The political drama that ended the Hispanic Democratic Organization's grip on city hiring ended yesterday, with the sentencing of long-time HDO chief and former Streets and San commissioner Al Sanchez, who was convicted of four counts of mail fraud last year. U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman handed down a sentence of 2-1/2 years in federal prison for Sanchez. But he didn't go quietly. more ›

Candis Ricks, 29, a Streets and Sanitation department worker and mother of two, was killed on Saturday after an SUV and a car plowed into each other in Pilsen. Although there was an arrest following the crash, no charges have been filed as of Saturday night. The crash occurred in the 2100 block of South Damen around 1:30 a.m., as Ricks was traveling northbound on Damen in a Ford Escape SUV when her car was hit by a Ford Focus going west on 21st Street. The crash caused both vehicles to jump the curb and roll onto the sidewalk. more ›

The Mayor's office may take disciplinary action against some city workers who refused to work overtime after flooding struck Chicago late last month. The Sun Times reports that the union contract stipulates that when the city declares an emergency and gives 16 hours notice, overtime work becomes mandatory. Some laborers refused to work, since the overtime goes unpaid as part of a cost cutting agreement, and now the city has begun disciplinary action against them. more ›

Not that we desperately want to re-ignite the conversation about dibs again, but the department of Streets and Sanitation has decreed that dibs is done. Streets & San bossman Tom Byrne released a statement over the weekend calling it off until the next big snow. No word if last night's snow met the criteria. more ›

Al Sanchez, the former head of the city's Streets & Sanitation department who was convicted earlier this year, has been granted a new trial by U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman. Gettleman presided over Sanchez's case earlier this year. The reason: according to the Tribune, Sanchez's lawyers argued "federal prosecutors failed to disclose that one of their witnesses was a high-ranking gang leader and drug dealer." In his ruling, Gettleman said, "Based on these findings, this court has lost confidence in the integrity of the verdict, convicting these defendants." more ›

A mayoral aide says the city will be much better prepared for street plowing this winter than last. The aide even referred to last year's cost-cutting policy which entailed using less road salt, plowing side-streets only during normal working hours to reduce overtime, and skipping side-streets after minor snow storms, as "last year's mistakes," reports the Sun-Times. In a statement on Monday the aide said the city has 370,000 tons of salt "on the ground, covered and ready for the snow to hit." more ›

46th Ward Alderman Helen Shiller, along with 1st Ward Alderman Manny Flores, proposed an ordinance Tuesday afternoon that requires new apartment buildings in the city to set aside space for recycling. New buildings with four or fewer units, which are served by the city's Streets and Sanitation Department, would be mandated to set aside space to sort and store recyclables and townhouses would have to have set aside space, either indoors or screened off outdoors for recycling. Buildings with five or more units, which are served by private waste haulers, would have to set aside space on each floor, or incorporate chutes to handle recyclable waste. "It's very difficult, right now, to actually comply with that ordinance, give that there is minimal space," Flores told the Tribune. more ›

Chicago Streets and Sanitation superintendent Jeff Oakley has been suspended without pay and was demoted from his $100k+ per year gig after he was accused of leaving his office window open at the Bureau of Electricity headquarters the weekend before Christmas. As you might remember, it was really "freaking cold" that weekend and a water pipe froze and burst causing an estimated hundreds of thousands of dollars in flood damage. Oakley called the damage an "embarrassment" to the bureau and Mayor Daley, but denies having left the window open speculating that perhaps strong winds blew it ajar. The Sun-Times also helps float the idea that it may have been racially motivated: more ›

In the wake of Ald. Tom Allen (38th) calling out Mayor Daley on the city's failure to properly plow and salt/sand side streets following last week's and this week's storms (both past and future), other aldermen are now getting antsy for answers from MayDay on exactly what's going on.

Ald. Billy Ocasio is the most outspoken critic of the most recent city snow removal effort, claiming that when he personally called for help for his ward last night, he was passed from department to department --- making him wonder aloud "who's in charge?"

A day after Mayor Bilandic Daley admitted mistakes were made in plowing roads after last week's season-opening snow, a fleet of snow plows have hit the streets of Chicago this morning to clear and salt the streets of today's fresh snowfall. The city Dept. of Streets & Sanitation had 184 plows on the road by 4:30 a.m. Department spokesman Matt Smith said the priority would be keeping the main streets clear and then clear side streets based on complaints to 311. more ›

We know it's only Wednesday, but most of you will probably be offline until you drag your well-fed butts back into the office next Monday, right? So don't forget when you park your car Sunday night that the city's draconian winter overnight parking ban kicks in at 3 a.m. this Monday, December 1. more ›

We thought this would go away, but apparently, the residents who had their car towed have a real gripe. The following flyer comes to us via a resident whose car wasn't towed, but did receive the flyer alerting him to the race. Among other things, the flyer says: "The city will tow cars off the race route and move them to nearby streets and the Burr Elementary School parking lot." There is no mention anywhere of impounding the cars. [Typo: The year on the flyer reads 2007 which has been scrawled over with an '8' but the date (Sunday, October 5) is correct.] Check out the full flyer after the jump. more ›

A 26-page report released by the city's Inspector General David H. Hoffman completely skewers the Bureau of Sanitation department, documenting widespread goofing off and falsification of time records amongst sanitation employees. The Inspector General's Office investigated 77 garbage truck drivers and 145 laborers across 10 wards between May and September of this year in an effort to see if they were putting in their full time. The results showed an astonishing average of 26 percent of the work day -- 2 hours and 3 minutes -- was spent not working. Even the best ward had an average of 1 hour and 38 minutes of non-work time. Spreading out this average over all 50 wards, the IGO estimates an annual loss of $14.3 million in wages -- $20.9 million when factoring in benefits, truck maintenance and fueling costs. Hoffman places blame squarely on the shoulders of Bureau of Sanitation supervisors. more ›

A new battle pitting citizens against the city is brewing in Bucktown where 137 cars were towed over the weekend to clear the roads for a 5K race, an action that residents say happened without warning. The Streets and Sanitation Department begs to differ; spokesman Matt Smith claims the signs were posted Thursday night and Friday warning residents of the Sunday morning race. A home-made sign posted in the neighborhood Sunday morning directed residents to call Ald. Scott Waguespack's office if they felt their cars had been wrongly towed. Tim Eberline, whose car was towed while he spent the night with a friend, was told when he got his car out of the impound that "by immediately retrieving -- rather than putting in the paper work to appeal the tow -- he was told he was pleading guilty and had no further recourse." There must be a mix-up because the city would never pull a fast one on its residents for the purposes of financial gain. more ›

Back in October, the city started soliciting bids to install surveillance cameras on street sweeping machines to help bust parking scofflaws. It worked! According to a proposed ordinance he unveiled yesterday, Mayor Daley wants to mount cameras on all the city's sweepers and start issuing $50 robotickets to illegal parkers. more ›

For the second time in six months, a city worker has been arrested for allegedly soliciting sex while on the job. Glendale James, who works for Streets and Sanitation, has been placed on administrative leave after he was arrested on Thursday morning when the “hooker” turned out to be an undercover cop. more ›

Sand, kitty litter, salt and...beet juice? Yes, there's another product in the de-icing repertoire these days, and it comes from sugar beets. more ›

Hoooly balls, this Streets and Sanitation news item--is it a press release? just an announcement? either way — is a hot mess. Apparently the City is "over the moon with street sweeping mileage." We're not so over-the-moon about this hand-drawn, badly punctuated flyer. Does this make Streets and San trashy? Ho, ho.... more ›