U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has fired off a letter to Tony Peraica's office, a bit peeved over a door-hanger flier that he feels implies his endorsement of Peraica in his run for State's Attorney. The flier has the tag line "U.S. Attorney's Office Needs Help Fighting Corruption in Cook County" underneath photos of the two men. Fitzgerald's letter emphasizes that he has not endorsed any candidate, and especially not one that "[he did] not believe......

The U.S. Attorney's office filed a report on Cook County Jail today, and their findings are horrific. According to the report, living conditions in the jail violate inmates' human rights. The 17-month investigation revealed that prison officials regularly failed to protect inmates from harm, both from other inmates and from jail staff; failed to provide adequate heathcare, including suicide prevention; and failed to provide sanitary conditions. Health care also is a serious problem, the Justice......

The feds arrested 67 people in Chicago today for mortgage fraud. "Operation Malicious Mortgage" is trying to bust people who cost borrowers around $1 billion, according to the Justice Department. More than 400 people have been arrested nationally in 144 fraud cases, and locally, 33 people have been charged in two related schemes that involved $111 million in fraudulent loans. Authorities targeted three growing scams: lending fraud involving false loan applications and bogus real estate......

US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who's in desperate need of a nickname, said there's "every reason to think there are more charges to come in the future," following the arrest of 15 people, including several city employees, charged with giving and receiving bribes in the zoning department. The investigation is called "Operation Crooked Code," which is amazing. From the Trib: City inspectors ignored problems, fabricated reports and sped up paperwork in exchange for envelopes of cash,......

It seems like everybody in town knows Tony Rezko's name. And why not? Besides being under federal indictment, he's a big player in Illinois politics. He's also gotten some national attention, with Former Gov. Jim Edgar musing that Rezko isn't really Obama's problem, and a photo of him with former President Bill Clinton surfacing on the Today show. So who is Tony Rezko, and why is he under indictment? Rezko immigrated to Chicago after high......

21st Ward Alderman Howard Brookins accepted Jesse Jackson's endorsement for Cook County State's attorney Sunday at Jackson's South Side Rainbow/PUSH headquarters. A Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll published today shows that there is no clear front-runner in the race for State's Attorney, and most of the county's Democratic power brokers have stayed out of the race. Jesse Jackson Jr endorsed Larry Suffredin earlier this year, ostensibly as part of the on-going feud between the Jacksons and Bill......

Sangamon County Circuit Judge Patrick Kelley ruled Wednesday that Governor Blagojevich's administration must disclose subpoenas from federal prosecutors in the ongoing investigation into state hiring. When the governor's office denied a Freedom of Information Act request for copies of the subpoenas last year, the Better Government Association, a Chicago-based government watchdog group, sued. US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is investigating charges that the Blagojevich administration traded state jobs for campaign contributions. Blagojevich had claimed, among other......

Former governor Jim Thompson came to the defense of the current administration this weekend, specifically on behalf of Illinois’ first lady, Patty Blagojevich. Thompson was prompted by a report on Friday that the feds have started sniffing around Mrs. Blago’s real estate deals –- deals that have been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions brokering transactions for Springfield connected clients such as state contractors and contributors to her husband’s campaign. So why would......

- The Illinois Appellate Court ruled the city is not liable for negligence in the 2003 Lincoln Park porch collapse. - Hollinger Inc., the majority shareholder in Sun-Times Media Group, has taken control of the board, leading to speculation that it's stepping up efforts to sell the Bright One. - "Someone filmed a documentary about Thax Douglas?" Yup. View the trailer here. - William Heirens, the state's longest-serving prison inmate at over sixty years,......

That Mayor Daley. What a guy! When he isn't busy saving us from being the next Detroit, he's addressing the media with frustration and consternation. After a 48 - 0 vote in the council yesterday, Daley's plan to divorce the Office of Professional Standards from the Police Department was approved. As part of his new plan to "restore public confidence", Da Mare will be bringing Los Angeles attorney Ilana B.R. Rosenzweig in to be the......

Now we know why Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak kept quiet for so long about who told him CIA Agent Valerie Plame's name; he needed to save that information (at least until 2006) so he could one day publish a tell-all book. Well done, Novak, well done. Novak's book, The Prince of Darkness, (which should not be confused with the Ozzy Osbourne box set of the same name) chronicles Novak's 50 years of work as a......

Calling the sentence imposed on Lewis "Scooter" Libby "harsh" and "excessive," George W. Bush commuted the 30-month sentence on Monday. Not quite the full pardon that some conservatives wanted — he still has to pay a quarter million dollar fine and serve 2 years probation for lying under oath — it certainly left Bush open to criticism, from both sides of the congressional aisle. “He was indicted by a grand jury and convicted beyond the......

Now that Blago's $7.6 billion tax plan has crashed and burned in the state legislature, he's doing a total 180, embracing expanded gambling in Illinois to try and cope with a state budget that is in serious trouble. The legislation, backed by Emil Jones, would expanding gambling in Illinois to include three riverboat licenses for Waukegan, the south suburbs and an as-yet undetermined point within an eight-mile radius of O'Hare Airport. As part of......

Chicagoist woke up to the headline "Feds subpoena governor's campaign fund records" in the Tribune. Oh no, we thought, this can't be good for ol' G-Rod. For a governor that has seen friends indicted, had a public feud with his father in-law that has resulted in charges of gross misconduct and confirmation by prosecutors that they are looking close and hard at very real accusations of wrong doing, this news certainly can't bode well. At......

Chicagoist got a blast from the past yesterday when our man in Dirksen, Patrick Fitzgerald, announced the indictment of former 10th Ward Alderman Fast Eddie Vrdolyak on charges of federal fraud and bribery in connection with an alleged scheme to collect kickbacks in exchange for the sale of choice Gold Coast property. The charges allege that Vrdolyak conspired with businessman Stuart Levine to defraud the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science of the full......

A piece that ran in Sunday's Tribune got us to thinking about the ramifications of last week's election here in Chicago. Much has been made about the significance of the nine new aldermen that will take office in May, especially those that had the support of labor. Dorothy Tillman, Madeline Haithcock, and Shirley Coleman all went down, beaten by union backed candidates. Toni Foulkes in the 15th Ward, an actual union member, beat Felicia Simmons-Stoval......

The city was abuzz Saturday afternoon with the news that Chicago has made the cut to be the US Olympic Committee’s choice to host the 2016 Olympics. It’s not a done deal yet; the International Olympic Committee still has to choose a final site for the Games, but this latest adventure from Mayor Daley has certainly changed the equation. In bars and coffee shops, around dinner tables and water coolers, and yes, even here in......

It's been another spring week of wacky weather here in in the Windy City. And just like the sunshine, our elected leaders have been coming out to shine. Let's take a look back at some of the more notable events thus far: Black Business Group Doesn't Like Blago's Tax Plan. The Alliance of Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs (ABLE), a group representing African-American businesses has reviewed the governor's proposed budget plan, and they've given it what......

If you had just arrived in Chicago yesterday, with no knowledge of the political history of this town for the last 100 years or so, you might think that the mayor here was some kind of forward-thinking good-government type. With the Tribune's headline announcing that the city had agreed to ban patronage, it would seem that Daley was taking corruption by the horns and stamping it out, once and for all. Not likely. In fact,......

So much has happened in politics this week, all across our little city. From the ministers in the West Loop, to construction and development on the South Side, to Top Cops Downtown getting notice in DC, it's like Chicago is just one big happy village, people. Let's take a look: Blago's Budget Puts Him in Touch With God. Governor Rod Blagojevich is on a "crusade," bringing tax fairness, education and health care to all of......

It's been a whole seven days since last week, and just like snow, the news is piling up. As our man Barack implores us to let him walk with us on this movement, everyone is just hoping for a piece of his shadow. Let's take a look back. Chicagoist's favorite whipping boy Todd "The Toddler" Stroger got booed by the crowd at Obama's announcement rally in Chicago Sunday. Considering that the people that carried Obama......

The Chicago Tribune is reporting today on plans by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce to transform itself into a piece of the machine. Citing recent developments in the city council, such as the passage of the Big Box Ordinance, the Chamber wants to make sure that its interests aren't threatented. By taking down Aldermen that work against their interests. The most shocking part of the plan isn't that business feels it needs to protect its......

It’s been an unusually active week for Chicago-related TV: first there was the announcement of an alliance between NBC and Second City, then the premiere of “30 Rock,” and now the new reality show from Mr. T “I Pity the Fool” which premiered on TV Land Wednesday night. He sure has come a long way from Robert Taylor. All right, snicker all you want to about gold chains, Mohawks, and superduper black vans. Perhaps......

Mike Madigan's daughter and Attorney General Lisa Madigan is accusing Gov. Blagojevich of impeding a federal investigation into questionable hiring. Late last week AFSCME Council 31 publicly alleged that the Governor was intimidating state employees by running a parallel investigation to the hiring probe being conducted by Patrick Fitzgerald. Already sniffing around about favors lists and sketchy connections to vendors leasing Tollway space, Fitzgerald's office has said that there is credible evidence of "endemic hiring......

You might not have noticed it, what with you having to be at work and all, but today is a holiday. That means that you won't be getting mail, and you don't have to go to court -- city, state, or federal (we're looking at you, Patrick Fitzgerald). Beside the Post Office and government offices, public and most private elementary, middle, and high schools are closed today as well, but not the colleges and universities......

Republican gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka lashed out at Governor Blagojevich yesterday for filing an extension for his income taxes. Topinka thinks Blago is trying to hide where his income comes from, but all we can say is YAWN! If Blago tries to get out of declaring some income, then by all means, please let us know, but being warned that he is playing by the rules in filing the extension is downright boring. Why......

Last night was the big Republican debate between gubernatorial candidates Judy Baar Topinka, Bill Brady, Ron Gidwitz, and Jim Oberweis. We were entertained, mostly by the horrible lighting that made the candidates look tired and haggard, but not enlightened. Too bad the earlier run-in between Brady and Oberweis was not televised. The debate focused on jobs, the economy, and the business climate in Illinois. The candidates agreed on most of the topics—the need to......

Chicagoist is not at all shocked that Lake Forest's own Vince Vaughn has been named by People Magazine as one of the sexiest men alive. We here at Chicagoist have wanted to tap that ass for months now and we knew it wouldn't be long before the rest of the world came to Jesus on the matter. He may not be the sexiest, but just you wait: it's only a matter of time before he's......

It was only a matter of time before Lord Conrad Black was indicted on criminal fraud charges. Just a few minutes ago, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald announced that Black would stand trial for looting millions of dollars from Hollinger, his once-mighty media empire which owns the Chicago Sun-Times. The company also owns dozens of suburban newspapers and once owned the Daily Telegraph (UK) and the Jerusalem Post. The indictments also named three former Hollinger execs,......

Not only has Journey’s Steve Perry been an inspiration to your World Champion White Sox, but now apparently Governor Blagojevich is taking a cue from the crooner’s sweet stylings. A federal investigation seeking to examine the hiring practices of Blago’s hiring practices is under way, and Blagojevich said yesterday that he welcomes the investigation because he has done nothing wrong, and wants to prove it to the good people of Illinois. In other words,......