19th Ward Chicago

Conner Lowery funeral details

2012-03-08T13:45:00.001-06:00

Corporal Conner Lowry is to arrive at Midway Airport at 8:00am Friday morning, where a short, private military service will be held for his family. The motorcade carrying Corporal Lowry’s body will travel from Midway south down Cicero Avenue to 103rd St - See below for travel route.

Students from Brother Rice HS and Mother McAuley HS will line Pulaski and 99th street holding American Flags in Conner’s honor. The motorcade will stop directly in front of Br. Rice, where an Honor Guard will play Taps, with the trumpet played by a Br. Rice student who is a close friend of Conner’s family.

UPDATE: Lowry’s body is to arrive at 8 a.m. Friday at Midway Airport.
A procession will follow, from Midway Airport
south on Cicero Avenue to 103rd Street,
east on 103rd Street to Pulaski Road, then
north past Brother Rice High School,
east on 99th Street past Mother McAuley High School,
south on Central Park Avenue past Queen of Martyrs School and then
east on 103rd Street toward St. John Fisher School and Church.

Students and staff at the schools will line the streets for Lowry’s procession home.
Community members are also invited to line the processiona route in a show of respect.
Organizers suggest people be present along the route with American flags by 8:45 a.m.

Cpl. Lowry will lie in state from 2 to 9 p.m. Friday at
St. John Fisher Church at 10234 S. Washtenaw Ave. in Chicago.

A funeral Mass will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the church.
Burial is at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Alsip.
**PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE WHO LIVES NEAR THE ROUTE**
Thanks to Detective Shaved for this posting.

State Rep Race

2012-03-07T16:29:00.000-06:00

Is it my imagination or is it boring? Nobody is talking about anything.

Does anyone understand what this is about?

2012-03-06T18:13:00.002-06:00

The Mayor of Chicago

Does anyone out there know what this is about? The last time we had something like this, all of the aldermen voted yea and we got the parking meter contract. It seems that the Mayor wants to convey public assets to some kind of private trust. It just sounds questionable.

Detective Shaves says There was a reason why this country was founded on open governmental policies... From open meeting acts to the FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT...But when sneaky corrupt politicians form these not-for-profit groups, EVERYTHING IS PRIVATE, NO INFORMATION HAS TO BE OR WILL BE RELEASED. This is unf------believable! Rahm is circumventing the laws in place to keep government open to the tax paying people.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Monday his proposal to create a $1.7 billion “Infrastructure Trust” is not a license to either lease city assets or cherry pick projects to finance behind a veil of secrecy.

Because the trust would be set up as a 501 C-3, the tax designation for not-for-profit organizations, concerns have been raised about how transparent the selection process will be.

The Freedom of Information Act does not apply to non-profits. Neither does the Open Meetings Act or purchasing laws that require most construction contracts to be awarded to the low-bidder.

Others are concerned that the potential for a $1 billion investment from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, Inc, the Spanish-Australian consortium that paid $1.83 billion to lease the Chicago Skyway for 99 years, raises the possibility of selling off even more city assets.

That’s been a sore thumb ever since the 75-year, $1.15 billion deal that privatized Chicago’s 36,000 parking meters and set the stage for steep rate hikes and a disastrous transition to private control.

Emanuel campaigned on a promise not to revive the $2.5 billion privatization of Midway Airport that collapsed for lack of financing.

On Monday, the mayor tried to put those privatization concerns to rest before what he hopes will be a City Council vote on the issue next week.

“Nothing we’re doing changes running a transparent process. Second, the type of investments we’re gonna make are key for the city’s economic future and its competitiveness. Third, I’m gonna make sure this is just a [financing] vehicle,” the mayor said.

“Financing key infrastructure is usually either done by grants or by issuing more debt. This allows other people to invest and see a return while we continue to own all our investments. We will own all the schools that get new HVAC systems. We will own the Cultural Center in the future, which will get a new energy efficient policy that will pay back the investment. That’s all that’s changing.”

He added, “We’re getting a set of dollars that has been sitting on the sidelines now open to investing in our critical infrastructure. The ordinance ... will make sure there’s a transparent process in [choosing] the investments we’re gonna make. The first will be on energy efficiency throughout our public facilities. Anything we do has to meet the fundamental test that it is economically transformative for the city’s future.”

Last week, five financing giants including Macquarie made preliminary commitments to provide as much as $1.7 billion in “initial investment capacity.”

The Infrastructure Trust is expected to launch with $225 million in energy efficiency projects for government buildings, including the Cultural Center, the 911 center, the Woodlawn health clinic and Morgan Park High School.

In the case of “Retrofit Chicago,” it’s apparent how investors would get their return. By retrofitting 127 government buildings, the city expects to reduce its $170 million annual tab for energy consumption by more than $20 million while creating nearly 2,000 construction jobs.

But, many of the other projects the city is looking to finance will need to have their own financing streams.

That’s why the mayor specifically mentioned bus-rapid transit, where passengers could be asked to pay higher fares for faster rides.

On Monday, Emanuel shed no additional light on which projects he has in mind or what new user fees would need to be imposed to make certain investors get an attractive enough return.

Proves it again.

2012-03-06T06:16:00.001-06:00

Dan Hynes

Smartest politician in the 19th Ward, proves it again.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Former Illinois comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Dan Hynes is among the new appointees to the board of McPier, the joint City of Chicago and State of Illinois agency that oversees McCormick Place.
In a joint city-state news release Monday morning, officials announced the eight new appointees to the board, officially named the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel appointed four new board members, of whom Hynes was one. Gov. Pat Quinn appointed four more.
Hynes is now serving as senior vice president of Ariel Investments. He served three terms as state comptroller from 1999 through 2011, and ran an acrimonious campaign against Quinn in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2010.
Most notoriously in January 2010, Hynes’ campaign ran an attack ad showing archival footage of the late Mayor Harold Washington, speaking in 1987 about firing Quinn as city revenue director. The clip shows Washington calling Quinn “a totally and completely undisciplined individual.”
Critics were quick to point out that Dan Hynes’ own father, former Cook County Assessor Thomas Hynes, had been a harsh critic of Mayor Washington and had run against him in 1987 on the Chicago First Party ticket.

NEWS FLASH G-8 is cancelled.

2012-03-05T15:10:00.000-06:00

They are moving it to Camp David and the city of Chicago will be saving $100 million.

R.I.P. Conner Lowry USMC

2012-03-04T20:38:00.000-06:00

Conner Lowry USMC

This story is about "one of the kids from the park"
The last time Grace Lavin saw her brother, Marine Cpl. Conner Lowry, it was via an Internet video call in January. From somewhere in Afghanistan, he teared up as they talked, looking very much like he missed home, she said.

Thursday afternoon, Lavin 17, came home from school to find the front door open and three Marines in the kitchen. She immediately knew why they were there.
Lowry, 24, died Thursday while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan's Helmand province, according to a Department of Defense release that offered no further details.

"It wasn't supposed to be my brother," Lavin said Friday from her family's home in Chicago's West Beverly neighborhood. "My brother wasn't supposed to die. He was supposed to come home. I thought it was always a myth that people died when they went to Afghanistan. I didn't think myths were supposed to come true. But this one did."

On Friday, yellow ribbons adorned trees in the 10000 block of South Washtenaw Avenue. American flags fluttered outside neighboring homes. A single black ribbon was hanging from the top of the flagpole at the family's home, where a Marine Corps flag also flew.
Inside, family and friends gathered to talk about the popular boy who his mother, Modie Lavin, said was well-known in the neighborhood.
"He was awesome, and a great Marine," his mother said. "He loved his friends. He had 100 best friends."
Lowry had been in Afghanistan since October and was scheduled to return to the United States around June, two months before his enlistment was up, said his brother, Brian Lavin, 33.

Like many Chicagoans his age, Lowry grew up idolizing Michael Jordan, his family said. His brother said Lowry was an "absolute sports fanatic" who owned an extensive collection of sports jerseys and loved Notre Dame.

His 6-foot-5 inch frame served him well as a football player at Brother Rice High School on the South Side. Principal Jim Antos described Lowry as a "spirited lad" with a lively sense of humor.

Lowry and Antos forged a friendly relationship during a school retreat. Later, Lowry would ask Antos about his experiences in the military during the Vietnam War.

Lowry is the second member of the Brother Rice Class of 2006 to die in Afghanistan, Antos said. Jared Stanker, 22, of Evergreen Park, died of injuries sustained from a roadside bomb in 2009.
"This kind of stuff is never easy," Antos said.
Lowry's family said they were initially surprised when he decided to leave college to enlist in the Marines in 2008. The family doesn't have a history of military service, but Grace Lavin said she thinks she understands why he made the choice.
"I think he wanted to something for himself and his country," she said. "He was meant to serve others."
The family was apprehensive, but tried to remain positive even as Lowry was deployed to Afghanistan Oct. 31.
"He was such a street-smart kid," his brother Charley Lavin, 34, said Friday. "I thought, he's sharper than the average Marine. He wouldn't put himself out there too much."
The week before Lowry shipped out, family members traveled to Camp Pendleton in California to visit. He told them he didn't want them to see him right before he left because it would be too hard for everyone, his sister said.
Charley Lavin lives near the base, and as the family got into cars to go to his house, Lowry insisted that Grace ride with him.
"He said, 'Grace, I love you,' with the most meaning I've ever heard," she recalled. "Almost in a way like, I need you to know this."
On Friday evening, family members were flying to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where fallen soldiers and Marines are brought home.

jbullington@tribune.com

An important message from the alderman.

2012-03-03T06:40:00.001-06:00

His Highness, Matthew O'Shea, Duke of Beverly, Knight of Greenwood, Earl of Morgan, Alderman of the 19th ward and seeker of truth.

COMMUNITY MEETING

The South Side Irish Parade will be held on Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 11:00 am. This Sunday, March 4, 2012, there will be a meeting at the Beverly Arts Center at 6:30 pm for the immediate neighbors. At this meeting, members of the South Side Irish Parade Committee and the Chicago Police Department will outline plans for crowd control and public safety. This is the appropriate forum for residents to address any questions or concerns they may have about parking, public safety, and the zero tolerance policy for open alcohol.

There have been a number of changes to parade plans this year that will impact you as residents living near the parade route. Most significantly, in an effort to maintain public safety, there will be "No Parking" on Artesian Ave between 103rd St. and 111th St., and on Claremont Ave between 103rd St. & 107th St., from 6am-3pm. Any cars parked on the street during that time will be ticketed and towed to the City of Chicago Auto Pound Lot at 103rd & Doty.

If you have questions, but are unable to attend this meeting, please contact the South Side Irish Parade Committee at 773-916-7747 or info@southsideirishparade.org. Thank you very much for your patience and cooperation during this year's parade.

Whats the upside here?

2012-03-02T09:32:00.000-06:00

And we are bringing G-8 to Chicago why?Chicago is looking to purchase “blast resistant” trash containers to “eliminate or significantly reduce fatalities, injuries and structural failures” in the event of “terrorist bombs.”

New York City routinely removes its downtown garbage cans during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square and other major events that have the potential to become terrorist targets.

But, it looks like Chicago has other plans as it prepares to play host to President Barack Obama and other world leaders during the NATO and G-8 Summits May 19 to 21 at McCormick Place.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration has issued a so-called “request for quotations” from companies interested in providing roughly 56 “blast resistant trash receptacles that would protect people, facilities and assets from various explosion effects.”

At the request of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, the document specifically states, “Bomb mitigation requirements are increasing to protect people, facilities and assets from various explosion aftermath, including fireballs, energy overpressure and fragmentation all of which will likely result from terrorist bombs.”

The office’s executive director, Gary Schenkel, could not be reached for comment.

The solicitation states that the office requires the new trash receptacles to mitigate the threat of: “primary fragmentation from materials in contact with the charge; secondary fragments from near the charge and pieces of trash receptacles should it fail and blast overpressure” and fireballs.

Interested contractors were advised that “explosive tests shall be conducted” and that “pre- and post-detonation photos along with video footage” must be submitted to the city along with their bids.

“Receptacles must have the capacity to contain and mitigate six pounds of pure TNT placed inside the receptacle,” the document states.

Deputy mayoral press secretary Jennifer Hoyle said the new trash containers would be located in “high-risk areas.” But, she played down the purchase by saying, “This is a replacement contract. We already have these.”

In March, 2011, then-Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration awarded a $2.5 million contract to Massachusetts-based Big Belly Solar to provide at least 400 solar powered trash compactors in the central business district where pedestrian traffic is heaviest and trash bins need frequent pickups.

More recently, the Emanuel administration has talked about selling the rights to advertise on those downtown trash compactors to generate the $25 million in revenues from “municipal marketing” and sponsorship deals built into the mayor’s 2012 budget.

Much of the anxiety associated with hosting the back-to-back summits has centered around the international onslaught of protesters, the cost of containing them and the damage that may be caused by those demonstrations.

But, the impending purchase of blast resistant trash containers underscores the fact that an act of terrorism during the summits is a far greater threat.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported last month that Chicago Police officers facing off against protesters during the summits would be equipped with new face shields that fit comfortably over gas masks and include an air-tight seal to prevent officers from being blinded by liquids thrown at them.

The $193,461 emergency contract with Colorado-based Super Seer Corp. for the purchase of 3,057 shields marked the first use of the power granted to Emanuel to purchase goods and services for the summits — without City Council approval or competitive bidding — provided those items cannot be purchased under existing contracts.

The newspaper also reported that the city was soliciting bids for “riot gear and training aids” for the 30 horses in the Police Department’s Mounted Unit expected to play a key role in controlling crowds during the summits.

Pension Reform

2012-02-28T09:31:00.003-06:00

State Senate candidate Karen McConnaughay today announced her support for the creation of a tiered state pension system that will move employees to a defined contribution system and away from the unsustainable defined benefit plan that has left the state with an unfunded liability of over $80 billion dollars. “I have great respect for the men and women in public service, and the worst thing we can do is to prop up an unsustainable pension system that will eventually drag down the state’s finances and force radical reductions in benefits,” said McConnaughay. “Moving to the type of retirement plan that the vast majority of Illinois workers have is not just common sense, it is the fair and responsible thing to do,” she added.

McConnaughay, currently Chairman of the Kane County Board, announced that she will support SB 512 which will establish three options for current state employees. Those employees will retain current benefit guarantees for the years they have worked, but, going forward, will either increase their contributions to maintain the current benefit guarantee, maintain current contributions and have future benefits reduced, or move to a 401(k)-type retirement savings plan that will include a state contribution. The legislation also calls for a scheduled pay off of the current unfunded liability for state pensions.
“I applaud the work of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club which has been relentless in its promotion of meaningful pension reform,” said McConnaughay. “I believe they have focused attention on this issue that has been swept under the rug for too long.” The Civic Committee’s “Illinois is Broke” campaign has promoted restructuring state government pensions through grassroots advocacy and education across the state.
As part of her support for state pension reform, McConnaughay also announced that she will not participate in the General Assembly Retirement System while she serves in the Senate. “I currently save for my retirement through the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF), and will continue to do so,” she said. “I will not seek eligibility in another public pension system to feather my nest while asking state workers to sacrifice along with other working families. In fact, because of the reduction in compensation between the County Board chairmanship and the legislature, I will be ultimately reducing the pension I will receive.”

Mike Sheahan.

2012-02-25T12:49:00.002-06:00

Mike Sheahan

One of the most stand up guys you will ever meet. Proud to be able to say I know him.

Dan Hynes, smartest politician in the 19th Ward

2012-02-23T09:25:00.003-06:00

Dan Hynes

It's official. Attorney Dan Hynes surged past Michael Joyce during the past few days. This matter is now settled forever.

This may ruin your day.....but you might want to think about it.

2012-02-22T08:32:00.002-06:00

Who will bail out the bankrupt states?
Los Angeles, CA—The not so Golden State has taxed and spent itself into a financial quagmire. Employers and producers have fled in droves to avoid the extortionate taxes here.

California taxpayers providing services to illegal aliens, is at an all time high. That has gutted the schools and health care needs of California’s legal residents.

The prisons and jails are pushing dangerous criminals out to certain unemployment in today’s economy. The body count will be off the charts and every Medical Examiner's Office.

California’s politicians have not and will not let up on their reckless spending habits or desire to regulate everyone’s lives.

The fact is it’s only a matter of time before they can no longer continue the handouts the Entitlement Zombies are accustomed to receiving. When that happens, Los Angeles and Oakland will be on fire like never before.

The death toll and massive amounts of homeless will be staggering. The other more frugal states will be forced to bail out California.

In Lockstep with California will be Illinois, New York and New Jersey. They have the same problems.

I hope the other states abandon these pathetic Socialist utopias that have gone bad. The fools in Congress will bend over as they claim bailouts are the only humanitarian way to solve the problem.
This will bring America closer to a Civil War for sure.

In the meantime America has changed in that the residents don’t care about liberty as much as getting a free ride. The color of the Nation has darkened and traditional work ethics and culture has been on a sharp decline.

The America most of us grew up in no longer exists. We are rapidly becoming a Fascist nation were people are enslaved by Socialism. We can either resist now or wait for the holocaust.

From my friend Paul H.

Condition of streets.

2012-02-21T08:33:00.000-06:00

Whenever we go shopping at Dominicks, I always take the same streets back home. I have noticed that the 5 year old payment on Talman between 111th and 113th is failing. Some kind of a Daley sweetheart deal I'm sure. I was wondering how many other streets in the neighborhood are about to fail. Is there anyway of getting them fixed the right way?

2012-02-20T09:31:00.001-06:00

So just who is the smartest?

The results from the earlier poll which measured the public's perception of raw intelligence, were interesting but murkey, so we had to do another one. As you can see on the right, the contenders have been hitting it hard. I expect to declare a winner soon.

Is the 19th Ward Machine in trouble?

2012-02-19T09:46:00.003-06:00

Fran Hurley

Detective Shaved has spoken. Chicago Democrats are poised to extend their control over Southland state legislative seats in unprecedented fashion this year.

Typical of the makeover created by House Speaker Michael Madigan’s remap is the Democratic primary election for the 35th House District seat.

“The Democratic Party picked the secretary of the 19th Ward alderman and decided to run her for a House seat that would represent Worth, Palos Heights, Orland Park and Orland Hills as well as the 19th Ward,” said Andrew Byrne Hodorowicz, of Palos Heights, the only suburban candidate running in the Democratic primary. “She has no prior experience except that she worked for (former 19th Ward) Ald. Ginger Rugai and now works for Matt O’Shea.”

Indeed, Frances Ann Hurley touts her experience as an aldermanic aide, claiming that she was responsible for constituent services in the 19th Ward office. There she shared office space with 19th Ward politicians such as former state Rep. Kevin Joyce (D-Chicago) and current state Rep. William Cunningham (D-Chicago).

Also running in the new 35th District Democratic primary is Anthony R. Martin, a resident of the Mount Greenwood community and a Chicago fire lieutenant.

CLICK HERE FOR PHIL KADNER'S FULL WELL WRITTEN ARTICLE

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February 19, 2012 8:42 AM

The parade is a go!

2012-02-17T18:14:00.000-06:00

And dont forget the fundraiser tomorow night at Bourbon Street.

Debate Report

2012-02-17T08:14:00.000-06:00

The candidates for State Rep 35th Dist met and debated last night. Were you there? Tell us what you observed. Who will you vote for.

Bob Hoff

2012-02-15T19:14:00.002-06:00

Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff just resigned. Reason for the abruptness is unknown. A great leader and a true loss for the Department.

G-8 Good or Bad?

2012-02-14T05:07:00.001-06:00

What do you think about the G-8 summit? Is it good for Chicago to host such an event? What about the possible disruption of daily life? What about the financial cost to Chicago.

Coverup? What do you think?

2012-02-13T10:12:00.000-06:00

The victim

Imagine your child goes out for the night and you get a phone call that he or she is hurt and on the way to the hospital. A few days later, the child is dead. Would you want an explanation? Would you want the police to do something? Would you want the states attorney to do something? What if they failed to act because.............. the suspect was connected? How would you feel? The following was in todays paper.
Facing the possibility of coming under scrutiny by a special prosecutor, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and the Chicago Police Department are, for the first time, offering an explanation for why, just hours into the case, detectives abruptly dropped the David Koschman investigation and didn’t pick it up again for 15 days:

The two detectives assigned to the case went on vacation.

Hours after detectives Rita O’Leary and Robert Clemens had learned that Koschman was in a coma, with a fractured skull and swollen brain, the police stopped talking with witnesses — apparently, a top police official now says, in hopes that Koschman would recover and would be able to talk with detectives about his confrontation with a man later identified as Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, a nephew of then-Mayor Richard M. Daley.

As a result, detectives interviewed only two of the eight known witnesses in the 11 days before Koschman died. One of them was a Vanecko friend who lied to the police on two separate occasions, concealing Vanecko’s involvement. Friends who were with Koschman weren’t interviewed.

“It’s a sound investigative technique to interview the victim first, if possible,” says Dean Andrews, the police department’s deputy chief of detectives. “The detectives at the time were told Koschman was going to be in a medically induced coma for five days. It’s reasonable to believe that the detectives did not think this was going to turn into a fatality.”

Instead, Koschman’s grave condition only worsened while O’Leary and Clemens were on vacation, hospital records show. The 21-year-old part-time college student from Mount Prospect underwent surgery four times and never regained consciousness, dying on May 6, 2004.

It took four more days for the police to assign the case to a new team of detectives, as O’Leary and Clemens remained on vacation. The new team of detectives got the case on May 10, 2004 — the day the Cook County medical examiner ruled Koschman’s death a homicide.

Given how dire Koschman’s condition was, criminal justice experts question why the police waited to resume interviewing witnesses — including those who would ultimately reveal that Vanecko was involved in the drunken confrontation on Division Street that led to Koschman’s death.

“Did everybody miss the point that [Koschman] was gravely ill?” says Eugene O’Donnell, a professor of police studies at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. “If you think somebody’s going to die, you should have a full-court press going that night.”

Koschman died as the result of a single punch. The night of the confrontation, the police classified what happened as a battery and assigned the case to the Area 3 detective division, then overseen by Cmdr. Michael Chasen, who has since retired. O’Leary and Clemens still work at Area 3, which is at Belmont and Western.

Chasen and O’Leary have declined to comment. Clemens hasn’t returned messages seeking comment.

Questions about the 15-day gap in the investigation first arose last March.

But no one provided an explanation until Jan. 31, when State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez cited the detectives’ vacation in a court filing. Andrews expanded on that short mention in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.

The court filing was a 46-page objection that Alvarez filed with Cook County Circuit Judge Michael Toomin to a request Nanci Koschman made in December seeking the appointment of a special prosecutor to re-examine her son’s death and the way the investigation was handled by police and prosecutors. The mother’s lawyers argue that an outside prosecutor is needed because Alvarez’s office has a conflict of interest in investigating conduct including that of current officials in the prosecutor’s office.

The Koschman request for a special prosecutor cited a series of Sun-Times reports, beginning Feb. 28, 2011, that have questioned how police and prosecutors handled the case. David Koschman and four friends had been out drinking in the Rush Street area when, during the early-morning hours of April 25, 2004, they bumped into Vanecko, then 29, and three of his friends. During an ensuing argument, Koschman was punched in the face. He fell, fracturing his skull on the pavement.

Vanecko ran away. He has never spoken with the police about what happened.

Still, after giving the case a new review after the Sun-Times sought records in the case, the police said last March 1 that they determined that Vanecko threw the only punch. Seven years earlier, they had said they couldn’t say for sure who punched Koschman.

But although the blow left Koschman mortally injured, the police decided that Vanecko shouldn’t be criminally charged, asserting that, even though the much-smaller Koschman hadn’t hit anyone, Vanecko acted in self-defense.

Six hours after the deadly confrontation, Koschman had just gotten out of emergency brain surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital when O’Leary and Clemens began investigating what happened.

O’Leary called Northwestern Memorial and was told by a nurse that Koschman was unconscious and in “critical but stable condition,” according to a report she filed three weeks later.

She and Clemens then went to the North Side home of Kevin D. McCarthy and his wife, Bridget Higgins McCarthy, who had been involved in the argument with Koschman.

After Koschman fell unconscious, the McCarthys were walking away when the police detained them and handcuffed Kevin McCarthy. Koschman’s friends told the police that McCarthy didn’t hit their friend but that both he and his wife were with two men who ran away.

When O’Leary and Clemens came to their home, McCarthy lied, telling the detectives that he and his wife came upon the confrontation and didn’t know anyone involved. Weeks later, McCarthy’s wife told the police that she and her husband actually had been with the two men who ran away, identifying them as Vanecko and Craig Denham.

After interviewing Kevin McCarthy, O’Leary called Koschman’s mother at the hospital. She said her son had a skull fracture and swelling in his brain and would be sedated for “at least the next five days.”

O’Leary then called Michael Connolly, one of two bystanders who happened upon the confrontation. He told her he saw Koschman “get ‘pushed or shoved’ from the group and fall to the ground.”

It was the last interview O’Leary and Clemens would do, police records show. Three days later, each went on vacation for three weeks, starting April 28, 2004, according to Alvarez’s court filing.

Koschman died May 6, 2004. The police investigation resumed on May 10, 2004, when detectives Ronald E. Yawger, Anthony Giralamo Jr., Edward Louis and Anthony Villardita took over the case from O’Leary and Clemens, who were still on vacation.

Here’s what happened in the weeks that followed, according to police reports:

May 10, 2004: Phillip Kohler, the other bystander who saw the incident, was interviewed by the police for the first time.

May 12, 2004: Koschman’s four friends were interviewed by detectives for the first time.

May 13, 2004: Bridget Higgins McCarthy — whose father Jack Higgins was a friend of then-Mayor Daley and also was the developer who built Chicago’s police headquarters — and her lawyer met with detectives. This was when she contradicted her husband’s earlier story, revealing that she and her husband were with Vanecko and Denham.

May 19, 2004: Kevin McCarthy and Denham — who later married a sister of Daley’s son-in-law — met with detectives and backed up what McCarthy’s wife had told them.

May 20, 2004: O’Leary, back from vacation, turned in a six-page report detailing what she and Clemens did on the case 25 days earlier.

Three hours later, Vanecko, McCarthy and Denham appeared in police lineups. No one could identify Vanecko, whose lawyer had told detectives Vanecko might talk with them that day. Instead, Vanecko left without speaking with the police. Assistant State’s Attorney Darren O’Brien — who was felony-review chief for then-State’s Attorney Richard Devine, a longtime Daley friend — interviewed several witnesses and told the police there wasn’t enough evidence to charge anyone in Koschman’s death.

This election is starting to look like a sham!

2012-02-11T08:35:00.001-06:00

REPOST 35th district debate?

We have 38 days to go before the election. Are the candidates, Martin, Hurley and Hodorowicz, planning on having a public discussion of the issues? Where are all the local civic groups on this?

Bell Ringing

2012-02-10T20:46:00.001-06:00

This Saturday, February 11, 2012 there will be a bell ringing ceremony at 8:00 am to honor fallen Firefighter / Paramedic Patrick King and Firefighter Anthony Lockhart who died in the line of duty on Febraruary 12, 1998. The ceremony will be held at King Lockhart Memorial Park at 10611 S. Western Ave. and will last approximately ten minutes. Please bring your family out to pay tribute to these brave men who died protecting our community.

The above is from the Alderman's office.

A letter from Cardinal George

2012-02-10T16:15:00.002-06:00

Cardinal George

This is in response to the recent, highly coordinated attack on the Catholic Church. The current administration has demonstrated that it holds contempt for Catholic beliefs. This administration, and all of its followers, has to go. They will be defeated in November.

February 5, 2012
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I write to you concerning a most serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on January 20 that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those "services" in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.
In so ruling, the Administration has seemingly ignored the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation's first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. As a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics must be prepared either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Administration's sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.
We cannot-we will not-comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second class citizens because of their religious beliefs. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America's cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. All that has been built up over so many years in our Catholic institutions should not be taken away by the stroke of an administrator's pen. This order reduces the Church to a private club, destroying her public mission in society. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same.
Therefore, I would ask of you two things. First, as a community of faith we must commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty may be restored. Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible. Second, I would also recommend visiting www.usccb.org/conscience to learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty, and how to contact Congress in support of legislation that would reverse the Administration's decision.
A letter similar to this is being sent to their people by diocesan bishops around the country. I thank you for your consideration of this unprecedented challenge to religious liberty. You and your families are in my prayers; please keep me in yours.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Chicago

35th district debate?

2012-02-10T08:01:00.001-06:00

We have 38 days to go before the election. Are the candidates, Martin, Hurley and Hodorowicz, planning on having a public discussion of the issues? Where are all the local civic groups on this?

Is the parade in jeopardy?

2012-02-09T07:50:00.002-06:00

All we want is an opportunity to celebrate our heritage and values. The Blacks, Mexicans, Gays, Polish, Puerto Ricans, Swedes, Chinese, Koreans even the Short people get to have a parade without coughing up the cash. We get sandbagged? I don't think this is going to fly.
By Hal Dardick, Chicago Tribune reporter

10:49 p.m. CST, February 8, 2012

Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration indicated this week that it doesn't think the group trying to resurrect the South Side Irish Parade, shut down three years ago because of drunken violence, is prepared to pull it off.

In a letter to the parade committee, the administration asked for additional details about its plans for security, and also called for a public meeting on those plans.
Although the parade committee's application for the March 11 event has been accepted, a permit is not issued until the organizers prepay for city services that include putting up barricades and parade-route signs, an administration official said Wednesday.
"Before we seek the payment, we would hope that the parade committee will come to the conclusion that it is not ready to hold this event," the official said.
Joseph Connelly, who heads the parade committee, said he believes that his group will be able to run a "safe, family-friendly" event.
"We're confident that working with the city we'll get to the right place," he said.
Connelly questioned the need for a public meeting, saying his group held four such meetings in August and early September. "Right now, our focus is on having the parade, not having another public meeting," he said.
Ald. Matthew O'Shea, 19th, a onetime parade organizer, has repeatedly called for another public meeting on the parade and said most local residents weren't aware of the previous meetings. In fact, residents were surprised to learn that parade plans were moving forward, he said.
O'Shea contends the parade committee's security plan is sparse on detail, a perception echoed by the administration in its letter.
Although the parade committee has been working with a prominent security company, the contract for parade-day security has yet to be written and signed, Connelly said.
The parade committee is about halfway to its goal of raising $200,000. One sponsor is City Beverage, which distributes Guinness and Bud Light, Connelly said. They will help promote the event's zero-tolerance policy, he said.

The parade, first held in 1979, was discontinued after 2009 when alcohol-fueled violence near the increasingly popular event led to injuries to police officers and others.

If Matt O'Shea ever stepped up to the plate, it should be now. Save this parade.

Skinny Sheahan

2012-02-07T08:52:00.001-06:00

Mr. South Side

The man that saved the South Side Irish Parade (and quite possibly the neighborhood). Everyone should buy this man a drink when they see him.

Check out the latest attack on the Catholic church.

2012-02-06T07:41:00.004-06:00

Catholics need to take this seriously. We are witnessing a highly organized attack on the church. This ruling should be considered one of the first steps toward the eventual labeling of the Catholic church as a "hate group".

Catholics across the country heard something unusual at mass this weekend regarding a decision by the Obama Administration involving birth control.

Sunday, 2 On Your Side was invited to mass at Our Lady of Pompeii Roman Catholic Church in Lancaster, where the pastor's stinging critique drew a standing ovation.

"Something big is going on, and by now you should know what it is," said Pastor Leon Bienart during his homily.

Bienart was referring to the decision by the Obama Administration requiring religious employers to provide health insurance that covers contraceptives, including the "morning-after" pill.

This weekend, church leaders nationwide vowed to fight it, arguing it violates their First Amendment religious freedom.

"President Obama is telling our Catholic institutions that serve this nation well in hospitals and schools and charitable organizations," Bienart said. "President Obama is telling our Catholic Institutions to provide and pay for what we find morally and religiously wrong. President Obama has lied to us. He has lied to us."

Bienart was referencing the President's 2009 speech at the University of Notre Dame, where told Catholics that, regarding his health care reforms, "Let's honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause."

The President's regulation does exempt church employees, just not workers at other Catholic institutions, like hospitals, universities and charities.

"I believe the state and the federal government should not be able to tell the Roman Catholic people what to do," Parishioner Barbara Bordonara said.

Father Bienart ended his homily by saying that he did not intend to bring politics to the pulpit, but that politics had thrust itself into the church with the new regulation.

"I am Father Leon Biernat and I do approve of this message," he concluded, and was greeted to a 20-second standing ovation from parishioners.

The regulation has drawn applause from women's groups, who argue it will reduce the number of abortions. A White House spokesperson said the regulation is "an effective balance between religious beliefs and increased access to important preventative services."

Term Limits, February Issue of the month.

2012-02-02T12:16:00.001-06:00

Some historical background on the topic is listed below. We are just coming off a period where we had a mayor serve for 22 years. Do you think he was at the top of his game near the end of his last term? Do the citizens deserve better?

I am not saying that he was not committed to the betterment of Chicago. He was very committed. What I am referring to is the human condition known as burnout caused by years and years of giving it your all. He may have been mentally exhausted in the end. Too exhausted to be at the top of his game.

There is also the concern that long-term politicians have been known to lose touch with the citizens for various reasons not worth mentioning here. How can we protect ourselves from long-term politicians and ensure that we have the best and the brightest leading the way. Maybe the founding fathers had it right. Public service for a few years and get out. Let someone else, someone with some better ideas possibly, give it a try.

Wikipedia:Term limits, or rotation in office, date back to the American Revolution, and prior to that to the democracies and republics of antiquity. The council of 500 in ancient Athens rotated its entire membership annually, as did the ephorate in ancient Sparta. The ancient Roman Republic featured a system of elected magistrates—tribunes of the plebs, aediles, quaestors, praetors, and consuls—who served a single term of one year, with reelection to the same magistracy forbidden for ten years. (See Cursus honorum)^[1] According to historian Garrett Fagan, office holding in the Roman Republic was based on "limited tenure of office" which ensured that "authority circulated frequently," helping to prevent corruption.^[1] An additional benefit of the cursus honorum or Run of Offices was to bring the "most experienced" politicians to the upper echelons of power-holding in the ancient republic.^[1] Many of the founders of the United States were educated in the classics, and quite familiar with rotation in office during antiquity. The debates of that day reveal a desire to study and profit from the object lessons offered by ancient democracy.
In 1783, rotation experiments were taking place at the state level. The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 set maximum service in the Pennsylvania General Assembly at "four years in seven."^[2] Benjamin Franklin's influence is seen not only in that he chaired the constitutional convention which drafted the Pennsylvania constitution, but also because it included, virtually unchanged, Franklin's earlier proposals on executive rotation. Pennsylvania's plural executive was composed of twelve citizens elected for the term of three years, followed by a mandatory vacation of four years.^[3]
On October 2, 1789, the Continental Congress appointed a committee of thirteen to examine forms of government for the impending union of the states. Among the proposals was that from the State of Virginia, written by Thomas Jefferson, urging a limitation of tenure, "to prevent every danger which might arise to American freedom by continuing too long in office the members of the Continental Congress...."^[4] The committee made recommendations, which as regards congressional term-limits were incorporated unchanged into the Articles of Confederation (1781-1789]). The fifth Article stated that "no person shall be capable of being a delegate [to the continental congress] for more than three years in any term of six years."^[5]
In contrast to the Articles of Confederation, the federal constitution convention at Philadelphia omitted mandatory term limits from the second national frame of government, i.e. the U.S. Constitution of 1787 to the present. Nonetheless, largely because of grassroots support for the principle of rotation, rapid turnover in Congress prevailed. Also, George Washington set the precedent for a two-term tradition that prevailed (with the exception of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's four terms) until the 22nd Amendment of 1951.
However, when the states ratified the Constitution (1787–88), several leading statesmen regarded the lack of mandatory limits to tenure as a dangerous defect, especially, they thought, as regards the Presidency and the Senate. Richard Henry Lee viewed the absence of legal limits to tenure, together with certain other features of the Constitution, as "most highly and dangerously oligarchic."^[6] Both Jefferson^[7] and George Mason^[8] advised limits on reelection to the Senate and to the Presidency, because said Mason, "nothing is so essential to the preservation of a Republican government as a periodic rotation." The historian Mercy Otis Warren, warned that "there is no provision for a rotation, nor anything to prevent the perpetuity of office in the same hands for life; which by a little well timed bribery, will probably be done...."^[9]
The fact that "perpetuity in office" was not approached until the 20th century is due in part to the influence of rotation in office as a popular 19th century concept. "Ideas are, in truth, forces," and rotation in office enjoyed such normative support, especially at the local level, that it altered political reality.^[10] For a detailed study of the 19th century concepts of rotation let the reader consult Political Science Quarterly, vol. 94, "House Turnover and the Principle of Rotation," by Robert Struble, Jr. See also his Treatise on Twelve Lights,^[11] chapter six, "Rotation in History". Consult also, James Young's The Washington Community, 1800-1828.
According to Young, the tendency to look with mistrust upon political power was so ingrained into American culture that even the officeholders themselves perceived their occupations in a disparaging light.^[12] James Fenimore^[13] An article in the Richmond Enquirer (1822) noted that the "long cherished" principle of rotation in office had been impressed on the republican mind "by a kind of intuitive impulse, unassailable to argument or authority."^[14]
Beginning about the 1830s, Jacksonian democracy introduced a less idealistic twist to the practice of limiting terms. Rotation in office came to mean taking turns in the distribution of political prizes.^[15] Rotation of nominations to the U.S. House of Representatives – the prizes – became a key element of payoffs to the party faithful. The leading lights in the local party machinery came to regard a nomination for the House as "salary" for political services rendered. A new code of political ethics evolved, based on the proposition that "turnabout is fair play."^[16] In short, rotation of nominations was intertwined with the spoils system.
In district nominating conventions local leaders could negotiate and enforce agreements to pass the nominations around among themselves. Abraham Lincoln was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1846 under such a bargain, and he returned home to Springfield after a single congressional term because, he wrote, "to enter myself as a competitor of another, or to authorize anyone so to enter me, is what my word and honor forbid."^[17]
During the Civil War, the Confederate States constitution limited its president to a single six-year term.
The practice of nomination rotation for the House of Representatives began to decline after the Civil War. It took a generation or so before the direct primary system, civil service reforms, and the ethic of professionalism worked to eliminate rotation in office as a common political practice. By the turn of the 20th century the era of incumbency was coming into full swing.
A total of 8 presidents served two full terms and declined a third and three presidents served one full term and refused a second. After World War II, however, an officeholder class had developed to the point that congressional tenure rivaled that of the U.S. Supreme Court, where tenure is for life.
"Homesteading" in Congress, made possible by reelection rates that approached 100% by the end of the 20th century, brought about a popular insurgency known as the "term-limits movement". The elections of 1990-94 saw the adoption of term limits for state legislatures in almost every state where citizens had the power of the initiative. In addition 23 states limited service in their delegation to Congress, with the general formula being three terms [six years] in the U.S. House and two terms [twelve years] in the U.S. Senate.
As they pertain to Congress, these laws are no longer enforceable, however, as in 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned congressional term limits, ruling that state governments cannot limit the terms of members of the national government.^[18]
Where rotation in the legislative branch has withstood court challenges, term limits continue to garner popular support. As of 2002, U.S. Term Limits found that in the 17 states where state legislators served in rotation, public support for term limits ranged from 60 to 78 percent.^[19]

Where are our local leaders?

2012-02-01T09:07:00.001-06:00

This is a repost of something from last September.

What business raises their prices by 26%?

Waste and Inefficiency

The Metra Board is mulling fare increases which average 26%. If a business tried that, they would be out of business. Trust me when I say the Metra Board is composed of grossly incompetent people. They have a $65 million deficit? Did they ever hear of budgeting? How about cutting your expenses? How about living within your means?

Imagine the detrimental effect this is going to have on our neighborhood. We need our local pols to jump into action.

They can't be found. A 10% increase in 2008 and a 26% fair increase in 2012 and our elected officials see nothing wrong?

Our leaders may be embarassed by us.

2012-01-31T18:34:00.003-06:00

I couldn't say it better.
"We no longer get even lip service from our Democrat representatives. They are happy to be seen arm in arm skipping along with the gay rights pro abortion crowd - but are embarrassed by the traditional American values of Catholics and other traditionally Democratic voters of the 19th Ward.
The only pro-abortion people are those who were given the right to be born. Once you take that from another human, we descend back to the barbarian pagans of the distant past. Not to mention we are effectively Pi**ing on the graves of our Irish ancestors who fought the English to the death to preserve the Catholic faith. Makes alot of people in this neighborhood sick. Time to speak up"

103rd and California?

2012-01-31T09:34:00.002-06:00

From Detective Shaved
A man's body with a gunshot wound was discovered this morning inside a vehicle following a house fire in the city's West Beverly neighborhood on the South Side.

Firefighters were called to the 2-story brick home in the 10200 block of South California Avenue just before 6 a.m., Chicago Fire Department officials said.

After quickly dousing the flames, authorities discovered the unidentified man's body inside a vehicle at the scene with an apparent gunshot wound, Chicago police said.

It was unclear if the wound was the result of a homicide or suicide, police said.

Fire officials remained at the fire scene, performing cleanup, while a police death investigation was under way, authorities said.

Was there a news blackout?

2012-01-31T06:29:00.000-06:00

400,000 people marched in DC last week and it didn't even make the news. People need to question what the media is feeding them. What else are they with-holding from us?

Remember to Vote Democratic

2012-01-29T09:59:00.007-06:00

The new 19th ward flag?

By David E. Smith -
Six months after Illinois' "civil union" legislation went into effect, forces committed to redefining natural marriage are already planning their next steps. A recent article in the Huffington Post reports that a "group of Illinois lawmakers have begun laying the groundwork for their latest push to bring marriage equality to the Land of Lincoln," despite the fact that through the civil union law, same-sex couples already receive all the benefits they claimed they wanted.
This meeting included the Illinois General Assembly's three openly homosexual members: State Representatives Greg Harris (D-Chicago), Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), and Deborah Mell (D-Chicago). State Representatives Ann Williams (D-Chicago), Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) and State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago) are also listed as part of the coalition to redefine marriage.

Anyone paying attention should have expected this because homosexual activists have explicitly stated that civil unions are merely a stepping stone to their real goal: the eradication of marriage as it's been understood throughout history.
It's not benefits they seek; it's the societal approval that accompanies legal recognition of homosexual unions as "marriage." Of course, homosexual unions will never in reality constitute marriages, but like the proverbial emperor who had no clothes, when the government acts like they are marriages, society will play along with the foolish game of pretend.
David E. Smith is Executive Director of Illinois Family Institute
I wonder what our pols position is. Lets find out before the election.

Let's go iceskating!

2012-01-28T06:45:00.001-06:00

Mt. Greenwood Park. 3721 W. 111th Street Weds to Sun 12:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Free

Cook County Cutbacks?

2012-01-25T10:23:00.007-06:00

Let's ask our Cook County Commissioner John Daley

Cook County is reeling from the great recession. Witness the following.

There have been thousands of layoffs in numerous departments.

Tax revenues are way down.

Suburban courthouses are going to be closed on the weekends.

Now you have to pay for parking at those courthouses.

Has anyone noticed the recent, very quite migration of City of Chicago employees to the Cook County, Cook County Health Services and the Cook County Forest Preserve payrolls? About a dozen of them so far. A few of them even got county cars. All of them related to a certain political family. What would Michael Shakman say? Why is this happening when so many others are being laid off?

Support Koda

2012-01-24T12:27:00.003-06:00

Koda Bistro, a real gem at 10352 S. Western. http://www.kodabistro.com

So just who is the smartest?

2012-01-22T06:03:00.006-06:00

The results from the earlier poll which measured the public's perception of raw intelligence, were interesting. Cunningham and Rugai were in a dead heat for last place, whatever. That was surprising as I don't regard Rugai as lacking in that department. Dart also did very poorly, but something tells me that Dart is not as stupid as everyone thinks. In the end, Dan Hynes bested Mike Joyce narrowly for the ring.

Someone spoke about a runoff. I considered a football throwing contest at Ridge Park but that would give former ace quarterback Hynes an advantage. Then I thought about 3 rounds at the Celtic boxing ring but that would favor former boxer Joyce. Then I considered comparing their ACT scores but that probably wouldn't work because I have a feeling those scores are tied too. So, in an effort to figure out who everyone thinks is the smartest politician, I have decided that I am going to offer another poll that everyone can vote on. Dan Hynes or Pickle Joyce? Voting begins on January 22 and runs til February 26 or until the first nominee gets 100 votes. Winner gets a prize and the loser goes on to compete citywide. May the smartest politician win. This time, only one vote per person.

Worms, one of the reasons why you may not get your pension.

2012-01-21T06:36:00.007-06:00

There are hundreds of people out there, collecting pensions when they shouldn't be. The stories are starting to come out.

When you add in all the gay partners and the sweetheart management contracts, the city pension funds get exhausted during 2017.

Two weeks after former state Sen. William Marovitz settled federal insider-trading allegations last summer over his sale of Playboy stock, he gave up his work as an outside lawyer for two Chicago city pension funds — and applied for a city pension even though he wasn’t a city employee.

WOULD BE WORM

Marovitz — a lawyer and longtime Democratic Party leader in Illinois who is separated from his wife, former Playboy chief executive officer Christie Hefner — already gets a government pension of $102,480 a year for the 20 years he served as a state legislator and member of the Illinois Pollution Control Board.

He was seeking a second government pension — which would have paid an estimated $50,000 a year — for the 27 years he did legal work for two City Hall pension funds.

One problem: He was never a city employee, just a lawyer in private practice whose clients included two city pension funds.

That was the view of city pension officials including Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s two top financial advisers. They unanimously rejected Marovitz’s application for a city pension.

“We voted against Mr. Marovitz receiving a pension because there were serious questions about whether serving as a part-time, outside counsel satisfied the state law requirements that determine what defines an employee who is eligible for a pension,” Emanuel’s city comptroller, Amer Ahmad, and chief financial officer Lois Scott said in a written statement.

Ahmad and Scott also serve on the pension board.

Marovitz was seeking a pension deal similar to the one that was granted in 1998 to then-Mayor Richard M. Daley’s brother-in-law, Dr. Robert M. Vanecko, when Vanecko — then chief of staff at Northwestern Memorial Hospital — gave up his side job as the city pension fund’s medical adviser.

Vanecko, who still works at Northwestern, gets a $77,000 yearly government pension, which so far has paid him a total of $875,000.

So why did City Hall under Emanuel deny Marovitz the same deal Vanecko got from the Daley administration?

“Different board, different time,” says city Treasurer Stephanie Neely, one of the pension board members who voted against granting Marovitz a city pension. “Just because they did it doesn’t make it right.

“Should we make the same mistake?”

Only one of the seven pension board members — Carmen Iacullo — was involved in both decisions, voting to give Vanecko a pension but not Marovitz. Iacullo, who is president of the Chicago Laborers’ & Retirement Board Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund, declined to comment.

Marovitz and Vanecko didn’t return calls.

Political pedigrees

Like Vanecko, Marovitz has a political pedigree. The city’s lakefront golf course is named for his late father, Sydney Marovitz, who served on the Chicago Park District board under Daley’s father, Mayor Richard J. Daley. And Marovitz’s late uncle, U.S. District Court Abraham Lincoln Marovitz, administered the oath of office to both Mayors Daley.

“Billy” Marovitz, 67, has been an attorney at his family’s law firm since 1970. He was elected to the Illinois House in 1975 and to the Illinois Senate in 1981.

While in the Senate, he was charged with attempted extortion, accused of seeking $12,000 to fix a court case for a wrecking company. Marovitz — who said he was only seeking a retainer for his legal services — was found not guilty in September 1983.

Ten months later, Marovitz landed a new legal client when Mayor Harold Washington’s top City Hall lawyer appointed him to work for the Laborers pension fund while he served as a senator. He also began working for another city pension plan, the Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund.

Marovitz left the Senate in 1992 but continued to do legal work for the pension funds as he maintained his family’s law firm and became a well-known developer.

For most of his 27 years with the pension funds, Marovitz was classified as a “nonemployee’’ on the miscellaneous income statements known as Form 1099s that the pension funds issued to him and to the Internal Revenue Service. Those records show that the pension funds didn’t withhold taxes from his checks and that Marovitz made no contributions to the pension funds.

Three years ago, the pension funds began withholding income taxes and pension contributions from Marovitz’s checks, according to the W-2 wage-and-tax statements sent to him and the IRS.

Last year, Marovitz was paid a combined $63,604 by the two city pension funds.

He withdrew as their attorney on Aug. 18, 2011 — 15 days after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued him, accusing him in the civil complaint with engaging in insider trading to avoid losses on the stock he held in Playboy, the company long run by his now-estranged wife and his father-in-law, Hugh Hefner.

On three occasions, the SEC said, Marovitz knew in advance that Playboy’s stock was going to fall and sold thousands of shares, avoiding losses that would have totaled about $100,000.

Marovitz paid $168,352 to settle the case.

He then withdrew as lawyer for the city pension funds and later applied for the pension that the board rejected 7-0 on Nov. 15.

Neely says she voted no because Marovitz wasn’t on the pension fund’s payroll, didn’t have an office at the fund headquarters, had other legal clients and charged extra if he had to appear in court.

“He’s not an employee,” says Neely. “I view him as a vendor.”

Pension officials say they don’t know whether Marovitz will seek a refund of the $143,390 he made in pension contributions during the past three years.

A ‘non-employee’

Vanecko — who’s married to the late Mayor Daley’s daughter Mary Carol — began working as the Laborers’ pension fund medical adviser in September 1976, three months before Daley died.

At the time, Vanecko was head of surgical intensive-care at Northwestern, as well as an attending surgeon at Cook County Hospital and the Veterans Administration Lakeside Hospital, according to his curriculum vitae.

He kept working as the pension fund’s medical adviser — deciding whether city workers qualified for disability pay — as he rose to be first Northwestern’s vice chief of staff and eventually chief of staff. That was the post he held at the private hospital in June 1998 when he decided to leave the pension fund under an early-retirement program approved by the Illinois Legislature.

Like Marovitz, Vanecko was classified as a “nonemployee” on the Form 1099s the pension funds issued to him and the IRS. No taxes were withheld from his pension fund paychecks, but Vanecko did contribute $89,136 toward his pension.

Vanecko used the city’s early retirement program to buy an additional three and a half years of government service, then combined his time with the city and Cook County Hospital to give him 36.5 years of service so he could get a maximum pension equal to 80 percent of his average city salary of $66,756 a year. Since he retired, yearly cost-of-living increases have boosted his pension by 46 percent, to $77,000 a year. The city pays about 70 percent; the county pays the rest.

Marovitz, as the pension board’s attorney, was present when Vanecko’s pension was approved by a 5-0 vote. The five were: the second Mayor Daley’s chief financial officer, Walter Knorr; Daley’s city comptroller, Phoebe Selden; city Treasurer Miriam Santos; board secretary Iacullo; and trustee John Briatta, who, like Vanecko, is a brother-in-law of Cook County Commissioner John Daley. Briatta went to prison as a result of the federal Hired Truck Program investigation for taking bribes.

Vanecko, 76, has three sons. The oldest, also named Robert Vanecko, landed a deal to manage $68 million in city pension money that’s been under investigation by a federal grand jury. Middle son Mark Vanecko helped Lollapalooza concert promoters land a 10-year deal with the Chicago Park District under which they don’t have to pay city amusement taxes on the Grant Park festival. And youngest son Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko was the subject of two investigations by the Chicago Police Department for throwing a punch that resulted in the death of David Koschman in 2004, though he wasn’t charged.

A former city pension official who spoke only on the condition of anonymity says the elder Vanekco “was never ever a full-time employee, even though he was paid like one. I didn’t understand how someone who was the chief of staff at Northwestern could also be a full-time employee for the city of Chicago.”

Look at the highlighted names. Why do we continue to see the same names popping up in one controversy after another?

Joe Bird is gone. Qualifications mean nothing.

2012-01-18T09:20:00.000-06:00

Joe Bird

A victim of the 19th ward political machine. His campaign for state rep gained no traction. People were afraid to be seen talking to him. The breaking point came when even the FOP rejected this highly decorated police officer. They said that "someone else can do a better job".

The New Map

2012-01-15T06:25:00.000-06:00

Whats going on with the new ward map? The silence is starting to scare me.

South Side Parade

2012-01-11T05:20:00.000-06:00

What is going on with the South Side Parade? Are they having it? I sure hope so.

Foul Language

2012-01-10T09:51:00.002-06:00

I have a collection of interesting comments from readers which I can't publish because the content is laced with some of the most foul language you have ever heard. I also have quite a list of threats against 19th ward characters and this blog writer. I'm not publishing that either. It's a shame because one writer told quite a story about crimes which would make some people downtown pay attention.

If you want to express your opinion about something without swearing and threatening someone, this is the place. On the other hand, if you want to lose your mind while ranting, Western Av is not too far away.

Bill Cunningham, Candidate for State Senate, 18th Dist

2012-01-06T21:28:00.005-06:00

Liberal Extremas

The only things known about Bill Cunningham is that he worked for the sheriff before becoming a state rep and is known to be a nice guy. While a state rep, he has consistently voted for liberal causes. Causes so extreme that one must question exactly who's interest he is representing and why.

Treason

2012-01-02T10:09:00.003-06:00

Anyone that votes for this guy Tuesday needs to have their head examined.

Dart is in trouble.

2011-12-31T13:39:00.001-06:00

Wants to go into showbiz.

Dart needs to look at the poll to the right of this post. He is lagging behind other would be mayors. It wasn't that way a year ago. Why? Some people would say it's because he has started to take himself too seriously.

My advice? Get over yourself, you aren't that great. You're just normal like the rest of us. Quit showing up everytime there is a television camera crew around and just do your job.

Verizon

2011-12-30T09:27:00.000-06:00

The T-Mobile Girl

Verizon Wireless will soon make some customers pay for the privilege of paying their bills.
The nation's largest wireless company is instituting a $2 "convenience charge" for those customers who make one-time bill payments either online or by telephone. The fee will go into effect on Jan. 15.

Time to go to another phone carrier, like T-Mobile?

Steve Williams, Candidate for State Rep 35th District

2011-12-27T09:06:00.002-06:00

Murph,

I just saw your request for candidate information on the 19^th Ward Chicago blog. I am a Republican candidate for the 35^th IL House district. Thanks for getting the word out about the candidates. Your readers are exceptionally in tune with the challenges our current House leadership has brought us. I hope to give them an alternative to more of the same.

Thanks

Steve

I grew up in New Madrid County Missouri and graduated from New Madrid County Central High School in 1983. I attended college for a year and then worked in my parents’ small businesses as well as a local factory before joining the U.S. Air Force in May of 1985.

In the Air Force, I served as a Law Enforcement Specialist (Police Officer) at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX for 2 years before earning a position in the San Antonio Armed Forces Police Detachment (AFPD) in the San Antonio Police Department. During my two years at AFPD, I was responsible for the military’s relationship with 26 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies as well as investigating over 100 deserter incidents per year.

After being honorably discharged from the military in 1989, I entered the University of Memphis and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance in 1992 while working full-time for the Germantown, TN Police Department as a dispatcher/jailer.

After graduation, I entered the private sector and over the last 20 years have held Internal Audit and Information Technology positions with Ameritech, Federal Express, CCC Information Services, and CNA Insurance. While working full-time, I attended Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business, earning a Master of Business Administration degree in Technology Strategy, Management, and Entrepreneurship in 2001. While in these positions, I have led numerous process improvement initiatives to drive out waste and inefficiency, saving those organizations millions of dollars.

Today, I am a Director in the IT Business Management Office at CNA Insurance leading the Metrics, Reporting, and Analytics group and a key leader in planning and managing the organization’s $350 million budget.

My family moved to Orland Park in 2006. My wife earned a Bachelor and Master degree from Northern Illinois University and is a stay at home mom after holding positions in audit and product management. My son is currently in first grade at Centennial School and is actively involved in sports within Orland Youth Association. Our family supports numerous charities including Toybox Connection, The Julian Center, Orland Township Food Pantry, St. Barbara Food Pantry, Susan G. Komen For the Cure, Dress for Success, and Literacy Volunteers of America.

I am also an avid mountain biker and member of the Chicago Area Mountain Bikers, a non-profit advocacy and education organization.

In the legislature I will focus on improving the Illinois business environment to bring jobs, particularly manufacturing jobs, to those hardest hit by the current economic situation. As we are able to put people back to work, I will shift my attention to reducing state spending to enable tax relief and balance the budget. Finally, I will work to prepare Illinois for the future by prioritizing strategic investment in long term assets like education and infrastructure.

I welcome any feedback. Given the diversity of the 35^th House district, listening to my constituents will be a top priority for me as I simply cannot know everything that is impacting those in the district. You can connect with me at my website (http://www.stevenwilliams.org), through email info@stevenwilliams.org, or at my Facebook page Steven Williams for IL 35^th House District.

If you feel that you are inclined to support the candidacy of Steve Martin, feel free to write about why, below.

It's Christmas in the 19th Ward

2011-12-24T06:30:00.001-06:00

New Map?????

2011-12-22T09:51:00.000-06:00

Rumors about the new 19th ward boundries are out there. I don't know what to believe. Perhaps Matt O'Shea can send out one of his email blast to keep everyone informed.

Tony Martin, Candidate for State Rep 35th District

2011-12-21T09:38:00.002-06:00

Candidate Martin

This candidate did not respond to my request for info. He works as a Chicago fireman. He is married and lives in Mt. Greenwood. It is notable that he just constructed a new house at a location which is outside of the boundaries of the 35th dist. He has pledged to sell that house when he is elected. His position on a number of political issues is unknown. He education is unknown.

If you feel that you are inclined to support the candidacy of Tony Martin, feel free to write about why, below.

The latest attack on the Catholic Church......by a journalist that seems to be abusive.

2011-12-19T23:12:00.015-06:00

Is Mr. Steinberg being abusive of his power or is he being rational and objective? Read this and be the judge.
Is it still OK to elect Catholics?

By NEIL STEINBERG nsteinberg@suntimes.com December 18, 2011 5:38PM

Updated: December 19, 2011 3:24PM

Anti-Catholic bigotry was once widespread in this country. In 1959, nearly a quarter of Americans — 24 percent — said they would not vote for a Catholic for president, no matter how well-qualified.

John F. Kennedy overcame this prejudice in part by insisting that, if elected, he would not be a tool of the Vatican.

He said he believed in “an America where the separation of church and state is absolute . . . in a president whose views on religion are his own private affair . . . I am not the Catholic candidate for president, I am the Democratic Party’s candidate for president, who happens also to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my church on public matters — and the church does not speak for me.”

Pope John XXIII did not contradict him.

Such discretion, alas, is not the style of Cardinal Francis George, who over the weekend decreed that Gov. Pat Quinn isn’t using his own conscience correctly.

Quinn met with Cardinal George and nine other bishops Saturday. This being Christmas week, Quinn put a bright spin on the meeting, telling the Sun-Times that they mainly talked about aiding the poor.

A wiser man might have left it at that. The cardinal chose to respond, challenging Quinn, saying, basically: The hell we did!

“We share the Governor’s concern for the poor,” Cardinal George and his bishops wrote. “From our point of view, however, this was a meeting between pastors and a member of the Church to discuss the principles of faith, not the works of faith. On several occasions, the Governor has referred to his Catholic conscience and faith as the justification for certain political decisions.

“As Catholic pastors, we wanted to remind the Governor that conscience, while always free, is properly formed in harmony with the tradition of the Church, as defined by Scripture and authentic teaching authority. A personal conscience that is not consistent with authentic Catholic teaching is not a Catholic conscience. The Catholic faith cannot be used to justify positions contrary to the faith itself.”

Sure it can. The cardinal might not like it — I’m sure he doesn’t. But plenty of the faithful join the governor in considering themselves good Catholics while conducting parts of their lives in ways “not consistent” with church policy — just last week a survey showed 98 percent of sexually-active Catholic women use or have used birth control banned by the church. (We’re fortunate that the cardinal has not challenged the governor over which form he uses, at least not yet). Much Catholic doctrine isn’t even followed by Catholics, yet church leaders would dragoon government to force it upon the rest of the state anyway.

What Quinn has done to draw church censure — for those of you not up to date — is present an award to a rape victim at a pro-choice dinner, and lead a state whose laws forbid discrimination against citizens due to their sexual orientation, which means the church had to decide whether to place homeless children with gay couples, or get out of the adoption business. It chose to get out of the adoption business — you can debate among yourselves whether that is a choice a loving God would smile upon.

The church is free to turn its back on orphaned children in the name of faith — I would never tell them what its conscience should dictate. But Pat Quinn also enjoys the right to act as the citizens of Illinois — 70 percent of who are not Catholic — want him to act, even if veering from church writ.

Some readers will complain that I am commenting upon their religion — a Jew bashing Catholics! — and I will observe that their leader is more than commenting, he is pressuring and berating the governor of my state, a state whose voters elected him based on his merits, not upon his faith.

If at election time I were to say, “You can’t vote for Pat Quinn — he’s a Catholic and will be bullied into strictly following church doctrine” — I’d be accused of bias and rightly so. Yet the cardinal is trying to do exactly that, to exercise an authority over public life he does not and should not possess.

Quinn attended 13 years of Catholic school — the church already had its chance to mold him. Now he is 63 and an adult. It is Quinn, and not Cardinal George, who gets to decide how his faith influences his life. I’m sorry to be the one to deliver the news.

For some reason, I think Steinberg is not sorry he got to take on the Cardinal.

Andy Hodorowicz, Candidate for State Rep 35th Dist.

2011-12-18T07:20:00.005-06:00

Candidate Hodorowicz

This candidate did not respond to my request for info. Andy Hodorowicz is a former 19th Ward Democratic precinct captain and comes from a 19th Ward political family.

He is employed as a mortgage broker. He is married and lives in Palos Heights. His position on a number of political issues is unknown. His education is unknown.

If you feel that you are inclined to support the candidacy of Andy Hodorowicz, feel free to write about why, below.

Fran Hurley, Candidate for State Rep 35th District

2011-12-16T06:57:00.011-06:00

Candidate Hurley

This candidate did not respond to my request for info. Fran Hurley is the 19th Ward endorsed candidate. What that means is that the local leadership has looked around and concluded that Fran Hurley is the 'best" candidate. I presume that they are considering what is best for the neighborhood as opposed to what is best for the 19th Ward Dems.

Her picture reveals a healthy physique. (Rumor is that she hits L.A. Fitness often). She was employed for a number of years as an aide to former State Rep Kevin Joyce. She is a divorced mother and lives in Mt. Greenwood. Her position on a number of political issues is unknown. He education is unknown.
If you feel that you are inclined to support the candidacy of Fran Hurley, feel free to write about why, below.

Joe Bird, Candidate for State Rep 35th District

2011-12-12T06:38:00.011-06:00

Candidate Bird

I'm Joe Bird, 41, married to Regina, with three kids, Sean, 12, Maddy, 10, and Joe, 8. All attend St. John Fisher (SJF). I coach Sean's SJF 6th Grade Basketball, and am an assistant coach for his travel baseball team, Orland Park Southside Express and his Southwest Ball Hockey team. I'm an assistant coach for Joe's Southwest Ball Hockey as well.

I have been a Chicago Police Officer for roughly 15 years (5 May 2012 will be 15 years). I was promoted to Sergeant in July 2008 off the list. I worked the street for most of my career and I believe I carry an excellent reputation with fellow officers. I was an aggressive and active police officer. I tried out for the SWAT Team with 41 other Sergeants and finished 3 in a two-month testing process about two years ago. I truly enjoy being a Chicago Police Officer.

I have my undergraduate degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Masters Degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. I received both prior to joining the police department. I was in my first semester of law school when the police department called. I took the police department’s test in 1993 when around 26,000 people took the test. While on probationary status as a police officer, I was required to postpone law school for 1-year. I completed law school and passed the bar exam on the first attempt.

I have operated a law practice at 10450 South Western Ave., since 2005. As a small business owner, I have felt the crunch of slower business with the constant requirement to pay monthly expenses (rent). I am no different than other business owners, but I feel the importance to maintain a practice instead of leaving another vacancy on Western Ave.

Positions:

1. Getting Illinois Financial House in Order

2. Pension Stability

3. Political accountability and responsibility

As to #2, I do not want to refer to it as "Pension Reform". Believe me, I am disgusted as every police officer, fireman, laborer, when its reported that people are double-dipping on pensions or that some only had to work a minimal amount of days to receive a pension. However, I'm tired of seeing police, fire, and other public sector pension benefits being grouped with that group and then falsely portrayed in the media as “excessive” and “gold-plated” when the truth is that members of these professions dedicate their lives to the service of others to receive a fraction of their salary after retirement.

#3 - most legislators (or their group of people) have been governing for the last 20 years, yet none of them take the blame for the State's current financial crisis. There is no accountability. It’s very difficult to makes changes via the election process.

I hope this is helpful. Thank you.

Joe Bird

The picture and bio was sent to me by Joe Bird. It is my opinion that Joe Bird is a truly independent candidate. If you feel that you are inclined to support the candidacy of Joe Bird, feel free to write about why, below.

Please read the Beverly Review

2011-12-11T21:33:00.000-06:00

Be sure to support The Beverly Review. Good for the neighborhood.

Another request for information.

2011-12-11T09:48:00.002-06:00

I am again asking all of the candidates for their bio's, etc.

19th Ward Christmas Party

2011-12-08T23:18:00.001-06:00

Was tonight. Attendance was on the weak side. Present was the Sheahan family, kiss asses, many people with 2 or more pensions, the curious and yours truly. Absent was Tom Hynes and anyone still hooked up with him.

It's interesting, although they "really do hate each other", for the sake of convenience, Tom Dart had his party in the next room.at the same time. All the kiss asses were able to walk back and forth.

Dart

2011-12-07T10:57:00.003-06:00

PR Hound

What is happening that Sheriff Tom Dart would try to get mileage out of an attack on a priest? Tom, if you are reading this. Your press antics are wearing thin. Please focus on the job you were elected to and try to keep out of the press.

95th Street boardups are a disgrace.

2011-12-06T08:57:00.001-06:00

I don't know about you but I am getting tired at looking at the boardups on 95th street. I am especially thinking about the buildings at 1841 and 2215 W. 95th st. Am I alone in my concern? Isn't there a city ordinance that mandates the replacement of broken glass? Plywood is not an option. Where are the building inspectors? Have these buildings been cited? Are they in court? I don't think the 95th street business strip has a chance when conditions like these are allowed to exist.

Am I wrong for asking about this? Am I wrong for asking some absentee landlord to take care of his building? Where is BAPA on this? Where is Alderman O'Shea on this?

111th and Kedzie

2011-12-03T05:51:00.000-06:00

It's looking better and better every day. They were out there planting trees today.

Request for information.

2011-11-29T17:20:00.001-06:00

I am requesting information from all of the announced candidates for the 18th Senatorial district and the 35th Legislative district. Please include a bio, photo and a brief summary of your platform. This information will be published in weekly "up close and personal" post, beginning December 12. Please email it to me.

If you decide not to participate, I will compose something for you.

Please support the Beverly Arts Center

2011-11-26T09:06:00.001-06:00

At the corner of 111 and Western Ave.

This wonderful group offers classes, entertainment and a little bit of culture to our neighborhood. Times are hard for everyone and I would venture to say it's a little bit harder for them.

Winter classes begin on Jan 8 and yours truly will be there too. Check them out at http://beverlyartcenter.org/ .

Support Joe Bird

2011-11-19T13:20:00.001-06:00

Those wishing to sign a petition to allow Police Officer Joe Bird to run for State Senate... INFO FOR YOU

Chicago Police Officer Joseph Bird is going to run for the Illinois State Senate... Those interested in helping Joe run may stop by the ffice located at 10450 South Western Ave (IT HAS THE PRS SIGN ON THE BUILDING) and sign the petition allowing him to be on the ballot. TODAY from now to the evening hours.

NOTE CORRECTED ADDRESS PLEASE: 10450 South Western Ave

We need to elect people that reflect our values not the values of Boystown or some bureaucrat in D.C. Joe Bird will represent us and what we believe in.

More Tax Increases

2011-11-15T06:38:00.001-06:00

Read this article. Does it make any sense? What about the waste and sweetheart deals? What about the sheriff with 5 public relations people and 10 lawyers on his payroll? Is that part of the reason we need these tax increases? I think the pols are steering Cook County in the direction of Detroit. People will leave in order to avoid these taxes. Preckwinkle’s tax increase package passes first hurdle - Chicago Sun-Times

Mt. Greenwood Streets

2011-11-12T17:11:00.002-06:00

The gas company has torn up miles of streets in the name of new pipes and better service. I was wondering if theres's a plan to put these streets back together.

RE MAP MEETING

2011-11-08T17:54:00.001-06:00

Every ten years, the United States government conducts a nationwide census to gather information about the national population. Upon completion of the census, government entities are legally required to alter legislative district boundaries in accordance with population changes. The Chicago City Council is in the process of shifting ward boundaries to reflect shifts in population.

If the City's population were evenly distributed, each ward would have 53,912 residents. Currently, the population of the 19th Ward is 52,647, below the average. Unfortunately, wards that border ours fall well below that average and are looking to absorb portions of our eastern edge to makeup the difference.

Residents living on the east end of our community have been emphatic in their desire to remain part of the 19th Ward. The Beverly Area Planning Association has organized a petition drive and letter writing campaign; many residents are displaying yard or window signs affirming their desire to remain part of the 19th Ward.

Diversity is one of the 19th Ward's greatest strengths; our residents are proud to live in one of the few truly integrated communities in Chicago. As long as residents seek to remain in the 19th Ward, we will work to maintain our boundaries. Our children learn in 19th Ward schools, play in 19th Ward parks, and read in 19th Ward libraries.

There is a public hearing tomorrow night, Wednesday, November 9, 2011 in the auditorium at Morgan Park High School, 1744 W. Pryor Ave., from 6:00 - 9:00 pm. Please come out in support of your neighbors. Together we can keep our wonderful community in place.

Thank you, Matt O'Shea

Was Jane Byrne right?

2011-11-07T17:43:00.004-06:00

I remember being in high school when Jane Byrne was elected mayor. She ran against the evil cabal and the 11th ward. I suspect that she knew things that she wouldn't dare say. Was she trying to tell us something? Here we are 32 years after her election and the city is in disarray. The pension funds will soon be depleted and the future looks bleak. Why did we disregard her? Why were we so quick to dismiss her?

Occupy Movement

2011-11-04T05:28:00.001-05:00

After watching and listening to these kids on Jackson Blvd all week I am convinced that the movement has been organized by forces intending to get Obama re-elected. The kids really don't have a specific beef. Most of them don't know why their there. They just go with the herd. There is some serious money behind the organizing.

Maloney Retires

2011-11-02T04:42:00.008-05:00

State Senator Ed Maloney has announced that he will not seek reelection in 2012. Instead, he will be replaced by State Representative Bill Cunningham. Interestingly, both of these "representatives" will go down in the books as being advocates for gay marriage and the right of "partners" to tap into government pensions. Such positions seem to be very contrary to the interest of most 19th ward residents.

Cunningham will be replaced by Francis Dorgan, whoever he or she is.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T06:38:00.000-05:00

Lets keep the children safe. Trick or Treating in the neighborhood is until 7 P.M.

What's up with Tom Dart?

2011-10-28T14:30:00.001-05:00

My opinion of Tom Dart has begun to change during the past year. He has 5 PR and 10 lawyers on his payroll. Perhaps it's time for the Cook County Board to start taking a hard look at his payroll.

From Detective Shaved:

Cook County Board - Homeowners must pay an additional $150.00 per house for Sheriff Tom Dart Police Patrols

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle doesn’t think residents of unincorporated Cook County pay as much as they should for police protection from the county sheriff’s department.

Her assertion isn’t going over well in the Kimberly Heights subdivision, an unincorporated area near Tinley Park.

Preckwinkle’s proposed 2012 budget includes a plan to have residents of unincorporated areas pony up — about $150 more per year for the average homeowner — unless they want to contract out for police services or annex into a neighboring town.

Preckwinkle argues that those residents, an estimated 98,000 countywide, make up 2 percent of the county population and the other 98 percent are paying taxes for police services they don’t use.

“They should pay their fair share,” Preckwinkle said.

Hearing about the plan made Kimberly Heights resident Jackie Oziemkowski roll her eyes.

“Where do all our taxes go? It’s ridiculous. I’m pretty upset,” she said. “I don’t think eight grand a year (in property taxes) is not a lot of taxes. We pay a lot. Now they don’t want to give us police? So we have to get our own police force? Wow. How nice.”

“I think it (stinks),” fellow subdivision resident Don Foege said.

The proposal already has met opposition among county commissioners, too.

Elizabeth Gorman (R-Orland Park) said providing for the public safety of all residents of the county is “one of the main statutory responsibilities of the county of Cook,” and unincorporated residents pay the same taxes as everyone else.

Two Republican commissioners who represent the northwest suburbs, Tim Schneider and Gregg Goslin, pointed out the fairness statement could be made about many county services, saying their constituents could argue they pay for services they never use, such as Stroger Hospital.

Preckwinkle conceded “there’s an inevitable unevenness in the use of county resources and services, but I think everybody should pay their fair share.”

Many residents of Kimberly Heights want to continue being served by the sheriff’s police.

“I see them almost every day,” Karl Maerz said of the patrols. “We don’t like to be incorporated because the taxes go up, the water (rates) go up. It’s not why we moved here.”

He said paying a special fee to the county for the patrols or hiring Tinley Park police would be too expensive.

“I don’t know what to make of this idea,” Maerz said. “Politics?”

Foege, who has lived in the Kimberly Heights subdivision for 34 years, said he doesn’t want to incorporate — “I don’t want anybody telling me when I can water my lawn,” he said — and he doesn’t want to lose the sheriff’s police, either.

“We had a rash of car break-ins earlier this year,” he said. “Someone broke into my Hummer and got into the garage, going through my wife’s car. ... I called the county sheriff and they were out here in two minutes. Another one was here a minute later.”

Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki said he wasn’t sure how the village would determine what to charge residents of the unincorporated area if they wanted to hire Tinley Park police.

Village police already assist the sheriff’s police on life-threatening calls, Zabrocki said.

Kevin Kellar, a resident of an unincorporated area near Palos Park, said that although he doesn’t want to pay more taxes, he understands Preckwinkle’s reasoning.

“She may have a leg to stand on. It sounds fair. But I wouldn’t want to be incorporated,” he said.

Back in Kimberly Heights, Norman Patterson seemed resigned to paying more eventually.

“We should just incorporate now and get it over with,” he said.

Pritzker Family vs The 19th Ward

2011-10-24T06:21:00.004-05:00

Just for the record, it is the Pritzker family who is behind the shopping center development at 91st and Western.

That being said, where are our elected representatives on this issue? Cunningham, Maloney and Daley are hereby called upon to intervene and get this development scaled back in terms of size. Our roads are congested now. Imagine the impact on our neighborhood.

Rahm nonsuits his own ticket?

2011-10-20T17:26:00.000-05:00

From Detective Shaved
During the evening of Oct 12, 2011 Mayor Rahm Emanuel's leased vehicle (the official mayoral limo) was ticketed for being parked ILLEGALLY on Michigan Ave in Downtown Chicago... The parking ticket appears to have been written by a person working CTA Special Employment who was unaware that Rahm Emanuel has a leased vehicle with no designators on it to show that it is the mayoral limo.

Now we all know that Rahm Emanuel made $18 million dollars in one year working for the Fannie and Freddie Mortgage Company ontop of millions of dollars in his war chest... So does Mayor Rahm Emanuel do the right thing and pay the ticket???

NO SIREE! HE CALLS AND YELLS AT A CERTAIN COMMANDER AND HAS IT QUASHED AFTER THROWING A SHIT FIT LIKE A THREE YEAR OLD KID WHO HAD HIS CANDY TAKEN AWAY!

Mayor Emanuel who is chasing city employess to pay their parking tickets and who now wants speeding cameras... Has his parking ticket quashed, killed, non-suited!.....

Detective Shavedlongcock has the parking ticket citation number... would the officer who wrote it please e-mail me please???? shavedlongcock@yahoo.com

The amazing part is had Rahm just paid the parking ticket and then had the incident "leaked to the press" he would have look like a regular guy doing the right thing...Now he looks like, well you know what he looks like....

What gives?

22 and Mt. Greenwood library update.

2011-10-17T06:10:00.001-05:00

I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Ald. O'Shea who was able to head off the possible closings of the 22nd District and the Mt. Greenwood library. Tough times call for tough measures but .........

Chicago in 2017 ?

2011-10-15T08:10:00.000-05:00

Do you think it won't happen here? Don't kid yourself. Look at Chicago's track record. Look at all the triple dipping public servants we have. There will be nothing left after they get theirs.

Seeking to stave off a state takeover of its beleaguered budget, the city of Harrisburg, Pa., filed for a rare Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy on Wednesday.

Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania capital that previously defaulted on its debt, cited a “continued erosion of its finances,” in a resolution that was passed late Tuesday approving the bankruptcy.

According to Bloomberg News, Harrisburg listed liabilities of $500 million, compared with assets of $100 million. A clerk at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania confirmed receiving a physical copy of the filing.

The resolution to authorize the Chapter 9 filing passed by a narrow 4-3 vote, Kirk Petroski, the acting city clerk of Harrisburg, told FOX Business. The resolution said bankruptcy will provide the city with “the necessary protection from its creditors while it develops and negotiates a plan for adjusting its debts.”

However, acting city attorney Jason Hess said the measure wouldn’t be binding because the city council didn’t follow procedure, Bloomberg News reported.

The city's fiscal troubles have been triggered by an overhaul of the budget and a trash-to-energy incinerator that didn’t increase revenue by as much as expected, Bloomberg reported. The move comes as the state had been mulling a takeover of the city’s finances and forcing the installation of a fiscal rescue plan.

Chapter 9 filings by municipalities are very rare. According to Alan Gover, a partner at White & Case who has advised municipalities on restructuring options, there have been just 35 such filings since 1981.

"The reason is that Chapter 9 cannot do for municipalities what Chapter 11 can do for troubled businesses -- smoothly downsize and if necessary redo the balance sheet by converting debt to equity," Gover said in an email. "The business of municipal government is providing basic civil services that cannot be easily eliminated without serious repercussions...Unless the citizens want to become a company town by privatizing all their public assets, the bargaining table will serve them better than the courtroom."

Biggest scandal since Graylord

2011-10-12T22:25:00.000-05:00

THE FEDS HAVE LAUNCHED THE INVESTIGATION. PEOPLE ARE GOING TO JAIL!
In print or online Wednesday, this newspaper's latest expose of rampant public pension abuse ought to stir your fury, and your sympathy: fury that pension officials enabled this corruption, and sympathy for the rank-and-file union members, as well as the taxpayers, who are victimized.

You'll learn how Chicago labor leaders eligible for grossly inflated city pensions also stand to receive union pensions for the same work periods. One labor leader stands to collect about $450,000 a year from three pensions — a city fund for laborers, a union district council fund, and a national union fund — all for the same stretch of his career. The actuarial computation is that his three pensions, over his expected lifetime, will pay him some $9 million.

What you won't learn from the news story is what we hope federal investigators will explore in lavish detail: Why did some of City Hall's top finance officials allow these outrages to occur? How could they, in their oversight roles at city pension funds, expose union members and taxpayers to future calamities? How could they permit themselves to have fiduciary responsibility to protect the public purse and responsibility to pension funds that draw vast sums from that same public purse?

We're talking about a city pension system that is underfunded by approximately $20 billion, maybe more.

We're talking about public officials in positions to realize that the implosion of city pension funds (1) would profoundly hurt union workers who expect to collect stable pension payments, or (2) would extort vast sums from taxpayers to cover the obligations of empty pension funds, or (3) would do both.

We're talking, then, about the abandonment of professional and personal responsibility by pension fund officials who had to know the real story here: A foolishly loosey-goosey interpretation of state law permitted de facto public pension payoffs to union leaders who, in return, delivered labor peace to City Hall.

That state law attempts to prohibit double- and triple-dipping from public and union pension funds. If you're a union official who draws a city pension, you can't earn a separate pension from a "local labor organization." The way city pension fund officials have been reading the law, though, it's OK for you to draw that second pension, and maybe a third, if they come from your union's district council or national headquarters. Those, you see, aren't … labor locals.

A lawyer for city pension fund overseers says the law is vague. Maybe so. How did fund officials react to that vagueness? Did they sound an alarm and demand clarity? Did they tell labor leaders that the law's intent to block double- or triple-dipping is obvious? Did the fund officials, in short, act to protect pension funds for future retirees and act to protect taxpayers from future obligations?

For now the answers appear to be: No, no and no. Instead, the pension fund overseers — they're all city officials and union officers — aided and abetted this scandalous looting of city pension funds.

With each new revelation, the need for independent investigation of egregious pension-rigging grows more obvious. We'll stick with the tripartite recommendation previously prescribed on this page:

• FBI agents can assess whether any pensioner fraudulently claimed benefits when he or she asserted eligibility for a public pension. The feds also need to probe the conduct of city pension fund officials, and of city officials who directed payments into these funds.

• The city of Chicago's inspector general has authority to explore the use, and potential misuse, of city funds. We'll be watching Wednesday to see whether Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed budget for 2012 increases or decreases funding for that office.

• The U.S. Department of Labor has responsibility to protect union pension funds. This situation screams for investigation by Labor.

These authorities can decide whether any of this conduct is illegal. But even a dictionary knows it meets the definition of corrupt: contaminated, morally unsound, debased, venal.

Who should pay for this? We're counting on three prompt and aggressive investigations to provide that answer.

Copyright, Chicago Tribune

We need some speed limit enforcement.

2011-10-10T08:54:00.002-05:00

I was southbound on Western ave this am between 111 and 115. Another vehicle on my ass. I speed up to 40. She passes me on the right and cuts me off. She was doing 55 MPH while passing me. All I could do was flash my lights. 30 seconds later, here comes a Beaner, same maneuver. Why are they driving like this? Because they know that there is no enforcement. I doubt very much if they would drive like that in EP.

111th and Kedzie

2011-10-08T07:43:00.001-05:00

I have to say, it is starting to look good. Now if they can start to fill some of those vacant stores.

Tax Bill

2011-10-05T05:50:00.001-05:00

Ouch, my bill went up $250.00 for no reason. I called someone that knows and he told me it's because of the Board of Education.

Coming traffic problems?

2011-10-01T18:05:00.008-05:00

A developer is proposing to build a 500,000 square foot shopping center at 91st and Western. Imagine the congestion on 95th street and Western after it's built. Is this good for our neighborhood?

On the chopping block.

2011-09-26T00:40:00.005-05:00

Due to budget cutbacks, the 22nd District station and/or the Mt. Greenwood library are both regarded as "dispensable" and are on the chopping block. Some people are saying that there are alternatives to keeping these facilities open. I say wrong. It is going to be up to our local leaders to save them. See the recent article in the Sun-Times:

The chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee acknowledged Wednesday that Police Supt. Garry McCarthy could “unilaterally close police stations” without City Council approval and said Chicago’s financial crisis is “so dire” that the closings must be considered.

Politically, Mayor Rahm Emanuel needs aldermanic support if he hopes to sell residents on the idea that closing neighborhood police stations will not make them less safe.

Governmentally, it’s another story, according to Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th).

“”The police superintendent could unilaterally make the decision to close police stations. I don’t know that the City Council would play a role in that,” Burke told reporters after addressing a group of students in the City Council chambers.

Pressed on whether he could support such a move, Burke said, “The financial challenges of the city are so dire that nothing can be taken off the table. ... Everything has to be considered.”

Former Mayor Richard M. Daley once embraced a consultant’s proposal to close seven police stations to free 400 officers for community policing, only to abandon the idea and start building new police stations. Daley viewed police stations as community centers and anchors for neighborhood development.

On Wednesday, Burke shot down that notion.

“I don’t see the citizens going to the police station to have cake and coffee. They go there to report a crime. But, most of the reporting of crime is by telephone or other means,” he said.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported this week that McCarthy is exploring the politically volatile idea of closing district police stations to save millions and free scores of officers for street duty.

McCarthy is under the gun to cut at least $190 million from the Police Department’s $1.3 billion-a-year budget. He is under further pressure to put more police officers on beat patrol at a time when the city cannot afford to hire more officers.

Sources said fire station and library closings are also on the table as Emanuel struggles to erase the city’s $635.7 million shortfall without raising taxes, cutting police or using one-time revenues. That’s even though Daley’s building spree also included libraries and fire stations.

Asked Wednesday if Chicago has too many firefighters and paramedics, Burke harkened back to what happened in 1980 when then-Mayor Jane Byrne tried to take on the firefighters union.

“That would go down in the history books as one of the great political conflagrations of our history,” Burke said, referring to the bitter firefighters strike.

Solyndra

2011-09-22T17:42:00.003-05:00

Rumors suggest that a current Chicago pol has his/her fingerprints all over the latest scandal. Solyndra is about to become a household word. Stay tuned.

The below is a news account:
The FBI executed an early-morning raid today on the solar panel plant that President Barack Obama swung by last year and celebrated for their green-friendly products.
The headquarters of Solyndra, Inc. in Fremont, California was the site of this morning’s bust, which has left the plant’s top brass saying they are unsure of why it even happened. Agents on the scene were mum to reporters, but a spokesman for the company suggested it could have something to do with the $535 million in loan guarantees that were awarded to them recently by the Department of Energy.
Despite the federal assistance, Solyndra announced earlier this month that they will be shutting its doors and only this week filed for bankruptcy. In a statement released last week, Solyndra said that the company could not stay afloat with foreign manufacturers offering competitive prices that couldn’t be matched domestically.
Prices for solar panels have dropped by nearly half as of late because of foreign competition.
Regardless of what the FBI was on the look-out for, Solyndra says they weren’t expecting feds to come over unannounced this morning.
"It was quite a shock," Solyndra spokesman Dave Miller told Silicon Valley’s Mercury News today. "When I got here at 7 a.m. they were already here."
The last time a federal appearance garnered as much attention for Solyndra was back in May 2010 when Obama dropped by. The president was supportive of the plant’s products that would help Americans go green while giving money to the America economy, saying that Solyndra was paving the way for a “brighter and more prosperous future.” But barely a year later, Solyndra has been unable to make ends meet, even with the help of the US government.
Republicans have been skeptical of the investment all along, however, with some right wing reps going as far as to call Obama’s backing “a dubious investment” when the commander-in-chief first offered his support.
The FBI has only commented that the raid is being carried out as part of a investigation being put together by the Energy Department, so feds could be considering if federal loans to Solyndra were mismanaged in the months leading up to the company’s demise. FBI Public Affairs Specialist Peter D. Lee has confirmed to reporters only that the raid indeed occurred but that all documents relating to the probe are currently sealed.
In addition to the assistance loans from the government, Solyndra owes private investors an additional $69 million.

Dangerous Tree

2011-09-19T22:37:00.000-05:00

Fallen Tree

On the northeast corner of 115th street and St. Louis, there is a dead tree. I see it every week when we go shopping. It looks like an Elm and it's getting ready to fall. When it does fall, it will fall upon whatever happens to be below it at that given moment. Cars, schoolchildren, whatever. The problem is that the tree is located upon private property and the owner is either oblivious or short of sufficient funds. Either way, something needs to be done now. I call upon our local city officials to rope the area off and give the resident a few days to remove the tree. If the tree is not removed quickly, the city has the option of making an emergency removal.

Photo is courtesy of Detective Shaved.

What business raises their prices by 26%?

2011-09-17T10:30:00.000-05:00

Waste and Inefficiency

Is it time for a Special Prosecutor??

2011-09-14T18:13:00.000-05:00

Cook County States Attorney Alvarez

by Carol Marin:

Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez says she’s running for re-election.

And though some names of possible opponents are being tossed around — former Inspector General David Hoffman and Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey — no one, so far, is running against her.

She will be hard to beat.

In the 2008 Democratic primary’s six-way race, Alvarez clobbered Bob Milan, the endorsed candidate of her predecessor, Dick Devine. And almost everyone else. Only former alderman, now judge, Tom Allen got within 10,000 votes of her.

The first woman and first Hispanic to win that powerful job, she made it clear that despite being a 21-year veteran of the state’s attorney’s office, she was no defender of the status quo, nobody’s good old boy.

Now comes the David Koschman case to test that claim. And to become an election issue if a strong candidate opposes her.

Readers of the Sun-Times know this story well.

David Koschman, a 21-year-old from Mount Prospect, and three of his buddies were hitting the bars on Division Street in the wee hours of April 25, 2004, when they ran into a slightly older group, including Richard R. J. Vanecko, the nephew of former mayor Richard M. Daley, who was partying with other young Daley family friends. Everyone had been drinking. Words were exchanged. One punch was thrown. Koschman, small in stature, was hit, his head crashing onto the street.

Vanecko, described as the tallest and largest in the crowd, fled with a friend. (Not until this year did Chicago Police acknowledge he threw the punch.)

The Daley friends did not give police Vanecko’s name until many days later. By that time, David Koschman was dead.

While R.J. Vanecko undoubtedly did not mean to kill David Koschman, this case was not handled like a normal police matter. We know that thanks to the relentless reporting of the Sun-Times’ Tim Novak and Chris Fusco who, in the last nine months, have uncovered “missing” police files, omissions of critical information that were crossed out of a detective’s notes, and the unbelievable absence of any record, notation, or log entry at the Cook County state’s attorney’s office memorializing prosecutors’ involvement in the case — even though it had been asked to consult with police.

Newly obtained Chicago Police reports show Detective Ronald Yawger “arranged interview w/Victim’s friends & ASA” on May 18, 2004. That “ASA” was Assistant State’s Attorney and Felony Review chief Darren O’Brien. It is amazing that the state’s attorney’s office has not one record of it — especially because O’Brien would personally interview witnesses two days later.

Alvarez initially argued our Sun-Times reporting was unfair to her. And then she said she would turn the matter over to the Illinois State Police — without mentioning that the No. 2 man in her investigations bureau was just about to be named the head of the State Police. A conflict of interest even a first-year law student would spot.

The State Police, properly, took a pass.

The only independent investigator on this case, at the moment, is Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson. And he, unlike Alvarez, has no power to convene a grand jury.

Alvarez needs to affirm the promise she made during her first campaign: that she is not an old school pol defending the status quo.

She needs to ask the chief judge of Cook County’s criminal courts to appoint a special prosecutor with grand jury powers — and no conflicts of interest with her office — to get to the bottom of this awful case.

It would make a powerful campaign commercial.

Bodyguard Detail Cut

2011-09-13T09:06:00.000-05:00

Daley's bodygaurd detail has been cut in half and the city cars are being returned to to the pool when not in use. Whatscha think about dat?

ND Football Fan?

2011-09-10T11:48:00.002-05:00

Check out Notre Dame in action. You may not be a ND fan after you see this. How can something like this ever be justified?

Below is a reprinted newspaper article.

Former Ambassador and Presidential Candidate Alan Keyes and Father Norman Weslin, found of the Pro-Life group Lambs of Christ walked on the campus of Notre Dame University on Friday with approximately fifteen others to pray the Rosary and witness to their opposition to the appearance of President Barack Obama at Sunday’s commencement. Two hundred yards later they were stopped by police, arrested and taken away in handcuffs.

The actions of the Notre Dame police were taped and re-broadcast on the Internet just after the event took place.

Those arrested were part of a larger gathering of almost 50 people that met off campus. Police had already informed the group that they would be arrested if they stepped foot on Notre Dame property. Following talks by Randall Terry and others, the crowd prayed the Rosary, Then the smaller group walked on campus carrying a banner as they continued reciting the Rosary.

The group walked up the driveway on campus, while police, along with a group of reporters, photographers and videographers, waited for them with a van just a few hundred yards away. Dr. Keyes was one of the first arrested after one of the officers demanded they leave campus.

The encounter became more intense when police began to remove Father Norman Weslin, a former Army Colonel who became a priest after his wife died in a tragic automobile accident. In his 80’s, Fr. Weslin is a familiar figure in the work of Pro-Life through Lambs of Christ.

The elderly priest was singing when he was handcuffed and taken to the ground and carried off on a stretcher.

This probably marks the first time in the history of the University when individuals have been arrested on campus for exercising their Catholic convictions and praying a prayer that has been recited in their chapel millions of times since its founding in 1842.

Explosion and Fire

2011-09-08T06:14:00.001-05:00

And so goes a neighborhood institution. A terrible loss for the neighborhood. I wonder if they will rebuild.

Happy Labor Day. Now read about another public pension abuse.

2011-09-05T05:42:00.003-05:00

Check out this story which appeared in the Chicago Tribune on September 2. Does anyone think that what happened may result in indictments?

Every month, Thomas Villanova gets a $9,000 reminder of how lucrative it can be to serve as a union leader in Chicago.

"WE ARE LOOKING OUT FOR YOUR INTEREST"

The sum is part of a city pension that comes on top of the $198,000 annual salary he is paid to represent the interests of thousands of city workers.

X
Pension and Welfare
Unions
Labor Legislation
Finance
Television
Employees
Chicago
Justice System
Trials
WGN
Back to School
Bankruptcy
Layoffs and Downsizing
Lawyers
Lone (music group)
Cook County
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Stephanie Neely

Villanova last worked for the city in 1989 as an electrical mechanic with the Department of Streets and Sanitation, making about $40,000 a year. Yet in 2008 he was allowed to retire at age 56 with a $108,000 city pension. That's because, under a little-known state law, his pension was based not on his city paycheck but on his much higher union salary. This kind of deal is available only to union officials who meet certain requirements, but a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation has uncovered documents that show Villanova violated state law when he applied for the pension and cast doubt on whether he truly qualifies for all that money. To boost his taxpayer-supported city pension, Villanova signed documents certifying that he had waived his union pension and had two union officials write letters supporting his claim. In fact, records show dues collected from the rank-and-file were still set aside for Villanova's union pension. When city pension fund officials discovered last year that Villanova never gave up his union pension, they gave him a pass and didn't move to take away his city retirement benefits. What's more, labor leaders can get an inflated city pension only if they are on a leave of absence from a city job to work full time for a union. But officials from the municipal pension fund approved Villanova's application despite city employment records that show he took a leave to go back to school and then let that leave of absence expire in 1992. Now just 58, Villanova stands to collect approximately $3 million from the city's municipal pension fund during his lifetime, according to a Tribune/WGN-TV analysis based on the fund's actuarial assumptions. And because the state's pension laws are so broken, he didn't have to contribute enough to the city pension fund to cover the costs, which means taxpayers will make up the shortfall. "It's egregious. I haven't seen this anywhere else in the country," said Keith Brainard, research director of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, when he heard about Villanova's deal. "The spirit of a pension plan is insurance against poverty. It's not to become wealthy." In order to receive an inflated city pension, state law says labor leaders can't be part of any pension plan from their union. Yet Villanova is one of four officials from Local 134 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers who received city pensions based on their union salaries even though they never gave up their union pensions. Terrance Stefanski, executive director of the Municipal Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, conceded that the union leaders violated state law by participating in both the city and union pension funds at the same time. But he said the law is confusing and the city pension fund isn't in a position to determine whether the labor leaders knowingly submitted false information, which would be a felony. "We are not an investigative agency," he said. Stefanski said the city still considered Villanova to be on a leave of absence, and therefore he qualified to receive the pension perk. Villanova declined to be interviewed. Through attorney Patrick Deady, Villanova said he followed the city pension fund's directions and that he qualified for his city pension because he taught union apprenticeship classes while in school. Now president of the Chicago and Cook County Building and Construction Trades Council, Villanova helped negotiate every current collective bargaining agreement between Chicago and the 33 trade unions that do business with the city. With the Emanuel administration struggling to fill a $635 million budget hole, Villanova sits at the bargaining table and speaks on behalf of 8,000 city tradesmen who face layoffs, furlough days and reduced benefits, in no small part because of the city's rising pension costs. Today, the municipal pension fund is racing toward insolvency, with barely half of the assets needed to cover its liabilities. That means city workers face threats not only to their current job security but also to their future retirement security. The average city retiree receives a pension of about $28,000 a year, roughly a quarter of what Villanova is drawing from the same fund. Meanwhile, about $200,000 in rank-and-file dues that were paid into a union pension fund for Villanova have yet to be returned to the union. Documents show that Villanova agreed in writing last year to "disclaim" the pension money — but left the door open to taking it back if the rules change. Double-dipping Villanova's six-figure city pension is far better than that offered by his former union, Local 134. The local's pension plan would have provided Villanova with 45 percent of his average salary during his highest-paid five years of work. He couldn't retire until he turned 65, however, without forfeiting a significant chunk of his union pension. Under rules governing the city pension plan, on the other hand, Villanova could retire from his old city job at 56 with 70 percent of his average union salary during the prior four years; that average turned out to be $158,000. What's more, he could keep his high-paying union position. To get that deal, Villanova had to make $344,000 in contributions to the plan as if he had been a city employee all along. He also had to submit an application certifying that he met all the criteria for the city pension, including that he wasn't part of a union pension plan. In November 2008, Villanova signed an application that included this line: "I also understand that I am allowed to make these contributions as long as I do not receive credit in any pension plan established by such local labor organization." In addition to his signed application, Villanova submitted a letter from a trustee of Local 134's pension plan that said Villanova had waived his union pension. "We are in receipt of a letter from Mr. Villanova requesting that his Local 134 pension credits cease immediately. The Local 134 Executive Board will act upon his request accordingly," Peter Cerf, the pension fund's executive board secretary, wrote in September 2007. Frank O'Lone, secretary-treasurer of the trades council, also wrote a letter on Villanova's behalf, in October 2008. "Thomas Villanova will not receive any pension credits in the Building Trades Council Pension Plan for the period starting 3/5/2004 to present," the letter read. Yet documents submitted by the union pension fund to the U.S. Department of Labor show that money set aside for Villanova remained in the fund. When Villanova became president of the trades council in 2004, Local 134 amended its pension plan to allow certain employees of the council to be participants. The Tribune and WGN-TV were able to identify contributions the trades council made on Villanova's behalf because he was one of only two council employees who were part of Local 134's plan and the only one who had worked long enough to be vested. Records submitted by the union pension plan show that, in all, about $200,000 in member dues from the trades council went toward a union pension for Villanova. He also received a decade's worth of contributions from Local 134 members before becoming president of the trades council. But it's impossible to know the total from publicly available documents. Officials from Local 134 and the trades council declined to comment on Villanova's pensions. The municipal pension fund discovered in September 2010 that Villanova was not complying with state law by participating in both funds. City pension officials could have pursued criminal charges against him if they thought he had knowingly made false statements on his pension application, which is a felony. Municipal pension fund officials had Villanova sign an affidavit admitting that he was participating in both plans at the same time and promising to "disclaim" union contributions that overlap with his city pension. But the money is staying in the fund in case municipal pension fund requirements "are reversed pursuant to action of the (fund's) trustees or litigation by similarly situated participants." That means Villanova wasn't required to return union members' money that went to his union pension, and eventually he still could get access to it. 'It does look bad' Villanova's hefty municipal pension depended, in large part, on how he described his leave of absence from the city in his pension application. "I was an employee with the City of Chicago or Board of Education," his signed application states, "and was granted a leave of absence to work as an employee of the labor organization named below." The organization he wrote in was Local 134. Yet city records show that Villanova didn't take a leave of absence to work for Local 134. He took a leave to attend Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills. While there, he earned roughly $41,000 a year working for the college, state records show. Under city work rules, employees can receive various types of leaves, including disability, maternity, military, personal and union. City workers must apply for a leave of absence and in many cases must renew those requests after a certain time period has elapsed. Villanova applied for his leave of absence on Oct. 25, 1989, according to city employment records. In the section of the form marked "Reason for Request," he wrote: "Return to school for advanced courses." He renewed his leave every three months, filing seven requests in all. On each, he wrote that he was taking a leave to go back to school. All of the forms he signed say that if he failed to report back to his city post within five days after his leave of absence expired, he would resign his position with the city. Villanova's last leave of absence request expired on July 24, 1991. State records show that he continued working full time for the state community college until November 1992. The municipal pension fund's own records show that he didn't start at Local 134 until January 1993, a year and a half after he had effectively resigned his city job. Yet when Villanova applied for a city pension in November 2008, the municipal pension fund approved an amount based on his union salary — even though he did not take a leave of absence to work for a union and had allowed the leave he did take to expire 17 years earlier. The fund's board of trustees, composed of union leaders and city officials, signed off on Villanova's $108,000-a-year pension in February 2009, backdating the start of his benefits to November 2008. "It does look bad," said city Treasurer Stephanie Neely, a trustee of the city pension fund. "But we on the pension board didn't do anything wrong. We did everything we could do, and that's all I can somewhat control." As part of the justification for awarding him the higher city pension, the municipal pension fund provided the Tribune and WGN-TV with a 2008 letter written by then-Deputy Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Vanessa Quail on Villanova's behalf. "Mr. Villanova's current status with the Department of Streets and Sanitation is that we regard him on a personal leave of absence," she wrote. "While we have not located any leave of absence papers of Mr. Villanova's subsequent to April of 1991, that is not inconsistent with his retaining his status." The reason he was able to maintain his leave of absence: No one at the city department entered a code in its computer system showing that Villanova had given up his post. According to Stefanski, the technicality means Villanova qualifies for a city pension based on his union salary. Thanks to his work at Moraine Valley, Villanova's city pension is one of two public pensions he is currently receiving. Villanova gets another $12,000 a year from the State University Retirement System of Illinois, based on his work for the community college. Although he held that job for only three years, state law allows him to receive reciprocal pension benefits from SURS when he retired from the city. That pension is also based on his union salary, not the $41,000 he made working for the community college. In all, Villanova takes home about $120,000 a year from taxpayer-supported pension systems, an amount that will grow by 3 percent every year as long as he lives.

$190 Million ?

2011-09-02T06:00:00.002-05:00

Rahm wants to cut the CPD budget by $190 million. Is that possible? Where can they make the cuts? Will our neighborhood's safety be affected?

Global Warming?

2011-08-29T06:45:00.004-05:00

Global warming is what city officials are blaming the recent flooding on. I don't know if this is a joke and I find it hard to believe that anyone could stand there with a straight face and tell us our basements are flooding because of global warming. I doubt very much if Alderman O'Shea had anything to do with this. That said, he now needs to get some distance away from global warming.

My thanks to the 19th Ward Politics Blogger for bringing this to my attention.
Experts From The City Blame "Global Warming" At Matt O'Shea Flood Meeting!

Climate change and global warming are the cause of flooding that occurred in more than 1,000 local households on June 9 and July 23, city officials said at a meeting at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences on Aug. 18.
“It’s a new day, and the new day has some pretty bad weather,” said Tom LaPorte, assistant commissioner of the city’s Department of Water Management, at a town hall meeting hosted by 19th Ward Ald. Matt O’Shea. Approximately 200 people attended the meeting.
Storms characterized by their intensity, brevity and random pattern have increased in frequency over the past five years, which is why homes that never flooded in the past have experienced recent problems, LaPorte said.
“It’s kind of haphazard; scientists haven’t really figured out a pattern, but we do know that it’s happening,” LaPorte said. “What we’re getting is huge torrents of rain from the sky. I used to have to make a case that this was happening; now you just need to look out your window. Two and three times a summer, people are flooding.
“We’ve got a 100-year-old [sewer] system, and that fills up pretty quickly. It’s designed for what they call a ‘five-year storm.’ The sewers get filled up and overwhelmed, and then any more water that is put into those sewers is going to come up into your basement. It’s going in so fast, and there’s no room for it; so it’s just squirting out wherever it can, and that’s up the private drains of your basement.”
The only way to combat the problem, LaPorte said, is through cooperation and partnership between the city and its residents; homeowners need to take steps to help reduce the risk of future flooding instead of solely relying on the city’s sewer system or the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s Deep Tunnel to do the job.
“There are two main sources of water that we’re trying to put into these full sewers. One is from the street, and the other is from our rooftops. As long as we continue to do that, we’re in trouble; we’re going to continue to flood,” he said. “So what we need to do is find new relationships with each other and the city and new strategies for keeping water out of the sewer during the heaviest rain. It’s no longer a given that the sewers are going to protect us from flooding. There simply isn’t room in them.”
Step one involves redirecting residential downspouts, LaPorte said.
“Five hundred gallons of water per hour are coming out of your rooftop, going into your gutters and, in most houses in Chicago, the downspout goes straight into the ground,” he said. “What it’s doing is connecting to your private drain. If the sewer is full and if the private drain is full, that water has no place to go except into your basement. So in a real sense we’re flooding ourselves a lot of the time.”
Reporting flooding issues to the city’s 311 center, planting rain gardens and preserving the integrity of rain restrictors—the devices that hold water on the street after a heavy rain and allow the water to drain slowly into the sewer system—are also recommended measures, LaPorte said.
If a block of residents can commit to 70-percent participation in these measures, the city will offer its engineering experience and expertise to assess a particular block’s issues and provide homeowners with specific resources and solutions.
“I have about eight or nine neighborhoods already doing this,” LaPorte said. “I would really like to appeal to you to take advantage of this; if you can get a few neighbors together, call me up and invite me over; I’ll be there. We can succeed with this, but we have to rely on each other and understand that this is a mountain for us to climb instead of just a problem to solve. I think it’s as big as rebuilding after the fire, but I think we can do it.”
LaPorte’s direct number is (312) 742-1029.
Terry O’Brien, president of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, also spoke at the meeting, providing an overview of the district’s interceptor and reservoir system. Although the district has one active reservoir for storm water storage and two others in the works, flooding will continue to be a problem as long as heavy storms fill Chicago’s sewers before the water can be pushed through the system, officials said. During the July 23 storm, the Deep Tunnel was only at 25-percent capacity, O’Brien said; water backed up into basements before it reached the Deep Tunnel.
During the three-hour meeting, officials also tried to dispel the popular notion that localized residential flooding is due to an anonymous person or party failing to “open the gates.”
“The fact is that there are no gates in the sewer system,” LaPorte said. “The only gates that exist are the ones between the river and the lake. They can only be opened up under certain circumstances— when the river is higher than the lake. If you open it up at the beginning of a storm when the lake is still higher than the river, the lake’s going to come in and make everything a lot worse.”

Another Memorial?

2011-08-26T06:11:00.036-05:00

Stockyards Memorial

Anyone that knows me knows that I don't have anything less than total respect for our firemen so please don't take this posting as an insult but: seeing that we already have a memorial for our firemen in the Stockyards, is it the best usage to use a large lot on Western Ave. to duplicate a memorial located just seven miles north? Or is there a better usage for that lot? Something than would enhance the area? Perhaps a parking lot? Has anyone ever been to downtown LaGrange? They had a large vacant lot and built a 3 level parking structure on it. The result has been the opening of at least 10 eating establishments during the past 3 years. Restaurants and bars tend to do better when their patrons have a place to park.

I wonder who decided to build another fireman's memorial and how much critical thinking really went into this. A parking lot could have been built with an appropriate plague on the wall. The way this project is going now is the memorial is just filler for another vacant lot. It's an insult to firefighters and a coverup for the failings of past leadership.

Flood Meeting tonight

2011-08-24T06:52:00.003-05:00

Kennedy Park 7:00 P.M. Let's find out what the cause of the flooding is. What about those duckbill valves and intake restrictors?

Parade Meeting Tonight

2011-08-22T06:10:00.001-05:00

A special meeting for the parade will be held tonight at Beverly Arts Center, 7:00 P.M. Go and voice your opinion.

Borders Books

2011-08-19T06:46:00.011-05:00

The former Borders Books on 95th St.

This building is currently on the market. Is anyone concerned about who buys it? What about all the TIF money?

PNC Bank

2011-08-15T00:41:00.000-05:00

PNC Bank has announced that they are consolidating their operations on Western Ave. and moving everything into the branch on the corner of 107th and Western. The building at 10731 S. Western Ave. is not needed and will be sold.

What steps can be taken now to ensure that the next use of the property contributes to the vitality of our neighborhood? The last thing we need is another Border's.

The Bud Billiken Parade is today.

2011-08-13T12:39:00.000-05:00

3,200 police and 175 paramedics have been detailed to this event. The cost is unknown and shall remain a state secret.

Rainbow Beach

2011-08-12T08:51:00.001-05:00

Detective Shaved has written about this topic

A new landmark will be dedicated this weekend to mark the 50th anniversary of efforts to integrate Rainbow Beach on the South Side.

During the summers of 1960 and 1961, demonstrators staged "wade-ins" at Rainbow Beach to protest segregation.

Organizers of Saturday's dedication ceremony say mobs used violence to keep black visitors from using the beach.

Protest leaders Norman and Velma Hill were seriously injured on Aug. 28, 1960 when they tried to use the beach as part of the "wade-in." The beach was integrated the following summer.

Velma Hill says the "wade-ins" inspired people across the city to work against discrimination.

A plaque honoring the demonstration will be installed on the lakefront.

Flood Meetings

2011-08-09T07:11:00.001-05:00

Below is an email sent throughout the neighborhood, by Alderman O'Shea. Please attend one of these meetings and get the facts.

In the past two years, our community has suffered through several intense rain storms. These storms bring record setting volumes of rain in a short period of time creating severe flooding problems for thousands of residents. Over the past several weeks the Department of Water Management and National Power Rodding have been working throughout the Beverly, Morgan Park, and Mount Greenwood communities cleaning, rodding, and inspecting several miles of sewer lines.

The Chicago Department of Water Management, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, and Alderman Matt O'Shea will co-host two community meetings on storm water management. These meetings will give homeowners the opportunity to discuss their specific issues with the engineers and learn what steps can be taken to reduce the risk of flooding.

As flooding conditions vary throughout the ward, residents are asked to attend the meeting specifically for their area.

Mt. Greenwood Meeting (Sacramento Ave. to Pulaski Rd.)

Thursday, August 18, 2011 @ 7:00 pm

Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences

3857 W. 111th St.

Beverly / Morgan Park Meeting (Vincennes Ave. to California Ave.)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011 @ 7:00 pm

Kennedy Park

11320 S. Western Ave.

Can we bring back the Parade?

2011-08-03T20:20:00.001-05:00

I wrote about this before. Everyone has a parade except us. Bud Biliken, Gay Pride, Mexican Independence, Puerto Rican, Norwegian, Dutch, Germans, Italians, Chinese, Polish, Columbus, come on. Why can't we get our parade back? We pay taxes. We contribute to society. We need to insure that the achievements of the Celts are celebrated.

Thank you Skinny Sheahan for jump starting the 2012 parade.