* 6:32 pm - The timing couldn’t be worse for Burris…
Federal authorities questioned U.S. Senator Roland Burris today at his lawyer’s office — a long-awaited interview involving his U.S. Senate seat appointment — the Sun-Times-NBC/5 team has learned.
Burris is not accused of wrongdoing but was questioned in the case that centers on ousted Gov. Blagojevich and his alleged attempts to sell President Obama’s former seat.
Authorities interviewed Burris on a Saturday at his lawyer’s office, ostensibly to keep the exchange out of the limelight Burris has recently found himself in.
Burris admitted last week that his lawyers were in contact with the FBI about sitting for an interview, but denied that the contact was his motivation for controversially amending sworn testimony before a House impeachment panel.
[Burris] has been informed he is not a target of the probe, the sources said.
Burris this past week had acknowledged that federal investigators wanted to talk to him about what he knows regarding Blagojevich’s decision to fill the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama.
He said his attorneys had been working for some time to set up a meeting. It was not related to the two recently started probes into how forthcoming Burris was to Illinois lawmakers and the public about his contacts with Blagojevich allies.
Burris is expected, in fact, to make staff appointments Monday — including a replacement for a recent chief of staff who resigned Friday, and a legislative director.
The junior senator has indicated to associates that he intends to fight the controversy because he doesn’t believe he’s engaged in any wrongdoing.
* Rep. Sara Feigenholtz has taken out a $100,000loan for her campaign. That shows a whole lot of confidence in her future, but it also may show that fundraising isn’t quite keeping pace.
The Democratic state representative from Chicago said she is doing so because she is “close to winning” the party’s nomination in the March 3 primary for the seat vacated by new White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
“I want to put my money where my mouth is,” she said.
* This is a salient point, but the analogy is lacking, considering the result of that race…
Aides for some of the male candidates in the race say they’ve struggled to find a line of attack against Feigenholtz without looking like they are attacking a woman. It’s a problem similar to one that Barack Obama had during much of his primary campaign against Hillary Clinton.
* Money raised as of Feb. 11th (48 hour totals and independent expenditures are not included here)…
• State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz: $550,000
• State Rep. John Fritchey: $454,310
• Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley: $303,180
• Labor lawyer Tom Geoghegan: $240,000
• Economist Charlie Wheelan: $230,500
• Dr. Paul Bryar: $180,000 (+ $75,000 loans and donations from Bryar = $255,000)
• Dr. Victor Forys: $115,000 (+ $20,000 loans and donations from Forys = $135,000)
• Former pilot Jan Donatelli: $83,000
• Ald. Patrick O’Connor: $50,690
* Progress Illinois has a rundown of policy differences between the various Democratic candidates.
Three weeks ago I was temporarily detailed to serve as Chief of Staff to Senator Roland W. Burris. Though my tenure was relatively brief, I enjoyed and valued my time with Senator Burris, his entire staff and his other advisors.
As of today, my role as Interim Chief of Staff to Senator Burris will end. I will resume, in full, my duties as Senior Advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
I wish Senator Burris and his family the best.
Sincerely,
Darrel Thompson
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* The President’s message to Sen. Roland Burris was subtle but clear…
In what sounded like a veiled threat, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called on Sen. Roland Burris to “take some time over the weekend” to explain once and for all exactly what happened before his appointment to the Senate and to consider “his future.”
While not saying that President Barack Obama would join the swelling chorus for Burris to quit the Senate seat, Gibbs left the impression that something like that could happen if the White House is left unsatisfied with Burris’s actions in coming days.
“The appointment of Sen. Burris and his taking the Senate seat was based largely on the … factual representations that he made to the people of Illinois through interviews and through his testimony to the impeachment committee,” Gibbs said.
“It has been reported extensively (that) some of the stories seem to be at variance with what’s happened and that the president is supportive of an investigation that would get some full story out. I think it might important for Sen. Burris to take some time this weekend to either correct what has been said and certainly think of what lays in his future,” Gibbs said.
* And a likely candidate calls for Burris’ resignation…
Illinois state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias today joined other statewide officers in calling for Sen. Roland Burris to resign.
“Senator Burris’ statements have been misleading at best and make clear he was not upfront or forthright during his testimony before the Illinois House Impeachment Committee. He violated the public’s trust, which sorely needed restoring following the governor’s impeachment,” Giannoulias said in a statement.
* Notice that the operative word here is “could” and not “will”…
The Senate Ethics Committee could complete its inquiry of Roland W. Burris within weeks and without waiting for any possible criminal case about discrepancies in statements about his appointment, lawyers familiar with the panel said Friday.
Committee investigations sometimes last months and often defer to criminal cases, such as in last year’s trial of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. But because Burris, an Illinois Democrat, has offered multiple explanations about how he was appointed, the committee could focus on how he was seated rather than results of a potential criminal charge of perjury.
“The committee could look at this and say that the core activities here really go to the Senate appointment,” said Robert L. Walker of Wiley Rein LLP, a former chief counsel and staff director for the Senate and House ethics committees. “The committee could look at those as core Senate issues and we’re going to look at those and not defer.”
* Eric Zorn zaps one of the goofier arguments made today. And Congress Matters obliterates one of the goofiest arguments made this week.
* I told subscribers about this earlier, but WTAX has a story up so here you go…
While the House is considering a seven-billion-dollar building and construction plan, Senate Democrats are working on a 25-billion dollar plan.
The House proposal would be funded by an eight-cent [per gallon motor fuel tax] hike. The Senate plan may take an up to 23-cent [per gallon motor fuel tax] hike, and income tax hike, and perhaps an increase in the state’s driver’s license and title fees.
Democrat Senator Martin Sandoval says he wants the larger, more robust and comprehensive plan because it would fund roads and bridges, plus schools, parks, libraries, police and fire stations, and more.
Sandoval said the tax increase would range somewhere between 16 and 23 cents per gallon. He also said the Senate Democrats believe that it will be Gov. Quinn who will propose an income tax increase.
* Do you use any networking websites like FaceBook, Twitter, etc.? Which ones? How do you use them? How often do you use them? How useful or entertaining are they? Explain fully. Thanks.
* 11:07 am - The Tribune has live video of the governor’s press confernce. He’s expected to talk about a special election for the US Senate seat currently held by Roland Burris.
I’m hugely distracted right now with work, so any help you can give in comments would be appreciated.
* 11:13 am - “Only” 13 minutes late.
Quinn says he supports a bill by Rep. Jack Franks. Here’s the summary…
Requires that a special election be held to fill a vacancy in the office of United States Senator occurring 90 or more days before the general primary immediately preceding the general election at which the office is regularly scheduled to be filled. Requires a temporary gubernatorial appointment for any vacancy in the office of United States Senator until the vacancy is filled at the special election or the general election at which the office is regularly scheduled to be filled
* 11:19 am - Quinn just called on Burris to resign, saying he needs to do what’s right for the people of Illinois.
* 11:26 am - Rep. Franks’ bill in its current form would not apply to Sen. Burris. But Franks just said he is amenable to amending the bill to make it apply to the current situation.
Quinn on the proposal: If Franks’ bill passes, likely would be litigated. Best thing would be for Burris to resign.
* The governor said he would find a way to “help” local governments pay for a special election.
* Quinn: If he chose a temporary replacement it would be someone who has no interest in running for the office.
* “I have not spoken to Sen. Burris about this matter.”
* Quinn said if Burris resigned he would talk to every legislator and tell them the special election bill is of “paramount interest to the people of Illinois.”
* Won’t name replacement until law is passed, “Hopefully within a week.”
* Quinn said, “In passing, I saw Speaker Madigan at dinner last night” and mentioned to Madigan that he is “for this concept” of the special election. How did Madigan respond? “He’s a fellow who likes to aborb information and he’ll give you his opinion down the road.” That’s a pretty good insight.
A Chicago minister tells The Associated Press he and other black pastors who previously supported U.S. Sen. Roland Burris now plan to ask the embattled senator to resign.
The minister, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because a meeting with Burris hadn’t yet been scheduled, says the senator can no longer serve effectively.
Hopefully, this is the beginning of a different way of doing business for some African-American pastors who seem all too willing to loudly support seriously flawed political allies. They got played badly by Rod Blagojevich for years, and their support for him after his arrest was embarassing.
If U.S. Sen. Roland Burris misled the Illinois House impeachment committee with a false account of his appointment, he did the same thing with the Illinois Supreme Court last month.
In a lawsuit to force Secretary of State Jesse White to certify his appointment to the Senate, Burris submitted the now-discredited Jan. 5 sworn statement to the state High Court that he earlier had sent to the House panel. The affidavit said it would “set the record straight” about his appointment and show it was “free of taint and entirely lawful.” […]
“He went to the highest court in our state and lied,” said Rep. Susana Mendoza (D-Chicago), who said Burris should be stripped of the law license he has held since 1964.
* This revelation isn’t hugely egregious, but it shows how intensely Burris lobbied for himself…
A former top official for then- Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Thursday he got a “courtesy call” from Roland Burris last fall noting Burris’ interest in a vacant U.S. Senate seat—a contact Burris failed to mention to lawmakers in his evolving testimony about how he got the job.
John Filan, former chief operating officer in Blagojevich’s administration, also said Burris called him later—after Blagojevich’s Dec. 9 arrest on federal corruption charges. Filan said Burris asked him to put in a good word with then-Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn if Quinn became governor and inherited the power to make the Senate appointment.
The part that troubles me most is that Burris met with Filan about official state business and brought up his appointment…
Filan said Burris was inquiring about legal business for the Illinois Finance Authority on behalf of the law firm for which he was of counsel. But he also brought up his continued interest in the Senate seat, Filan said. “I think he [Burris] basically said, ‘If it were to come to pass that Pat Quinn would become the governor, would you put a good word in for me?’ ” Filan recalled. “I didn’t do that, however.”
Having met with his advisers and decided to fight calls for his resignation, embattled Sen. Roland Burris relaunched his listening tour of Illinois on Friday, but without the reporters who planned to follow him again.
Emerging from his South Side home early morning, Burris quickly entered a vehicle waiting for him outside his home — and shut the door without taking questions from reporters.
* Sen. Dick Durbin cranks up the rhetoric, but stops short of demanding Burris’ resignation…
“It’s sickening,” Durbin said in an interview. “Short of Roland Burris resigning or resolving this issue - if he can, and I don’t know if he can - I don’t know what will stop it. I’m tired of this Blagojevich burlesque that’s been going on for so long. The people of our state should be spared this.”
* The Tribune demands that Democrats take a stand on Burris’ resignation, and the Rockford paper makes this claim…
Burris obviously forgot how harsh the spotlight can be and how uncomfortable questions can become when you say yes to a man who, as prosecutors said, was in the midst of a “corruption crime spree.”
He’s been getting a pass from the Illinois media for so long that he really had no clue what he was in for.
Illinois Republicans resurrected calls Thursday for a special election targeted at removing U.S. Sen. Roland Burris from office. […]
They also want a one-time only special election this spring to fill the seat now held by Burris.
Gov. Quinn appears to back the concept, but Speaker Madigan is not enthralled…
But Democrats, who control the legislative agenda, aren’t on board. A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan said Thursday the GOP proposal could result in a protracted legal battle by Burris, as well as cost local election authorities millions of dollars.
“It would be the constitutional equivalent of a Hail Mary pass, but desperate times call for desperate measures,” wrote Garrett Epps, a law professor at the University of Baltimore, who first pointed out the loophole on the political news and opinion Web site Salon.com.
The state teacher’s pension system will no longer do business with an investment firm tied to recently indicted political powerbroker William Cellini.
Today’s decision by the board of the Teacher’s Retirement System to drop Commonwealth Realty Advisors from its portfolio was “an investment strategy decision,” said an agency spokeswoman.
Commonwealth managed $1.2 billion in nationwide retail development investments for TRS.
That contract instead was awarded to another company, Heitman, which deals in real estate.
The company that laid off 1,600 steel workers when it idled its Granite City plant in December says it’s handing out pink slips to most of those who remained on the job.
United States Steel Corp. spokesman John Armstrong says the majority of the nearly 400 workers still at the Granite City Works plant will be laid off within the next three weeks.
About 390 union and nonunion workers soon will join more than 1,600 workers who were already laid off from the steel mill in December. The move virtually shuts down the remaining operations at the mill.
* Chicago’s Olympic Plan Gives Hints About Traffic Congestion, Transit Improvements
Among the many details in Chicago’s 534-page Olympic bid book…is the city’s plan for moving spectators and athletes during the games. Some residents say it also provides a pretty good clue about the difficulties they’ll have getting around, if the city wins the bid.
In a rebuke of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, commissioners are calling for harsher penalties to be imposed on politicians who don’t meet state deadlines for disclosing their campaigns’ donors and expenses.
The resolution, which called on the General Assembly to change campaign finance laws, was approved 9-2 on Wednesday, with three usual Stroger allies supporting the measure. Three other Stroger supporters voted present.
Commissioners Forrest Claypool and Mike Quigley, both Chicago Democrats, proposed the measure in response to a Tribune story about how Stroger’s campaign last month finally gave a detailed account of what he raised and spent since he first sought his current post in early 2006. The records showed he failed to report $733,000 in political donations by the deadlines set in state law.
The first three days of early voting in the 5th Congressional District special primary featured only 839 Democratic ballots cast in Chicago.
The highest numbers, such as they are, can be found in the 36th and 38th wards, machine territory where ward bosses favor state Rep. John Fritchey. The 36th Ward, run by Fritchey uncle-by-marriage Ald. William J.P. Banks, posted 112 votes. The 38th Ward, run by the Cullertons, posted 116 votes. Those numbers aren’t very high, however, showing how weak the ward organizations have become.
“Weak” except for all the other wards, which are practically nonexistent.
* As expected, Rep. John Fritchey filed with about $450,000 raised during the most recent reporting period. He’s raised another $48,000 in the past week or so. Feigenholtz has raised about $70K in the past week. Quigley has pulled in about $35K during that same period of time and O’Connor has reported about $5K. Bryar raised about $35K with all but $10K coming from himself (he raised about $173K during the last reporting period).
* Tom Bowen with Mike Quigley’s campaign has been playfully pestering Sara Feigenholtz for weeks on Twitter. And now, a Feigenholtz supporter is fighting back. Twitter Wars!
* Press release: The Asian American Action Fund of Greater Chicago (AAAFGC) [yesterday] endorsed State Representative Sara Feigenholtz to replace Rahm Emanuel in the 5th congressional district, saying Feigenholtz has been a long-time friend of Chicago’s Asian American community.
* Press release: Geoghegan for Congress today announced that it has received the endorsement of Democracy for America.
* Yesterday, I asked how the recession was affecting you. Today, I’d like to know how you’re doing your bit, if anything, to help the country get itself out of this situation. For instance, large purchases, new charitable work or donations, etc. Please explain.
Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday installed as his chief operating officer an appointee of ousted predecessor Rod Blagojevich who also has close ties to convicted fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
The decision to name longtime friend Jack Lavin as one of his top aides raised eyebrows with some who said it might send a message of politics as usual in Illinois.
* People who believe that they’re reformers often don’t feel the need to explain their behavior…
Quinn spokesman Bob Reed brushed off questions about Lavin’s connections to Rezko, saying Quinn has the “utmost confidence” in his pick.
Brush off reporters like that and they’ll probably write stories about how close Quinn really was to Rezko. This is just a sample…
It was Rezko who recommended Lavin for his job as head of DCEO. Lavin previously worked as a financial officer for a Rezko company.
And while I defended Lavin’s choice to subscribers today, he wasn’t devoid of problems…
Quinn thinks Lavin did an “excellent job” running DCEO, Reed said.
But DCEO has gotten some unwanted attention as of late. Lavin was in charge when it mistakenly gave a $1 million grant to a private school when it lost its home after Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago burned in January 2006.
* Still, as I wrote earlier this week, we desperately need a governmental manager right now. For various reasons, mainly his close ties to Quinn, Lavin is probably the best we could hope for.
“Certainly he comes with some baggage that we have to be very sensitive about at this moment in our state’s history, but personally I want to work with everyone right now to make sure we get through the very serious problems we’re facing,” said Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno of Lemont. “I can only hope the governor has fully vetted his association and knows full well that they won’t in any way, shape or form interfere.”
Me too.
* The rest of Quinn’s appointments from yesterday are here.
Illinois lawmakers hope to repair the state’s image after spending months as the punch line of late-night TV, spurred by jaw-dropping headlines involving a governor who allegedly tried to sell a U.S. Senate seat and his senate choice who has changed his account of how he got the appointment.
Democrats and Republicans say they’re serious about ethics reforms that could repair the public trust damaged by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and now in question regarding Sen. Roland Burris.
Lawmakers from both chambers met Wednesday to kick off seven weeks of hearings with experts and the public who have ideas on improving the state’s ethics laws.
“Right now everything is fair game,” said Rep. Arthur Turner, a Chicago Democrat who sits on the special ethics committee. “It’s an answer to all the things that’s been happening over the last year.”
If the public is hoping the latest confounding scandals in Illinois politics will prod major campaign finance reform, they are likely going to be disappointed.
That is if Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, has anything to say about. And he does.
Cullerton told the Daily Herald editorial board Monday he thinks Illinois’ wide-open campaign finance system is just fine and repeated the mantra of lawmakers who have long refused systemic change: disclosure, disclosure, disclosure.
The state’s ethics troubles boil down to one thing: money, said Cindi Canary, director of the Chicago-based Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.
“These are interconnected issues,” Canary said. “If they don’t deal with campaign fiance reform, then they are sort of ignoring the tumor of the body politic.”
* Meanwhile, the governor’s ethics commission, which is operating separately from the GA’s committee, held a local hearing…
Could public financing of political campaigns be the silver bullet that stops the legacy of corruption in Illinois?
What about term limits for elected officials, an overhaul of the state’s Freedom of Information Act or changes to the government bidding process?
These and other options were among the possible salves discussed Wednesday night at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire during the Illinois Reform Commission’s first public forum.
Four members of the commission, formed in January by then-Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, spent the evening listening to comments and questions from the 100 or so people in the audience.
* I agree with AG Madigan that fines need to be increased. But only $1000? That’s not enough punishment…
Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who may run for governor in 2010, told the committee Wednesday she wants to slap governments with up to a $1,000 fine for denying citizens the right to view public documents under the Freedom of Information Act. The fine would help enforce current laws that currently go unpunished, she said.
“The current Freedom of Information Act is a toothless tiger,” David Bennett, executive director of the Illinois Press Association, told the committee. “People ignore it routinely and will continue to ignore it unless there are proper penalties built into the law.”
The Chicago Sun-Times reports in Thursday’s editions that Burris had more contacts with Blagojevich’s chief of staff before being appointed than he disclosed in his most recent affidavit.
Citing phone records and interviews, the Sun-Times reports Burris called John Harris four times in the weeks following the Nov. 4 election, and made a hard pitch to Harris about being appointed to the Senate. Burris has indicated his discussions with Harris included only passing reference to the Senate seat.
…Adding… The Sun-Times link wasn’t working earlier. It is now. Check this out…
One of the calls to John Harris came Nov. 13, the day Burris discussed the possibility of raising money for the governor with Blagojevich’s brother Robert, according to phone records obtained by the Sun-Times and sources. That call was likely caught on an FBI wiretap.
A list of lobbying clients that U.S. Sen. Roland Burris has given state legislators doesn’t match records kept by the Illinois secretary of state’s office, the Cook County clerk or the Chicago Board of Ethics, all of which register lobbyists and keep track of their clients. ]…]
In at least 10 cases, clients that Burris or his firm represented, according to government databases, don’t appear on the list received by lawmakers.
* I heard him say this yesterday and I thought I was hallucinating…
Yet he has only managed to make matters more confusing. Wednesday, speaking in downtown to the City Club of Chicago, Burris was asked if he was wrong to attempt to raise funds at the time he was being considered the seat.
“I was never considered for the seat,” Burris, 71, said defiantly.
* Reporters won’t be allowed to ask Burris questions about these latest twists. From a press release sent late yesterday afternoon…
U.S. Senator Roland W. Burris will postpone his Illinois Listening Tour tomorrow, Thursday, February 19th, in order to hold private meetings. The Senator will not travel to Rockford tomorrow as previously scheduled, but will resume his Illinois Listening Tour on Friday, February 20th.
As a member of the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs, and the Senate Committee on Armed Forces, Senator Burris will travel to North Chicago on Friday, February 20th to tour the North Chicago Medical Center, and to tour the Great Lakes Naval Training Center before having lunch with the recruits. Both events on Friday will be completely closed to the press.
So, he’s using soldiers as human shields. The man gets more like Rod Blagojevich every day.
* Burris’ “media adviser” just quit, but not before talking to Sneed…
“It’s gonna be a barrier of rope lines and stanchion-style barricades between Burris and the press from now on to avoid situations like this,” said Erkes, who — by the way — resigned from his job late Wednesday afternoon. “It was only a temporary job. I was just helping out an old friend.”
• • The Burris shot: Burris also is nixing inquiries from the press for the time being. “He will not be talking to the press until the state and federal inquiries [regarding his Blagojevich impeachment panel testimony] is concluded,” said Erkes.
It could be months, even years, before those two probes are over.
* I ran part of this quote yesterday. It’s the rhetorical device Burris is using to claim he never perjured himself…
“Yes. Yes I told people around the governor that I wanted to serve in the Senate… No, I did not have conversations about my appointment - I’m talking about actually being appointed - with anyone other than the governor’s attorney.”
In Burris’ first affidavit about his appointment, he stated “there was not any contact between myself or any of my representatives with Governor Blagojevich or any of his representatives regarding my appointment to the United States Senate” before the governor’s lawyer offered the post after the chief executive’s arrest.
In testimony to lawmakers a few days later, Burris said he talked to former Blagojevich chief of staff Lon Monk about his interest. Burris also said he talked to “friends” about it. When asked who else he approached, Burris said “I can’t recall.”
In an affidavit released last weekend, Burris said he talked to three of Blagojevich’s top staffers, a union official close to the governor, and the governor’s brother, who raised money for his brother’s campaign, about his desire to seek the appointment.
Burris is making a distinction in his defense about conversations he had about his actual appointment and those involving his solicitation of that appointment.
It’s bogus, but there you have it.
* Yesterday, Burris said…
“I ask you today to stop the rush to judgment. You know the real Roland. I’ve done nothing wrong, and I have absolutely nothing to hide.”
The truth is Burris flew under the radar for years and years, projecting a certain base level of competence while retaining power by maintaining his friendships with the political establishment.
But that was no more the “real Roland Burris” than the one with the outsize ego who has been under the spotlight since he stepped in front of a post-Christmas news conference alongside Blagojevich, stubbornly determined to capture the brass ring long denied him by voters.
“Harry and I were standing on the Senate floor Friday and Sen. Burris came up and say, ‘Hey, listen. I’m filing another affidavit with the (Illinois House) impeachment committee and I’ll give you copies. There are just a few things I want to clean up,’” Durbin recalled Burris saying.
“I talked to Harry afterwards and, as we’re both attorneys, the red lights started flashing,” Durbin said. “We better take a look at this thing and see what’s going on.”
Instead, Durbin left the country and his office told reporters for days that he hadn’t seen the documents so he couldn’t comment on them.
* Alexi Giannoulias isn’t the only one eyeing Burris’ seat. Another African-American has her sights set on the Senate as well…
Confirming political rumors, Cheryle Jackson, the president and chief executive officer of Chicago Urban League, says “I am considering a race” for the Senate seat now held by Mr. Burris.
More…
Previously, she worked as national director of state and local affairs at Amtrak, and as the first press secretary to Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But Ms. Jackson never was considered in the Blagojevich inner circle, and left in his first term.
Inner circle or not, she worked for Blagojevich. Imagine what her quotes defending Blagojevich could do to her next year.
It is unclear how the shift will be received by black voters. But the prospective Jackson candidacy is getting a green light from one key figure, state Sen. James Meeks, D-Chicago.
I think [Mr. Burris’] story keeps changing minute by minute,” Mr. Meeks said in a phone interview, referring to the controversy over how Mr. Burris got the Senate pick. “Roland Burris didn’t win the seat (at the polls). He’s fair game.”
Federal authorities have hit former first lady Patti Blagojevich with a federal subpoena dealing with recent charges lodged against her husband, raising new questions over whether she will become part of a grand jury indictment expected by early April.
The subpoena, with which Patti Blagojevich reportedly complied, asked for any documents, notes or e-mails she had related to more than 40 people or entities — from former gubernatorial fund-raisers Tony Rezko and Chris Kelly to her own real estate dealings.
Patti Blagojevich’s lawyer, Raymond Pijon, told the Chicago Sun-Times that federal authorities have great discretion over whether to charge her — and that he hopes they’ll consider the “family structure” as they weigh that decision. […]
Just because she has been cooperative doesn’t mean she’s going to flip on her husband, her lawyer said.
I really don’t like it when the G goes after family matters, particularly on unrelated issues. This is different, however, in that the allegations apparently are directly or at least related to state government.
Still, just imagine the pressure. Flip on your own husband, the father of your two children, or face the wrath of Fitz.
Lots of people have told me over the years about how much they detest Mrs. Blagojevich. I liked her, perhaps because I saw her human side. And whether she brought it on herself or not, I can’t help but feel sorry for her and her children right now. The husband is an entirely different matter.
Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica (R-Riverside) parted ways with his Republican colleagues to cast a deciding vote to appoint Democratic powerbroker Frank Zuccarelli to the county’s Employee Appeals Board on Wednesday.
Peraica is a constant critic of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and what he says is the county’s habit of giving jobs to the politically connected. But his vote put him on the side of Stroger’s allies.
Cook County Board member and self-described reformer Tony Peraica cast the tie-breaking vote to support Thornton Township Supervisor Frank Zuccarelli’s placement on the county’s Employee Appeals Board, a position that pays $33,000.
In doing so, Peraica voted to keep one of Cook County’s most notorious, clout-heavy double-dippers on the payroll.
Chicago motorists routinely slam on the brakes to avoid getting nailed by red-light cameras. Some have caused rear-end collisions while avoiding the dreaded $100 ticket.
That panicky behavior could come to a halt, if South Side Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) has his way.
Beale has introduced an ordinance that would mandate countdown signals at every one of the 132 accident-prone Chicago intersections where red-light cameras have already been installed and at the 330 intersections expected to get cameras by 2012.
The Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing Caterpillar Inc.’s oil spill control and monitoring plans after 65,000 gallons of oil overflowed, some spilling into the Des Plaines River.
The federal EPA said in a release Wednesday that most of the cleanup from the Feb. 8 spill near Joliet has been completed. The EPA says any consequences that result from its review of Peoria-based Caterpillar will be announced later.
Today Atlanta’s mayor meets with the Chicago Urban League to advise on minority participation in the Olympic games. That’s a hot topic for many community groups following the release of the hefty Chicago 2016 Olympic bid book. The bid book has no specifics about community benefits, including affordable housing.
“Some people accuse us of trying to preserve white privilege, but that’s not where we’re coming from,” said Candace Davis, co-president of the school’s parent-teacher organization, who has protested the change.
“The racial mix of these new classes may look good, but there’s no proof they will be successful in raising achievement. Instead, teaching for honors students is going to be dumbed down.”
A growing number of schools across the country are trying similar means to try to close racial achievement gaps.
