When you're Chicago's longest serving mayor, you're going to have your ups and downs. But a mayor is only as good as the people he surrounds himself with. Daley had a cast of criminals around him, but he had some good people too. Fran Spielman of the Sun Times highlights the best and worst of the king's men. more ›

Convicted criminal and ex-City Clerk Jim Laski, fresh off his incarceration, has published a book about taking the fall in the Hired Truck scandal--and he says Mayor Daley knows more than he's letting on. Wait, wait, wait, hold the presses: Mayor Daley is intimately involved with scandal and patronage, but he'll deny it? Noooo. more ›

Patrick Daley may be shipping out, but not before he dabbles a little in the family business. No, not politics, silly: Patronage and scandal. Hotcha! more ›

Tribune columnist John Kass has been on a roll this week. He started it by discovering the existence of "freegans" and ends it by suggesting His Elective Majesty (in his more animated, apoplectic moments) bears a frightening similarity to horror film icon Chucky. Kass's observation was a casual and humorous toss-off in an otherwise serious column about City Hall's continuing efforts to wrangle themselves a casino. It's an informative read, and if you - like... more ›

Last week, the Illinois Restaurant Association named Sheila O'Grady as its new president. Her first order of business will be working to get the foie gras ban repealed. The press release announcing O'Grady's appointment said that "she brings an incredible depth of knowledge and experience to the position at a very dynamic time in the restaurant industry." Much of that experience is in City Hall. O'Grady is a former chief-of staff for Mayor Daley and... more ›

According to the Sun-Times, according to The View, the ladies at the show read the Sun-Times! Anyone who subjects themselves to the show would have heard Rosie "Captain Coo-Coo Bananas" O'Donnell referring to her horoscope, which she plucked from the pages of the Chicago newspaper. more ›

Looks like that apple fell right next to the tree. more ›

If you live in a ward that is contested, you've probably noticed that you are getting mailings from the aldermanic candidates where you live. Maybe you've even gotten the so-called "robocall" — a recorded message from a candidate (usually the incumbent) encouraging you to come out to vote (for them), and listing some of the reasons why you should. Our friends in the 32nd Ward tell us that the two headline candidates, Ted Matlak and... 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 ›

Two aldermanic races that are shaping up to be real contests in the city have drawn a lot of attention not only from locals, but also from organizations that would like to put a dent in Daley's grip on the city. Two higher-profile candidates, Greg Brewer and Scott Waguespack, have gotten endorsements from labor groups that are itching for a fight with the mayor and his allies on the council. In the 32nd Ward, things... more ›

Yee Haw, Pardner! We got us a whole mess 'a turkeys to rustle up here, so let's get these doggies rollin'! Chicago taxpayers are footing the bill for legal representation of witnesses in the Hired Truck Scandal to the tune of $595,080, for witnesses alone! This number only covers the cost of witnesses that weren't implicated in the scandal. The largest portion of this bill, $210,717, went to a single law firm that used to... more ›

Although Chicagoist would never advocate you go all Niles Crane on us, you might want to bring a clean handkerchief with you the next time you dine out, to check for dust and polish the cutlery. Fran Spielman writes in the Sun-Times today that Chicago has only 46 Health Department sanitarians and 12 supervisors to keep 15,500 restaurants in compliance with health code regulations, prompting aldermen to question just how efficiently those inspectors are doing... more ›

Jimbo's Lounge, Bridgeport's little sports bar that could, is not taking the loss of their lease lying down. Since news reports surfaced last month detailing the story of Jimbo's not having their lease renewed, a petition drive to save Jimbo's has so far netted signatures from 165 neighbors who would rather see the corner go dry, than see an establishment not run by owners Jimbo and Joyce Levato. The Levatos, meanwhile, are trying to... more ›

Cloud Gate a.k.a. The Bean via wood tang. See more of his Segway tour photos here. more ›

This could be the best lede we’ve read all week: more ›

A new Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows that 56% of Chicago voters think Mayor Daley is doing a good job. But if he runs for reelection next year, he could face a strong challenge from Jesse Jackson Jr., and if Luis Guitierrez enters the race, Daley could be forced into a runoff with Jackson. more ›

Mayor Daley gave his annual State of the City address yesterday, and judging from his words, everything is just hunky dory. more ›

After being indicted in the Hired Truck scandal and vowing to stay in office and fight the charges against him, City Clerk James Laski has resigned. more ›

It’s been a while since we talked about City Clerk James Laski’s involvement in the Hired Truck scandal. We’re sorry about that, but we were too busy trying to learn keno to write an update. And what a waste of time that turned out to be. So what’s been going on with Laski? Well, he vowed to stay on as City Clerk after being charged with taking bribes from trucking companies and lying to... more ›

The Hired Truck scandal isn't going away anytime soon. Today the Sun-Times reports that federal prosecutors have announced that they have secret audio recordings of City Clerk James Laski that incriminate him in the scheme: more ›

As 2005 comes to an end, Mayor Daley is taking some time to reflect upon his time in office, the Hired Truck scandal, and the prospects of running for another term. Last Friday Daley appeared on Chicago Tonight and said of the City Hall corruption scandal: People give me a public trust. ... When [corruption] takes place, I get mad at myself. You get depressed. You get upset. But you lift yourself up. ...... more ›

Governor Blagojevich must be pleased to see the city’s hiring scandal replaced his own on the front page of the morning papers. more ›

The attempted cleanup of City Hall continued on Thursday as 47 employees were terminated for reasons ranging from falsifying time cards, theft and bribery. The affected employees come from a variety of departments, and stem from the federal investigation regarding the city’s Hired Truck Program, which has widened to include the city’s hiring practices. So if you are looking for a job, apparently there are a lot of openings with the city. more ›

Last night we had a dream (or maybe a night[da]mare). In the dream, a parade of Chicagoans marched to city hall (torches and pitchforks in hand), up 5 floors and through the doors of Daley's office. Ron Huberman tried to stop them, but somebody kicked him in the nuts, and the mob plowed past. They grabbed the squealing Daley, tied him up and headed outside with him in tow on a rope. They headed to the Richard J. Daley Center's plaza singing "Ding dong! The Boss go'n' be dead. Which old boss? The second one!" more ›

In the most recent scandal at City Hall, Mayor Daley has fired 2 Chicago officials who are accused of running a rigged system that rewards people with political ties with jobs. Yesterday both Robert Sorich and Patrick Slattery were let go. But not just let go, that was just a result of their being INDICTED by the feds. The 2 men are accused of giving well-connected job applicants easy, fake interviews and of bumping up their interview scores to make sure they got positions. more ›

Two more members of the Mayor Richard M. Daley's cabinet got the ax today, as City Personnel chief and last original Daley cabinet member Glenn Carr announced his resignation yesterday and Transporation Department Commissioner Miguel d'Escoto also submitted his walking papers today. Carr and d'Escoto's resignation's brings Huberman's "Commissioner Count" to three, since Water Department Comissioner Richard Rice was ousted last week. more ›

The twelfth Hired Trucker was convicted this week, as Joseph Ignoffo of Ignoffo Trucking plead guilty to mail fraud and detailed how bagmen from the Water Department took bribes and directed political contributions to campaign funds for Cook County Commissioner and Mayoral Brother, John Daley. Ignoffo would make cash payments to Water Department Deputy Commissioner Donald Tomczak and later his underling, Gerald Wesolowski, in return for millions of dollars of city trucking business. Meanwhile, the... more ›

It's the biggest political story of the day, but Chicagoist has waited until the late afternoon because we needed to mull this over a bit. It is just too damn big, and some very important reputations are at stake. So, take a deep breath and take this story in a couple of bites. Gerald Wesolowski Jr., a top Chicago Water Department official became the sixth person to plead guilty in the U.S. Attorney's Hired... more ›

Angelo Torres, one-time head of Chicago's Hired Truck program, pled guilty to extortion, conspiracy and other charges in federal court today. Torres admitted that he had been taking bribes of between $200-$300 from trucking companies to keep them in the lucrative $37 million city program. During his plea Torres "made it plain" that he was not willing to cooperate with federal investigators, who have indicted twenty-three people in charges related to Hired Truck. more ›

For about a week now news stories have been swirling around about some of Gov. Rob Blagojevich's top fundraisers and various state and city contracts. Yesterday, stories erupted about fundraiser and Blagojevich advisor Tony Rezko and former Rezko employee and Blagojevich administration member Jack Lavin with setting up a fake minority front for two O'Hare Panda Express restaurants. The restaurants, supposedly operated by black concessionaire, Jabir Herbert Muhammad, received their contracts as part of a... more ›