Chicago Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) has issued a challenge to Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown in his bid to unseat Brown -- turn down any campaign contributions from employees and vendors that do business with the county. Brown, not surprisingly, refused. more ›

If you had a property sold via foreclosure for more than what you owed the bank, you could have some money coming your way. more ›

• The State Senate rejected the bill that would have allowed school districts to adopt a four-day school week.
• Adieu: Dorothy Brown's "Jeans Day" fund.
• The Garritt Cullerton fiasco has Gov. Quinn calling for a review of the use of state-owned vehicles.

A new Tribune/WGN poll puts Ald. Toni Preckwinkle at the head of the Cook County Board President pack but Todd Stroger has his own poll which shows a much tighter race. The Trib/WGN poll, conducted between January 16 and 20th of 503 likely voters in the Democratic primary shook out like so: more ›

• Carpwatch 2010: Not satisfied with the Supreme Court's ruling on the matter, a U.S. Representative from Michigan has introduced legislation to close the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal, named, appropriately, the CARP ACT.
• Former Chicago Bull Scottie Pippen is learning to appreciate the small victories.
• Have you owned your Chicago condo for over 6 years? Congrats, you just broke even.

Cook County Circuit Court Clerk and Cook County Board Presidential candidate Dorothy Brown is being accused of shenanigans once again, this time by "civic bounty hunter" David Novoselsky who claims Brown set up a big budget for a quasi-legal division within her office. CBS 2's Jay Levine reported last night that this local watchdog has filed a lawsuit alleging that Brown has amassed a large team of lawyers within her office by hiring them and giving them different job titles. more ›

We've already mentioned U.S. Rep. Danny Davis endorsed Dorothy Brown in the Cook County Board president race. Now incumbent Todd Stroger's campaign has fired back at Davis and taken a more subtle shot at the WGN/Tribune poll which placed him third. Stroger's campaign released a statement from campaign manager Vince Williams that said: more ›

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, who bowed out of the race for Cook County Board President, has made an endorsement in the race: Dorothy Brown. Davis originally filed to run for the position as well as seek reelection as Congressman of Illinois' 7th District but dropped out of the County Board race in November. Davis told the Associated Press (via ABC 7) that Brown, "is the people's choice. She has vision for the county. She's obviously intelligent. When it comes to managing a budget, she has proven that she can do that. She has vision for the county." more ›

With the February 2 primary fast approaching, Todd Stroger find himself at the wrong end of a new WGN/Tribune poll. The new poll, which surveyed 502 "likely voters" found Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown in the lead with 29 percent, followed by Ald. Toni Preckwinkle who had 20 percent of the support. Stroger came in third with 14 percent, just ahead of Metropolitan Water Reclamation District president Terrence O'Brien (11 percent). A quarter of those polled claimed to be undecided. Adding to Stroger's problems is the low 16 percent approval rating he received as part of the poll, just barely an increase over the last approval rating he got from a Trib poll. As for the other candidates, it seemed the biggest obstacle for Preckwinkle and O'Brien was recognition; only 62 percent of those polled knew Ald. Preckwinkle and O'Brien's recognition rate was about 50 percent. As for the hot-button issue of race in this election, the Trib reports: more ›

Photo by ekovalev more ›

Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown has announced that her campaign is relenting on their petition challenge of incumbent Todd Stroger in the race for Cook County Board President. Brown, who has problems of her own, made the announcement yesterday via an email to supporters but not before taking a few more potshots at Stroger, including making the age-old "We totes could have won but had more important things to do" argument. The statement said: more ›

What was supposed to be a forum for the four remaining Democratic candidates for Cook County Board President turned into a Player Hater's Ball as the incumbent, President Todd Stroger, was a no-show, opening the flood gates for the remaining three candidates - Terry O'Brien, president of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), and Cook County Clerk of Courts Dorothy Brown - to unleash some verbal attacks on Stroger. The S-T provides a sampling of what each candidate said about Stroger. As for Stroger's absence? His campaign manager, Vincent Williams, originally told the Sun-Times, "I haven't spoken to the president today, so I don't have an answer." However, this morning, Williams issued the following statement (via email) on behalf of the Stroger campaign: more ›

Monday was the deadline for candidates to drop from races - a la Danny Davis in the Cook County Board President's race - and to file challenges to petitions. WBEZ is on top of the latest developments with an updated candidate list as is Chicago Current. Perhaps the most noteworthy challenges come in the aforementioned Cook Co. race as both Dorothy Brown and incumbent Todd Stroger have had their petitions challenged. Brown's challenge is no surprise given the recent accusations of shenanigans but we're a little surprised to see Stroger challenged but given the heated nature of this campaign, maybe we shouldn't be. more ›

• A hearing on whether or not to allow hearsay statements in to the murder trial of Drew Peterson has been set for January 19.
• Speaking of Peterson, a tree and plaque honoring missing fourth wife Stacy was stolen.
• Separating fact from fiction on H1N1.

That's what Fox Chicago's Dane Placko found happening when he took a camera crew down to 49th and Ashland for a visit to the Mother's House social services agency. Mother's House is supposed to be providing job training to people in Illinois' EarnFare program, which "is designed to provide adults who receive Food Stamps and who volunteer an opportunity to gain valuable work experience, earn cash assistance, and become self-sufficient." Placko spoke to a number of EarnFare workers who told him the only task they were given each day was to gather signatures on petitions for political candidates, most notably Cook County Circuit Court Clerk and Cook County Board President candidate Dorothy Brown. Besides the interviews, Placko also found several stacks of political petitions at the Mother's House office, which lead to a heated exchange with the manager there escalating to a point where police were called. more ›

• Cook County Circuit Court clerk Dorothy Brown had no problem accepting gifts from employees until the Tribune came calling.
• What began as a simple break-in at a house in Matteson led to that town's biggest pot bust ever.
• Students rallied at Northwestern yesterday in support of classmates who say they were the victims of racial profiling.

Yesterday, we focused on the presidential candidates that made their way to the YearlyKos Convention at McCormick Place. But the event wasn't just Democratic hopefuls trying to connect with bloggers and grassroots activists from around the nation. The annual event was also an opportunity for progressives around the country to get out from behind their laptops for a few days and talk to each other, sharing tactics, experiences, pitfalls, strategies and ideas, networking with other... more ›

It's not that politicians and the media don't respect young people when it comes to voting. They know all about President Clinton and Andrew Dice Clay (whatever) putting their thumbs up for rocking the vote. They've even pretended to try to pretend to care that young people are "apathetic" about their vote, publishing studies about what a shame it is that none of the youngsters in this country participate in democracy how they want them to, or read the paper. more ›

With the sad news coming out of Miami this weekend, we've been a little distracted. Our usual passion for all the silly shenanigans and Machiavellian double-dealing has been without vigor this week. Maybe we need one of those light boxes? Regardless, there's always something wacky going on in these parts, so let's take a look back at the machinations of our local elected leaders this week: Barack Obama is going to try and quit smoking... more ›

Now that Barack and Rich Daley have given each other a big warm hug in front of the press, is it too early to start calling him O'Bama? In a press conference at Daley '07 HQ, Obama gave Richie the treatment, saying "I see a lot of cities... I don't think there is a city in America that has blossomed so much over the last couple of decades." Daley, in turn, has endorsed O'Bama, saying... more ›

Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court and would-be Mayor of Chicago Dorothy Brown has been getting all bent out of shape over the word choices of a certain South Side preacher. After Rev. James Meeks told the press that he had no intention of endorsing for mayor "anybody who's going to lose," Dorothy Brown has practically barnstormed the local press, accusing the minister of "hurtful" and "sexist" remarks. Meeks retorted that he wasn't necessarily talking about her. more ›

In case you missed it, two important filings of candidacies took place this week: Mayor Daley's stalking horse, Dorothy Brown, is now officially running for mayor, and Sandi Jackson threw her hat in the ring to take on William Beavers' daughter, Darcel Beavers, for 7th Ward Alderman. While Brown's announcement is significant only becuase she is a pawn of Daley, the Beavers/Jackson race is sure to be a headline grabber this season. While Chicagoist has... more ›

While we were busy obsessing over Ward politics and aldermanic races, all kinds of newsworthy events happened in the spectator sport of local Chicago politics. Lets take a look back at the week so far: Todd Stroger is asking Cook County's elected officials for budget cuts, in an attempt to trim the deficit. Facing a nearly $500 million shortfall, Stroger is asking Sheriff Tom Dart, State's Attorney Dick Devine, and Clerk of the Court Dorothy... more ›

Is Daley building an "elitist city"? Dorothy Brown, mayoral challenger, thinks so. A gunman opened fire at Pizza Nova in Little Village. Three teens were shot, one was killed. If you're going to adopt some kids you might want to make sure you're married first, or at least make sure your name is on the papers. Otherwise, you've probably got no custody rights when you and your girlfriend break up. Lovie Smith had a... more ›

To say that Mayor Daley announced his intention to run for a sixth term yesterday would be technically, if not totally, true. more ›

The political season is over for most of the country. Hell, it's over for most of the media, and all the other people that sit around and watch it like "Monday Night Football." For the next month and a half, most of us will be thinking about eggnog, latkes, Wild Turkey with grandma, and how to pick up that cashier at Jewel with the intriguing accent. But if there's one group of people that are... more ›

Chicagoist got a late night phone call from one of our anonymous sources. They tell us that Jesse Jackson Jr. will announce later today that he is not, in fact, running for mayor of Chicago. more ›

Two men that are running for mayor but refuse to declare it are taking swipes at each other in the local papers. Neither one will definitively say it, but it sure looks to Chicagoist like the competition is on. Yesterday, Jesse Jackson Jr. admonished Richard Daley to "leave race out of it". Apparently claiming that the unions turned a blind eye when big-box retailers opened shop outside of black neighborhoods, Da Mare accused living-wage supporters... more ›

There's a 4-day immigration march here this weekend. A pipe bomb exploded in a Metra station today. No one was hurt. One day he's a superstar, the next day, eh, not so much... Obama lost his 'favorite son' status in Kenya after making statements critical of Kenya's corruption and ethnic divisions. Dorothy Brown is running for mayor. A study was released on Wednesday that found dangerous mercury levels at 10 top Chicago-area sushi restaurant.... more ›

After wondering who's running county government now that President John Stroger is recovering from a stroke, there appears to be a plethora of people who want to run it if he is unable to stay in the re-election hunt. His son, Alderman Todd Stroger, said he was up to the challenge of taking his father's place on the November ballot, but some Democratic leaders and county commissioners aren't quite seeing things his way. more ›