Category: Crime
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Beavers Indictment: Where’s Madigan?
So I understand that our unwanted and tried to be run out of town U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois has indicted Old Man Beavers. The feds are usually pretty good about putting their case together and have a 85-90% conviction rate. So it’s safe to say that the Hog of Cook County is going to…
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Beavers Indictment: Talking When Should be Quiet
Talk about passing the buck: Cook County Commissioner William Beavers, an old-school Chicago politician who likes to call himself “The Hog With the Big Nuts,” has been indicted on federal tax charges. … But Beavers, 77, called the indictment “horse s— I’m not worried about.” He said the feds only indicted him because he refused…
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We’re Number One… in corruption that is.
A former Chicago alderman turned political science professor/corruption fighter has found that Chicago is the most corrupt city in the country. He cites data from the U.S. Department of Justice to prove his case. And, he says, Illinois is third-most corrupt state in the country. University of Illinois at Chicago professor Dick Simpson, who served…
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Aldermen Push For What?
This is just insane: On Sunday, Aldermen Deborah Graham (29th), Robert Fioretti (2nd), and Toni Foulkes (15th) joined members of the Chicago Teachers Union, Action Now, and a group of parents and community safety advocates for a press conference urging Mayor Rahm Emanuel to make the Vacant Property Safe Passages Ordinance a priority. If approved,…
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No Tax Refund if You Owe Parking Tickets
Really? Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday referred to people and businesses with unpaid city debts as “the deadbeats and the delinquents” after winning City Council approval to intercept their state income tax refunds to collect millions of dollars. … At every level we have protected the taxpayers of the city of Chicago by not raising…
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Rahm Wants Handgun Registry
Stupidity in human form. Mayor Rahm Emanuel today said he wants state lawmakers to approve a statewide handgun registry. … Rep. Brandon Phelps, who has championed efforts to pass a concealed weapons bill in Illinois, said the mayor’s office called him Thursday morning to let him know the registration proposal would be introduced. “Number 1,…
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Traveling to Mexico?
“Gunbattles have occurred in broad daylight on streets and in other public venues, such as restaurants and clubs. During some of these incidents, U.S. citizens have been trapped and temporarily prevented from leaving the area,” the travel advisory said. … More than 47,500 people have been killed in Mexico since late 2006 when President Felipe…
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Speed Cameras Save Children
Quinn pulls out an old line: Gov. Pat Quinn gave Mayor Rahm Emanuel something he wanted Monday: the power to use cameras across nearly half of Chicago to nab speeding drivers and fine them as much as $100. Questions linger about the effectiveness and scope of the speed camera plan, but the governor sought to…
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FOID Card Requests Sink Police
Illinois has so many requests for Firearm Owner’s Identification cards that state police can’t process them in a timely manner. In addition, people calling the state police to ask why they haven’t received their FOID cards are put on hold for as long as 35 minutes, if they’re lucky enough to get through to an…
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Taxpayers Pay for Political Payback
Kudos to Crains on this unbelievable story: Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan cost taxpayers nearly half-a-billion dollars by blocking repeated efforts to restructure McCormick Place bonds and finance a much-needed second hotel at the convention center, a Crain’s investigation finds. Between 2005 and 2010, Mr. Madigan stopped five refinancing bills, ignoring declining interest rates that…