As the residents of the Gulf Coast keep an eye on Gustav, today marks the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall along the Louisiana and Mississippi coast. And while, on the surface, it seems most memorials would be confined to that region, there's no underscoring the amazing contribution Chicago made to the relief effort. The city of Chicago opened its arms to evacuees and learned from the experience for its own emergency plan. Chicagoans donated not just money but much-needed water. The Red Cross estimated that roughly 7,000 Katrina evacuees wound up in Chicago while other estimates were as high as 9,000 (one of the highest totals outside the Southeast). The rift between Illinois's politicians seen in Katrina's wake reflected what was happening across the country: while Dennis Hastert questioned the decision to rebuild (reasoning that's not nearly as outlandish as it originally sounded when read in context), Mayor Daley expressed outrage at FEMA's refusal for assistance. And, of course, who could forget Chicagoan Kanye West's dramatic declaration during the nationally broadcast telethon? more ›

The Tony Rezko trial continues today, and the hits just keep on coming. Today's boldface name? Dennis Hastert, whom a witness said would help replace US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who was investigating Rezko. more ›

With how nasty the race for Dennis Hastert's vacant seat has gotten recently, you'd think a couple of high school girls were running the campaigns leading up to tomorrow's special election for Dennis Hastert's seat in Illinois 14th Congressional District. more ›

Leading up to the special election this Saturday in Illinois's 14th Congressional District, Bill Foster's campaign has announced a slew of endorsements. The list included the Aurora Beacon News, the DeKalb Daily Chronicle, the Kane County Chronicle, the Algonquin Countryside, and the Chicago Tribune. Besides local and regional editorial boards, he's also been endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters, who cited his credentials as a scientist, and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, who like Foster's support of smaller class size, teacher recruitment programs, and more funding for technology in classrooms. more ›

With the special election for Dennis Hastert's vacant 14th Congessional District seat coming up next Saturday, the race has heated up. Democrat Bill Foster has hit Jim Oberweis almost daily, pointing out the differences on Social Security, global trade, and the war in Iraq. Oberweis has fought back, calling Foster a liberal and a liar, and charging that he will raise taxes. The close race got even more interesting this week when Foster released recent internal polling indicating that he leads Oberweis in the race. Now Foster is claiming that Oberweis violated the so-called "Millinoare's Law", by failing to disclose that he was about to dump buckets of his own cash into the race. more ›

John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, will visit Illinois next Wednesday, appearing at a fundraiser at the Rich Harvest Farms golf course in Sugar Grove to raise money for 14th District Congressional candidate Jim Oberweis. Oberweis's campaign spokesman Bill Pascoe said the appearance will give Oberweis a boost with independents as well as an infusion of cash heading into the the March 8 special election to choose a successor to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. "Republicans are united and energized about holding this seat," Pascoe told the Tribune. more ›

With the Democratic primary election in the 14th Congressional District all but settled, Bill Foster and Jim Oberweis are duking it out over Iraq. Oberweis is accusing Foster of politicizing the Iraq War in his bid to take the seat that Dennis Hastert vacated by retiring. Foster says he won't support any policies that don't "change the course in Iraq and do it now." more ›

It wasn't just Presidential candidates that were running for nominations in yesterday's vote. A handful of local Democrats and Republicans also ran for their party's spot on the November ballot as well. more ›

As election results continue to roll in, at least one race is still neck and neck: The democratic race in the Illinois 14th. Perennial candidate Jim Oberweis nabbed the Republican slot, but Bill Foster and John Laesch were, at last count, separated by a scant 351 votes. (Foster: 32,189, Laesch: 31,838) A Laesch campaign staffer told us that within the next 48 hours, they're hoping to finish canvassing the county, making sure all the early votes and absentee ballots were counted. Whoever wins will face Oberweis for Dennis Hastert's old seat. more ›

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Jim Oberweis campaign will be announcing “a major endorsement” today, and that that endorsement will be from Dennis Hastert. Oberweis is running for the 14th Congressional District seat that was vacated when former Speaker of the House resigned earlier this year. Although Hastert endorsed Oberweis for US Senator in the 2002 Republican primary, Jack Ryan won that race, later withdrawing after his (sexy) divorce files were unsealed. An... more ›

Looks like Blago's at it again. State legislative leaders are meeting again tomorrow to continue working on transit/casino/construction/dick-wagging, with the plan to head back to Springfield next week for--all together now--a special session. Maybe they could have a Very Special Session in which we learn about molestation or suicide or teen pregnancy. Blagojevich met with three legislative bigwigs today, but Mike Madigan wasn't one of them. Schedulig conflicts, says Madigan's camp. Never RSVPed to... more ›

What happens when the party you believe in, that you dedicate your political career to, takes a turn for the worse? If you're Dennis Hastert, you resign graciously, take your kudos, and become the elder statesman you always knew you could be. Hastert resigned yesterday, bringing to a close an era of congressional Republicanism marked by increasingly bitter partisanship, an unpopular president championing an unpopular war, and a rash of scandals, both political and personal... more ›

Barry Bonds was indicted this afternoon for perjury and obstruction of justice. Dennis Hastert resigned today, which means there'll be a special election in his district. Open office plans turn out to suck if you like privacy. No kidding! Is Lollapalooza going to Philly? Police have identified one of the two women whose remains were burned on the South Side. She was Theresa Bunn, 21. Workers paving a bike trail near Lemont discovered the... more ›

So is Dennis Hastert resigning or what? This morning, it sounded like a done deal, but Hastert's press secretary Lulu Blacksmith just told us that there are "no changes from [his] August statement," when he said he wouldn't seek reelection but would finish out his term. Blacksmith declined to comment on why resignation rumors would surface today. AP Photo/Susan Walsh... more ›

Now that Tony Peraica has thrown his hat in the ring for Cook County State's Attorney, and Luis Gutierrez has been worshipped in seeking a ninth term, we now have a whole flock of Democrats and Republicans lining up to beat the shit out of each other over Dennis Hastert's congressional seat. Addressing a crowd of supporters last Friday from the steps of the Kendall County Courthouse, where he launched his national political career, Hastert... more ›

Chicagoist is grinning ear to ear after all the stunning news that hit us yesterday. In this most nationally-minded of elections, not only have the Democrats taken the House of Representitives, they have also taken control of the Senate, with the AP calling Virginia for Jim Webb last night. On top of that, Donald Rumsfeld has resigned (the day after the election!!!), and Dennis Hastert announced that he is stepping down from the GOP leadership in congress as well.
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If you live or work in the Loop, you may have noticed a whole bunch of military helicopters zipping around Hutchesen field this week. That was Bush's advance team, warming up for his afternoon fundraiser today for struggling candidates Peter Roskam and David McSweeny. He's expected to pulling about $500,000 for those two, but many suspect that Bush is also going to be shoring up Dennis Hastert. more ›

It’s been a tough week for Dennis Hastert, and Chicagoist wants to do our part to help him out. That’s why we’re dedicating this installment of This Week in Stupid to the Speaker. Hopefully these tales of stupid from his home state will help him find a way out of this mess. Or not. more ›

Dennis Hastert held his press conference in Batavia yesterday. Just as we suspected, rumors of his resignation were overblown. In fact, he even announced that after he wins reelection he plans to run for Speaker of the House. Again. Even John Kass saw this coming. As part of his grand Mea Culpa, Hastert says that he has asked the House ethics committee to look into the matter. He also said he asked the Justice Department,... more ›

The fallout from Rep. Mark Foley's resignation from Congress over revelations that he loves the young pageboys has widened to include a number of Illinois politicians. Dick Durbin has been around to wring his hands, although we're sure he'll apologize for it later, and Springfield Rep. John Shimkus, chairman of the House Page Board, is coming off looking rather clueless. But the big local name making the headlines is House Speaker Dennis Hastert, because one... more ›

Chicagoist loves the comfort of representative democracy, knowing that our elected officials are taking care of the important things for us, things that require the leadership and insight of our best and brightest like making sure we call Christmas trees the right name. That's right, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) is on the case, sending a letter to the Architect of the Capitol, asking that he please call the decorated conifer on Capitol Hill a "Christmas tree" instead of "Holiday tree." more ›

Jack Ryan is all over the place today. Yay, Illinois politics. Wonkette is reporting that Dennis Hastert has cancelled his appearance at Ryan fundraiser later this week. Also, there's some talk of a possible press conference tonight at 7 p.m. for Ryan to drop out of the race. Buzz buzz buzz. more ›