Hump Day Political News Roundup

By Kevin Robinson in News on Nov 29, 2006 5:00PM

Hey there, little buckaroos! We sure do have us a whole herd a political tidbits to round up, so let's saddle up and git a rollin'!

1. Mayor Daley has nothing but good things to say about convicted patronage chief Robert Sorich. In a press conference this week, he said they were all "fine young men," citing his personal knowledge of their families. He went to great pains, however, to avoid passing judgment over Sorich's 48-month prison sentence.


2. Bobbie Steele made her bizarre announcement that she would retire while she was still board president (and thus double her pension), and have her son replace her as a County Commissioner on Thanksgiving. Then she backed down. Then she made it official.


3. In Chicago’s 9th Ward, on the far South Side, a war between Ald. Anthony Beale and his challenger Earick Rayburn has broken out over the removal of some campaign billboards.


4. Peraica's campaign manager had this to say about why his guy lost and why "storming the county building" in the middle of the night of the election wasn't really that bad of an idea.


5. Peoples Gas president Desiree Rogers and Johnson Publishing CEO Linda Johnson Rice are co-hosting a fund-raiser on Thursday night for the mayor. This is a change from 12 years ago, when two other black women held a fundraiser for the mayor and were met with protests from the black community. This time around, the mayor seems to have quite a bit of black support.


6. Todd Stroger, who said he would lift the suspension of Gerald Nichols and bring him on board as an advisor, is changing his tune now, saying that effective Dec. 31, Nichols will be fired. Happy New Year Cook County!!