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July 24, 2008
Frank "The German" Schweihs, reputed mobster and courtroom shenaniganeer,died last night at Thorek Hospital and Medical Center. He was 78. Schweihs, who had been ill with cancer for years, was awaiting federal prosecution on charges of racketeering and conspiracy. He had been too sick to stand trial with the rest of the Family Secrets defendants but was scheduled for his own trial starting in October. [AP, S-T, Trib, ABC]...
Continue Reading "Frank "The German" Schweihs: 1930-2008"
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Squad cars from about a dozen participating departments in Illinois are now equipped with BACK (Be A Cheerful Kid) Packets filled with books for children to read while their parents are dealing with police-related issues including: traffic accidents, fires, verbal and physical altercations, unjust parking ticket rampages, and other crimes. The books are donated by With Wings And A Halo, a non-profit group started by children's author, Paul Gilbertson. He started the program in Waunakee,...
Continue Reading "Children's Books Now in Police Squad Cars"Earlier today (er, tonight?), Barack Obama spoke before a cheering crowd at the Victory Column in Berlin. It was the latest stop for the Democratic Presidential candidate on his O-Force One Tour of Europe. During the speech, he stressed the importance of strengthening withering ties between Europe and the United States: Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship...
Continue Reading "Obama Woos Berlin, McCain Snubs New Orleans"
When most of the Bears hit the practice field for the first time on Wednesday, one player was very noticeably absent. Kick return extraordinaire Devin Hester was nowhere to be found in Bourbonnais. He's decided to hold out of training camp until he gets a new contract. He's entering the third season of a four-year deal he signed after being drafted in '06. "I can't go out and play this year making $445,000. Come on,...
Continue Reading "Hester Holding Out"
Governor Blagojevich is in hot water over what he deems a "bureaucratic" mistake which gave a school $1 million dollars intended for a historic, burned-down church. In the midst of his re-election campaign, Blago pledged to give $1 million to Pilgrim Baptist Church, which was destroyed by a January 2006 fire. At the time, the Loop Lab School was renting space in the church and now, Elmira Mayes, leader of the school, is contradicting Blago's...
Continue Reading "Just Another Day In Illinois Politics: Governor, Atheist, School, and Church Spar Over $1 Million"Advertisement: Chicagoist Continues Below!
July 24, 2008
A rash of shootings overnight in Chicago's South Austin neighborhood that occurred with a two-hour span left three men dead and two others injured. It's still unclear if the shootings were related. Michael Guyton was found dead in the 4900 block of West Hubbard Street by Austin district beat officers around 11 p.m. last night. He had been shot multiple times and officers did not have any information about a suspect. Shortly after midnight, there...
Continue Reading "Overnight Shootings In South Austin Neighborhood Kill Three"
Initial bids on the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field were due Friday and word is slowly getting out now about who seems to have made the cut. Among those who didn't make the cut were Chicago Wolves owner Don Levin and the group led by Madison Dearborn Chairman John Canning. Canning's group was considered the odds-on favorite to win the bidding, in part due to Canning being a part-owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and a...
Continue Reading "Cubs Bidding Enters Second Round, Cuban Makes The Cut"
Photo by Joshua Mellin Another lovely day today, with temps around 80 and the sun shining all day long. There's a slight chance of storms late tonight, so if you're planing a thirsty Thursday kinda deal, maybe stick an umbrella in the bag. In other news about stuff I love, Japanese and Mongolian scientists unveiled a nearly complete dinosaur skelton. The 70-million-year-old Tarbosaurus was discovered in August 2006 in the Gobi desert, and skeleton...
Continue Reading "The Sun Poured In Like Butterscotch"July 23, 2008
Photo by Andybajonski CPS won't be seeking additional funding from increased in property taxes this year. But the operating budget is still over $5 billion. [Crain's] The NTSB said today that there was a near collision between a commercial airliner and a private jet Monday at O'Hare. [Trib] Who are the three people who think Todd Stroger's doing a good job? [Division Street] Wow, international currencies are so much prettier than plain old dollars....
Continue Reading "Extra, Extra"
Scott Meherg, of Des Plaines, has been indicted on two counts of forgery and two counts of theft for using a forged check to buy a rare 1963 Spider-Man comic book for $980 from Graham Crackers Comics in Naperville. It was the second-ever issue in the original series of the Marvel comic. Meherg allegedly used a forged LaSalle Bank check to purchase the comic in December 2007; he faces up to five years in prison...
Continue Reading "Worst. Forgery. Ever."A sports-collector convention and SportsBuy.com say they'll pay Steve Bartman $25,000 for an autograph. But their press release also says "Where forth [sic] art thou, Steve Bartman?" so who knows. And for the record, wherefore means why, not where. Anyway, organizers for the National Sports Collector Convention must know that Bartman will never do it, so this is a no-risk stunt. The show starts next Wednesday at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont,...
Continue Reading "Convention Offering $25K For Bartman Autograph"
Construction work on the Blue Line tracks between the Rosemont station and O’Hare is wrapping up four days early, with CTA service expected to be restored tomorrow morning at 3 a.m. Repairs to deteriorating rails, tie plates and spikes will eliminate the 15 m.p.h. slow zones on that particular stretch of track, now giving trains the capacity to travel at speeds up to 55 m.p.h. “With the completion of this work, we now have reduced...
Continue Reading "Huberman To CTA Construction Crews: Git 'Er Done"
Todd Stroger might be "doing a damn good job" running the county, but he didn't do such a good job managing his own campaign for County Board President. According to state election officials, Stroger violated campaign fundraising reporting rules in 2006, resulting in $27,000 in fines. That includes $25,581 for failing to file timely reports on contributions of more than $500 that it received in the final weeks before the 2006 general election, and...
Continue Reading "Stroger Campaign Fined Thousands"It's been a rough day for two Chicago Police officers who side-stepped the law. First up is Anthony Abbate who was caught on tape beating bartender Karolina Obrycka at Jesse's Shortstop Inn last February. Plea negotiations fell apart and Abbate will go on trial November 19 for a variety pack of felonies including aggravated battery in a public place, official misconduct, intimidation and communicating with a witness. The wait until November is to let the...
Continue Reading "Bad Day For Crooked Chicago Cops"
New Year's Day outdoors? That's how Chicagoist usually spends it—but on a Mexican beach. At least until the Rose Bowl kicks off. We're not quite so sure we'd want to spend it outside in Wrigley Field, which could be a little cold. On the other hand, watching two of the "Original Six" NHL teams face off in the open air does sound pretty damn cool. Standing inside temporary baseboards approximating where the rink will sit,...
Continue Reading "Blackhawks-Red Wings at Wrigley"Advertisement: Chicagoist Continues Below!
July 23, 2008
The city expects to collect more than $50 million in fines this year from red-light violations caught on camera. The number of cameras being installed to bust drivers is growing, with 104 functional cameras already at intersections throughout the city and plans to install 25 more by the end of the year. Contrary to published reports [PDF] that show intersection surveillance may actually increase crashes and injuries, the city is claiming that accidents have decreased...
Continue Reading "City Banks On Red-Light Camera Fines"
Cook County Commissioner and State's Attorney candidate Tony Peraica called on the county board to rescind the one percent sales-tax hike, only to get beat down by Bill "Hog Nuts" Beavers. In a press release, Peracia said: This destructive tax was passed last February by only one vote. Instead of raising taxes on the suffering taxpayers of Cook County, we need to cut spending by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars. We hope...
Continue Reading "Peraica To County Board: We Need Tax Relief"Kevin Johnson, 12, died this weekend, and police are investigating whether his death was a result of abuse. Doctors said he suffered bleeding on both sides of his brain and had several old and new wounds, including burns, ligature marks on his wrists, fractured ribs and a broken thumb, the Department of Children and Family Services investigator said in court. Kevin's guardians [Fred and Barbara Johnson] forced the children to punish each other, and sometimes...
Continue Reading "Could DCFS Have Done More To Save 12-Year-Old?"First this. Then this. And, of course, this. Now the Sun-Times makes a play for a Pulitzer with this groundbreaking investigative report. According to the Sun Times, "So far, executives say, it is exchanged almost exclusively among male business associates who are otherwise friends, or in informal settings such as the end of a golf round. Fist bumping, or two people tapping fists lightly, has a long way to go to unseat the handshake, a...
Continue Reading "Fist Bump Follies"
Another week, another chapter in the ongoing saga of Bolingbrook's most notorious ex-husband. Peterson's "friends" Len Wawczak and Paula Stark, those of the "secret gun claim," now say they wore wires in cooperation with State Police during meetings with Peterson after the disappearance of wife number 4, the still-missing Stacy. Among the nuggets the couple claims Peterson dropped that the tapes didn't catch: Stark alleges Peterson asked her to model Stacy's bikinis and also run...
Continue Reading "Peterson's Friends Allegedly Wore Wire"
Mayor Daley announced that the city will try to repeat its successful gun buyback campaign this Saturday, with citizens bringing firearms into 25 participating churches between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. in exchange for a $100 prepaid MasterCard. BB, replica, and air guns will also be accepted in exchange for $10 prepaid cards. But the programs effectiveness, which brought in a record 6,700 guns last year (Daley and Chief of Police Jody Weis hope to...
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Photo by T-Bex Temps have dropped considerably in the last day or so, giving Chicago its coolest stretch in weeks. This summer has been particularly mild, according to magical wizard Tom Skilling, who says "The 2008 warm season has been noteworthy for its lack of extreme or extended heat." We're looking at clear skies today and tomorrow, with stormclouds gathering Thursday night and a chance of thunderstorms Friday. [Skilling, NWS]...
Continue Reading "Oh, I See How It Is. So Sorry to Interrupt!"
Remember those rumors we heard that John McCain might announce his veep pick this week? Now Sun-Times columnist and part-time satanist Bob Novak is claiming that the McCain camp used him to snatch headlines from Obama. Time's Mark Halperin quotes Novak as saying that a “very senior McCain aide...suggested I put it out.” Now Novak says that “certain people” tell him "this was a dodge...they were trying to rain on Obama's campaign," adding that...
Continue Reading "Bob Novak: I'm John McCain's Bitch"July 22, 2008
Photo by josephp Police are searching for two men considered "armed and dangerous" who "are believed to be responsible for a string of armed robberies and carjackings in the south suburbs over the past week." An autopsy of the Naval recruit found dead in Waukegan this weekend revealed "heroin, cocaine and anti-anxiety medication" in his system. More on the tragic shooting in the Ukrainian Village this weekend that killed a waitress/ mother of three....
Continue Reading "Extra, Extra"Yeesh. According to documents filed in federal court today, a "conservative" estimate of the profits made by the mobsters involved in Operation Family Secrets totals over $20 million, all of which the defendants are expected to pay back to the feds. The government forfeiture motion is part of the Anthony 'Twan' Doyle case, a former Chicago police officer who was convicted last year. Doyle is set to be sentenced on October 1. [ABC 7]...
Continue Reading "Mob's $20 Million Tab"