* For reasons unknown to mere mortals, Carol Moseley Braun extended the media coverage of her initial refusal to release her tax returns by dribbling out a bit more information yesterday. And she actually plans to keep the story alive by releasing more information sometime today…

Carol Moseley Braun on Wednesday released longer versions of her 2008 and 2009 tax returns, expanding on the two-page summaries she put online the day before.

Her disclosure brought her closer to matching two of her mayoral challengers: Rahm Emanuel and Gery Chico, each of whom has released five years’ worth of tax returns. Braun’s campaign indicated she plans to make her 2005, 2006 and 2007 returns available as soon as today.

This is just pure torture. Why would anybody operate this way?

* And then there was this…

Newly released pages of her 2008 return show she claimed a loss of more than $120,000 for a public speaking business, CMB One Corp., even though she indicated a day earlier that her financial troubles stemmed from her organic food company. […]

The newly released documents indicated that $122,000 of those 2008 losses came from CMB One, her speaking enterprise, but a tax schedule that could offer more details was not provided by the campaign. […]

In the 2009 Schedule C disclosure about income related to “public speaking,” Braun reports income of $10,556 but a net loss of $6,322 after factoring in expenses that included more than $8,000 for use of her home.

However, in another part of the tax return, under Schedule E, she reports that CMB One, which she has listed in other public documents as her public speaking firm, actually lost $17,505. The return notes that the $17,000 loss is described in yet another document, Schedule K-1, but Braun did not release that document Wednesday.

So, she raised more questions than she answered with yesterday’s document dump. The mind boggles.

* Meanwhile, Braun held a press conference yesterday at the still bloody scene of a shooting and appeared to botch that as well…

As to this particular shooting, however, Braun’s information was a bit suspect.

According to police, two boys were shot at the location, not three, and more importantly, nobody had died as a result, although one of them was said to be critically wounded. The medical examiner’s office confirmed it had not been notified of a death, so either Braun is really on the cutting edge of this murder statistic cover-up by police, or she got her facts wrong.

Her campaign never responded to my request for clarification as to the identity of the victim, which is one reason I strongly believe the latter explanation.

Mistakes happen. Even without a death, the blood alone was enough to convince anyone this was the scene of a serious crime.

What’s less easy to overlook is Braun’s reckless suggestion that crime statistics showing murder to be down are misleading.

* Oy…

Everyone was in place at Carol Moseley Braun’s Jan. 4 LGBT meet-and-greet at Downtown Bar & Lounge ( including media figures from the print and television worlds ) —except the mayoral candidate herself.

However, she did make an appearance, of sorts. After some patrons waited more than two hours, event organizer Marc Loveless let attendees know that Braun would be unable to personally make the event ( apparently because of double-booking ) —but that he had her on the phone. He then put the phone up to the mic; unfortunately, the volume output was so low that only those closest to Loveless could hear what she said.

* I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a candidate bragging about being the “poorest candidate” before, but at least he had some spin…

City Clerk Miguel del Valle today said he has raised about $150,000 in his run for Chicago mayor and argued that those who are raising more money are doing it by using political connections.

“I will be the poorest candidate. I want to announce that today,” del Valle said at an event where he was talking about helping small businesses grow if he’s elected mayor. “I will be the poorest candidate with the most to offer.”

Gery Chico, a former chief of staff to outgoing Mayor Richard Daley and ex-president of the Chicago Board of Education, earlier this week announced he had raised $2.5 million. Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is expected to announce later this month that he raised millions through the end of the year.

Del Valle took aim at the two, and Chico by name, saying they used their government connections to help themselves personally and with their fundraising. Chico’s recently released income tax returns show he’s made millions from his law firm that lobbies City Hall, while Emanuel made millions of dollars after leaving the Clinton White House.

* In other news, Rahm Emanuel’s latest idea looks quite familiar to somebody else…

When city clerk hopeful Susana Mendoza heard Tuesday about mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel‘s recent announcement, she said she was stunned and exclaimed: “Hey, that’s my idea.”

Barely two weeks after Mendoza proposed raising money for the cash-strapped city by selling ads on city vehicle stickers, Emanuel announced Tuesday he would raise money for after-school programs with “new ads on the city’s vehicle stickers, on garbage trucks and an other public venues, like farmers’ markets.”

Asked if she felt that Emanuel had stolen her idea, Mendoza replied, “That’s maybe how some folks would see it. I was surprised to see it in the paper as his idea.”

* And a bigtime Chicago concern is backing Emanuel…

CBOE Holdings Inc., parent of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, is supporting Rahm Emanuel for mayor, said CEO Bill Brodsky, who also is personally supporting the candidate.

Mr. Emanuel was Chicago-based CBOE’s go-to member when he served in the House of Representatives and he understands the exchange’s business, Mr. Brodsky said at an annual lunch with reporters.

“I think there’s a real substantive basis for our support,” Mr. Brodsky said.

CBOE will provide unspecified financial support to Mr. Emanuel, as it has in the past for Mayor Daley, Mr. Brodsky said.

* Emanuel also has a new TV ad…

* He’s up to $1.7 million so far…

The campaign is shelling out about $700,000 on cable and broadcast spots that began airing Tuesday and will appear through at least Jan. 16. The commercial is the third in two months.

Emanuel spent about $800,000 on his first ad, which aired only on broadcast TV for one week in November. In December, his ads were only on cable, costing almost $200,000.

* Related…

* Face of City Has Changed Dramatically, Census Estimates Show: The city’s black population fell by about 11 percent between 2000 and 2009, a pattern reflected in many neighborhoods across the South and West Sides. Twenty-four of the 25 city-designated community areas with the largest black populations in 2000 saw declines, according to the analysis of the five-year population estimates for 2005-9… Estimates of the city’s overall white population increased only modestly because of large declines in their numbers on the Northwest and Southwest Sides. Meanwhile, Hispanics continued to supplant whites in the bungalow belt.

* Supporters not fazed by Braun money woes

* Emanuel residency case appealed

* What’s Next For The Festival Outsourcing Pitch

* Will politics kill Chicago’s TIF golden goose?

* Patricia Watkins TV Ad

* Better Government Association sues Chicago Police Department: The BGA, a not-for-profit corporation, claims the Chicago police refuses to release documents about the protection and transportation of Burke (14th) as requested in an Aug. 24, 2010, Freedom of Information Act request, according to the complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

* Suit alleges police hold back info on alderman’s protection: The Chicago Police Department also said in its letter to the Better Government Association that it does not keep expense or travel records related to the security detail and referred the group to the alderman’s office for that information.