• Cook County Board President Todd Stroger says he won't fight a war of secession against the towns that voted to leave Cook County, mainly to avoid county taxes, and create their own county. Stroger warned, though, that Barrington, Hanover and Palatine townships might be in over their heads. "But, what they do need to know is when they do that, they will have to have their own jail," he said. "They'll have to have their own elected officials; clerk, sheriff and all that. It's not going to save them money, it's going to cost them more money." [Daily Herald]
• Stroger fired human resources assistant and former University of Georgia basketball player Tony Cole, after finding out that Cole neglected to mention a felony conviction for writing bad checks. Stroger personally hired Cole in October 2008, overlooking his various misdemeanor and felony offenses in the past, since Cole vowed to get his life back on track. He was hired as an administrative assistant in the budget department and had already been promoted to the HR position in the highway department and given a raise. Employees are worried now, since he had access to their personal information. [Sun-Times]
• The Todd-ler wants your vote again. He announced (again) that he plans to run for re-election in 2010.

Yesterday, we mentioned efforts in Palatine, Barrington, and Hanover to secede from Cook County stemming from the increase in the sales tax. And yesterday all three towns voted in favor of the non-binding referendum calling for secession. Palatine had the most votes in favor, at around 73 percent; Barrington voted in favor at 65 percent; Hanover's support came in at 60 percent. There's a wrinkle for Palatine, however. Incumbent Mayor Rita Mullen was defeated by former Chicago Bears player - and current member of the Bears' radio team on WBBM - Jim Schwantz, a political rookie. Schwantz's campaign website doesn't address the secession issue, so it remains to be seen what effect his election will have on the issue. [ABC 7, WBBM] more ›