According to a new Sun-Times analysis of last Tuesday's county-wide primary races, those candidates that attempted character assassination of their rivals by associating them with unpopular Cook County Board President Todd Stroger lost, almost across the board. Stroger's approval ratings are basically in the same territory as President Bush's—somewhere between rock bottom and Herbert Hoover—so the prevailing logic was that if you could associate a candidate with Stroger, it would be like transferring his unpopularity......

It wasn't all about roasting pigs out in the 'burbs this week: An Aurora couple (pictured above) was busted for running a prostitution ring on Craigslist, which included offering up the services of a 17-year-old runaway from Wisconsin. It looks like the GOP chairman in Will County liked our drunken election night idea. But we said nothing about drinking and driving, sir! Let's drink and vote responsibly, people. Steger school administrators dyed their hair......

Just days after the death of his father, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has indicated that he may agree to give control of the county hospitals to an independent agency. Stroger's chief of staff Lance Tyson told Crain's Chicago Business "the intent is to take health services for the poor out of the sphere of politics and put it into a sphere of greater business expertise." The proposal to turn the county's health care......

Former Cook County Board President John Stroger has died, Mayor Daley announced this morning. He was 78. Born in Arkansas, Stroger moved to Chicago in 1953 and was named Democratic committeeman of the 8th Ward in 1968. He was elected to the Cook County board in 1970, and was elected board president in 1990. He never fully recovered from the stroke he suffered in March 2006 and officially retired in July of that year; his......

Crook County Board President Todd Stroger unveiled his $3.2 billion budget Wednesday. Stroger has struggled to give the appearance that his government is small and fiscally responsible, eliminating about 735 positions over the last three fiscal years, and reducing 1,800 positions from this year's budget. Now he claims that bringing the county's tax take to $888 million by 2009 — by tripling the county sales tax and doubling gas and parking taxes — is necessary......

SHOOTING: Two homeless men shot in a 24 hour span in Uptown -- they appear to be unrelated. In more shooting news (why is there so much?!): Police have two "persons of interest" in custody Sunday morning after two teenagers were shot in a playlot on the South Side in the Woodlawn neighborhood, blocks from the University of Chicago campus. TRAINS: Our dear friend warns us: This is why you NEVER put headphones in......

Bill Clinton was in town today to sign books at Borders on North Michigan. A woman arrested for battery of an off-duty police officer claims that the arresting officer offered the cop filing the complaint a "free shot" while she was cuffed in the squad car. She also claims that the next day she was pulled over as a joke and let go. What is he smoking? Cook County Board President Todd Stroger says......

There's no love lost here between Chicagoist and Cook County government. In fact, not only has Todd Stroger (as well as the other comedians that pass for "Commissioners" on the county board) been a target for our anger, frustration, and disappointment, they've been fodder for our ridicule and a symbol of what's wrong with local government here. Looking back at the news from last week, we've been following the story of Sally Lemke, the nurse......

Although the week is shorter, that doesn't mean that there hasn't been political news out there to round up! This week, we're making a special dedication to Chicagoist's favorite bad guy, the man that makes us the national butt of every political joke in town, the guy that represents everything that is wrong with our local political system, Todd "The Toddler" Stroger. Without further ado, let's take a gander at his follies and foibles, and......

Vito Zaccaro was working at Cook County ... that is Stroger Hospital as a Cook County Sheriff's officer when the inmate he was guarding pulled a shank on him, stabbed him in the neck and wrestled with him for his gun. Losing blood from his neck, he retained control of his weapon, and chased down Willis Reese in his attempt to escape. Now, two months later, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's office has denied......

That Todd Stroger. He makes being Cook County Board President seem easy. When he isn't slashing budgets, trying to hand out no-bid contracts to his mobbed-up friends, and devastating the already minimal social safety net that the county has set up for the most vulnerable residents, he's running late to an endorsement session held by black ministers or trying to get family members cushy jobs on the county payroll. And this week was no exception.......

It's been another spring week of wacky weather here in in the Windy City. And just like the sunshine, our elected leaders have been coming out to shine. Let's take a look back at some of the more notable events thus far: Black Business Group Doesn't Like Blago's Tax Plan. The Alliance of Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs (ABLE), a group representing African-American businesses has reviewed the governor's proposed budget plan, and they've given it what......

Mike Quigley would have you believe that he supports good government for Cook County. He came into office in 1998, the lone reformer on the bloated and corrupt board. By his second term, he found brotherhood: joining forces with Forrest Claypool, Larry Suffriden, and Tony Peraica, they managed to form an alliance and win some victories against John Stroger's Machine. In 2005 he threw his hat in the ring to challenge the former County Board......

Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool...

The other day we regaled you with a quick overview of the sideshow that is the aldermanic race in the 50th Ward. It seems that besides talking a lot of smack about each other, there is a bit of a war going on on the internets, and everyone wants to blog about why you should vote for them. Greg Brewer has a video weblog that has been running on YouTube for a while now, and......

First he loses the private elevator, what’s next? The family name off of the hospital? We speak today of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, whose days of riding a private elevator are over. Stroger was given the private elevator in the County Building last month, in order to keep him from chatting with all of the regular elevator riders. When he rode the public elevator, his chatty side got the best of him and......

The big news yesterday was that Daley would run for relelection. Lined up at city hall with all the aldermanic candidates was none other than Terry Peterson, former Chicago Housing Authority CEO and Daley's campaign manager, carrying less than 25,000 signatures to put Hizzoner on the ballot. This is a far cry from past campaigns when Daley surrogates would arrive with nearly a quarter million signatures. While some have speculated that filing light like this......

At Wednesday's first meeting of the newly installed Cook County Board, Todd Stroger kept his first promise of the new term — moving to appoint a tougher, more independent inspector general. Under a bill introduced by Commisioners Mike Quigley and John Daley, a new inspector general will soon have broader powers of oversight across all county offices. Assumed to be retired Circuit Judge Julia Nowicki, thanks to an agreement between the county and attorney Michael......

Jobs come and go. Like the economic pundits keep saying, the vast majority of people are going to switch jobs and careers several times over their lifespans, and that will only happen more often in the future. We ourselves went the temp agency route for a while; an eight-week long stint here, a two-month-plus gig there. We worked at a few places for only a couple days. However, we don't remember receiving an unuusally hugeass......

In case you missed it, there was an election yesterday. Chicagoist hopes you got out and voted. And after we rocked the vote, we rocked the Daily Bar & Grill at a special election night happy hour; you should have been there. That said, it was an exciting day: The Democrats have taken the House, but the Senate is still a toss-up. And yes, that means that Nancy Pelosi will be the new Speaker of......

If there is one thing you can say about Tony Peraica, it's that he doesn't take it lying down. In one of the most closely contested, and divisive, races in recent local history, Peraica and Stroger have all but come to blows out on the street. Chicagoist is fascinated by the race for Cook County Board President, for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is its potential to punch a hole in......

You remember that poll in the Sun-Times yesterday? Yeah, that one. Well the race for Cook County Board President got a little, well, hot yesterday. In a noon debate at Chicago's Union League Club, the once and future king of Cook County took shots at Peraica, trying to paint him as both a right-winger and a crook associated with disgraced (and convicted) former Cicero town president Betty Loren-Maltese; Peraica accused Stroger of being absent for......

OK, look. We know it's hard to get a job in the Chicago area. Hell, it took Chicagoist about three months to find a good job, even with a pretty solid resume. But with another hiring scandal coming out of the woodwork nearly every month, we can't help but wonder if it's impossible for anyone to get a government job through traditional means. If you were wondering why you never heard back about that Cook......

Yesterday, County Board President candidates Todd Stroger (D) and Tony Peraica (R) both promised to cut county jobs. Stroger, the front runner and front man, won’t give any specifics other than saying that the County is top-heavy and could use some consolidation. Oh yes, he uses the favorite political chestnut of auditing the books in order to make a decision. Peraica proposes to make cuts of about 4,000-5,000 jobs through attrition and consolidating the County’s......

It seems as though not a week goes by without an alderman doing or saying something that makes Chicago look like just another parochial, hick town. If they're not banning foie gras, or passing a smoking ban that allows bars a time frame for compliance that more resembles an exit strategy from Iraq, then they're feuding with each other on the Council floor, passing salary increases for themselves, and getting caught in the occasional compromising......

After more than two months of being totally out of commission and out of the public eye it seems John Stroger and his wife are selling their South Side home. The $289,000 home in Pill Hill, which Stroger has lived in since 1968, already has interested buyers. That’s all well and good. But while the politicians who are still actually reporting to their elected offices debate about whether it is disrespectful to debate about whether......

So we all know that Cook County Board President John Stroger suffered a serious stroke in March, still won the Democratic primary against Commissioner Forrest Claypool, is recovering at the Rehabilitation Institute, and will decide if he wants to remain on the ballot sometime in July. But yesterday Claypool publicly raised a question many have been wondering for weeks: With Stroger out recovering, who is running county government? Even though officials insist Stroger is still......

Cook County Board President John Stroger has been moved from Rush University Medical Center to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago as he continues to recover from his stroke. Not a lot of details about his condition and recovery have been released, but his son, Alderman Todd Stroger, says his father's impatience and improved speech and mobility is a good sign. We're very happy to hear Stroger is on the mend. But CBS 2 has a......

The primary election results are in, and here are some of the candidates you will see on the ballot in the November election: Governor-Democrat: Rod Blagojevich (70.1%) This was no surprise since Eisendrath never seemed to get his campaign off the ground. We know a lot of people who voted Eisendrath as part of showing their disapproval towards Blago. Governor-Republican: Judy Baar Topinka (38.0%) Topinka held off a late surge from Oberweis, who early on......

Cook County Board President John Stroger suffered a stroke yesterday, and his political future is now uncertain. He was taken to the hospital yesterday morning after complaining of feeling tired and experiencing pain in his legs. Stroger, age 76, is unable to walk, has slurred speech, and feels disoriented. He is in intensive care, but in stable condition. He shows no signs of hemorrhaging or swelling in the brain, although it is uncertain if he......