HB 56, passed in June and colloquially dubbed the "Papers, Please" law by detractors, the Alabama legislation is arguably one of the strictest immigration laws in the United States. more ›

Meet the Press will broadcast from the Museum of Contemporary Art at 8 a.m. tomorrow. The show won't air in Chicago until 11 a.m. after NBC 5's coverage of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon ends. more ›

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (IL-4) was arrested participating in an immigration protest outside the White House about an hour ago. more ›

Generally it's the ultra-right wing Tea Party movement that rails against public employees growing rich off the tax payer dime, but Chicago Democrats apparently have their own tea bagger in their midst in the form of Rahm Emanuel. more ›

Yesterday on Fox News Chicago's "Good Day Chicago," consultant Thom Serafin discussed the problems facing the proposed state income tax hike. Near the 2:45 point in the video below, anchor Corey McPherrin asks Serafin about his take on Congressman Luis Gutierrez's endorsement of Gery Chico for Mayor. Serafin said that the Gutierrez endorsement was a "good thing." What Serafin failed to disclose, as per Early and Often's daily "Palm Card" e-mail, was that Chico's spokeswoman, Brooke Anderson, Brooke Anderson, came to the campaign from Serafin's public relations firm. more ›

Gery Chico launched his first campaign ad yesterday, as he snagged the endorsement of 4th District Congressman Luis Gutierriez. Meanwhile, the Sun-Times dug up an article it published in 2003, when Chico was running for the Senate seat that Barack Obama ultimately won. Back then, Chico was touting his business experience as a chairman of the Chicago law firm Altheimer & Gray. That quickly turned into a liability for the mayor's former school chief, as the firm went under in the summer of 2003, closing after 88 years in business, leaving hundreds unemployed. more ›

Mayoral hopeful Gery Chico spent some of that $2.5 million he's raised for his campaign on some brand spanking new ads that tout his life and career arc as "a Chicago story." Well, that's about as good a way of saying "troubleshooter for Richard Daley" as one can without bringing it up. more ›

Today in "Tony Rezko Did What for Whom?," we learn that he gave Congressman Luis Gutierrez free upgrades to a town home Gutierrez purchased from the convicted former Rod Blagojevich fundraiser. The revelations in a 2008 conversation Gutierrez had with the FBI, contradict what he told the Sun-Times in a 2006 interview. more ›

Dan Mihalopoulos at Chicago News Coop reports that Congressman Luis Gutierrez will not run for Mayor. Gutierrez made the announcement to supporters at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and also called other prospective candidates to inform them of his decision. more ›

Now comes word that Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and Congressman Luis Gutierrez met to discuss the wide open race. more ›

U.S. Congressman Luis Gutierrez (4th District) announced in a press release that, along with at least 22 other members of Congress, he will introduce the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP) today. Gutierrez said in his press release: more ›

The past few days of testimony in the Al Sanchez corruption trial have been wrought with allegations - both against Sanchez and the mayor, as well as other, lesser players in the HDO drama. The allegations that federal prosecutors made include the promise of city jobs should Richard Daley win election in 1989. "My understanding was that we would eventually get some political jobs, city jobs" if Daley became mayor, said Raymond Gamboa, a deputy commissioner in the city's General Services Department. Gamboa was describing a meeting that took place in a Southeast side bar in the late 1980's. Gamboa and Sanchez were part of a Hispanic group that was recruited to support the then-State's Attorney for mayor. That group eventually merged with other pro-Daley groups on the South side to become the Hispanic Democratic Organization. more ›

Publisher Melville House has announced that Chicago-based writer Kari Lydersen's account of the Republic Windows and Doors sit-in on her blog at the Washington Post a blog on the publisher's website is being turned into a book, due out in early 2009. Because nothing screams riveting page-turner like a sordid tale of severance pay, bad credit, and people sitting around on lawn chairs. No offense to Ms. Lydersen, but other than the people that actually did the sitting in, who's going to buy this book? Perhaps the publisher is hoping union leaders will snap up lots of copies to hand out to members as a how-to guide. more ›

Man, this thing is a mess and it's pretty tough to sort out, logistically and legally. Here's what we know: Blagojevich still has the power to appoint the seat - as he is still governor - and there may not be much legal ground for opposition, at least from the U.S. Senate. The Trib points out:

In 1969, the Supreme Court ruled the House of Representatives could not refuse to seat Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, a New York Democrat who was accused of putting his wife on the payroll and misusing travel funds to vacation in the Caribbean. Despite those charges, he was reelected by his constituents in Harlem. more ›

After a six day sit-in by workers at the Republic Windows and Doors factory, an agreement to end the protest was reached. The workers approved a $1.75 million deal which will pay each worker eight weeks' salary, all accrued vacation pay and two months' paid health care. Late last night the workers voted unanimously to end the strike after a 20-hour negotiation involving union members, Republic management, members from the lender companies, and others such as U.S. Rep Luis Gutierrez. We mentioned the $400,000 from JP Morgan Chase that was put towards the deal; in addition, Bank of America has agreed to loan Republic management another $1.35 million. more ›

As negotiations start up again at the sit-in at the Republic Windows and Doors factory, where there has been no resolution in spite of what those involved have called significant progress, JP Morgan Chase has pledged $400,000 to the plant's workers. Chase's subsidiary owns 40 percent of Republic. U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who has been involved in the ongoing negotiations, said, "Chase's infusion of necessary capital will be allocated directly to the workers to pay for the compensation and benefits that they are rightfully owed," Gutierrez said. "This money is not, under any circumstances, to be used for corporate bonuses, luxury cars or any other perk for the owners of the plant...These negotiations are about salvaging the Christmas these hardworking families deserve." The Mayor's brother, William M. Daley, who serves as Chase's Midwest Chairman, has also joined the negotiations. Even with the money, union officials say that to fully pay the factory workers all the severance and vacation they're owed would cost a total of $1.5 million.
more ›

Photo by Detroit Chris