal records.
  

• Under the grant, CeaseFire reported 141 potentially fatal conflicts were resolved in the past year city-wide, and services were provided to 75 high risk participants in North Lawndale.

• 24th Ward Alderman Michael Chandler, whose ward includes North Lawndale, said he was unaware the funding for CeaseFire had stopped, but hopes it will be restored.

Labels: un-fucking-believable

• You have the right to remain laughing! The City of Chicago has over 12 thousand police officers. They are known for their service and bravery, but usually not for their levity. Laugh Factory Chicago is interested in changing all that with a new stand-up comedy night: Laugh Patrol - a competition to find the funniest police officer in the Windy City.
  
  Laugh Patrol is a night of "all-cop comedy" which will be open to Chicago's finest in all 23 districts. During the evening, 20-25 officers will have 3-5 minutes on the world famous stage to serve up some laughs for the community. Laugh Factory will provide the audience; all of the night's proceeds will go towards the 100 Club of Chicago, providing for the families of law enforcement and fire fighters killed in the line of duty.
  
  Contestants will be judged by a panel of professionals (including Joseph Ahern,) and the winner will receive 1000ドル worth of Laugh Factory gift certificates to distribute. Second and third place finishers will receive vouchers worth 500ドル and 100,ドル respectively. Age restriction: 18 years and over 2 drink minimum per person (can be non-alcoholic or alcoholic beverage)

Labels: events

• Drivers who get caught tossing litter from their car windows in Chicago could soon get hit with a big fine.
  
  The City Council Thursday approved a new measure to increase those fines up to 1,500ドル.
  
  The new ordinance raises the minimum fine of 50ドル-200.
  
  Chicago police will also have the discretion to impound the violator's vehicle.

Labels: we got nothing

Labels: international news

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel is attempting to rename a major South Side thoroughfare.
  
  If the Mayor gets his way, Stony Island Avenue will be renamed Reverend Bishop Brazier Avenue.
  
  [...] Political sources tell NBC 5 that kind response could be why the Emanuel is doing this, to help with sagging support on the South Side of the city. But the mayor denies an ulterior motive.
  
  "If you didn't do it, somebody would say you're slighting somebody. If you do do it, you're saying it's political. I'll leave that to the cynics," Emanuel said.

• A year after the last Chicago teachers strike, Mayor Rahm Emanuel seemed to offer an olive branch to the head of the Chicago Teachers Union on Monday.
  
  WBBM Newsradio [...] reports the seven-day teachers’ strike last September highlighted the contentious relationship between Emanuel and Lewis, who accused the mayor of screaming and cursing at her two years ago in a private meeting.
  
  Emanuel said, in the past year, he’s tried to visit with and talk to a number of teachers, and said he recently reached out to CTU President Karen Lewis.
  
  "When Karen was ill, I sent her a note to say ‘I wish you well. I wish you a happy, healthy new year as well,’ and that I look forward to – when she feels better – to actually have a good conversation," he said.

Labels: city politics

• The City Council moved Wednesday to both comply with — and undermine Illinois’ new concealed carry law.
  
  The end-run around concealed carry came when aldermen imposed a requirement that Chicago restaurants that serve liquor ban firearms or lose their city licenses.
  
  The ordinance championed by Finance Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) and downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) would exempt stores that sell packaged liquor.
  
  But all other establishments that serve alcohol — not just bars that generate more than half their revenue from liquor — would be required to prohibit firearms on the premises.

Labels: gun issues