Someone Want to Explain This?

Happy day in Boystown....except for this:

Bad news - no pool cars available citywide for this one.

We don't recall this happening at the South Side Irish extravaganza, nor the Bud Biliken Parade, and those two events have taken quite a beating for out-of-control behavior over the years here.

Did anyone see any coverage in the media at all?

And to top it off, the "after party" is marred by gunfire:

• Two women, ages 21 and 47, were shot Sunday evening near Montrose Beach in the Uptown neighborhood on the North Side, Chicago Police said.
  
  The shooting happened about 6:04 p.m. near the 4500 block of North Simonds Drive, police said.
  
  Both women were taken in serious condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, police said.

This has been the scene of near-riots and out-of-control behavior for at least the past few years. Guns, knives, beatings, assaults of all sorts, public morals offenses of every type. And it's all related to the parade. Is anyone going to speak up?

Twenty-nine Shot

But only one dead at last count:

• At least 29 people have been shot in Chicago since Friday, including two women shot near Montrose Beach Sunday just hours after the Chicago Pride Parade.

See the post directly above this for the parade disaster.

But Chicago wasn't the only violent place over the weekend though. The news feeds were alive with reports of mayhem:

• NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) –It was a violent night in New York City after at least 21 people were shot in incidents spanning each of the five boroughs.

To be fair, they do have three times the population of Chicago. Chicago has done 21 or better a few times in our careers, but it's still a big number.

• NEW ORLEANS -- Two men exchanged gunfire early Sunday on the city's always-crowded Bourbon Street in the celebrated French Quarter and nine people were shot in the crossfire, including two who were critically wounded, police said.

Gangs shooting in the streets, everyone except the gunmen catching lead, no one in custody either. It's almost like home.

McCloggedPipes on the Mend

Having fun at the parade:

• Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy offered some insight Sunday to his recent health scare and his recovery.
  
  "Today is the best I've felt since I had the heart attack," McCarthy said. "What's been killing me is the medication has been banging me up with all sorts of physical ailments."
  
  McCarthy, who attended Sunday's Chicago Pride Parade, says he's been "losing my mind sitting around."
  
  He said he's been keeping in touch with the department by phone and blackberry and has even gone in to the office to work a few half days.

No word on the 29 shootings. No word on the two shot after the parade. Nary a mention of the destroyed squad car. And certainly nothing about the "merit" promotion slipping through so many layers of responsibility. But hey, he's doing half-days and keeping in touch with the boys back at the office.

Vacation Plans Out the Window

In Washington DC that is:

• WASHINGTON - D.C. Police kick off a weekend initiative to fight summer crime called "All Hands On Deck."
  
  That means more officers will be stationed on city streets requiring all of them to work eight hour shifts.
  
  This doesn't come without controversy.
  
  The department's union representatives have filed paperwork challenging previous such programs saying it unfairly changes officers schedules without consent from the union.
  
  The practice has been used seven times by Chief Cathy Lanier since 2007.
  
  In 2009 a D.C. Superior Court judge ruled the city must pay the officers overtime for working extra shifts.

While the money is nice, what about planned summer vacations, graduation parties, family events? The overtime money sounds like small compensation for poor planning on the part of the Department. No VRI in DC we guess.

HeyJackass.com

We were going over the headlines of the week (ending yesterday) and there sure seemed to be more than a few shootings...more than usual we should say.

Perhaps Mr. Thompson over at the crime counting site could give us a breakdown of last week?

Open post while we wait.

Another Shooting

In 015 this time:

• Police in the Austin neighborhood shot a man after he fled police and pointed a gun at them just after midnight, according to authorities.
  
  Officers were in the area of 5000 W. Monroe Street when they heard gunfire and saw a car "traveling at a high rate of speed" away from the area.
  
  At least one passenger fled the car when officers tried to pull it over and a chase ensued.
  
  It's not clear how many people were in the car, whether others were taken into custody or how old the occupants are.
  
  The Chicago Police Department's office of news affairs would not elaborate on a statement it released Saturday morning.
  
  While police were chasing the man, he "produced a weapon and turned toward officers," according to the statement.
  
  Police shot him.
  
  The gunshot wound was not life-threatening and he's being treated at an area hospital.

Officers went home safely, so that's good.

Again?

This is what happens when you employ criminals to "interrupt violence:"

• On the streets, Richard Hernandez was supposed to stop violence as an “interrupter” in the celebrated CeaseFire program.
  
  But Chicago cops have another name for him: rapist.
  
  Hernandez faces 36 counts charging him with sexually assaulting and kidnapping a teenage girl while he worked for the program, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. He’s among at least nine employees of the anti-violence program to face serious criminal charges in recent years.

We don't know anyone with half a fucking brain who "celebrated" CeaseFire. This blog railed against it for years, our readers called it a tool of the gangs and pointed out the pitfalls inherent in having hardened criminals in close contact with the same people and same behaviors that they exhibited in the past.

Time and time again, our readers have been proven correct. Part of it is the natural cynicism among coppers. But the other part is based on street experience with the behaviors typically exhibited by predators...and experience with some of these particular individuals.

Demotion = Can of Worms

We still haven't seen the actual order demoting a "merit" sergeant from their undeserved spot, but it opens a whole can of worms that the Department is going to have explaining away. The story that we're able to glean so far:

• McStreetlights carries on the tradition of Supernintendos and promotes his driver to the rank of sergeant. What the qualifications are for "merit promotion" remain as vague as ever, but by golly, drivers have them in buckets full;
• the new sergeant goes through the training, buys his white shirts, gets sworn in and assigned to a district;
• stories emerge from the class that someone actually failed (or failed to take) Part One of the test nearly nine years ago. You were not required to take Part Two of the test to get promoted "meri-clout-oriously," but you had to have taken Part One and passed to be on the "merit eligible" list;
• it turns out to be the driver.

Oops.

Here's the problem as we see it:

• The last few times that a "merit" letter has asked for nominees, the Superintendent's Office hasn't gotten a pick. Therefore, some other gold star had to nominate this person;
• The "merit" pick had to go through some sort of "Merit" Board and sit for an interview with the supernintendo. This could have been done on a trip to Rush Street we suppose;
• Any number of people had to sign off on a bunch of paperwork - the nominating party, Personnel, Academy Staff, Chiefs of Bureaus, the Super himself, etc. A lot of brass in other words.

Now we have a whole shitload of verifiable Rule 14 violations involving high ranking members of the Department. Intentional or not, these are false written reports, starting at the top, going down through the chain-of-command and then back up again. You think they wouldn't crucify a regular Officer, Detective or Sergeant if something like this happened in the trenches? That's a big problem itself.

And where, pray tell, is the FOP during all this? They have a copy of the list....or they're supposed to. Does no one sit down and compare the promotional list to the test result list? Someone should have caught the fact that this guy's name wasn't even on the eligible list, right? This calls into question every single "merit" promotion ever given, paints the testing process as thoroughly corrupt (as if we didn't know that already) and explains why the City has been dragging its feet in answering FOIA requests for the "merit" lists.

How many others have slipped through the cracks? How many gold stars are there right now who failed one or more portions of one, two or more promotional exams? Or had someone else take the exam for them? Or didn't even take the exam at all?

Bid Openings Out

Openings to move again:

• 003 - 10
• 004 - 10
• 006 - 10
• 015 - 5
• 016 - 5
• 018 - 2
• 019 - 5
• 024 -5

And for our Lieutenants reading:

• 003 - 2
• 005 - 2
• 006 - 1
• 010 - 1
• 011 - 2
• 012 - 1
• 015 - 1

Sorry Sergeants, no openings for you.

Rahm vs Trump

Rahm doesn't like Trump putting his name on his own building. He thinks it's gaudy.

Hey Rahm?

Chicago has a long and storied tradition of labeling buildings. You'd know that if you had lived here. In any event, this is a sideshow, Rahm distracting the sheeple from other more important issues.

Bad Idea

Of course, that means that someone will probably require that it be done:

• A group of attorneys specializing in wrongful conviction cases are scheduled to meet with city lawyers Friday to try to hash out how to properly inventory thousands of old homicide files contained in police station filing cabinets in apparent violation of the department’s own policies.
  
  The attorneys believe the cabinets warehoused at the city’s three detective headquarters may contain crucial “street files” that were never turned over to homicide defendants as required.
  
  An inventory of the cabinets might provide proof that for decades Chicago police handed over only a sanitized version of its investigative files before trial, withholding information that could have helped defendants serving long prison sentences, according to the attorneys.

No surprise that Loevy and Loevy are heavily involved. They likely view these file cabinets as long lost treasure chests that they can data-mine for cases running back decades. We'd be likely to see "reasonable doubt" generated in cases half-a-century old where witnesses and investigators and victim families have moved, retired or died coming up in the courts and murderers being freed. Not only that, but investigative methods since disallowed by the Courts (but perfectly legal at the time) would be applied to meet certain ends - lining lawyers' pockets.

Who is Running for Mayor?

Preckwinkle is playing coy:

• [Preckwinkle] was at a River North banquet hall to deliver a speech about what goes on in her half of the fifth floor of the massive building that’s the nerve center of city and county government, not a potential campaign against the guy who occupies the other half — Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
  
  But afterward, Preckwinkle faced 12 questions in four minutes about a run for mayor next year something that’s become a running theme when Preckwinkle appears in public. Like she has numerous times before, Preckwinkle repeatedly said she’s running for re-election this November to her county post, but refused to rule out a run for mayor.
  
  That refusal to simply just say “yes or no” inevitably leads to another round of questions from the assembled gaggle of reporters, many of whom can barely hide their enthusiasm for covering a contest between two of the city’s top politicians who aren’t publicly chummy.

And Karen Lewis is teasing everyone:

• Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said Thursday she is “seriously thinking” about mounting a formal challenge to Rahm Emanuel.
  
  “I’m a little sick of the mayor and I don’t see anyone stepping up,” Lewis told the Chicago Sun-Times by telephone Thursday evening. “I am seriously thinking about it.”

This is in addition to two declared candidates - former aldercreature Robert Shaw and former Daley staffer Amara Enyia - both of whom are probably plants to break up other voting blocs.

#6 Most Stressed

Chicago always seems to rank high on these "worst" lists:

• Bad weather and heavy traffic puts Chicago sixth on a list of most-stressed cities in the country.
  
  After consulting experts at the American Psychological Association, CNNMoney ranked 55 of the country’s largest cities by stress level, based on factors such as poverty and unemployment rates, commute times, overall health, family size, crime rates and even the average amount of sunshine.
  
  Chicago ranked below:
  
• New York
• Detroit
• Los Angeles
• Riverside/San Bernardino, Calif.
• Houston

Nothing about having to live in a city run by democrats, but it seems to be a prevalent theme in high stress cities for some reason.

Great Way to Bid a Contract

Aren't there rules to prevent this?

• The Illinois Tollway on Thursday awarded a $64 million construction contract to a New York-based firm that admitted committing fraud and paid a $7.5 million penalty in connection with an alleged minority hiring scheme in that city.
  
  Judlau Contracting Inc.'s bid was the lowest of four received by the Tollway for construction of new interchange ramps at Interstate 290 and Thorndale Avenue in Itasca.
  
  Judlau’s contract with the Tollway, and the penalty settlement, were first reported by the Tribune Saturday.
  
  Illinois State Toll Highway Authority staff defended the contract, saying that the Illinois Department of Transportation certified Judlau and that it was the “lowest responsible bidder.”
  
  Officials said the Tollway is required by law to award construction contracts to the lowest bidder, and that Judlau had not been found guilty of any criminal activity.

We understand the low-bid aspect, seeing as how Illinois firms are notorious for underbidding and then jacking up the bill on cost overruns, but farming out the corruption, too? How about tweaking the law to read that the Tollway is required to grant the job to the lowest bidder who doesn't have a shady past involving fines, frauds or schemes?

"Merit" Promotion Undone?

What the heck is this?

One of the "deserving" has been declared "undeserving?"

As someone else said, this would be a first.

"best qualified" and "brightest" our asses.

Assailant Shot

The headline - "Sergeant Shoots Suspect Resisting Arrest on South Side" - is misleading:

• A Chicago police sergeant shot and wounded someone who fought with police and pulled out a cutting instrument as officers tried to arrest him in the South Chicago neighborhood Tuesday evening, police said.

Someone with a "cutting instrument" is an assailant and deadly force is justified by order, by law and by common sense. You can't expect the media-types to know that, even though we correct them every time and most of them read the blog at some point.

• One of the people "became combative and a physical altercation ensued," according to the statement. He ran into a nearby home, prompting an officer to use his Taser, according to the statement.
  
  The Taser did not subdue the suspect, and a sergeant arriving on the scene "was confronted by the offender in the vestibule of the building," according to the statement.
  
  "The offender attempted to defeat his arrest by retrieving one of several cutting instruments in his possession," the statement continued. "The sergeant, in fear for his life, discharged his weapon once, striking the offender in the right leg."

Nicely done Sarge.

Mounted Unit Graduates

Congratulations:

• The gates to South Shore Golf Course’s dusty riding arena opened to let through a wailing police car, which began to circle the arena’s circumference. At the center of the arena stood nine mounted patrol officers, shoulder to shoulder, gripping the reins of their horses.
  
  The police car’s sirens whirred. The officer in the car fired shots into the air from the window.
  
  Not once did the horses flinch.
  
  The demonstration was the highlight of Wednesday’s graduation ceremony for the Chicago Police Department’s newest members of the mounted police unit. A crowd of about 100 friends and family cheered for the nine graduating officers, after they gave a skillful, 15-minute presentation of different riding techniques.

We can't recall any articles about a Mounted Unit Graduating Class, so this was a good read. We do recall it being called some of the most physically demanding training from people who went through it, both those who failed and those who made it. Well done Officers.

Pothole Story Worse

$1.5 million settlement for a bike accident where the cyclist ran into a barricade.

The cyclist was drunk - and he's still getting paid:

• The accident that forever altered Baker’s life occurred at 1:45 a.m. on June 9, 2009 at the corner of Damen and Waubansia.
  
  Baker, who had just graduated from Columbia College with a degree in sports marketing, was riding his bike after a night out drinking when he collided with the barricade set up to mark a collapsed sewer catch basin.
  
  First Deputy Corporation Counsel Leslie Darling said there were a “number of issues that left the city exposed” to damages.
  
  “The barricade’s light was not functional. The barricade was actually in the hole, instead of in front it [where] a bicyclist would be able to see and react to it,” Darling said.

So there was evidence that the city workers put the barricade in the hole and not some gang banger messing around with city property? And the light was non-functional the entire time it was in place? There's proof of all this?

• Baker was not wearing a helmet and he had been drinking prior to the accident. But, his blood alcohol level was “not legally relevant because there is no law prohibiting bicyclists from driving under the influence," Darling said.

Really? But there is responsibility assigned, isn't there? We'd say the city did more than it's share of precautionary work, but bad life choices lead to bad outcomes.

• “Due to the catastrophic nature of his injuries, if a jury found in his favor, it’s likely he would be awarded a large damage amount. He demanded $12 million to settle the case. The proposed settlement is a very cost-effective measure to limit the city’s financial exposure.”

You know what would be an even better "cost-effective measure"? Zero. But these jackasses at Corp Counsel can't wait to settle and call it "cost-effective." Jody Weis was an asshole extraordinare, but he got one thing right - fight these suits. Fight em all. Nuisance suits dropped by an inordinate amount once plaintiff attorneys realized that the days of easy payouts were suspended. They had to be more discriminating in the suits filed because they were going to eat the losses and the City was going to come after them and their clients for fees and damages.

More Breaks?

Easing up on the disciplinary code in Chicago Public Schools:

• As part of ongoing efforts to find alternatives to harsh discipline, CPS plans to stop suspending students for using cellphones in class, prohibit almost all suspensions in prekindergarten through second grade and make out-of-school suspensions for older students a "last resort."
  
  The proposed revisions to the discipline code, which also eliminate mandatory expulsions for students below sixth grade except for weapons infractions, will be voted on by Chicago's Board of Education at its monthly meeting Wednesday.
  
  The new code is intended to be more clear, preventing differences across the district over how disciplinary problems are handled, and to find ways to keep kids in the classroom. "Suspensions must be a last resort for any of our schools," said schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett in a briefing Monday.
  
  [...] The proposed discipline code now limits mandatory police notification to possession of firearms or drugs.

OK, suspensions for cell phone use is a bit over the top. Setting a lower age limit on suspensions makes sense - we can't charge kids under 9, why expel them? But eliminating expulsion for kids up to 6th grade is granting a lot of latitude to misbehavior. By the 6th grade, patterns of misbehavior have become ingrained and without some sort of sanction (expulsion) to have at hand, kids will rapidly learn that overly lenient discipline can be laughed off. You can see it downtown, and on the west and south sides.

Gun Runners Charged

Guns to Chicago from out-of-state:

• A South Side man was arrested today on charges he participated in an Indiana gun-buying spree — in a case highlighted by the Tribune to illustrate how firearms sold in other states end up on Chicago's streets.
  
  Winston Geralds, 24, also known by the street name “Worm,” turned himself in to authorities this afternoon at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, where he pleaded not guilty to a six-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury last month.
  
  Geralds, who is the son of a longtime Cook County sheriff’s police officer, was accused of traveling to Indiana in 2012 with convicted firearms trafficker David “Big Man” Lewisbey and buying at least 43 high-powered weapons from gun dealers for illegal resale in some of Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods, according to court records.

Aren't there laws against buying guns and selling them to people who aren't supposed to have them? And the media wants us to believe that this actually happened? There are RULES you know. The left has pushed for some 20,000 different types of rules about guns for the past 40 years or so. This isn't supposed to happen.

The above paragraph is, of course, sarcastic. You can pass all the rules you want and if the potential profit is high enough, you're going to see people violating those laws. In this case, 4 dozen guns changed hands within 48 hours for a profit of $20,000. That's awfully tempting to certain criminal types. And contrary to leftist opinions, the answer isn't more gun laws - it's more prison time for those who break the existing law. Start at 20 years and work up from there. It's federal time, so they should be doing 85% of that.

Fix Those Potholes Rahm

The payouts are mounting:

• Chicago taxpayers are likely on the hook to pay a $1.5 million settlement to a bicyclist who suffered brain damage and other injuries that left him with quadriplegia when he crashed into a barricade guarding a sunken catch basin in a late-night accident in the Wicker Park neighborhood.
  
  Brian Baker was 23 years old when he hit the barricade in June 2009 while biking around 1:45 a.m. near Wabansia and Damen avenues, just north of the six-way intersection in the Wicker Park neighborhood, according to city attorney Leslie Darling.

We had some pictures up a year or more ago documenting the massive state of disrepair of the bike lanes one might see on the way to 26th and California. The boulevards are riddled with potholes, as are the bike lanes. Many even have weeds and assorted other flora growing there, curbs have crumbled and the lane markings are nonexistent. It points to a larger problem of decaying infrastructure across the city, but if crews didn't have to work around miles of unused bike lanes.

New Lows in the Polls (UPDATE)

People are finally waking up:

• A week after an NBC News poll showed that the American people had lost faith in Obama's competence and ability to lead, a new CBS News/New York Times poll has even worse news for a president embattled by his own incompetence, arrogance, and failed policies.
  
  In just one month, the president's job approval rating has shifted a full 9 points against him. Though Obama was still upside on approval by 5 points (43-48%) back in May, he now faces a 14 point deficit of 40-54%.
  
  In just one month, disapproval of Obama's foreign policy has skyrocketed a full 10 points to a record high of 58%. With only 36% approving, that ties this poll's record low in this category.

Wading in the swamps of Jimmy-Carter-type-numbers. And two more years to damage the country, maybe beyond repair.

UPDATE: More great "hope and change" news:

• The U.S. economy turned in its worst quarter in five years during the first three months of 2014, shrinking more sharply than previously estimated.
  
  The nation's gross domestic product in the first quarter fell at a 2.9% annual rate vs. the 1% contraction previously believed, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a 1.8% drop in output from the fourth quarter.

The economy shrank at nearly THREE TIMES the initial estimate....."unexpectedly" no doubt. Look for more "blame the weather" excuses.

Burke to Have Cancer Surgery

Sneed breaks the news that is already two days old:

• Sneed has learned that the indomitable Ald. Ed Burke (14th), known as the dean of the City Council, is scheduled to have prostate cancer surgery on Thursday.
  
  Sneed is told that Burke scheduled the surgery so as not to miss Wednesday’s City Council meeting — something he has never done before in his long civic career.
  
  Internet rumors of his impending death are absolutely false.

That's going to be Sneed's "scoop." Our rumor mill came up with the story that Burke was in a Stage 4 condition. Sneed claims it's just prostate cancer, which actually has a high survival rate, so she scooped us. Whatever Sneed. You've been carrying water for Burke and Daley for decades. Why stop now?

Bad Choices Catch Up

Former suspect involved in the shooting of two officers ends up.....dead:

• Daniel Jones couldn't pull away from the gang life, even after a rough scrape with the law nearly three years ago when he was arrested for the wounding of two Chicago police officers but then let go.
  
  "At the end of the day, he was a grown man," the 30-year-old's mother, Sandra Jones, said. "I talked and talked until I was blue in the face. You hope that one day they make the right choice to get out of the life. . .My son loved that life, and I'm not glorifying it, but he loved that life and that's what he wanted to do."
  
  Last week, Jones was sitting in a car near Washington Boulevard and Pulaski Road when a gunman walked up and fired, hitting Jones in the head and killing him, police said. Jones had argued with someone earlier in the day, and his mother believes that person followed her son after he left his grandmother's home.
  
  "He slipped, he should have never been by himself," said Jones, 54.  "He had a criminal background but he was trying to turn his life around."

Gee, that always happens - just about to turn it all around and find the cure for cancer or something and then BLAMITY BLAM BLAM BLAM!!! A hail of bullets finishes off another Nobel Prize Laureate. What are the chances?

We don't know why the Tribune is wasting ink and electrons on this guy. He wasn't famous. He wasn't rich. He wasn't in politics. He was a 30-year-old gang banging piece of shit who "loved that life" according to mamma, a drag on the economy and society in general. We're supposed to feel sympathy or something?

Free Rides

Once again, ridiculous accommodation to lawbreakers:

• Working CTA special last weekend on a fixed post @ chicago redline. Large group of urban teens enter the station and start to loiter in the front of the turnstiles. No money, no fare cards, no nothing! 1800X enters and tells the CTA employee to let the large group on a train so they don't go back upstairs to the street. WTF?

They got downtown without money, then mayhem, then a free ride out of downtown. Fucking brilliant.

Carol Marin - Racist

All those wildings that haven't been occurring and for which we've been taking inordinate amounts of blame, doubt and hassle? Yeah, Carol Marin of all people is talking about it:

• I called 911. It was rush hour on Tuesday on Lake Shore Drive.
  
  I’d just rounded the curve, northbound, by Oak Street Beach and noticed a heavy presence of Chicago Police officers on bikes and in cars. And, if I’m not mistaken, on ATVs. The beach was throbbing with people on this warm summer day.
  
  Then, all of a sudden, I saw a pack of young people racing into traffic. Against the backdrop of flashing CPD blue lights by the North Avenue Beach house, I’d estimate 20 to 30 young men and women were running through the North Avenue/La Salle exit. Remember, this was rush hour.

Golly Carol, what could it be??!?!?

• Traffic was slower than normal but moving. Motorists on the Drive are not prepared for a wilding of young people weaving on foot in between their vehicles. But there they were. Running across the northbound lanes. Jumping the barrier. Zigzagging in front of cars in the southbound lanes. And sprinting into the park.
  
  My first instinct was to call the cops. The second was to call my news desk. And that’s what I did and in that order. Who wants to see a kid killed in traffic? Or a motorist terrorized by a kid running through traffic?
  
  The 911 officer who answered asked for a specific description of the people I saw. Were they white, Hispanic or African American?They were African American, I told her.
  
  I asked myself, does race matter in this? As a description, I think it does.

That's a hell of an admission from the liberal media. For Shame! We'll expect the calls for Carol's resignation in the morning.

And after all that, Carol goes and ruins her moment by spouting the party line:

• This particular incident was in the 18th Police District of the 43rd Ward. The alderman is Michele Smith, who makes it a practice to walk along the beach and see for herself what’s going on.
  
  She checked and told me there were no criminal incidents connected to what I’d witnessed. The crowd had apparently quickly dispersed. And yet, I wondered, what can a city do to effectively anticipate and stop disruptions like this? Especially when they escalate beyond mere disruptions?

Really Carol? You believed an aldercreature? And if she told you there were no fixed contracts, no funny business with the permitting processes and every promotional exam given by Chicago was legit, you'd print that, too? You aren't a moron Carol, so why do you write like one?

And guess what? Running into traffic, disrupting traffic flow? Those are ordinance violations, i.e. violations of the law. But because no report was generated, that means it didn't occur? You saw it in front of your own eyes, yet you write that "there were no criminal incidents connected to what I’d witnessed."

Talk about willful blindness.

18%

The percentage of killings is climbing a bit compared to the last few weekends:

• Four people were killed — including a 15-year-old boy — and at least 18 have been injured in shootings across Chicago since Friday night.

That's about an 1-in-5 chance of dying if you manage to catch some lead.

Monday Night TV (UPDATE: Now Wednesday)

We aren't fans of America's Racial Dogwhistle Station MSNBC. They are perpetually searching for nonexistent slights perpetrated by the right, are reflexively anti-gun, shameless Obama cheerleaders and pretty much half-assed in every way you can think. It's part of why MSNBC is always dead last in ratings and near last in "media trustworthiness."

That being said, MSNBC is doing a piece Monday night on (what else) "behind the color line" in America and they spend some time in Chicago interviewing the reporters from Chicago Magazine who wrote the recent articles on how Rahm, Garry and CompStat manipulate the numbers to fool the slow-witted into thinking crime is down.

Here's a link to the trailer for the piece (the Chicago portion is around the 2:20 mark). They grill Rahm a bit, too, which is always entertaining when you see the 9.5 Digit Midget attempting to keep a lid on his Napoleonic temper.

UPDATE: Segment has been moved to Wednesday night. Rahm must be scared of all the publicity we gave the piece - insignificant you know.

Scared to Live in Chicago

Always looking for the ridiculous angle:

• Hip-hop star Twista is still reeling over the death of his bodyguard, Davy Easterling.
  
  "It's definitely something you don't want to happen to someone you love," the Chicago rapper said of Easterling — who was shot, had his throat slit and then was set on fire.
  
  "I'm real upset, man. How long I've been repping this city, and right now I hate that violence is the notoriety we've got," Twista said during an interview with DNAinfo Chicago. "Definitely I think everyone should be a strong advocate for ending this whole 'Chiraq' thing."
  
  
• Twista, 40, who grew up in K-Town in North Lawndale, still lives within the city limits in what he described as a "low-key neighborhood."
  
  "Let's just say I live ... where I feel safe," he said. "In K-Town, this is something you see on a regular basis. It's just unfortunate it happened to someone so close."
  
  Asked if he was scared to still reside in Chicago, Twista said: "Hell, yes."

Gee, after making your living in an industry that glorifies violence, drug use, disrespect of authority and the degradation of women, now you have an epiphany?

Wagons Down Everywhere

From one of our west side people:

• Word from EMMD folks is that the city hasn't paid their vendors in 4 months, therefore no parts are being delivered as retaliation. This has led to a citywide shortage of wagons - 5 districts are operating without wagons at the moment and the number is probably going up. Great idea seeing as how summer is coming and wagons are kind of necessary for downtown "mass arrest" situations and there are usually a couple on standby for the assorted festivals and parades.

So we can be pretty sure that Rahm isn't spending any money on the Department. The City that Works!

He's Running for Something

Senate seems more likely than the White House - the nation has had just about enough of Chicago pols screwing things up:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former President Bill Clinton visited an Englewood early learning center Friday afternoon.
  
  Their visit with more than a dozen kids occurred hours before the former president headlined a fundraiser for the mayor.

Bubba is still a draw for the faithful. And he's paying off political debts appearing with his brain trust.

Well, This Would be a Bombshell

They've kept a tight lid on this if true:

• Well let me add this "leak"; there will be some Major Changes in the City Council and Rahm will capitalize on them. The "Dean" of the City Council has beaten the Feds, but he has not beaten the Grim Reaper. Ed has stage 4 Cancer, and his departure will have an impact on all aspects of City Government. The last of the Old White Guard is about to exit and will probably be replaced by a Hispanic.

 Anyone know?

All Sorts of Rumors

Someone is working OT collecting this info:

• Word is that McCarthy is going to exit gracefully around September after school starts. This gives Rahm a chance to win black votes by putting together a "blue ribbon panel" to find the next supt. which will be a M/1 or F/1 just before the election. McCarthy is going to use the " dr.s orders for a full recovery" to leave the CPD without getting let go so he has upward trajectory in finding another dept. somewhere else to destroy. Furthermore expect some captains to be going soon with the new 55 health insurance.
  
  Also word downtown is that Commander O'Neill at MLAS is looking to leave the building by summers end. Also the new squad teams in various districts are an abysmal failure and will end at the 13 period. Also new XO in 011 will completely destroy the district just wait. If you want to know who the smartest man on the dept. Is just ask him (TL) he will tell you.
  
  Also 020 and 024 WILL NOT merge. Looks like the district mergers have been a disaster since they just reshuffle the deck when the deck really needs more cards. Look for Rahm and McCarthy to boost and expand VRI everywhere they can since Rahm will not hire more PO's. So tact teams are getting between 10-15 RDO's cancelled over the summer, primarily weekends, to be sent downtown on Michigan ave. to protec t he tourists and $$$$ the city needs.
  
  Also a major re organization and new assignments for Det.s is coming for the detective division, a total revamp by yrs end. Also downtown has put the lid on any possibility of changing district boundaries. Well SCC that all I gots for now......stay tuned.....

We can see most, if not all of these, being true is some form or another.

Slow Posting

Is it just us or does it seem like the amount of info leaking out of HQ and Garry seem to have declined to a trickle? We aren't kidding when we say it's been difficult the past week or so to come up with even our regular three posts to put up around midnight.

Part of it might be Garry's health. Heart problems are tricky recoveries we've been told, and without him spouting his nonsense to the slack-jawed media types, they're hurting for articles to write. It's not like they can go out and cover actual crime - Rahm has told them to ignore downtown.

Part of it might be the Wysinger regime isn't fully established. The First Deputy spot, for years, the real power of the Department, was gutted under Cline and never really recovered. So while Garry is on the mend, Al "Look at my Awards!" Wysinger doesn't really have a handle on the day-to-day operations of the Department....and you know the New York crew isn't even giving him access to the office.

Part of it might even be the summer doldrums. Crime is crime, it's through the roof on the property side and the killings are keeping nearly even with previous years with little variation.

Open post for now - theories on the lack of good stories are welcome.

AFSCME Gets a Contract, Too?

Rahm rolling up the old business:

• The City of Chicago and a union representing more than 3,400 city workers struck a deal tentative five-year contract, both sides announced Thursday.
  
  Although neither side released details, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 executive director Henry Bayer said the deal is one that “recognizes the essential role of AFSCME members in providing city services and ensures them fair pay, affordable health care, stable employment and voice on the job.”
  
  Union leaders, however, would not say if the deal includes retroactive pay, which had been a sticking point in the talks.

We guess that they forgot "the letter," too? We can hardly wait to see the details of this contract.

Word is the FOP "isn't in a hurry" to settle anything. We understand the FOP usually led the way in contract negotiations for years, setting the tone for everyone else's raises. This seems to be a bit of a role reversal. We aren't sure if everyone should feel comfortable with this or what. Perhaps the FOP is waiting it out to see if everyone else gets retro, then demand it in light of the Shields' "fuck-up-to-end-all-fuck-ups."

Another Aldercreature to Prison?

Continuing a fine tradition:

• A former employee of Ald. George Cardenas, 12th, alleged in a lawsuit Thursday that the politician is under federal investigation and that Cardenas fired her a day after she spoke with FBI agents about his office.
  
  Cardenas, an alderman since 2003 who represents parts of the South and Southwest sides, denied being under investigation. He said Maria G. Chavez, the plaintiff, resigned.
  
  Chavez’s Cook County lawsuit offered few details about the alleged inquiry, but it said the FBI was looking at “illegal hiring practices and other illegal operations” in Cardenas’ office.

Amazing how this all slips by the Inspector General and the Attorney General and all the other investigative bodies. And the Ethics Test - doesn't Cardenas have to take the Ethics test every year? Or does he have the secretary do it like every other connected boss in city politics?

Firefighters Get a Contract

This seems to be all anyone was talking about yesterday:

• Chicago firefighters and paramedics will get more than $20 million in back pay without adding to the city’s mountain of debt under a five-year contract overwhelmingly ratified Wednesday that forfeits union givebacks for the possibility of pension reform.
  
  [...] The contract gives firefighters and paramedics an 11 percent pay raise over five years, maintains staffing levels and bolsters ambulance service by converting all 15 basic-life-support ambulances to advanced-life-support.
  
  “We’ve worked collaboratively with the Firefighters union to reach this agreement that is both fiscally responsible on behalf of taxpayers and respects the work and sacrifice of the men and women who put their own lives on the line to ensure public safety,” Emanuel was quoted as saying in a press release. “This win-win for taxpayers and firefighters/paramedics is another example what is possible when we work together to reach a fair and responsible agreement on behalf of the whole city.”

Rahm got almost nothing of what he had been pushing for:

• The five-year agreement would require firefighters and paramedics who retire between the ages of 55 and 59 to contribute 2 percent toward retiree health care that’s now free. Police sergeants and lieutenants already have agreed to those terms.
  
  But that’s among the only givebacks Emanuel was able to wring out of Local 2.
  
  The mayor came up empty on his laundry list that took aim at treasured union perks such as holiday and duty availability pay; clothing allowance; pay grades; premium pay; non-duty lay-up coverage; the physical fitness incentive; and the 7 percent premium paid to cross-trained firefighter paramedics.
  
  Nor did the union agree to Emanuel’s plan to have “double houses” that include both engines and trucks to be staffed by nine firefighters instead of 10.
  
  Instead, the mayor settled for what sources called a “vanilla” agreement with a modest pay raise, in hopes of creating a “collaborative atmosphere” that will set the stage to solve the city’s pension crisis.

On the surface, not a lot to complain about. Again, this is at first glance - we're sure someone on the fire side will let us know about any major screw-ups by their representation, but nothing here immediately suggests the FOP should be negotiating for anything less than what CFD got.

Video of Robbers

The Tribune has some video of the stick-up we mentioned yesterday:

• We can't embed the video but click here for the link

Pretty brazen.

Gun Shop Ordinance Moves Forward

And guess what - the City Council admits it will have ZERO effect on the violence:

• Gun shops would be allowed but kept out of most parts of Chicago and required to videotape every sale to prevent straw purchases, under a mayoral plan advanced Wednesday to satisfy a federal judge.
  
  Mayor Rahm Emanuel was under the gun to meet a court-ordered July 14 deadline to allow gun shops. He responded with sweeping regulations he considers the toughest in the nation.
  
  On Wednesday, the City Council’s Committee on Public Safety approved those rigid regulations with no illusions that it will stop the bloodbath on Chicago streets.
  
  “I wish it could [make a difference] but, no it won’t. . . . You don’t control guns. We’re not controlling where they come from. All these kids — they get them. You just can’t stop that,” said Ald. Emma Mitts (37th). “You don’t know where they pick them up and who’s getting them to who and when they throw them away, who else gets them. Guns be used over and over again.”

So why pass it? Why not figure out who is doing the straw buying? If a gun isn't stolen (which most seem to be), there's a point of purchase. Find that purchaser, figure out why they didn't report the gun missing. If they're lying about it, imprison them, say for 10 years. That'll put dent in the straw purchasers pretty quick if the word gets out people are actually getting 10 years for buying a gun and failing to keep track of it.

The NRA has agreed on this many times - enforce the laws that are already on the books before passing something else that even the idiots in government are saying won't work.

Crime Up North

What happens when you strip more police from the "low crime" areas?

• Imagine walking into a gas station and right into the middle of a robbery. It happened in Portage Park and surveillance cameras were rolling.
  
  [...] The clerk and a female customers were tied up with plastic zip ties along with two more customers who walked in during the robbery.
  
  “He was like, ‘You know I can shoot you, right? I can shoot you. Don’t move,’” said store clerk Mudassir Mohammed.
  
  The threats were backed up with a handgun aimed at the convenience store clerk behind the counter Monday night.
  
  Muddassir Mohammed says just after 9:45 p.m. a pair robbers, a man in a red hat and a female in a white hat, acted like customers at first when they entered the Citgo store near Milwaukee and Berteau in the Portage Park neighborhood. The man was wielding a gun and demanded cash from the register.
  

• Police are warning the public on the Northwest Side to be wary following two home invasions this month.
  
  Most recently, Monday about 1:05 p.m. in the 6300 block of North Lowell Avenue in the city’s Sauganash neighborhood, two or three attackers forced their way into the victims’ home, showed a handgun and searched the house, according to police.
  
  An earlier similar incident happened June 7 about 9:50 p.m. in the 5800 block of North Jersey Avenue in the Hollywood Park neighborhood. Police believe that the same people are responsible.
  
  During one invasion, shots were fired and during the other attack, they told the victims they “were the police and they were looking for someone,’’ according to police.
  
  The three attackers are all described as black males about 5-foot-7, and 150 pounds, they each wore a ski mask or hooded sweatshirt pulled tight police said.

Well, at least htey described the attackers in the second incident. Careful up north boys and girls.

More Financial Mess from Daley

Anyone want to break this down for the non-financial wizards here?

• Already facing a host of financial worries, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration could be stuck with a nearly $200 million tab as a result of betting heavily on risky interest-rate “swaps” under former Mayor Richard M. Daley.
  
  The deals required the city to maintain a certain credit rating, but the rating has fallen since the Daley
  administration made them, putting the city at risk.
  
  The financial institutions involved could terminate the deals and demand immediate payment if the ratings agency Moody’s Investor Service drops the city’s credit rating again — which it has warned it will do unless Chicago’s underfunded pensions are dramatically reformed.

The entire article can be read here, but it appears that Chicago is relying on the goodwill of numerous financial institutions to not call in certain markers - institutions that stand to make billions extra if ratings stay or fall lower. Betting on financial failure in a way.

Explanations?

North Avenue Beach

Not a whisper nor a peep over the goings on at North Avenue Beach last night in the media.

Hundreds of ne'er-do-wells took over the sand and surrounding sidewalks, driving families and folks out for an afternoon in the sun and surf. Rather largish deal on the radio with numerous teams and the Bike Unit called out.

Another report in our comment sections about 50 kids hitting the Nordstrom store downtown and getting away with $2,000 in merchandise. Anyone have that RD#?

Rahm certainly has the media on a short leash.

Tourist Shot - BB Gun

We'll bet this is front page news in Japan:

• A Japanese airline worker was shot in the ankle on the Magnificent Mile over the weekend, possibly by someone using an air gun, according to police and the airline.
  
  He’d spent the evening having dinner and attending the Blues Fest with co-workers and they were walking back to the hotel in the early morning hours of Saturday when it happened, said ANA, All Nippon Airways spokeswoman Nao Gunji.
  
  “He heard something like a dry, light, bang-bang sound,’’ Gunji said.  “It sounded like a gunshot but he couldn’t tell...it didn’t sound like real gunfire.’’
  
  Immediately after that he felt pain in his ankle. When he checked it, he saw blood on his ankle, and a hole and some minor damage to his trousers, she said.

And some advice we'll bet they're telling all their employees - and citizens:

• “We urge them to be careful, it’s fine to go out to dinner but maybe not a good idea to stay out too late,’’ Gunji said.

Just the message that keeps Rahm up at night - adult visitors to Chicago can't be out and about after sundown, catching a show, attending a fest, spending money and generating tax revenue because they might get shot - even by a BB gun.

Boo Hoo Quinn

Evidently, Governor Potato Head just found out that money is involved in politics:

• Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn criticized Republican opponent Bruce Rauner and Rauner's allies today as “billionaires trying to buy their way into Illinois politics” after the GOP candidate received a $2.5 million campaign contribution from hedge-fund boss Kenneth Griffin.
  
  “There should be reasonable limits on campaign donations and it should be government of the many not the money and that’s what these two are trying to do right here,” Quinn told reporters after appearing before the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce.
  
  Rauner, an equity investor who has put nearly $6.6 million of his personal funds into his bid for governor, reported last week his campaign had received $2.5 million from Griffin, founder and CEO of the Chicago based hedge-fund firm, Citadel.

Didn't the Supreme Court just have something to say about money in politics? And did Quinn forget that Rahm has something like $7 million in campaign cash lying around lately? And Burke's sizable war chest? And Madigan's accounts? Quinn seems afraid of being outspent, and in the current political climate with dems having nothing much to run on, that might be bad news for his campaign.

Not Tea Partiers

The leftist media likes to make giant leaps that whacko shooting sprees must be right-wing in nature. They were in full swing last week with the Las Vegas shootings of two police officers when the killers allegedly left a Gadsden Flag behind, a symbol adopted by Tea Party types. Has to be right wing violence, right?

Maybe not:

• The husband and wife who gunned down two Las Vegas police officers and a shopper at a Las Vegas strip mall on Sunday lived in Lafayette, Indiana, before moving to Nevada in January.
  
  Investigators in Las Vegas have been examining a series of YouTube videos and other social media posts by the couple as they try to figure out what sparked their shooting rampage.
  
  [...] While living in Lafayette, Jerad and his wife Amanda took part in last November’s “Million Mask March” – a gathering of protesters from the Occupy movement, anarchists, and hacktivists.

Occu-tards, anarchists and hacktivists? Sounds pretty much like left wingers running amok and then planting evidence to make it look like something else. Here's a helpful list of events the media immediately blamed on right wingers only to have to backtrack, correct, apologize or erase internet postings when it turned out evidence of the opposite was finally revealed. Add the recent UCSB stabbing/shooting spree there, too - another off-his-meds-left-leaning-misogynist.

Father's Day Violence

25 shot, 2 dead:

• It was another bloody weekend in Obama's hometown of Chicago as the city celebrated Fathers day. By the time the weekend drew to a close, two were dead and 25 wounded in violence across the city.

Add in Thursday?

• All of this was preceded by a violent Thursday, as well. During the day on June 12, one was killed and eight more shot.
  
  With Thursday's carnage added to the weekend tally, that adds up to 33 shot and three dead.

And for all of last week - 8 dead:

• Five men and three women were murdered throughout Chicago last week.
  
  At least three of the deaths were classified as domestic related, police said.

Number of Concealed Carry holders involved? And legally owned firearms? Still zero.

Giant Property Tax Hike Coming

Along with a giant helping of blame no doubt:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel did what he had to do to convince Gov. Pat Quinn to sign on the dotted line.
  But chances the mayor and City Council can solve Chicago's $20 billion pension crisis without raising property taxes range between slim and none.
  
  A 56 percent increase in Chicago’s telephone tax buys time to appease Quinn and get past the Nov. 4 gubernatorial election and the Feb. 24 city election for mayor and aldermen.
  
  But it’s a Band-Aid that produces nowhere close to the $750 million in property tax collections the mayor had hoped to generate over five years to save the Municipal Employees and Laborers Pension funds, let alone make a looming, $600 million payment to shore up police and fire pension funds in even sorrier shape than the other two. There’s also the teachers pension fund that must be saved.

The Sun Times does the unthinkable and actually blames.....Daley:

• Former Mayor Richard M. Daley had a political phobia to raising property taxes that prompted him to freeze them for 17 of his 22 years in office.
  
  In fact, Daley once diverted city payments from Municipal Employees and Laborers pension funds, then flush with cash, to provide a pre-election property tax cut.
  
  The result is that Chicago property taxes are unrealistically low when compared with rates for the similarly sized home in most suburbs.

Wow media - Thanks for this important information! It sure would have been helpful for you guys to pass this info along to the low-information voters 5...10...even 15 years ago. You know...watchdogs and all that "fourth estate" garbage you always spout when you have an agenda, but never when you might actually have to call your favorites to account - democrats we mean. Now you're carrying Rahm's water setting up the first responders for a public pasting.

And look - more truth:

• Another City Hall source, who asked to remain anonymous, agreed.
  
  “After the election, they’ll pass a massive property tax increase that’ll cover fire, police and everything else, and people will be taxed to the hilt. That’s the only alternative. They’ve got to set a higher base and tie it to the cost of living [going forward]. Daley should have been doing it a little bit every year, but he didn’t,” the source said.
  
  Even if Emanuel can convince a lame-duck General Assembly to lift the $600 million hammer hanging over Chicago taxpayers during the veto session, pressure to raise property taxes to shore up police and fire pension funds will be exacerbated by the reality of those contracts.
  
  Police officers and firefighters get simple, 1.5 percent cost-of-living adjustments. They don’t get the compounded cost-of-living increases targeted to produce so much of the savings for the Municipal Employees and Laborers pension funds.

Unbelievable how this all sees print now. We knew it years ago. The FOP tried to work out solutions with the city, but were ignored. Paid actuaries told the City it was a fucked-up scheme without constant minute adjustments to the working to keep up with economic uncertainties and realities. Nope. Not an inch of give from Daley and Co. But now everyone (in the media and those reading the media) is discovering what had been known to anyone who paid attention for years - the alarm bells were ringing, the iceberg was spotted, and no one steering the ship made an attempt to turn the wheel.

Father's Day Mass Coverage

A short piece, but a reminder of what many fathers put on the line:

• Sunday marked the second Father’s Day since Chicago Police Sgt. Chuck Mammoser lost his 9-year-old daughter to a rare, degenerative disease last May.
  
  But he joined nearly 200 people Sunday morning at the Gold Star Families Memorial and Park, just east of Soldier Field, for an outdoor Mass to remember fallen officers and their families. Mammoser also was there to honor his late daughter.
  
  “It’s just a great day to be out here,” he said. “To remember everybody lost.”
  
  The Rev. Dan Brandt, a Roman Catholic Priest who is with the department’s Police Chaplains Ministry, celebrated a 30-minute Mass on a sun-soaked morning with a light breeze off Lake Michigan.
  
  “It’s a day to honor our dads and remember the names inscribed on the sacred wall,” he said.
  
  Brandt asked dads in the crowd to stand for a moment of silence near the end of the service. Nearly 100 men rose from lawn chairs to bow their heads.

Remembering all the sacrifices, men and women, but particularly, dads.

No More "Quotas!"

Thank goodness someone finally did something about this:

• Legislation signed Sunday by Gov. Pat Quinn bans Illinois police departments from assigning ticket quotas and evaluating officers based on how many citations they issue.
  
  Quinn, a Democrat, said the new law will allow police to use their judgment in deciding whether to ticket a driver. The law, which applies to local, county and state law enforcement, took effect immediately.
  
  “Law enforcement officers should have discretion on when and where to issue traffic citations and not be forced to ticket motorists to satisfy a quota system,” the governor said in a news release. “This new law will improve safety and working conditions for police officers and prevent motorists from facing unnecessary anxiety when they encounter a police vehicle.”

Now get out there and get some "index" numbers Officers! And remember, if you want to work VRI, you better have the bare minimum activity the bosses tell you to have - you can always choose not to generate the necessary activity, but then you won't be getting any OT. See how that works?

And didn't we always have discretion anyway? We can't think of an instance where we were ordered to write tickets. There were always situations where it was required by law, and others where the ticket was the probable cause for something else, but ordered as a quota? Anyone stupid enough to order that got their cages rattled pretty quick by the powers-that-be. Another useless piece of legislation.

Out of Control...Again

What's with all the misbehavior at Humboldt Park and the surrounding areas lately? Is there some sort of festival going on or something? There seems to be a bunch of guns, gang incidents, people getting shot, people getting hit in traffic. It all seems to be centered around some giant party of some sort.

Didn't they cancel the Southside Irish Parade for a few years because of a bunch of drunk children?

So why is this acceptable in 014?

Oh wait, sorry, we're racist again for even noticing. Our bad.

Safe Passage Conundrum

If you have a program that works, what do you do with it?

• Safe Passage routes made headlines last year, amid those massive school closings and fears over student safety.
  
  With the school year over, a statistic emerges: There were exactly zero serious incidents of violence along the routes.

Congratulations! A massive show of force and neighborhood involvement resulted in a complete reduction in crime during the so-called "Safe Passage" hours. Of course, if you look at the historic crime numbers for the 0600-0900 time frame, you'll find a near zero number anyway. But we won't mention that.

So the question is now this? Does the Department permit Safe Passage to continue? Because guess what? Crime was down, almost non-existent in certain Districts where the police live. So what did McCarthy and Rahm do?

• stripped the police out of those neighborhoods - they claimed you didn't need them where the crime wasn't.

Guess what? There isn't any crime on the Safe Passage routes. Not almost no crime. Zero. So we feel justified in asking, "Why keep the police where they aren't needed?" Property crime has skyrocketed in the districts that lost officers. Districts like 019/023 can't even keep a lid on a district full of mostly happy drunks.

Or would pointing this all out make us racist?

15 Shot in a Single Night

We're headed to the rarefied air of 30 and 40 shot per weekend:

• At least 15 people were shot, one fatally, across the city between mid-day Friday and early Saturday morning, police said.
  
  The most recent incident at about 2:55 a.m. Saturday left four people wounded in Humboldt Park. The four walked into Norwegian American Hospital with gunshot wounds after someone shot them in the 3300 block of West Beach Street, just west of the park and south of North Avenue. Police said the four identified with a gang that rivals one that claims territory where they were shot.

Gangs? Around Humboldt Park? Certainly not during the always peaceful Festival time.

School is out, weather is warm. What could possibly go wrong?

Smart Move - To the Burbs

Here's someone who's going to make some money fulfilling a need that Rahm is actively acting against:

• The Niles Plan Commission and Zoning Board voted in favor of a proposed gun range for the village’s manufacturing district.
  
  Sportsman’s Club and Firearms Training Academy would feature an 11,800 square foot firing range and 2,500 square feet of retail space at 6143 Howard St. The range would also feature secure gun storage, gun classes and would eventually solicit individual shooters and organizations, like Olympic rifle shooting clubs, to use their facilities.

Right on the border of the city, zoned industrial area, none of the City bullshit about "500 feet" from whatever.A full service range, they're even going to assist in training suburban departments who might not have adequate facilities...a "good neighbor" outreach. And Rahm is actively chasing these types of taxpaying endeavors away.

Carmaggedon

Three weekends of hell for north siders coming downtown....or escaping downtown:

• "Carmageddon" was set to begin under a full moon at about 11 p.m. on Friday the 13th.
  
  As that hour approached, steady traffic still flowed along the Kennedy Expressway even as workers prepared to close a downtown section of the road to begin a massive bridge replacement project. As midnight approached, inbound traffic started becoming constricted near the constriction site.
  
  The demolition will require closing the Kennedy's inbound and reversible express lanes from about 1 mile before Ohio Street until the Hubbard’s Cave tunnel this weekend. All inbound traffic will be squeezed into two 15 mph temporary lanes that will be built to accommodate the detour, IDOT said.

Gee, it sure would be nice if there was some sort of alternate thoroughfare. Something that ran through the heart of the city as a viable alternative route....two lanes, both directions, restricted parking access. Something like the boulevards....but those were reduced by a bike lane. Or maybe Ashland and Western Avenues....but those were cut up by more bike lanes and median planters. [UPDATE] And Elston! Someone reminded us that Elston used to be the best kept secret to parallel the Kennedy. Not any more it isn't.

And during Chicago's festival season, too.

Oops - Humorous Outcome

A few people sent us this:

• A burglary defendant who won his freedom because of a jury's mistake lost his life a few hours later when he was stabbed to death in a fight.
  
  The jury in the trial of Bobby Lee Pearson, 37, mistakenly signed a not-guilty form Wednesday, and the flabbergasted judge said he had no choice but to order him to be released from jail because the verdict had already been put on the record.
  
  It was too late when the judge finally learned that the jury was unable to reach a verdict, stalling on an 8-4 vote in favor of guilt. Prosecutors might have had an opportunity to retry Pearson, but by then, changing the verdict form would have exposed Pearson to double jeopardy.
  
  After being released from jail, Pearson went to the home of his sister, Lasandra Jackson, to get some clothing and belongings. Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer said Pearson apparently got into a fight with his sister's boyfriend, 35-year-old Willie Gray.
  
  The two had a history of problems, said Dyer, adding that investigators believe Gray killed Pearson, who was found dead in the street with a chest wound from a knife or gun and a cut on his stomach. Investigators found a steak knife near the body, Dyer said.
  
  Gray was arrested and treated for injuries to his hands before being booked on suspicion of murder, said Dyer, adding that Pearson might still be alive if it weren't for the jury's "mishap." Pearson had a long criminal past, Dyer said

So it's the jury's fault that this guy ended up continuing on his lifelong path of asshole-ery and got himself stabbed to death?For a paperwork error? Sorry, but no. We'll just smile wryly at one of life's little "gotcha!" moments.

Arrest in Teacher's Slaying

The sister of a CPD copper in the wrong place:

• Dominique Hodrick had an ongoing dispute with a man nicknamed “Nookie,” so when Hodrick saw his rival driving in a car on the South Side, he allegedly opened fire.
  
  Hodrick missed “Nookie,” but he shot and killed veteran special education teacher Betty Howard in the chest while she worked her second job at Kale Reality, 735 E. 79th Street, Cook County prosecutors said.
  
  A 58-year-old man who was also working at Kale Reality also suffered a graze wound to his abdomen when the bullets went through the office wall in the May 29th shooting.

Well done to all involved in this heart-breaker of a case and bringing some measure of closure to the family.

Ouch!

You hate to see reports like this - it kind of shows the type of nonsense that Rahm and Garry and even Barry are trying to foist on the American people:

• While announcing that they would not longer give killers the opportunity at glory that comes from having their names mentioned and their photographs aired on television, Sun News also address the extremely low rate of "mass shootings" in America compared to the excruciatingly high rate of murder in gun-controlled Chicago.
  
  According to the Sun News, mass shootings around the world--including the U.S.--are so rare that news agencies make a mistake by seizing on them.
  
  Focusing specifically on the U.S., Sun News reported: "And in the U.S., they account for less than one percent of all gun-related deaths. Far more people have been killed in the bad neighborhoods of Chicago that were killed in all the mass shootings combined."

Wait, you mean that Barry and his soul mate Bloomberg are....lying....when it comes to gun violence?

Well, yeah, pretty much. Get a load of this pile of manure:

• Since the December 2012 shooting in Newtown, CT, there have been at least 74 school shootings in America. How many more before our leaders pass common-sense laws to prevent gun violence and save lives?
  
  Communities all over the country live in fear of gun violence. That’s unacceptable. We should feel secure in sending our children to school — comforted by the knowledge that they’re safe.

Seventy-four school shootings. You think that we'd remember seventy-four shootings since the horror at Newtown. A reporter named Charles C. Johnson thought the same thing, so he did some research - actually, he did a lot of research and debunked 67 of these so-called mass shootings. Among the facts uncovered:

• a drug related shooting "near" a college campus;
• cops chase man with a gun, exchange fire, student wounded by police
• a gang involved student shot herself in the thigh;
• over a dozen suicides Bloomberg calls "mass shootings;"
• disputes over illegal dice games, video games and fist fights;
• domestics among staff that escalate into shooting a spouse;
• gang initiations and drive-bys that injure bystanders;
• at least one incident that was completely made up.

So Bloomberg and his umbrella organizations are using lies and exaggeration to instill the completely false notion that school and "mass" shootings are an epidemic when the fact remains that since 1993, shooting deaths (non-suicide) in the USA have been halved. Of the seven remaining, we're hard pressed to find one that didn't end in short order when the gunman was confronted and/or shot by armed security, police or a concealed carry permit holder.

Rauner up 10 Points

The campaign isn't in full swing yet, but Quinn is starting from behind:

• The election may be nearly five months away, but for now, Republican Bruce Rauner has a solid lead over Gov. Pat Quinn, a new poll shows.
  
  Reboot Illinois, which was founded by hedge fund manager Anne Dias Griffin, commissioned the poll by We Ask America, an independent polling subsidiary of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association.
  
  The poll, which was conducted June 10 and 11 among 1,075 registered voters asked a basic question heading into November: “If the election for Illinois governor were held today, for whom would you vote?”
  
  Rauner received the vote from 47 percent of respondents, campared [sic] to 37 percent for Quinn, with 16 percent saying they're undecided.

16% undecided and a plus/minus of 3 points means Quinn is well within the margin for error and we haven't seen any dirty tricks yet.

Power Vacuum on the West Side

Twenty-seven arrests - some big names among them:

• Twenty-seven people have been charged with selling heroin and crack cocaine on Chicago’s West Side, the U.S. Attorney’s office said Thursday in a news release.
  
  The charges were brought by both state and federal authorities, according to the news release.
  
  Local law enforcement, including U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez and officials from the Chicago Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration planned to hold a 2 p.m. press conference to discuss the case.
  
  The nearly yearlong investigation into the drug market on the West Side resulted in federal charges against 14 people and state charges against 13. Authorities began their arrests this morning.

Quite a few gangs represented or in a position to deal with those arrested, so this will lead to questions of a "power vacuum" occurring on the west side, including parts of 010, 011 and 015. Hopefully, these dope dealers all get lengthy sentences, but in the meantime, be aware ladies and gentlemen.

Where Did They Go?

Anyone see an order assigning the new sergeants to Districts?

Guess Who is Unpopular?

Ben Joravsky in The Reader poking the mayor again:

• I'd like to take a moment to show a little love for Maggie Haberman, a senior political reporter for Politico, who's apparently the first national pundit to make the startling discovery that Chicagoans don't like Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
  
  She wrote a good story with this great headline: "Rahm Emanuel: D.C. hero, Chicago goat." Here, read it for yourself.
  
  This revelation must be jarring to all those national pundits who really, really love Mayor Rahm. They're probably wondering: how could so many Chicagoans be so wrong about Mr. Right?
  
  The pundits' love is so strong that it compels them to write that he is "a full human being, rich and fertile from the inside out."
  
  I'm still wondering how New York Times columnist David Brooks got that baby past the copy desk.
  
  In fact, so many national pundits have crushes on Mayor Rahm that I have created a theorem, which you are free to quote:
  
  The farther you live from Chicago, the more you'll like Mayor Rahm.
  
  The converse is obviously true as well.

Rahm has no reason to like Chicago. He wasn't raised here, barely lived here, he has tons of other people to give him money for political purposes. He has no loyalty to the city. Chicago is a stepping stone, nothing more. The quicker people realize that, the better.

Rahm's Bright Idea - Statewide Relief

This is going to go over well:

• Mayor Rahm Emanuel is lifting the veil a bit on how he intends to deal with the other half of Chicago's pension woes. And the financial crisis for Chicago's police and firefighter retirement plans has been delayed, at least a little.
  
  In a phone interview a day after Gov. Pat Quinn approved a financial restructuring of two of the city's four pension funds, Mr. Emanuel strongly suggested that the solution for the badly underfunded police and firefighter funds lies in legislation that would apply not only to sworn personnel in Chicago but also the suburbs and downstate.

Brilliant.Daley can't keep a lid on spending, burning through money to enrich the connected, the Rahm is going to try to stick everyone else in Illinois with the bill. Look for some push back on this from suburban lawmakers and maybe even another attempt for Illinois to divest itself of Chicago, Cook County.

Most Corrupt - Honorable Mention

Just missed the top three:

• The researchers studied more than 25,000 convictions of public officials for violation of federal corruption laws between 1976 and 2008 as well as patterns in state spending to develop a corruption index that estimates the most and least corrupt states in the union. Based on this method, the most corrupt states are:
  
  1. Mississippi
  2. Louisiana
  3. Tennessee
  4. Illinois
  5. Pennsylvania
  6. Alabama
  7. Alaska
  8. South Dakota
  9. Kentucky
  10. Florida
  
  That these places landed on the list isn’t exactly surprising. Illinois, which has gain notoriety for its high-profile corruption cases in recent years, is paired with states like Mississippi and Louisiana, which are some of the least economically developed in the country. The researchers also found that for 9 out of the 10 of the most corrupt states, overall state spending was higher than in less corrupt states (South Dakota was the only exception). Attacking corruption, the researchers argue, could be a good way to bring down state spending without hurting services that people need.

Link over at Fortune Magazine.

Interesting CompStat Numbers

A liberal mayor + CompStat = shootings through the roof - it's not just a Chicago phenomenon:

• The number of shooting victims has skyrocketed across the city this year — up 43 percent in just the last month — while fewer guns are coming off the streets, NYPD statistics reveal.
  
  Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has repeatedly shifted the focus from shootings to a steep decline in homicides, and claims he is not worried about the gun violence.
  
  But sources told The Post it will only get worse in the hotter summer months, and that the alarming trend is the result of a more “reactive” police force handicapped by the inability to use tactics like stop-and-frisk.
  
  “Cops aren’t putting their hands on anyone,” a source said.
  
  In the last month alone, 129 people were shot, according to the latest CompStat figures, or 43.3 percent more than for the same period last year.
  
  Since January, there has been an overall 13.2 percent increase in shooting victims, while 10.2 percent fewer guns have been recovered compared to 2013.

Not that you can really trust CompStat statistics since they're mostly lies, but it would certainly be interesting to get hold of Chicago stats and plug them into a spreadsheet and compare them to NEw York City over the same 2013/2014 time periods. You might see similar increases in people shot, guns (not) recovered, and who knows what else. The description of the NYPD in survival mode certainly sounds familiar.

Sounds of Silence

"No-snitching" is alive and well:

• One victim was a retired bus driver and the other a talented blues guitarist.
  
  They were shot to death three blocks apart on the morning of Dec. 19, 2013, in what police believe were botched robberies.
  
  Police said they have two suspects in the murders. Both are now behind bars for other crimes. But no one in the South Shore neighborhood, where the shootings happened, will come forward to identify them as the killers.
  
  “We are very close to making arrests,” said Sgt. Daniel Gallagher. “This case is not unsolvable. We’re hoping someone from the community steps up.”

Keep hoping Sarge. We'd love to see it, too, but the odds are against it.

Cantor Out? Hahaha

Amnesty for everyone! DREAMers unite! Immigration "reform" is the way to go!

Oh yeah, and the Tea Party is dead:

• House Majority Leader Eric Cantor became the first person in American history to lose his primary while holding that position. He lost Tuesday night to a poorly-funded GOP opponent in the biggest electoral stunner in several cycles.
  
  College professor David Brat defeated Cantor, 56 percent to 44 percent, with 80 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press.

Brat was outspent 14-1 and still beat the #2 republican in the nation, mostly because Cantor flirted with passing Obama's amnesty-dressed-up-as-reform package. Cantor was primaried out, an unheard of occurrence for a House Majority Leader.

The RINO's on the Right just got a wake-up call, along with much of the political establishment on both sides of the aisle - Obama is poison and even seeming to work with him might lead to electoral doom.

Quinn Signs Pension "Reform"

Covering two of the city pension plans:

• Chicago property owners got a one-year reprieve Monday after Gov. Pat Quinn put aside his political differences with the mayor and signed a Chicago pension reform bill.
  
  The governor asked Mayor Rahm Emanuel to steer clear of a property tax increase and find other revenues to fund the city's five-year, $250 million pension obligation.
  
  Emanuel obliged — at least temporarily.
  
  In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times hours after the bill signing, Emanuel said he has “taken property taxes off the table for the first year,” thanks to a telephone tax increase he called “another tool in our tool box that gives us additional ways to address our obligations.”
  
  The mayor said the additional year would “give us the time to identify other types of resources and revenues” to avoid property tax increases in years two through five. But, he made no promises beyond Year One.

And the initial changes:

• The phone tax bill gave Quinn political cover.
  
  It freed him to sign the bill that increases employee contributions by 29 percent and reduces employee benefits to save the Municipal Employees and Laborers pension funds without wearing the political jacket for a pre-election property tax increase.

The inevitable lawsuit is already underway:

• A coalition of unions says it plans to file a lawsuit challenging the newly-signed law aimed at overhauling two of Chicago's pension systems.
  
  We Are one Chicago is a group of unions that has also challenged the state's pension overhaul. In a statement Monday, the group says the plan addressing laborer and municipal employee pensions is unfair and unconstitutional.

Rahm is rapidly running out of time for the state mandated $600 million balloon pension payment due this fiscal year. We have a feeling that he's going to use that requirement to paint First Responders as solely responsible for the upcoming tax hikes.