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 ›

Adbusters, the Vancouver-based activist group who helped spark the Occupy movement, is calling for over 50,000 protesters to come to Chicago for the May NATO and G8 summits, and they're invoking the ghosts of Chicago history in the process. more ›

The loss of Black residents to the suburbs and an increase in the Hispanic population means something has to give when the ward remaps begin. more ›

We all have that one relative in our family who's reached an age where he feels he can speak his mind whenever he wants because he feels he's earned it simply by living as long as he has. more ›

22nd Ward Alderman Ricardo Munoz publicly discussed his battle with alcoholism this week in the Tribune's Spanish-language daliy Hoy, and again in an interview with the Tribune. “This last year has been rather difficult for me, in terms of my abuse of alcohol,” Munoz told the paper. “In May, I came to the conclusion that I needed help. That’s when I checked myself into an outpatient rehab clinic.” Munoz said that he'd checked himself into an outpatient rehabilitation program for five weeks in May. That program involved daily counseling, but now he goes once a week while attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. “The disease had affected every aspect of my life,” Munoz told the paper. “It affected me professional, socially and at home. That’s why I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t continue it and needed help.” He added that “there’s no real good time to deal with this,” noting that "my motivation right now is to protect my sobriety and my family. Everything after that? Hey, God’s will.” more ›

The estranged father of Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) was sentenced to four years in prison and fined $500 for his part in the production of false documents, including drivers licenses and social security cards. Elias Munoz, 63, was among the 22 people arrested in a Little Village raid in April 2007 to crack down on illegal immigrants. Munoz's photo shop supplied photographs for the false documents. He will report to prison on April 6. more ›

Judge Joan Lefkow handed 28 aldermen their asses today, denying their request to force the City to disclose the names of the police officers accused of brutality. Lefkow said that the case is currently being appealed (busy day at the 7th Circuit), but if the aldermen want to sue the City, they can. Have you been wondering which 28 aldermen signed the petition? We sure have. We called Manny Flores's office and were told there... more ›

We already know we're under surveillance ... well, pretty much all the time. But it looks like the City may be adding some more robot overlords in the near future: City Hall is looking for companies to provide high-res cameras to be attached to street sweepers to photograph illegally parked cars. The cameras would capture a pic of your license plate, and you'd get a ticket in the mail. Most street sweeping tickets are $50.... more ›

After a veritable outpouring of support expressed through an open letter, Fourth District Congressman Luis Gutiérrez announced that he would seek a 9th term in congress. “The situation is going to get worse for the immigrant community, there’ll be more deportations and more separation of families and more damage to our community,” Gutierrez said yesterday. “I want to come back to see if a Democrat-controlled Congress with a president called Barack Obama can bring an... more ›

If you're a local pol these days, it seems that the feds are gonna get you one way or another. Sure, if you're a Lipinski, a Sorich, or hell, even a former or current governor, somebody from DC is probably taking a good hard look at you. But what if you are a photo shop owner, and your son is the alderman of the ward you live in? What if you are an alderman with a relatively clean record and a reputation for representing the community? Well, then the feds may nab you or a relative any way. more ›

Does it ever seem like interesting political news dries up after an election? Surely the pols who ran are taking a vacation — and why wouldn't they? After a grueling election, knocking on doors, rallying the troops, and getting out the vote, it's no wonder that they want to take some rest and relaxation. With that in mind, we present you our weekly roundup of political news. Manny Flores to Seek Fourth District Congressional Seat.... more ›

As Luis Gutierrez makes the rounds for Barack Obama, Latino politicians around the city are jockeying for the opportunity to run for his soon-to-be vacated Congressional seat. Gutierrez has announced that he will "retire" in 2008, but makes no mention of what he will do after that. Last week, Cook County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado (D - 8th) announced that he had created a campaign committee to raise funds for an '08 congressional bid. City Alderman... more ›

While the rest of the city was preparing to get sauced this past weekend, and the media was running after Conrad Black, DNC Chairman Howard Dean made a trip to Chicago for a series of fund raisers last week. And Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) took the opportunity to make some connections, working the Howard Dean crowd for volunteers. He also went ahead and filed the paperwork to form a congressional campaign committee. He also held... more ›

Well, it's been an interesting couple weeks for CTA watchers. We won't touch another argument about operating budgets with a ten-foot pole, but there really have been a lot of interesting, hilarious, and downright upsetting news regarding the agency lately. Really, the best (and worst) has been the RTA movie snafu. A rather embarassed head of the Regional Transit Authority apologized today for a video that was shown to Metra officials last week that was... more ›

If you're like us (and we bet you are — hell, you're reading the damned site) you surf the net all day. And when you surf the net all day, some pretty neat things come across your desk. We stumbled across this yesterday. It seems that the CTA Tattler scooped your star political writer here at Chicagoist (not that we do any real reporting, anyway), with a piece about 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore's resolution... more ›

Well, it's been quite a week, and it's only Wednesday! Let's jump into the Way Back Machine and have a look at some of the vitriol and invective that has plagued this fine city's political scene in the last three days: • The big news on Monday was that Barack Obama was going to run for president. Sort of. If you watch the clip, he didn't really commit to anything. Chicagoist thinks that he's playing... more ›

Today the New York Times published an article detailing Mayor Daley’ recent corruption woes and the resulting decrease in power and influence he has over those serving in the City Council: 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 ›

Outside of Chicago, Mayor Richard M. Daley is viewed as a model big-city mayor. And when you talk to the average Chicago citizen, Da Mare is generally thought of as good for the city. Hey, props to you Big Guy. So all that happy, fuzzy stuff aside, what the heck is going on with city government lately? more ›