Founded last August, the Chicago SociaBulls is squarely in the anti-ban camp. More than simply educating the public on responsible pit bull ownership, the group hopes to rehab the breed's image to boot. more ›

Rod Blagojevich is currently giving the jury his life story on the witness stand. more ›

7th Ward Ald. Sandi Jackson filed petitions to run for re-election this week. At the same time, she also filed to run for city clerk, a seat being vacated by Miguel Del Valle who is running for mayor. Jackson has until the end of the month to decide which office she wants to run for and withdraw one of the petitions, but in either case she will likely face a candidate at least affiliated with county commissioner and former ward alderman Bill Beavers. Beavers's daughter Darcel, who lost to Jackson in 2006 is looking for a rematch, throwing her hat in the ring, and Mersaydes Young, a staffer in Beavers's office is running for city clerk. “We’re going to weigh both seats and pray,” Jackson told the Tribune of how she will make her decision. more ›

The latest update on who may or may not be running for mayor comes from a series of political events and statements from local politicians. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has said that he's weighing his options when it comes to a run at City Hall. "I'm not as quick as some other people might be to (jump) out of the box and say I'm off to a new career," Dart told the Tribune. "I want to be thoughtful." Nevertheless, petitions to put Dart's name on the ballot are on the street. Dart says that he has no organized political effort to put his name on the ballot for mayor, but that supporters have asked if they could put petitions out for him. Dart spoke to about 250 supporters at a "Women for Dart" event Monday, where he also addressed questions from the press about a potential run. more ›

It's not illegal, but the fact Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s campaign has paid his aldermanic wife Sandi (7th) over half-a-million dollars since 2001 certainly does raise eyebrows. The campaign has paid her $247,500 since 2001 including $95,000 since she became an alderman in 2007. On top of that, there's also $298,927 of cash and contributions to Sandi's campaign. Still, while it seems to push the boundaries of ethical behavior, there's nothing illegal about it. A spokesman for Jesse Jackson told Bloomberg via email, “Congressman Jackson and Alderman Jackson are each other’s biggest supporters...[they] do their best to follow all federal, state and local rules, laws and ethic codes." Bloomberg has the full story. [via NBC 5] more ›

Yesterday's "revelation" that roads near proposed Olympic venues are getting preferential pothole repair treatment is now allegedly raising the ire of alderman. Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th). Jackson took Transportation Commissioner Thomas Byrne to task for giving Olympic-related streets precedence, wondering if Byrne had "been forced to do something like this because of an Olympics that we may or may not get." more ›

It's hard to believe that we're still getting a shit-ton of news out of this scandal, but nothing really surprises us anymore. more ›

G-Rod is calling lawmakers back to Springfield to work on that pesky, still unsigned state budget. [Trib, S-T] more ›

This one slipped through the cracks yesterday, but Division Street calls our attention to Sandi Jackson's latest crusade: that $15 fee American is charging on checked baggage. It's discriminatory, she says. more ›

According to a new Sun-Times analysis of last Tuesday's county-wide primary races, those candidates that attempted character assassination of their rivals by associating them with unpopular Cook County Board President Todd Stroger lost, almost across the board. Stroger's approval ratings are basically in the same territory as President Bush's—somewhere between rock bottom and Herbert Hoover—so the prevailing logic was that if you could associate a candidate with Stroger, it would be like transferring his unpopularity onto them. Makes sense, right? more ›

Congressman and mayoral wannabe Jesse Jackson Jr made some strange bedfellows this weekend when he announced that he's endorsing Larry Suffredin for Cook County state's attorney. more ›

Jesse Jackson Jr wants the FEC to tell him whether he can use his campaign funds to help his wife, 7th Ward Alderman Sandi, to unseat Bill "Hog With the Big Nuts" Beavers as ward committeeman. In the advisory opinion request he submitted to the federal commission on October 15, he specifically asked for clarification on several issues, including how much money, if any, his re-election campaign can give his wife, as well as the... 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 ›

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... more ›

Well, another municipal election has come in Chicago, and in many wards (but not all) it's gone. As expected, Richard M. Daley sailed to re-election, set to eclipse his father as the Chicago's longest-serving mayor, in spite of Ben Joravsky's best efforts. At the time of this writing, a few things are clear: there will be a few runoffs this year, including Madeline Haithcock - Bob Fioretti (2nd), Dorothy Tillman - Pat Dowell (3rd), Shirley... more ›

In case you missed it, two important filings of candidacies took place this week: Mayor Daley's stalking horse, Dorothy Brown, is now officially running for mayor, and Sandi Jackson threw her hat in the ring to take on William Beavers' daughter, Darcel Beavers, for 7th Ward Alderman. While Brown's announcement is significant only becuase she is a pawn of Daley, the Beavers/Jackson race is sure to be a headline grabber this season. While Chicagoist has... more ›

The big news yesterday was that Daley would run for relelection. Lined up at city hall with all the aldermanic candidates was none other than Terry Peterson, former Chicago Housing Authority CEO and Daley's campaign manager, carrying less than 25,000 signatures to put Hizzoner on the ballot. This is a far cry from past campaigns when Daley surrogates would arrive with nearly a quarter million signatures. While some have speculated that filing light like this... more ›

Although she hasn't officially announced to the press yet, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that Jesse Jackson Jr's wife Sandi will be running against William Beaver's daughter Darcel for 7th Ward Alderman. This race looks to be one of the hottest and most contested races in the city this election cycle, as William Beavers tries to hold onto the Ward he left for the County Commission, and Jackson Jr tries to build a base... more ›