Hester allegedly received a bounty of gifts worthy of a "Price is Right" Showcase Showcase. more ›

Less than a month on the job and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is tackling some of the problems her predecessor left behind. This week she met with state officials to try and sort out the mess that Stroger's infamous "zoo party", paid for with funds allocated to help county flood victims, left for her. more ›

Our neighbors to the east, Indiana, are dealing with a beefy political scandal today. Rep. Mark Souder, an eight-term Republican who just won a hotly contested primary two weeks ago, is resigning in the wake of the revelation he had an affair with a part-time staffer. Souder was the Representative for Indiana's Third Congressional district, which occupies the northeastern corner of the state; Fort Wayne is the largest city in Souder's district. Gov. Mitch Daniels said a special election will select a replacement for Souder, whose resignation takes effect on Friday, that will serve until his term is up at the end of January at which the seat will be taken over by whoever wins the November general election. Souder, who's been married to his wife Diane for 36 years, was an outspoken supporter of family values and abstinence education, saying after one 2008 hearing that teens should commit themselves to, "abstaining from sex until in a committed, faithful relationship." But after that, apparently, you can bang whoever you damn well please. more ›

With the debut of Celebrity Apprentice coming Sunday, get ready for another Blagojevich onslaught. Watching the former Illinois Governor in competition for Donald Trump’s approval in New York will be a reminder that we are not living in the only politically shameful state in the Union. The Empire State's upheaval makes one wonder, which is more dysfunctional, Springfield or Albany? It’s an open question. We are all painfully aware of Rod’s rap sheet, but here are some points for those of you keeping score at home: more ›

In the wake of a Tribune investigation into the apparent misuse of city-issued credit cards by high-ranking officials in the Chicago Public Schools, Mayor Daley says that he wants to wait to see what the report that Schools Inspector General James Sullivan will issue says. "The report has not come out as yet, but we'll be sitting down with that," Daley told the Tribune. "The independent inspector general is supposed to issue a report as well, and we'll respond appropriately. Like anything else, you want to protect taxpayers' money at all times." more ›

Tiger Woods hasn't said much since his car accident a few weeks ago that led to one of the bigger celebrity/sports scandals we've seen in quite some time. But we may hear more from him soon: a representative from Harpo Productions told the Chicago Tribune that Oprah has asked Woods to be on her show. "We have reached out to Tiger Woods' representatives, but nothing is confirmed," the rep said. more ›

The University of Illinois' board of trustees named former president Stanley Ikenberry as interim president on Saturday, Chicago Breaking News reports. more ›

In the long, mostly disappointing history of Chicago baseball one of its lowest moments came when members of the 1919 White Sox threw the World Series. Among the "Black Sox" permanently banned from the game was the team's biggest star, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. Ninety years later, two Chicago lawyers involved with the start-up Chicago Baseball Museum are taking another stab at clearing Shoeless Joe's name. Paul Duffy and Daniel Voelker take exception with assertions made about Jackson in the 1963 book by Eliot Asinof, Eight Men Out. They are plowing through Asinof's research, which is now part of the Chicago History Museum's collection. With research consisting of primarily newspaper recount, the pair was surprised that the notes included no interviews with any of the events' principals. more ›

Reports indicate that on Thursday, the NCAA will strip the University of Memphis of its wins from the 2007-08 following an investigation into violations by the program. Those violations include accusations that Bulls point guard Derrick Rose had somebody else take his SAT exam and that family of the Chicago hoops phenom received other illegal benefits such as free travel. more ›

Former Cook County patronage worker Tony Cole spoke to the press yesterday about his frustrations with how he's been treated by Todd Stroger, his friends and his family in the wake of the county's most recent hiring scandal. "President Stroger should have never fired me," Cole told the Sun-Times. "He wasn't my father. He wasn't my dad he just gave me an opportunity," Cole told ABC7. more ›

Tony Cole, the former steakhouse busboy that county board president Todd Stroger hired to a $60,000 a year county job in spite of his felony convictions for check fraud, is back in the news. According to an investigation conducted by the Sun-Times, Cole continued to get paid by the county for time his spent in jail (the Cook County jail, no less!) between Nov. 19 and Nov. 21. Cole was incarcerated for violating the terms of an order of protection against an ex-girlfriend. more ›

Mayor Daley canceled his public appearances for the third straight day in a row yesterday, citing a lingering illness. The mayor was scheduled to attend a graduation of firefighters and hold a press conference unveiling new security cameras around Navy Pier. The mayor was also scheduled to meet with leaders of city labor unions in a last-ditch effort to salvage difficult negotiations over Chicago's ongoing budget crisis. "We thought it best he not mingle and shake hands with hundreds of people," Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard told the Tribune. "Rather than pass on this lingering bug, we decided to keep him [at City Hall] today." The meeting quickly became moot, however, when local labor leaders were a no-show at the meeting. Chicago Federation of Labor spokesman Nick Kaleba said the organization had no comment on the decision not to attend. more ›

Derrick Rose returned to town last fall with high expectations, as both the top overall draft pick in the NBA draft and a local boy made good. On the court for the Bulls, he lived up to everybody's high hopes -- winning himself the Rookie of the Year award while comporting himself with a humbleness rare in athletes of his stature and at his age. But a possible chink has been discovered in his armor. more ›

County Commissioner Tim Schneider tried to publicly ask Board President Todd Stroger about the ongoing Donna Dunnings-Tony Cole controversy last week. Stroger told Schneider that he's meet with him privately to answer any questions he might have. That meeting has yet to happen, the Sun-Times is reporting. more ›

Todd Stroger's figured out that he may be in some deep trouble come election day in Cook County. There are myriad reasons for this, from the exorbitant tax hikes we've suffered to the lack of quality county services we're ostensibly paying for, to the sheer arrogance of his administration as they've filled the county's payroll with friends and family while calling critics racists. But Stroger isn't worried about any of that, at least not if his latest series of personnel moves are any indication. To wit, Stroger personally hired convicted check-kiter and one-time steakhouse busboy Tony Cole. Cole, who was convicted of writing bad checks in Georgia, was hired as a $58,000-a-year administrative assistant in the budget department and later promoted to a $61,000-a-year human resources assistant posistion in the highway department. Stroger fired Cole when the Sun-Times revealed the conviction. Late last week Stroger fired his Chief Financial Officer and cousin, Donna Dunnings, because of "explosive" and "not flattering" allegations that Cole made, which Stroger felt would interfere with her ability to do her job. more ›

• Cook County Board President Todd Stroger says he won't fight a war of secession against the towns that voted to leave Cook County, mainly to avoid county taxes, and create their own county. Stroger warned, though, that Barrington, Hanover and Palatine townships might be in over their heads. "But, what they do need to know is when they do that, they will have to have their own jail," he said. "They'll have to have their own elected officials; clerk, sheriff and all that. It's not going to save them money, it's going to cost them more money." [Daily Herald]
• Stroger fired human resources assistant and former University of Georgia basketball player Tony Cole, after finding out that Cole neglected to mention a felony conviction for writing bad checks. Stroger personally hired Cole in October 2008, overlooking his various misdemeanor and felony offenses in the past, since Cole vowed to get his life back on track. He was hired as an administrative assistant in the budget department and had already been promoted to the HR position in the highway department and given a raise. Employees are worried now, since he had access to their personal information. [Sun-Times]
• The Todd-ler wants your vote again. He announced (again) that he plans to run for re-election in 2010.

Remember John Harris? He was Governor Blagojevich's Chief of Staff who was arrested alongside the Governor on that cold December morning. Following the arrest, Harris resigned his position and now it looks like he's joining the Feds' fight against Blago by cooperating with prosecutors. While an official deal has not been hammered out nor has Harris even begun officially giving feds info, sources tell the Trib talks are well underway. One of Harris's phones was tapped by the feds in their investigation of Gov. Blagojevich. Harris is no stranger to scandals, having previously resigned as City Hall's budget director following the Hired Trucks affair. more ›

The police board released documentation yesterday of officers who'd been reprimanded, one of whom is ex-Sergeant Nicholas M. Ortega, who was fired for having sex in his office and wearing his uniform in a bar. Turns out it was one big incident, and the woman Ortega slept with was a rookie cop's wife. more ›

The accusations that members of the 1919 White Sox squad took money in return for throwing the World Series are well documented. Eight players -- including Shoeless Joe Jackson -- were banned forever from baseball, while eventually acquitted of criminal charges. Many a Sox fan blamed this for their team's own difficulties in winning a World Series -- until 2005. 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 ›