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“Thousands of dollars” in state grants awarded to bolster health care in minority communities instead went to pay campaign workers for former state Sen. Rickey Hendon and Democratic candidates Hendon supported, a Chicago nurse has told investigators.

The nurse, Tonja Cook, 44, detailed her allegations in four interviews with state and federal authorities between October 2010 and May 2011, records show. […]

Those previously undisclosed reports portray Hendon, along with his political organization, as the beneficiary of state grant funds that Hendon helped obtain for the Chicago Chapter of the National Black Nurses Association, which Davis and Cook helped run. […]

Cook, who was the association’s treasurer, told authorities Davis would use money from those grants to “give as much as $500 in cash to as many as 10 individuals attending the weekly Monday meetings at the campaign offices of Hendon to go out and conduct campaign work for Hendon and other local politicians,” according to the investigators’ reports.

Those reports were supposed to have been filed under seal but were included, apparently inadvertently, in the online court records for the criminal case against Davis and Cook. They are now under seal.

“Cook said she and Davis would meet with Rickey Hendon and discuss state grants” and “attend political fund-raisers for mainly Hendon,” the reports say.

“Davis told Cook to ‘donate to Hendon because he is helping us,’ ” the investigators quote Cook as telling them.

They say Cook told them that, on four or five occasions in the summer of 2006, “Davis instructed Cook to cash checks to generate thousands of dollars in cash from the grants.

“Grant funds were used to pay for political work to help certain candidates like Hendon,” outgoing Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Patricia Horton, “an alderman from the West Side of Chicago possibly named Ed Smith or Ed Williams, a judge whose name she could not recall at this moment and possibly others,” the reports say. “Davis herself usually paid the political workers in cash but did not obtain receipts.”

If that was cash she’d be keeping anyway via her own salary, that’s one thing. But if it was cash which was supposed to be going to programs, there could be trouble.

* Sen. Michael Noland was bashed by one of his local columnists over the weekend, but the thrashing paled in comparison to what happened to Noland on the Senate floor last week…

But Sen. Noland has never bowed to anything, much less logic. Sensing an opportunity to be the center of attention and to pretend to wield the power and influence he’ll never have, not only did he refuse to bring the amended bill up for a vote, but he wouldn’t relinquish sponsorship of it either.

And that folks, effectively killed it.

But get this. Noland isn’t arguing that the eavesdropping statute should stand. He’s saying his bill doesn’t go far enough in providing police the unfettered right to record citizens.

“If you’re approaching someone on the street with a video camera, there’s notice that the whole world is watching,” Noland said, “When the whole world is watching, people tend to behave better.”

I suppose he’s referring to how well it’s worked with the Syrian regime and reality TV shows. If cameras really did make people behave better, my first suggestion would be to point one directly at the senator.

Noland added that broader surveillance powers would keep both officers and the public safer and save money by reducing criminal litigation cases. Call me crazy, but if an officer pointed a camera at me for no reason, that might actually make me want to file a lawsuit.

I can see it now. A posse of Elgin police officers roaming the riverfront, camcorders firmly in hand, while the real criminals wreak havoc upon the rest of the city. Just to be on the safe side, perhaps we should start practicing our best Bob Fosse moves now to keep ’em from getting bored.

I smell another reality show.

Noland insisted he wasn’t hijacking his own bill; he was only trying to make it better. He said he wants to “reconcile” it with current court decisions because “audiovisual evidence is compelling” and that law enforcement groups were behind him.

C’mon, any time you threaten to expand police surveillance powers, that’s bound to make ’em downright giddy.

Noland was literally ridiculed on the Senate floor Thursday night by his fellow Senate Democrats for bringing his bill to the floor. I’ve never seen anything like it. Usually, the Senate observes fairly strict decorum rules. I’ve asked our friends at BlueRoomStream.com for the video, but they’re doing server work today, so maybe I’ll get it tomorrow.

* Meanwhile, I’m sorry, but it’s my own humble opinion that filing charges against somebody who threatens to deck you during a media scrum is just unnecessary…

Local TV reporter Jay Levine was found not guilty of misdemeanor assault Friday for a brief verbal tussle with conservative commentator William Kelly during an interview of Rahm Emanuel.

During a short hearing in the Cook County court at Belmont and Western, Judge Geary Kull noted that Levine didn’t raise a fist in the incident, which was recorded and is available on YouTube.

Though Levine said he was going to “deck” Kelly, Kelly’s behavior was “not indicative of an individual who reasonably feared Mr. Levine would strike him,” the judge said.

“Clearly Mr. Kelly wasn’t aware it was threat because he had to ask Mr. Levine if it was a threat,” Kull said.

On the Web video, Kelly badgers Emanuel with questions and opinions while Levine and another local reporter tried to interview him.

Kelly testified in court Friday that he thought Levine’s threat was legitimate.

Like the judge said, if Kelly really thought Levine’s threat was legit, he wouldn’t have needed to ask.

I’ve seen worse threats at Statehouse gangbangs. George Ryan had to break up a fight between two TV cameramen back in the day. Elbows get thrown, things get said, and we deal with it and move on. It’s just part of the life.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 2:28 pm

Comments

Hey, what a shock!

Vote Democrat!

“It’s just part of the life”.

Comment by benevolent hegemon Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 2:44 pm
We need an RNC Committeeman willing to take a dive to stick it to the MSM. Vote Kelly!

Comment by Kelly for National Committeeman Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 2:50 pm
I guess John Drummond would have gone to jail then

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8clmLk_SeOA

Comment by I'm Just Saying Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 3:07 pm
== Like the judge said, if Kelly really thought Levine’s threat was legit, he wouldn’t have needed to ask. ==

Having Met Jay Levine, I would find it hard to believe he could deck anyone.

Comment by OneMan Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 3:35 pm
Ha, thank you for posting that. I had forgotten all about Kelly’s valiant attempt to get it entered into the court record exactly how much of a sissy he is.

Comment by Dirt Digger Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 3:38 pm
The next time Kelly gets in my face with a microphone and refuses to stop shouting at me, I will remember this and file harassment charges.

Comment by soccermom Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 3:43 pm
===“give as much as $500 in cash to as many as 10 individuals attending the weekly Monday meetings at the campaign offices of Hendon to go out and conduct campaign work for Hendon and other local politicians,”===

Hmmm, I wonder if Derrick Smith’s CS-1 was one of these 10. Call me goofy, but I suspect this case is related to Smith’s. Closely related.

Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 3:44 pm
Bullies are always the first to cry victim.

Comment by mark walker Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 3:45 pm
Regarding the Hendon article, who is “Davis”?

Comment by Bitterman Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 4:00 pm
Looks like Fitz’s replacement will need to hit the ground running.

Comment by Leave a Light on George Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 4:00 pm
Or Levine could have gone all Al Bundy and decked Kelly but then sued Kelly for inhuring Levine’s hand. After watching the video and being in the vicinity of Kelly during the trial, Levine would easily win that one.

Comment by Bakersfield Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 4:00 pm
“Statehouse gangbangs” you say?

That sounds like a truely salacious story…or a very poor choice of words.

Comment by titan Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 4:20 pm
Best government your tax dollars can buy!

But seriously , can you imagine how much good could be done if all the money allocated to a particular purpose actually was used in the expected way?

Shame on all involved and those who tolerate it.

Comment by Plutocrat03 Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 4:31 pm
==I’ve seen worse threats at Statehouse gangbangs.==

Did Jack! Ryan get elected to office in Springfield?

Comment by Wumpus Monday, Jun 4, 12 @ 7:19 pm
The “Gangbang” in this context is a “term of art”, meaning a crowded clot of reporters and camera operators clustered around some news-maker giving a group interview.

But let’s get back to talking about Hendon. I expected him to get caught for something far more odious than this.

Comment by Newsclown Tuesday, Jun 5, 12 @ 7:29 am
Meh.

So we round up the usual suspects, collectively circle around them and say “Shame! Shame! Shame!” until we get tired of it. Then we pass a few laws ’so this never happens again’, pat ourselves on the back and move on.

Been there, done that.

Comment by Pillory Tuesday, Jun 5, 12 @ 8:52 am