Valadez Trial

Reminder for Monday:

• The trial for the two remaining defendants in my brother's murder (P.O. Alex Valadez 9534 - EOW 01 June 2009) will commence on Monday, September 30th. Opening statements will begin at 1000 - 26/Cal room 606.
  
  Any officers that attend in uniform are asked to please cover up their shirts so that the defense doesn't find anything to use against us.
  
  Thanks.

Stop by Rm 606 after your appearances.

The Mayor is Safe!!!

We know that everyone was worried, what with all the sensitive contract negotiations, red light/speeding cameras and pending pension reform on the horizon. We can't really summarize it adequately, so we'll lift the post in its entirety. Apologies to the guys over at CrimeInBoystown:

• The 19th district ran out of cops again, entering "Radio Assignment Pending" status at 2:43 this morning. The RAP was lifted at 6:18AM.
  
  Six of the district's 15 police beats did not have cars assigned to them, according to an online report.  Who makes the schedule around here? You're having people robbed and beaten every Friday and Saturday night for months, if not years, yet they decide a Friday night is the right time to have nearly 50% of the district's beat cars unmanned?
  
  It actually seems like the 19th district leadership intentionally understaffs busy nights in order to reduce the number of officers available to record the crap that is going on.
  
  And then, there's this:
  
  While common citizens were being robbed and enduring long waits for the police, one 19th district resident enjoyed premium police service.
  
  At 4:06AM, a 19th district car that is assigned to park in the alley behind Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home reported "suspicious activity."
  
  A white male walked through a gate a couple of doors away. The officer reported that the man was "knocking on a door, coughing and stuff."
  
  Within 45 seconds, another police unit was told to go to the mayor's alley to help deal with the "suspicious man." At the same time another 19th district car that is assigned to the mayor's house also moved in on the suspicious man.
  
  Friends, neighbors, you can relax. The mayor is safe. The "suspicious man" was setting up for a Saturday morning yard sale. Don't you beating victims feel stupid for trying to suck police protection away from important matters like suspicious yard sale set-up?

Meanwhile, up in 016, a green van is abducting and raping 12-year-old girls and attempting to kidnap boys, too. But Rahm is safe from someone setting up a yard sale - we sure hope that Revenue showed up to check the permits for that event.

7 Milliseconds

Any bets on how many times this story appears in the local media? The national media? That the I-Team Investigations crew maybe makes some calls on it?

• The United States Federal Reserve announced last week that it would not draw down its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program (i.e. no “tapering”). The Fed made the announcement at precisely 2:00 p.m. EST, “as measured by the national atomic clock.”
  
  However, just seven milliseconds after the Fed made its announcement, the Chicago exchanges went crazy with huge orders. Seven milliseconds.
  
  The Fed’s decision, as always, was closely guarded before it was announced.
  
  How did Chicago react so quickly?

How indeed. We'd bet even money you never hear a word about this anywhere.

A Profit? At Taste?

The Taste, like CAPS, will never truly die:

• This year's Taste of Chicago turned a profit for the city for the first time since 2007, officials said.
  The festival earned $272,000 in profit, one year after losing $1.3 million, according to the city.
  Officials estimated that the festival brought $106 million in total business activity to the Chicago economy, according to a release from the Mayor's Press Office. Estimates are that the festival also drew $2.35 million in tax receipts for the city, officials said.

Congratulations....we guess.

Channel 7 in Rahm's Bag

Chuck Goudie be-clowns himself:

• The ABC7 I-Team has learned that one of Chicago's most popular entertainment corridors is getting some special police attention, and it's a direct result of the violence that followed the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup victory.
  
  The nastiness on North Clark that night the Blackhawks won the cup marred an otherwise spectacular sports event. But now because of the violence of June 24, Chicago police will be putting their foot down, literally, with the addition of an old fashioned walking patrol on Clark Street.
  
  The newly-deployed cop on Clark started last week and will be assigned to a foot patrol every evening.

So let's get this straight:

• The Blackhawks win the Cup on 24 June;
• The I-Team reports on 26 September that this foot patrol began last week

So what has been happening in the intervening 3 months? Have Hawks fans been allowed to run rampant across the 019 District, breaking windows, looting stores, snatching iPhones and beating the alternative lifestyle community?

And if you read closely, this isn't some massive show of force by the CPD - it's a single foot officer. ONE. To prevent all of the ensuing mayhem that has devastated the 019 community these many months.

Are Chuck's editors asleep at the wheel again?

Know What the West Side Needs?

Another liquor store - financed by the City:

• With backing from the local alderwoman and money from City Hall, a new liquor store opened earlier this year in South Austin -- one more purveyor of alcohol, cigarettes and lottery tickets in a neighborhood desperate for something more.
  
  Informing the original backer of the store that he would be getting $105,000 in city funds, a letter from the Department of Community Development exclaimed: "Thank you for reinvesting in the City of Chicago!"
  
  Many residents weren't so enthusiastic. To them, the new business was an insult.
  
  But what even they didn't know was that the store was bankrolled and launched by a convicted drug-dealer who has been tied to a street gang and is facing yet another narcotics charge.

Now THAT is comedy gold right there folks. Convicted felon, known gang banger, supported by an aldercreature, facing more charges, gets over $100,000 in City money to open a liquor store, no doubt enabling him to launder dope money and maybe even commit LINK fraud.

Hollywood called - they say this script is even too unbelievable for them.

Bears

Detroit favored by 3, but after last week, the Bears confidence is probably pretty high.

Suicide by Police?

Just based on the media reports, it seems likely:

• Police shot and seriously wounded a woman who they say pointed a gun toward them in a Pilsen alley.
  
  A group of people called 911 after the woman aimed a gun at them in the 1000 block of West Cullerton Street about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, police said.
  
  The woman had been walking with the gun when the group approached her. The woman continued north on Morgan Street and west into an alley between 19th Street and Cullerton Street, police said.
  
  Plainclothes officers approached her in the alley and the woman pointed the gun toward them, police said. The officers fired at her, hitting her several times, police said.

Camden covers the obvious:

• Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Patrick Camden said the weapon was a BB gun and that she had ducked behind a garbage can before poking back up and pointing it toward the officers.
  
  "Nobody's going to wait around to see if it's real or a toy," Camden said.

Precisely.

Good job to the involved Officers - you did exactly the right thing.

15 Extra Cops!

Fifteen Durbin says!

• U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced Friday the federal government will give the city nearly $1.9 million to hire 15 police officers.
  Chicago is one of 263 cities that will be given money through the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services program, according to a statement from Durbin.
  In total, five communities in Illinois received a total of $3.5 million, according to the statement. Southwest suburban Broadview is the only other Chicago area community to receive money, and will get $125,000 for one police officer.

We're saved!

Pick Your Own Jury

Vegas is NOT, repeat NOT, taking odds on the outcome of this sporting event:

• Transparency first. Mike Shields held an emergency Board meeting today to pick a panel to hear his case. If you haven't heard Mike was brought up on charges for violating the FOP by-laws by not sending the city the retro letter. Shields does not believe he has to follow Roberts Rules of Order and let the Board pick the panel. So in violation of evrything Mike appoints Mike Underwood, John Lipka and Denis Doherty to the panel. the Board vited 14 to 11 in favor of Shields. Mike is just like all the other politicians in crook county. He is on trial so he picks the judge and jury. What's really sad is he doesn't se. Anything wrong in his actions. We must hold the FOP Board of Directors and this trial panel accountable for their actions. It's time for acTion.

The hearing date is next week already?

• SCC - Please alert membership that FOP President Michael Shields' hearing on the charges filed against him is scheduled for Monday, 30 September 2013, 1000 hours, at the FOP Hall.
  
  Members are invited to attend this meeting to see Shields' hand picked committe (kangaroo court) find him not guilty. The fix is sure in!

If you're interested in the direction of the Lodge, you might want to stop by. We understand that some commentators in a previous thread are relating that the By-Laws are silent concerning these actions by the President, but let's be honest, the appearance of stacking the deck is not doing the FOP any favors.

NOTE: These comments are copied exactly as posted - grammar police will be deleted out of hand.

Worth a Look?

Maybe:

• New book coming out on Rahm, on Amazon, recommended by Ben Joravsky:
  
  Mayor 1%: Rahm Emanuel and the Rise of Chicago's 99% by Kari Lydersen
  
  "I urge everyone to read Lydersen's book. Over the last few months, many Chicagoans have told me they didn't realize who they were voting for when they cast a ballot for Emanuel. Thanks to Lydersen, they'll have no excuse in 2015."
  —Ben Joravsky, Chicago Reader

Might be worth a look. Anyone read it yet?

UPDATE: link is now the amazon.com website - it saves you a couple of bucks.

Um....What?

Is this bullshit or the new incarnation of CAPS?

• Dear SCC,
  
  worked 1st watch last nigh and heard form a Sgt in 008, that McNaughton the commander who is currently chasing his deputy chief's star off our backs has cut a deal with (sic) "SWAP". Supposedly SWAP got a 3 million dollar grant and are using it to force sgts, lt's and capt's for now with P.O.'s being forced into this nonsense come January. The cops will HAVE TO meet with a stake holder in the community one on one and discuss problems and solutions for them. Going to be in a neutral location. The simulation had these liberals asking the cops all kind of personal questions, kids, families, sports, neighborhoods, marriage; and the cops were responding. Now we are going to share with some east end citizen I use the term loosely, on department time 99.
  
  Is he fucking nuts! Since when does liberal community activist fall into our job description. Again this is being FORCED upon us, not a voluntary thing. So here you are going to meet with Joe citizen, and u are sideswiped in Dept vehicle, or fall off your chair while while in deep conversation with thugs mama, or ambushed cuz your 99. With all the IOD claims being denied and this really not being "duty related" Where's the GO, or SO, now you're screwed. What the hell happened to CAPS, the fed money is still rolling in. It's their job to make nice with these idiots. What else do they do? Oh yeah, they make sandwiches for the seniors and proctor. Bingo events. Who's gonna be stuck next, Detective division , because they truly are the best talkers. Gonna check with the FOP and see what this clown is up to. This guy ought to go back to la la land in 016. Geez, what happened to real bosses?

Looks like it was typed while a little under the influence, but you get the gist of it. Along with this supposed "sector policing" that might happen in 012, it seems like we're on the verge of some major policing-type experiments next year.

Sgt Exam Announced

From the e-mail everyone got:

• As we announced in April, this fall we will have the first promotional exam for the rank of Sergeant in seven years.
  
  The Written Qualifying Exam will be administered on Saturday, October 26, 2013. The second part of the exam, the Assessment Exercise, will be administered on Saturday, January 11, 2014.
  
  You will receive additional information via email and postal mail regarding the exam location and reporting time.

So now the question is...

• When is the last class being made off the old list?

Because you know someone, or a whole lot of someones, have to get their last picks in.

"Cash Strapped"

An amusing comment yesterday:

• It's amazing how the first line in the Sun-Times reads, "cash-strapped city must pay $1 million in disputed overtime..." How come it never reads, "cash-strapped city to finance new basketball stadium for DePaul..."

Probably because the Sun Times is in Rahm's pocket, right next to his balls and ass, where it's toasty warm and they feel safe.

Rahm Finds Another $92 Million

Revealed by who else? Ben Joravsky at The Reader again:

• Hey, Chicago . . .
  
  While your kids were sweltering in the heat of schools that can't afford air conditioners, or ducking bullets fired by gangbangers who operate more freely because we can't afford police, Mayor Emanuel was coming up with $92 million to spend on something you don't want.
  
  In this case, the South Loop project at Cermak and Michigan that will feature a DePaul basketball arena and a Marriott Hotel. The $92 million will come out of the good old tax increment financing slush fund, which is like a magical drug for creating new money for the mayor to waste.
  
  Good thing he supposedly reformed it.

And crap like this really ought to irritate everyone when you have articles like this appearing in the media:

• Chicago homeowners and businesses would face annual property tax increases to solve the city’s pension crisis — but a balloon payment to shore up police and fire pensions would be put off until 2022 — under legislation backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel that is drawing fire from all sides.
  
  Fraternal Order of Police President Mike Shields flatly declared that the bill introduced at the close of the spring legislation session by Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) stands no chance of passing because police and fire unions will work to defeat it.
  
  In 2015, the city is required by state law to make a $600 million contribution to stabilize police and fire pension funds that now have assets to cover just 30.5 and 25 percent of their respective liabilities.

Rahm pleading poor with one hand while finding tens of millions for certain things, hundreds of millions if you add in the other magically funded TIF projects.

An entire team of forensic accountants would have to work for a decade just to unravel all the shit Daley hid and Rahm is distributing.

Legislature Gets Retro

Sorry....retro PLUS interest:

• A Cook County judge decided Thursday that Gov. Pat Quinn’s move to stop paying lawmakers was unconstitutional and ordered Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka to pay them immediately — plus interest.
  
  Cook County Judge Neil H. Cohen ruled that Quinn violated the section of the Illinois Constitution that holds that state lawmakers’ salaries must not be changed during the term in which they were elected.
  
  Quinn, who yanked lawmakers’ salary in a bid to leverage passage of stalled pension-reform legislation, said Thursday he would appeal and seek a stay of the judge’s decision.
  
  Cohen, who surprised both sides of the dispute with his unannounced decision on the matter Thursday, could take up the question of a stay as early as Friday morning.
  
  The ruling was a decisive legal setback for the governor. Cohen’s opinion, if upheld, would deprive Quinn of a key leverage point to hold over legislators’ heads to help broker a deal in Springfield’s long-running pension impasse.

Evidently, Madigan sent a letter.

Red Light Revenue Explained

From the group over at AceOfSpades:

• Some random clicking led me to this NPR piece on red light cameras which was interesting.

  What's the point of a red-light camera — to make intersections safer or to generate revenue? That's the question prompted by researchers at the University of Tennessee, who say the cameras are sometimes used in ways that are more likely to make money than to improve safety.

  Real shocker that something sold to the public for "safety" would be perverted into a revenue maker that might actually compromise safety, right?
  
  OK, you're done rolling your eyes now I suppose...moving on...

Go read the entire thing. It outlines exactly how and why red light cameras can be used for revenue enhancements rather than public safety and the tricks used to manipulate the law in order to not only maximize revenue, but to reinvent and recover additional money if a stop light camera actually makes an intersection safer (which is a doubtful outcome in any case.)

Time to Spank the Beaver

And based on the severity of the "punishment," a spanking might have been more appropriate:

• Minutes after he was sentenced Wednesday to six months in prison on tax evasion charges, an unrepentant former Cook County Commissioner William Beavers stood in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, flashed a grin and insisted life was good.
  
  "Look, I'm retired. I shop. I go to the store. I golf," the 78-year-old Democratic stalwart said in his trademark gravelly voice. "I do anything and everything I want to do."
  
  For Beavers — convicted in March of failing to pay taxes on hundreds of thousands of dollars he took out of his campaign fund and used for gambling and other personal expenses — it was a typical exchange with reporters, sprinkled with his mix of sharp wit, indignation and a few choice expletives.

So Beavers gets a 6 month vacation after pretty much stealing tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars. We can't say we're surprised at the sentence. After all, we live in a city where "UUW by Felon" charges net you boot camp so you can go out and light up 13 other idiots in a park after dark.

Where's the "Safe Passage?"

Student shot up north:

• A student was injured in a shooting near a Northwest Side high school Wednesday afternoon and the shooter is reportedly in custody, according to Chicago Police
  
  The shooting happened about 2:25 p.m. in the 4700 block of North Kimball, said Chicago Police [...] [D]epartment spokesman. It was near Roosevelt High School at 3436 W. Wilson.

Where is that poor child's Safe Passage route? Isn't anyone thinking of the children???

And where is this guy's Safe Passage?

• Darnell D. Hamilton has big plans for college, but getting to and from high school every day has been difficult, his family says.
  
  Since he was a freshman, gangs have been threatening him as he takes two CTA lines from his Logan Square home to Urban Prep Charter Academy on the West Side, according to his mother, LaDonna Petty. "They wait for him when he gets off the train," she said.
  
  Finally, Hamilton, 17, got a gun from a friend and brought it to school Tuesday, according to Chicago police and his family. Someone saw the weapon and reported it to the principal, who called police.

He had to create his own Safe Passage because Rahm is neglecting him, you know, not thinking of the children again. After all, Rahm pretty much promised every single child a free ride and escort to school.

Obama's DEA

Privacy? What privacy?

• Oregon mandates that pharmacies report information on people receiving certain drugs to a centralized database (ostensibly to "...help people work with their health care providers and pharmacists to know what medications are best for them."). State law does allow law enforcement to access the records, but only with a warrant. The DEA, however, thinks that, because the program is public, a citizen is knowingly disclosing that information to a third party thus losing all of their privacy rights (since you can always just opt out of receiving medical care) thanks to the Controlled Substances Act. The ACLU and medical professionals (PDF) don't think there's anything voluntary about receiving medical treatment, and that medical ethics override other concerns.

So since you can't fill a prescription without disclosing it to a third party (Walgreens, CVS, etc), the DEA is claiming they can access your medical records because you have surrendered any right to privacy by involving that third party.

Wait until you see everything else that's on the horizon of socialized medicine.

Arbitration Win

The Sixth/Seventh Day work grievance has been decided by the arbitrator, and the plain language contained in the Contract has been upheld:

• Chicago Police Officers worked tirelessly during the NATO Summit in May 2012. Many Officers worked six and sometimes seven consecutive days in a single workweek. These Officers submitted overtime requests that were denied. The Lodge filed a class-action grievance.
  
  The grievance went to hearing before Arbitrator Steven Bierig. Arbitrator Bierig issued a binding arbitration award ruling in favor of the Lodge and the Officers who were denied overtime pay. This means that the Department must pay any Officer who worked six or seven consecutive days during the NATO Summit overtime pay for the 6th and 7th day(s) worked.
  
  The Lodge is seeking to compile its own list of Officers who worked six or seven consecutive days to compare it to any list that will be submitted by the Department. Please click on the following NATO Overtime Survey and complete the survey. All submissions will be checked for accuracy.

We're looking to verify that the Arbitrator stated, "Even a 9.5 fingered monkey should have understood that when a Contract says "six (6) or seven (7) consecutive days within the pay period Sunday through Saturday will be compensated at the rate of time-and-one-half for work performed on the sixth (6th) day and seventh (7th) day," that it means six and seven days in a basic calendar week."

If we recall, this mostly affected the Bikes, the undercovers, the "Strike Force" people and Day Off groups 63 and 64 who worked a bunch of days in a row. We might be mistaken, so check with the FOP.

We also got this in the mail today:

That last line appears to be in Rahm's handwriting, so you know that this has the personal touch.

Darn Those Numbers!

Someone has been peeking behind the curtain again:

• Well YTD 13 more homicides in 2013 than 2011. That's puts Chicago homicides up about four percent.
  
  Two more homicides and we are dead even with the homicide count of 2009.
  
  Chicago is just 18 homicides away from tying the 2010 count. That can happen in what...about one weekend here?

Gee, we're probably going to end the year somewhere ahead of 2011, 2010 and 2009, but below 2012. And it only cost how much in overtime? $57 million or so? Spent in six months starting after the spring thaw (which was late this year)?

Better hope this is the last weekend like this that we see:

Who Gets the Two?

Killed in Chicago, dumped in the burbs:

• Robert Danno and Jose Fernardo Martinez-Hernandez barely looked at each other as a prosecutor described how Danno allegedly strangled his wife and his 79-year-old mother-in-law in their Southwest Side home, then drove the bodies to a suburban forest preserve and set them on fire.
  
  Martinez-Hernandez fought back tears as Judge Kerry Kennedy ordered the two men held without bond on charges of first-degree murder and concealing a homicide in the killing Saturday of Mary Ann Urban-Danno and her mother, Theresa Urban. Standing just a few feet away, Danno, dressed in a baggy blue T-shirt, was impassive.
  
  Detectives said Danno and Martinez-Hernandez lived together in the basement of a house in the 5600 block of South Neenah Avenue on the Southwest Side, a home they shared with Urban-Danno and her mother, who had dementia. On Saturday, Urban-Danno went to the basement and argued with her husband, who wrestled her to the floor with Martinez-Hernandez, authorities said.

With this level of detail, we're assuming the got videotaped confessions and it's pretty much a slam dunk at this point. But as has his investigators on it and there probably wasn't a Chicago RD number pulled except in relation to processing the scene with the County, who gets the two killings?

We hear the wheels turning in Rahm's head.

So the Question is Again...

...why was this asshole on the streets?

• Two men in their 20s opened fire into a park on the South Side -- wounding a 3-year-old boy and 12 other people -- after one of the men had been grazed in the arm hours earlier, police said today.
  
  They did not aim at anyone in particular but "just shot into the park" because they believed it was controlled by a rival gang, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy told reporters this morning.
  
  
• Champ had been convicted of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon in July 2012 and was sentenced to boot camp at the Cook County Department of Corrections. McCarthy said the mass shooting likely would not have occurred had he gotten jail time instead.
  
  "He received boot camp for that gun crime and was back out on the streets to be a part of this senseless shooting," McCarthy said. "That is unacceptable. To truly address violence for the long-term, we need state and federal laws that keep illegal guns out of our communities and provide real punishment for the criminals who use them."

Um....numbnuts? We have the laws. They're on the books already. What we don't have is anyone willing (or able?) to present these cases to federal prosecutors for "Exile-type" sentences. The NRA compiled a survey and Cook County ranked dead last of 99 surveyed jurisdictions for federal gun crime prosecution. Why is that? Are our cases so weak that no Federal D.A. would touch these things with a ten-foot-pole? Is this a training issue? Or a political one where you don't want to offend the gangs that are pouring (and we mean pouring!) campaign contributions into certain funds?

And failing at Federal prosecution, we have Governor Potato-head letting out felons on a near monthly basis as he attempts to cut overhead and close prisons to "save" money. How many stories do we have to point out of parolees getting caught burglarizing homes, raping women and children, robbing iPhones or getting caught with weapons? And you know that we're only scratching the surface - it happens way more than we can ever find out. The judicial system in Illinois is a bad joke - unqualified judges, recommended by crooked pols and endorsed by fixed boards of lawyers?

And McJerseyTwit is going to stand out there and tell everyone about the new buzzword - "military grade weapons" - and completely twist the gun debate into something it isn't and hasn't ever been.  Read the third paragraph we quoted - UUW by felon and he gets boot camp? That's fucking appalling, and it also isn't the fault of law abiding gun owners or the NRA.

No Retro for Anyone!

Well, except the sergeants it seems. Rahm is yanking everyone's chain

• Rank-and-file Chicago Police officers are not the only ones at risk of losing their retroactive pay raise. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is trying to deny nearly two years’ worth of back pay to 3,000 civilian city employees, their union charged Tuesday.
  
  The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 disclosed that portion of the city’s offer in an attempt to turn up the heat on Emanuel to negotiate a fair replacement for a contract that expired more than a year ago and last gave AFSMCE members a pay raise on Jan. 1, 2012.

Remember, it's evil republicans threatening to destroy union representation among government workers - except where it's the democrats in power actually doing it. Oh politics, you slay us.

Rahm's Ride Along

Gotta keep the peasants entertained you know:

• For at least the second time since taking office, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has gone on a nighttime “ride-along” with Chicago Police officers, this time in two of Chicago’s most violent districts.
  
  It happened Sunday night when Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy joined officers regularly assigned to the Gresham and Grand Crossing districts.
  
  The mayor’s office disclosed the ride-along without revealing details.

Big on headlines, short on details - how very Clinton-esque or even Obama-like. Not a word we're sure about how he's using the threat of no-retro to beat concessions out of the FOP or how he's expecting the blue-shirts to take it in the ass during negotiations so he can look tough against a "union" that can't strike.

We did manage to snag this photo of Rahm-s ride-along from an old friend though:

DePaul Stadium Rushes Ahead

Rahm pushes everything forward under the guise of the McPier Exposition Authority:

• The architecture firm that proposed a glass-walled DePaul University basketball arena topped with an undulating roof was awarded the design contract Monday morning by McCormick Place officials.
  
  The board of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority voted unanimously to approve a $7.2 million contract to New Haven, Conn.-based Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, one of six firms vying for the contract.
  
  The firm also designed DePaul's new theater school.
  
  Board chairman Jack Greenberg and board member Frank Clark Jr., both of whom also serve on DePaul's board, participated in the vote, as did board member Dan Hynes, whose father, Thomas, has served as DePaul's lobbyist.
  
  All three abstained from voting earlier this year when the authority decided to proceed with the project

Well well well. Lookie there at the boldfaced paragraph - that explains everything. No wonder this deal stunk to high heaven. Insiders galore!

Cops Injured in Crash

A lot of this going around - aging fleet problems again?

• Three Chicago Police officers were hospitalized Sunday night after they were involved in a crash on the Far South Side.
  
  The crash occurred in the 10000 block of South State just before 8:30 p.m., according to Fire Media Affairs.
  
  All three were taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers in Evergreen Park in good condition, fire media said.
  

Just a bit rattled. Quick recovery to all involved.

Police Shooting

Sergeant on the way south side:

• A Chicago police sergeant shot and wounded a gunman involved in a shootout in the South Side's Fernwood neighborhood Sunday night, authorities said.
  
  As the sergeant responded to a domestic disturbance call in the 10000 block of South State Street about 8:30 p.m., he saw two people shooting toward each other, according to a preliminary statement from the Chicago Police Department.
  
  One of the shooters turned toward the sergeant, prompting the sergeant to demand that the gunman drop his weapon, according to the statement. The gunman did not comply, and the sergeant fired, striking him in the foot, police said.
  
  The gunman, whose age was not released, was taken to Roseland Community Hospital and expected to survive.

Sarge was probably elated with his new contract and couldn't wait to shoot someone. Nice job.

"Stop and Frisk" Fallout

Did anyone not see this coming? Anyone?

• The recent ruling to reform the New York Police Department's controversial 'stop-and-frisk' tactic has already led to a sharp rise in shootings, new figures reveal.
  In the month after the policy was ruled unconstitutional shootings spiked nearly 13 per cent while gun seizures fell almost a fifth, the figures show.
  In the 28 days up to September 8 there were 140 shootings across the city, compared with 124 over the same period last year, according to NYPD statistics.

Even Ray Charles saw this one coming - and he's been dead for almost a decade.

Safe Passage Continues

We had been hoping to report that Safe Passage was finished, all the kids were safe, and business as usual could resume in Districts and Units across the city. We can't, seeing as how Safe Passage has been extended indefinitely, probably until the end of the year, but certainly until the temperatures drop.

The City and many Departments, including police, fire, streets, traffic management, etc are now trapped in an odd situation. No student has managed to get wounded or killed in a Safe Passage zone during school hours since it began, therefore the program is considered a success. Conversely, should someone catch a round the very week, day or minute that Safe Passage is uncovered, Rahm is going to have answer a lot of questions that he'd rather not have to. So it looks like they are going to continue putting Probationary Police Officers on foot, squad cars on fixed routes, fire trucks parked on corners and TMA's and Streets and San supervisors cruising the hood. House mouses and HQ dollies will be deployed for shifts every week, not unlike the old "Closed Market" program from a few years back.

An efficient use of resources? We imagine Streets will be phased out shortly as there's always plenty of other jobs they can be doing, followed by TMA's and the CFD. They need those PPO's to cover the VRI boxes at night though. But holding down sizable percentages of the Districts for 3 hours in the AM and 3 hours in the PM? We'll have to see how the whole thing runs.

Global Warming Still Dead

And now AP of all people is picking up on the fact that they've been lied to for the past 15 years or more:

• Emails leaked to the AP show the U.S. and other governments pushed scientists preparing a new UN climate report due out next week to omit or downplay evidence that the earth’s atmosphere has stopped warming for the past 15 years.
  
  From the wire - “Germany called for the reference to the slowdown to be deleted, saying a time span of 10 to 15 years was misleading in the context of climate change, which is measured over decades and centuries. The U.S. also urged the authors to include the ‘leading hypothesis’ that the reduction in warming is linked to more heat being transferred to the deep ocean.”

Who's misleading whom here? Because from what we remember from grade school earth science is that warm water rises and cold water sinks. So by some mysterious power known only to a select few Al Gore minions, heat is absorbed by the oceans and forced down below the colder, denser water and trapped, completely undetectable, and therefore slowing global warming?

Right.

And have you noticed anything around Florida lately? From the Atlantic, through the Caribbean and headed to the Gulf of Mexico? Texas, New Orleans area? Even the Carolinas? Something large, round, windy missing from any news reports this summer and fall?

No hurricanes.

But hey, we're the ones drinking the climate denier kool-aid, right?

Fake McCarthy

From the comment section, we found this:

• Hey SCC! Ask Gary were his gang teams were while this was all happening! McStupid had a hard on for some dude who created a fake face book page. Delve into this a little more. I'm sure you may have some other commentors on this 

It seems there is a "confidential arrest" floating around the system where someone created a "fake" Facebook account for Garry McCarthy, something along the lines of the "twitter" account created during the mayoral election that had a fake Rahm Emanuel doing silly updates across the city and outlining ridiculous positions he would take if he got elected.

Does anyone know if they're pushing for a "false personation" charge?

Help is Coming

Potatohead promises Chicago help!

• Gov. Pat Quinn is willing to discuss sending in reinforcements from the Illinois State Police to help Chicago authorities deal with the violence, after a mass shooting Thursday night left 13 people injured, including a 3-year-old boy.
  
  The governor “stands ready” to talk with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and law enforcement officials in Chicago “about the possibility of providing additional Illinois State Police reinforcements to help stop the violence,” Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said Saturday.
  
  Quinn told reporters earlier in the day he hadn’t spoken yet with the mayor or Police Supt. Garry McCarthy.
  
  “If they want to speak to me about that,” Quinn said, “I’m certainly always willing and able to sit down.”

Help will arrive - just as soon as Grau gets the State Police Academy up and running and filled with eager troopers ready to battle crime! Wait, you mean no one told Quinn the State Academy was about as bare as ours had been? That the State Police stopped hiring around the time we did five years ago due to "budgetary constraints" and now they are as short as any police force around the State? That Grau was hired like McCarthy was, to be an outsider wielding an axe.

Unless once again, the solution, is to strip cops/troopers from taxpaying areas and dumping the entire force into the ghetto - that couldn't be the entire plan, could it?

UPDATE: Post clarified to demonstrate the lack of hiring for 5 years and the near-futile efforts to keep up with attrition

Crime is Down...We Pinky Swear This Time!

Good thing they don't count the weekend all the way back to that 13 shot on Thursday - because this weekend doesn't need any help number-wise:

• Coleman was one of at least five people, including a 14-year-old boy, shot to death between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. The spate of fatal shootings came hours after 13 people were shot in a South Side park, once again drawing international attention to gun violence in Chicago.

Darn those inanimate pieces of metal, running around shooting innocent people and folks.  

Um...how about "gang violence?"  Or "poor impoverished underclass violence?"  Or is that too close to the truth for the supposed Fourth Estate, defenders of "truth" and other such bullshit?

Bid Openings

Hey look, opportunity is knocking:

• 001 - 2 spots
• 003 - 5
• 005 - 10
• 006 - 3
• 007 - 5
• 008 - 2
• 009 - 2
• 010 - 2
• 011 - 6
• 014 - 4
• 015 - 2
• 016 - 2
• 018 - 2
• 022 - 2

Where to go where to go.

Bears on the Road

Sunday night, no major injuries, against a Pittsburgh team that hasn't won yet, favored by 2.  And they have yet to cover a spread.

This is it - the season relies on THIS GAME!

Well, no, not really. But we got nothing else to fill the spaces today, so here's a post.

Hey AlderAss - Shut Up

Can't wait to blab to the cameras:

• A Chicago alderman said Friday that police told him that they have a person of interest in the shooting of 13 people, including a 3-year-old boy, at a South Side park.
  
  Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) said police informed him just moments before Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy had a news conference on the shootings Friday morning.
  
  McCarthy said at the news conference that police were talking to “several people” concerning the shootings, although no one he would call “in custody” at this point. The shooting was gang-related, and McCarthy called the fact that no one was killed in the shootings “a miracle.”

Way to go Willie, let everyone know the police are working a certain angle, maybe help in shutting down that single avenue of assistance we might be getting in a community that has a habit of "not snitching" and keeping vital information from being discovered.

And it isn't a "miracle" McWhiskey - it's a lack of muzzle-discipline and almost complete unfamiliarity with the weapon used.

Thursday Count - 23 Shot, 3 Dead

We've seen the number 24 popping up here and there, and it's easy to imagine one or more casualties got lost in the shuffle - in fact, we wouldn't be surprised if someone was trying to lose one or two in the shuffle, especially after you get 13 at one location. A miscount might be grounds for a promotion at this point.

Link here.

And the band played on....

Police Shooting (x2)

Up north:

• One person was seriously injured when a Chicago Police officer fired on a suspect in the Cragin neighborhood this afternoon, authorities said.
  
  The Independent Police Review Authority was notified around 6 p.m. of a shooting that happened about 5:20 p.m. involving a police officer firing upon someone near Lavergne Avenue and Roscoe Street, a spokesman for the office said. No officers were injured.
  
  One person was taken in serious-to-critical condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center following the shooting, according to the Chicago Fire Department's news office.

Glad tt hear no police were injured. Best wishes to the involved Officer(s).

UPDATE: An additional shooting up north - no hits:

• A Chicago Police officer fired a shot during a confrontation with a suspect Friday afternoon in the Portage Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.
  
  Officers responded about 3:30 p.m. to a call of a person with a gun near the 3500 block of North Cicero Avenue, police said.
  
  A suspect confronted an officer, who fired a weapon, police said. Nobody was struck.
  
  One person was taken into custody and the suspect's weapon was recovered, police said.
  

Again, no cops injured, so that's good.

Pssst....Rahm?

Hey Tiny Dancer!!!  Do we really have to point out the obvious?

• Thirteen people, including a 3-year-old boy who suffered a gunshot wound to the head, were shot at a Chicago park in the Back of the Yards neighborhood Thursday night, authorities said.
  
  Ten adults and the 3-year-old were transported by Fire Department ambulances after the attack in the 1800 block of West 51st Street in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, said Fire Department Deputy District Chief James Mungovan at the scene. A 12th victim was believed to have driven himself to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, a source said, citing preliminary information.
  
  Police said later a total of 13 people were shot, the boy, two teens, and 10 adults, with the boy the most seriously wounded. The boy suffered a gunshot wound to the head at an ear that exited through his mouth, and was in critical condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, police said.

FBI labels Chicago the "murder capital."

Not even a day later, 13 people are shot at one location.

It's Friday - no one reads the papers or watches the news after 3:00 PM on a Friday.

Chicago politicos have always buried bad news on Friday afternoons.

Just show him the door. No one is going to care in a week. Plus, you get to pick a new one for us to focus our spleen on with years of scandals and closets full of skeletons to look for and shine flashlights on.

You know you want to.

Murder Capital!

But crime is down!

Yeah, about that....

• Statistics released by the FBI earlier this week show that Chicago passed New York as America's murder capital in 2012 despite the Windy City only having a third of the Big Apple's population.
  
  The FBI recorded 500 murders in Chicago in 2012, up from 431 in 2011. New York reported 419 murders in 2012, down from 515 the year before.
  
  However, on a per-capita basis, the bureau reported that Flint, Michigan was more dangerous than the two larger cities. One in every 1,613 residents of Flint were murder victims last year, as the city of 101,558 reported 63 murders in 2012.

But crime is down!

Yeah, no one cares about "per capita" rates. The only number that matters at the end of the day is what Chicago did compared to New York and Los Angeles. The rest is statistics. And this guy at the helm can squeeze numbers until they scream. No one cares. The perception is that Chicago is out of control and in this case, perception IS reality.

What's really entertaining to us is that the FBI won't accept Chicago stats at the end of the year because they know the numbers game being played. But three-quarters of the way through 2013, they'll still use the big number (which is off by a few - we were well over 500) and label Rahm's (and Obama's) city with the "murder capital" title.

Priceless.

Useful Idiot

Just more proof that Dick "Turban" Durbin would have been right at home working for Josef Stalin and his ilk:

• A prominent "Dreamer" activist named Alaa Mukahhal took to social media to laugh about her cynical use of the American flag as a prop for "messaging" after her story was highlighted by Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin.
  
  In 2012, Sen. Durbin took to the floor of the Senate and held up a gigantic photograph of a smiling young woman wearing a Muslim hijab with an American flag in the background. He introduced her as Alaa Mukahhal, a Kuwaiti-born 'Dreamer' activist whom he described as being 'of Palestinian descent,' and who was brought to the country illegally at a young age by her parents, went on to become an honor student, get a degree in architecture and now needed a path to citizenship so, Durbin said, she could fufill her American dream. Durbin even went so far as to feature Alla on his own official webpage.

And guess what?

• A look her Facebook page paints a different picture of Alaa than Sen. Durbin's glowing ode: she's a potty mouthed, politically correct, Israel hating radical activist who drops F bombs and politically correct buzzwords with equal acumen.
  
  After Sen. Durbin held up the photo of her with the US flag featured prominently, Alaa took to her Facebook page to chortle about how the flag wasn't there to show any love for the United Stated -- a country she said she hated when she came here -- but a PR prop.
  
  On February 3, 2012 she said:

  Did ya'll notice the flag in the background of the pic? That was no coincidence #messaging #lol

  The photo that Dick Durbin held up mocked patriotism. It was a completely cynical use of American iconography in order to serve a propoganda agenda. Alaa not only brags about it, she laughs about.
  
  In an open letter to her parents, Alaa doesn't discuss architecture but her passion for community organizing.

Oh great...another "community organizer." Probably from the Bill Ayers school. And Durbin just blithely sponsors such a creature for citizenship. We imagine he was a huge fan of the Tsarnev brothers before they started blowing up women, children and exchange students in Boston.

Time to put Dick out to pasture.

Sergeants Get a Contract

Awarded by an Arbitrator, so no vote on it They got raises and protected their benefits, including Duty Availability and Tuition Reimbursement, so the FOP should be using this as a framework.

They also got retro, but that's a whole separate issue about letters and deadlines. And they took the expected beating on medical costs.

Most interesting is the ability to re-open the Contract if Springfield makes significant changes to the pension. The "re-opening" thing is what partly screwed the teachers and led to the first strike in two decades, and we all know that Springfield is going to do something and some point, probably under a court order.

The Sergeants have the whole decision up on their website, listed in our right hand column. The Tribune also has a write up on it.

Koschman Case Closed

No indictments or charges across the board:

• Nearly 10 months after former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s nephew Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko was indicted in the 2004 death of David Koschman, a grand jury investigation into the way police and prosecutors handled the case has ended, and no new indictments will be issued.
  
  The 17-month-investigation led by court-appointed special prosecutor Dan K. Webb didn’t clear police and prosecutors of wrongdoing in their original investigation of Koschman’s death. Instead, Webb said Thursday in announcing the end of the probe that the statute of limitations on bringing criminal charges in that investigation had run out.
  
  “No additional indictments have been sought because the applicable statute of limitations bars any prosecutions under state law for the Chicago Police Department and Cook County state’s attorney’s office actions taken in 2004,” Webb said in a court filing.

Interesting wording there - "...didn’t clear police and prosecutors of wrongdoing in their original investigation of Koschman’s death. Instead, Webb said Thursday in announcing the end of the probe that the statute of limitations on bringing criminal charges in that investigation had run out."

So someone probably did something wrong, but the time-frame for proving it has expired. A lot of sphincters just loosened up across Daley-land.

Better Than Ice Cream Murder

Social Media Slaying:

• A 30-year-old woman gunned down her rival at a West Side gas station last month after the pair got into a fight on Facebook, Cook County prosecutors said Thursday.
  
  Khalila Southall, who fled to Rochester, Minn., following the Aug. 26 shooting, allegedly admitted to Chicago Police that she and Lakeisha Tate had a previous argument on the social media site and "did not like each other."

So she runs into her rival and kills her. That's just awesome, something to be real proud of. No coping skills whatsoever in real life and can't find the "unfriend" button on Facebook, so she just up and kills the bitch.

And amazingly, she'll have an actual lawyer who will try to defend her actions somehow.

The Danger of Liquor Stores

We think they missed something here:

• Chicagoans near a liquor store or bar on the city's South or West sides are up to roughly 500 times more likely to be shot than other people in the neighborhood, according to an abstract of a study released Wednesday by Northwestern University.
  Though violent crime is a persistent issue in some distressed neighborhoods, Dr. Marie Crandall says there is a link between a troubled neighborhood resident's proximity to a liquor retailer and the risk of becoming a victim of gun violence.
  Crandall, an associate professor of surgery at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine and a trauma surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said she expects the study's conclusions to be controversial.

And why would the be controversial?

• The study found that gun violence rates near liquor stores in Chicago's southern and western portions stand in stark contrast with the rest of the city. Crandall found no clear link between liquor retailers and gun violence in more affluent areas but said clear risks are apparent in more impoverished areas such as Austin, Woodlawn, Roseland and Englewood.

Well, the simpleton would associate minority violence with liquor stores, rendering the findings "controversial."

But an impartial observer, like a cop, might associate certain risky behaviors (drug dealing, drug use, prostitution, link fraud, fencing of stolen goods, etc) with high traffic locations such as ::gasp!!:: liquor stores, which makes the findings about as controversial as "the Cubs suck because of a billy goat."

We should be scientists. Our studies would be works of art and revolutionize the entire field.

The Sometimes Holiday

Sometimes, as in "when we remember it:"

• Welcome to the one and only, official, accept-no-substitutes Talk Like A Pirate Day Web site.
  
  Ever since Dave Barry mentioned us in his nationally syndicated newspaper column in 2002, what once was a goofy idea celebrated by a handful of friends has turned into an international phenomenon that shows no sign of letting up. Maybe you read about us on line.. Maybe you caught one of our radio or TV interviews. Or maybe you just stumbled on to our site while googling around for sites your mother probably wouldn't approve of. Or perhaps you're one of the millions of people from South Africa to the South Pole, from New York to the Pacific Northwest, who've made it your own personal excuse to party like pirates every September 19th (and sometimes for days before and after)!
  
  However you got here, stick around an' learn all about September 19 - International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Arrrrrgh!

Safe Passage Needed INSIDE Schools

Who would've thought there was a need for this (besides an insane person that is)?

• More than 25 people, mostly children, were hospitalized after a student discharged pepper spray at a Deering neighborhood elementary school Wednesday afternoon on the South Side.
  
  A student brought pepper spray to Marsh Elementary School in the 9800 block of South Exchange Avenue that discharged about 1 p.m., prompting a hazardous materials response, authorities said.
  
  A Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman said the incident occurred in the cafeteria and affected 8th-graders.
  
  A Marsh student inadvertently discharged the spray and some students complained of headaches, according to CPS, which said all parents were notified.

Obviously, we need a boatload of signs IN the schools where kids can see them an feel safe along with the teachers and administrators. It's for the children you know. You wouldn't want to deprive the children, would you?

Whoops - Delayed Killing

These have to throw McCompStat for a loop:

• A man who was wounded in a shooting in August in the Austin neighborhood has died, officials said.
  
  Lamarius Tatum, 23, of the 900 block of North Laramie Avenue was pronounced dead at 6:23 a.m. today at Loyola University Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
  
  Tatum was was shot at about 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, on the 1100 block of North Waller Avenue, according to police. He sustained wounds to his chest and back and was taken to Loyola medical center in critical condition where he later died.

So even if everything possible was done to combat the conditions that led to the eventual homicide, even if a shooter is in custody, the "commander" has to answer for something that went down 6 weeks ago and has no influence over, seeing as how the deceased was under a doctor's care for the intervening time.

Let's Ban Everything....Just Because...

Monday, the nation suffered a tragedy at a Naval Yard in Maryland when a gunman killed a dozen people. Before the bodies had even assumed room temperature, in fact, before all the bodies had even been recovered from the scene, the anti-gun crowd was in full swing trying to steer the narrative, demanding AR-15's be banned, gun controls be unilaterally implemented across the board, and demanding the NRA say something to justify yet another mass shooting.

In fact, CNN, which has spent so much time carry water for Obama that they are renaming themselves the Gunga Din Network, couldn't even remember the last time such an act had occurred on a military base:

• CAROL COSTELLO: I used to work in Washington, live in Washington. This seems so unusual to me that a gunman could create this kind of havoc at a U.S. military facility.
  
  BRIAN TODD: Yes.
  
  COSTELLO: Have you ever heard of it happening before, Brian?
  
  TODD: I'm sorry, Carol. I missed that question. Could you repeat it please?
  
  COSTELLO: I was just saying that this is so unusual, because this is such a heavily-secured military facility. I've worked in Washington for many years, I've never heard of such a thing happening.

Well, we suppose when you've been pretending that the Fort Hood Massacre in 2009 was just an incident of "workplace violence" and not a terrorist attack, anything can be new and different to you.

Then it really started to get surreal.

NBC and CBS started reporting a named suspect was being sought, after getting caught up in the same hype as during the Boston manhunt, which once again, turned out to be completely wrong. Then CNN started going on about an "AR-15 shotgun" being used along with two pistols, and then finally, a bit of truth over 24 hours later:

• The only AR-15 style weapon used was the one police killed the gunman with;

Used in the massacre? A Remington 870 shotgun, the exact shotgun deployed by thousands of police departments and armies worldwide (and advocated for by VP "Shoot thru the door" Biden), and two pistols that he stole from his first victims. So we need to ban rifles?  How does that work again?

Something must have failed somewhere, right? It's not like this guy had a criminal record, right?

Oh yeah, he did. Two separate shooting incidents that might have clued someone in to his mental instability. 2004 in Fort Worth Texas and 2010 in Seattle - what we would call Reckless Discharge or Aggravated Assaults. Neither incident was prosecuted.

And the mental instability charge we make? He was "hearing voices" for the past few years, had self-admitted anger issues, paranoia, sleep disorders and had a Navy record that ought to have raised a few red flags over his owning a gun.

In fact, Virgina background checks kept him from even getting the AR-15 he wanted.

But here comes Feinstein and the Bloomberg groups and the parents of murdered children to Washington to point out to everyone that.....what.....just about everything worked as intended except the part about keeping guns from the mentally ill, something the NRA has advocated for years, but gun groups want attached to a barge full of other nonsensical rules that serve only to disarm the law abiding?

Opportunists, one and all, making their stand on the still cooling bodies of the victims.

Judges Are Special

They must be bullet proof....and immune to logic, physics,etc:

• Getting through a security checkpoint can be a hassle. It's a modern day reality most of us have to deal with. But, some Cook County judges are thumbing their noses at strict new security measures at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.
  
  It all started earlier this year when Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart tightened up the security procedures for the criminal courts and jail complex at 26th and California.
  
  FOX 32 and the Better Government Association have obtained copies of incident reports, showing a dozen judges are flatly refusing to obey the new rules and displaying behavior that some might call "injudicious."

Pretty much a whole bunch of cases of "Don't you know who I am?" outlined in the entire article. Judges ripping on sheriffs, blowing through checkpoints, refusing to answer basic security questions, fighting with Dart and his people, etc. In other words, childish bullshit typical of Cook County politicos.

Robbing Peter to Fix Paul's School

Rahm doing a little soft-shoe tap dancing for the media:

• Even as Chicago Public Schools has closed about four dozen schools and blamed a financial crisis for slashed school budgets across the city, Mayor Rahm Emanuel this past week has been busy announcing district construction projects.
  
  On Sunday, the mayor was at Gallistel Elementary Language Academy on the Southeast Side, pitching plans for a new $35 million elementary school to be built nearby to ease overcrowding. Parents complain that the site is potentially toxic, lies near a highway and was acquired in a land deal that profited a relative of former Ald. Ed Vrdolyak, who served prison time for his role in a real estate scam.
  
  On Monday, Wildwood Elementary in the North Side community of Edgebrook got the answer it wanted after months of complaining at board meetings about classes being conducted in hallways: A $15 million annex that will address the overcrowding and be ready in fall 2015.
  
  On Tuesday, the East Garfield Park community, which has seen a spate of school closings this year, was told that Raby High School would be refurbished and turned into a science- and math-focused high school. Two of its feeder schools, Melody and Faraday, will receive new computer and engineering labs to get students ready for Raby. The total price tag: $24 million.

That screams "plenty of money" to us...how about you?

Bill Daley Drops Out

Hmmmm:

• Bill Daley abruptly ended his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor today, telling the Tribune that a lifetime in politics had not prepared him for the “enormity” of his first run for office and the challenge of leading the state through difficult times.
  
  Daley, a member of two White House administrations, a presidential campaign manager and the son and brother of two former Chicago mayors, dropped out of the race less than four months after declaring his political resume gave him the best credentials to replace Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.

And all that brain power showed him exactly how fucked up his brother and the Illinois Combine had shafted Illinois. There's no way Illinois emerges from all of this with anything like an intact economy or lord knows how many layers of federal oversight. Quinn is merely fighting a rearguard action until such time as too many people get fed up, vote a downstate republican in, who then actually submits a budget based in the real world, not fantasy land, and gets destroyed by the left for daring to have Illinois live within its means.

Then everyone closes up shop, leaves Illinois to the democrats, vultures and cockroaches, probably within the next 50 years.

McCormick Place Riot? (UPDATE)

Anyone hear about this one?

• I read on the local news on Yahoo the other day. It stated that there was a riot on the loading docks. Made reference that there were over 100 gangbangers hired to help take down the print show. Went on to say that some supervisor was hit in the head with a 2/4. The report was up on the cbs2.com site.
  
  Went back later on to see if there was anymore info. The story was pulled down off there website. Just thought you would like to know.
  

We guess they wouldn't want the convention business to think things were getting out of control, would they?

UPDATE: Here's one of the links.

• CHICAGO (CBS) – A trade show exhibitor was hit with a 2×4 at McCormick Place on Thursday, and two other people were injured, when apparent gang members who had been hired as day laborers began brawling on a loading dock.

CBS has removed it from their site though.  There are others in the comment sections however. Interesting that  the media will finally give pages and pages of coverage to a few "wilding" Robberies after ignoring it for years, but 100 people brawling in the middle of the Convention Center? Hush hush

Chicago Outlook "Negative"

A bad year for Chicago with Rahm in charge and Standard and Poor hammering the bond ratings:

• Chicago’s looming pension crisis — and the $1 billion shortfall it creates in 2015 — has prompted Standard and Poor’s to change from stable to negative the outlook on Chicago’s A-plus general obligation bond rating.
  In mid-July, Moody’s Investors ordered an unprecedented triple-drop in the city’s bond rating, citing Chicago’s “very large and growing” pension liabilities, “significant” debt service payments, “unrelenting public safety demands” and historic reluctance to raise local taxes that has continued under Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
  Now, Standard and Poor’s has cited those same factors for its negative outlook on Chicago’s A-plus rating.

And the same questions  arise about those lobbying for the downgrades are the ones supposedly in charge of "fixing" the mess.

FOP Meeting

Tuesday at noon.

Expect fireworks with the Contract letter and Out-of-Grade issues being front and center. How do you lose Acting Desk Sergeant pay for a spot that has been paid out-of-grade as a matter of course for past practice?

We need answers.

Drying Out

No, not that kind of drying out.

Well, maybe a little.

And the, "Damn it was wet at Soldier Field"-type, too.

Open post for the moment and a slow day of posting.

Pre-Season Hockey Begins

It's here!

Well, not here yet - you've got to wait until Tuesday for the Blackhawks game, but really, what's there to look forward to until then? The Bears are off until next Sunday; the White Sox are 58 and 91; even worse, the Cubs are five games better than that.

See ya there.

Gang Connections Everywhere

Is anyone really surprised?

• Battling gang violence has been one of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s top priorities.
  
  But one of Emanuel’s top appointees, CTA Chairman Terry Peterson, appears to have taken a different tack in the mid-1990s: Lobbying for the early release of the imprisoned leader of the Gangster Disciples — one of the largest and deadliest street gangs in Chicago, the Better Government Association has learned.
  
  [...] The BGA recently obtained a letter — on City Council letterhead and bearing the names of Peterson and Streeter — that asks the chairman of the prisoner review board for Hoover’s release on parole and that portrays Hoover in glowing terms.
  
  Peterson, who is in the process of being reappointed to the CTA board by Emanuel, declined an interview request. But in a statement, he denied writing or even signing the letter.
  

Don't they always? This isn't exclusive to Hoover, who has quite a following among the aldrecreatures - he must spread a lot of money around. Cultivating gang ties seems to be almost a hobby among the City Council, dating back decades, even before Capone who used to collect aldercreatures and congresscritters the way some people collect stamps.

400K for Sgt's Carjacker

As always, ought to be higher:

• A judge set bail at $400,000 today for a man accused of carjacking an off-duty Chicago police sergeant on Sept. 6 in the South Shore neighborhood.
  
  Christopher D. Jones, 19, of the 1300 block of East 69th Street, was charged with vehicular hijacking, vehicular invasion, and aggravated battery for the carjacking, police said.
  
  Jones is also facing theft and burglary charges for three unrelated crimes that happened Sept. 12 and Aug. 25 on the South Side.

Nice work getting identifiable prints to ID this asshole.

Bears by 6?

Ok, we guess we'll take those odds. Last week was 3 and they won by 3. First game jitters should be out of the way. Injuries minimal. Plus it's Minnesota at home.

Open post for the day.

Now HERE'S a Rumor

No idea if this is true, but it's drama made to order:

• Charles Ramsey is in town and was seen at a cafe with Rahm on Montrose Ave. I think Garry's days are coming to an end. Makes sense for Rahm. A knowledgeable black man leading the CPD. A no lose situation for Rahm. The alderman are fed up with Garry and have let Rahm know of their displeasure. Stay tuned.

If nothing else, this one will rattle 35th Street all weekend.

Little Help Garry?

In light of all the recent (and momentous) changes in Illinois gun law, you'd think there would be something around to assist and guide officers in their encounters with armed citizens. Because although there will be a sizable increase in the number of legally carried guns on the street shortly, there are still hundreds, even thousands of illegally owned guns out there.

Take for example the decision earlier this week which, as we read it, voids out certain sections of the Aggravated UUW statute while sustaining the Unlawful Possession of a Firearm charge and simultaneously acknowledging that you can carry outside the boundaries of your home. Confusing? Especially in light of all the City charges voided out a few weeks ago and other state laws that are now unenforceable? You bet.

We still haven't seen or heard of any training bulletins, videos or actual ASA's being prepared, briefed or scheduled for the street coppers. Maybe we're just out of the loop, but you'd think that some hint of something might have reached our doorstep. What we have heard (and witnessed) is DSS's of all ranks calling around to other Districts to ascertain proper charging of arrestees in cases where the law has abruptly changed. If the bosses are unsure, we imagine there might be a shortfall in Department preparations somewhere.

Here's a fun one for our coppers down south - Pullman is on the verge of becoming a National Park. Obama himself altered the rules for carrying in the National Parks in a feint to appear "Second Amendment friendly" for reelection, before his reverting to form as a gun grabber. National Park rules pretty much supersede any State laws regarding firearms and trump any municipal ordinances. Has the Department even considered this? With sections of the surrounding neighborhood resembling Afghani combat zones? We're betting no.

Kilt Run Sunday

Watch the Bears game afterwards.

Frank Trigg Died

The only (known) CPD boss to piss "hot" on two separate occasions (if we recall correctly), once after admitting his dalliances with a certain "lady of negotiable affection."

And absolutely nothing happened to him. Yet another shining chapter in the annals of CPD history.

More Illinois Job Losses

Hey Governor Potato-Head, pay attention:

• The owner of Gurnee’s Kenall Manufacturing Co., a leader in commercial lighting, said the decision to move his company — and 400 jobs — to Kenosha was based on the future needs of the business, not just the economic incentives offered by Wisconsin.
  
  
• This week alone, Wisconsin has bagged two from Lake County. In addition to Kenall, Hanna Cylinders of Libertyville said it planned to relocated its operations and 100 jobs to Pleasant Prairie.
  
  While the two moves may still be viewed as a trickle, observers pointed out that over the years a coterie of Lake County companies have opened facilities across the border. The list includes Hospira, Jelly Belly Candy, Rust-Oleum and Cherry Electric, now part of ZF Industries.

Illinois - Caught in the Detroit Vortex.

CeaseFire Cash Runs Out

So how long does it take to run through an untraceable million dollars?

• A CeaseFire office in North Lawndale has closed its doors after a $ 1 million dollar grant from the city was exhausted.
  
  The grant was part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's efforts in 2012 to decrease violence on the South and West sides of the city and funded offices in North Lawndale and Woodlawn.
  
  The organization uses "Violence Interrupters," most of whom are former gang members, to return to the streets in an effort to stop neighborhood violence. The office provided jobs for individuals, often with criminal records.
  

And a quick way to launder $1 million into Lord knows what. No oversight, no accounting, no requirement to assist the police, and completely made-up-bullshit statistics like this:

• Under the grant, CeaseFire reported 141 potentially fatal conflicts were resolved in the past year city-wide, and services were provided to 75 high risk participants in North Lawndale.

There's Garry's entire drop in homicides people.....plus a few extra in case anyone was counting. By the way, we stopped over 372 homicides this past summer just by driving in circles around the VRI boxes. And while we didn't get a million dollars, our personal stats have just as much basis in reality as CeaseFire's, so maybe Rahm ought to come up with a raise for us. And here's the extent of the oversight for $1 million:

• 24th Ward Alderman Michael Chandler, whose ward includes North Lawndale, said he was unaware the funding for CeaseFire had stopped, but hopes it will be restored.

The aldercreature was "unaware" that the million dollars had been burned up - and when we say burned, we mean literally "lit on fire" because the same results would have been evident. No accounting whatsoever.

What a fucking joke.

100 Club Fundraiser

It's a night of comedy:

• You have the right to remain laughing! The City of Chicago has over 12 thousand police officers. They are known for their service and bravery, but usually not for their levity. Laugh Factory Chicago is interested in changing all that with a new stand-up comedy night: Laugh Patrol - a competition to find the funniest police officer in the Windy City.
  
  Laugh Patrol is a night of "all-cop comedy" which will be open to Chicago's finest in all 23 districts. During the evening, 20-25 officers will have 3-5 minutes on the world famous stage to serve up some laughs for the community. Laugh Factory will provide the audience; all of the night's proceeds will go towards the 100 Club of Chicago, providing for the families of law enforcement and fire fighters killed in the line of duty.
  
  Contestants will be judged by a panel of professionals (including Joseph Ahern,) and the winner will receive $1000 worth of Laugh Factory gift certificates to distribute. Second and third place finishers will receive vouchers worth $500 and $100, respectively. Age restriction: 18 years and over 2 drink minimum per person (can be non-alcoholic or alcoholic beverage)

We've known some funny coppers who should have been doing standup years ago. Maybe a few of them will be there?

Tuesday, 24 September, 8:00 PM.

Here We Go Again

Another "tool" to generate revenue for Rahm, while removing police from the streets as the bosses tell the public that our focus is supposed to be violent crime and gangs:

• Drivers who get caught tossing litter from their car windows in Chicago could soon get hit with a big fine.
  
  The City Council Thursday approved a new measure to increase those fines up to $1,500.
  
  The new ordinance raises the minimum fine of $50-200.
  
  Chicago police will also have the discretion to impound the violator's vehicle.

We know one way to increase enforcement of this and similar ordinances, but the city in its wisdom, took that away years ago.

Thanks O!

If you've been following the Syria chemical weapons debacle, this ought to look very familiar. See if you can pick out who is Putin and who is Obama:

Leading from behind again we see.

Rahm Mending Fences to Run Again

He announced on Letterman he was running again. Now he's trying to short up support after spending two years burning bridges:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel is attempting to rename a major South Side thoroughfare.
  
  If the Mayor gets his way, Stony Island Avenue will be renamed Reverend Bishop Brazier Avenue.
  
  [...] Political sources tell NBC 5 that kind response could be why the Emanuel is doing this, to help with sagging support on the South Side of the city. But the mayor denies an ulterior motive.
  
  "If you didn't do it, somebody would say you're slighting somebody. If you do do it, you're saying it's political. I'll leave that to the cynics," Emanuel said.

Count us among the cynics.

And even more telling:

• A year after the last Chicago teachers strike, Mayor Rahm Emanuel seemed to offer an olive branch to the head of the Chicago Teachers Union on Monday.
  
  WBBM Newsradio [...] reports the seven-day teachers’ strike last September highlighted the contentious relationship between Emanuel and Lewis, who accused the mayor of screaming and cursing at her two years ago in a private meeting.
  
  Emanuel said, in the past year, he’s tried to visit with and talk to a number of teachers, and said he recently reached out to CTU President Karen Lewis.
  
  “When Karen was ill, I sent her a note to say ‘I wish you well. I wish you a happy, healthy new year as well,’ and that I look forward to – when she feels better – to actually have a good conversation,” he said.

That's a lot of fixing he seems to be attempting.

There Goes Another Few $100,000

They seem to have no actual grasp of the law, nor how it applies to them and their actions:

• The City Council moved Wednesday to both comply with — and undermine Illinois’ new concealed carry law.
  
  The end-run around concealed carry came when aldermen imposed a requirement that Chicago restaurants that serve liquor ban firearms or lose their city licenses.
  
  The ordinance championed by Finance Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) and downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) would exempt stores that sell packaged liquor.
  
  But all other establishments that serve alcohol — not just bars that generate more than half their revenue from liquor — would be required to prohibit firearms on the premises.

This reeks of political blackmail, unduly interferes in the running of one's business and is in direct conflict with the State law that took away the "home rule" powers of municipalities to place additional restriction on laws pertaining to guns.

The NRA will most likely sue over this provision, relying heavily on past precedent, and will walk away with another one of those giant novelty checks numbering in the 6-digits or more. Thanks again you sanctimonious assholes.

Spotted at HQ

To alleviate those pesky delirium tremens on CompStat Thursdays:

• A vending machine in the Ukrainian city of Melitopol that is supposed to sell coffee was jerry-rigged to dispense shots of vodka instead----at about $1 a pop. The BBC reports, citing the state-owned Interfax-Ukraine TV channel, that the machine also sold an array of fruit juice mixers.
  
  While this may seem amusing to some, authorities don't find the tricked-out machine funny. Ukrainian tax collectors are reportedly looking for the person or people behind the "wonder machine" --as it has been called--on suspicion of illegally trading in alcohol.

We wish we had thought of it first.