Runoff Election

A lot of blame being laid out over the election. Remember, the Machine doesn't like to leave anything to chance - there were 14 candidates because the Machine wanted 14 candidates. Each was targeted at a certain bloc of voters and primed to divide up an increasingly fractured electorate.

And so, Chicago is left with cat-lady Prickwrinkle and Lightfoot. Prickwrinkle is a career Machine politico who has been in government longer than we've been alive (and we aren't exactly young) and Lightfoot is a Machine creation from way back, holding all sorts of jobs and never actually accomplishing anything at any of them.

The question becomes who will do the least damage to the city and the department. This is the biggest issue at the moment and Lightfoot is making the correct noises:

That doesn't make us more or less likely to vote for her - we remember her at OPS and she was baseline incompetent then. She is the sole reason OPS was turned into IPRA and then turned into COPA as some sort of "social justice" agency that doesn't exist to find fact - it exists to second-guess police with the full benefit of hindsight and deliberate misinterpretation of the law.

Everyone needs to pay close attention these coming weeks. Don't rely on us and certainly don't rely on our comment sections - we weed out what we can, but there are trolls sowing misinformation all the time.

We Can't Believe We're Doing This....

But you have to vote in the City Treasurer's race and you have to vote for Aldercreature Jason Ervin's wife:

• Chicago voters will have a choice for a new city treasurer for the first time this century as three candidates vie to replace the retiring incumbent in the first contested treasurer race since 1999.
  
  One of the three hopefuls — state Rep. Melissa Conyears-Ervin, D-Chicago, accountant Peter Gariepy or Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) — will take the place of outgoing Treasurer Kurt Summers, who announced in October he would not seek re-election.
  
  Though the new treasurer will be tasked with managing the city’s escrow and operating fund accounts, controlling the city’s investments and overseeing the city’s pension funds, ideas have been floated that envision more for the office.

Here's the issue:

• Conyears-Ervin said she would undertake a watchdog role that would offer more transparency of city finances.
  
  [...]
  
  Pawar, meanwhile, said he would look to fight income inequality by launching a public bank that would offer low-interest loans to residents looking to start small-businesses, buy homes or refinance their student loans.

Pewar wants to start a "public bank" and guess where he's going to find the millions (or billions) of dollars necessary to finance a bank?

• our pension dollars

This has to be stomped on. Hard. So hard that Pewar's ancestors scream.

Aldercreature Erwin is a straight up jagoff always on the cusp of a federal indictment and we can't say much for Mrs. Erwin putting up with his shit. But Pewar is talking about straight up stealing already ailing pension funds.

Just Something We Heard

Any information on about the 3,000% increase in streetlights being shot out in the Viagra Triangle Tuesday night?

All Right You Jokers

Who was the smart ass who had a stack of moving boxes delivered to former alderasshole Arena's office today?

Election Results

Lightfoot versus Prickwrinkle?

Chicago is doomed if this hold up.

Neither is qualified to run this shit show and both hate the police.

==========

Burke is holding a lead.

Napolitano is beating the Hell out of the carpetbagger up north.

Arena is losing a tight race so far with his opponent topping 50% last time we looked.

Trial Continues

If you're at 26 and California this week or next, make the effort to stop by Room 700 to show some support for the family of Officer Clifton Lewis, killed 29 December 2011 at a side job to help pay for his wedding. This first offender was convicted back in 2017 and got 84 years just for being the getaway driver. There's no reason that this piece of excrement should get anything less and hopefully a lot more.

Police Shooting - South

Officers unharmed at last report:

• A person was shot by a Chicago police officer Tuesday night in the South Shore neighborhood.
  
  At 7:37 p.m., the officer shot the person in the 7400 block of South Bennett, according to preliminary information from Chicago police.
  
  The person, an adult of an unknown gender, was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in serious-to-critical condition, according to Chicago Fire Media Affairs.
  
  No further information was immediately made available.

Stay safe boys and girls.

Chicago Middle Class - Gone

Anyone with half-a-brain and clear seeing eyes knew this:

• Chicago’s middle class, once the backbone of the city, is declining so swiftly that it’s almost gone, and a set of maps from a local university lays that reality bare.
  
  The dynamic stands to affect nearly everything about Chicago going forward, from politics to schools to who will live here.
  
  “It raises a lot of questions as to what kind of city it will be,” said Janet Smith, co-director of the Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement at the University of Illinois at Chicago, which compiled the maps that document Chicago’s shrinking middle class — and an increasingly polarized city — over the past five decades.

Here's the only map that matters:

The red/orange is "poor." The blue is "rich." And the middle ground is disappearing.

"A Lot More Evidence"

Don't give away the store Ed:

• Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson on Monday batted down media reports that the thousands of dollars “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett paid two brothers was actually for personal training and nutrition, not for staging a phony racist and anti-gay attack against him as authorities allege.
  
  Citing unnamed sources, entertainment website TMZ reported over the weekend that a $3,500 check was for the brothers’ help in getting Smollett more physically fit for the filming of a music video.
  
  But in an interview on “Good Morning America” that aired Monday morning, Johnson stuck by police claims that the money was for the brothers’ help in orchestrating the attack early in the morning on Jan. 29.
  
  “They said that he paid them $3,500 with a check,” Johnson told co-host Robin Roberts.
  
  “But did they say what it was for?” Roberts asked.
  
  “Yeah, to carry out this incident,” Johnson replied.

You can already see the media laying the groundwork for Smollet's defense - CPD is incompetent and interpreted all the "evidence" in the worst light possible (as predicted here.)

Special Ed points out:

• “There’s a lot more evidence that hasn’t been presented yet that does not support the version that he gave,” Johnson said. “There’s still a lot of physical evidence, video evidence and testimony that just simply doesn’t support his version of what happened.”

At some point this evidence has to be turned over to Defense Counsel. We guess it's being held back as leverage, possibly for a plea deal down the road. But until that time, expect to see more of this "CPD incompetent, Friends of Trump" bullshit reporting from the coastal media outlets.

Over-Training?

Anyone want to explain why a 14-week training course for new Marine Unit officers is entering it's 40th week? And how this is causing the Unit to operate short (at least) four dive-qualified personnel during the winter months when response times are of the essence?

Does some "merit" pick not know how to swim?

Coming Soon!

To a progressive-run Chicago one day soon:

• Portland police officer Jeff Niiya has been accused of “collusion with right-wing extremist” after exchanging text messages with Joey Gibson, the founder of Patriot Prayer, a group of right-wing provocateurs who mostly demonstrate at leftist gatherings. It’s standard practice for police to communicate with leaders of fringe groups on the right and left, but Niiya’s texts appear to have been overly friendly.
  
  Portland progressives have seized the opportunity to tar the city’s entire police force as sympathetic with right-wing groups at the expense of liberals and leftists. City commissioner and liberal firebrand Jo Ann Hardesty released a statement claiming, without evidence, that “this story simply confirms that . . . there are members of the Portland police force who work in collusion with right-wing extremists.” Progressive activists massed outside City Hall days later, demanding the ouster of police chief Danielle Outlaw.

The inmates are truly running the asylum out west. Local cops have been banned from participating in federal counter-terrorism exercises and other county governments are pulling out of partnership agreements with Portland seeing as how a hostile political environment is endangering the Rights of their own officers

Fetal - By Law

You know the "stay fetal" movement that has been percolating for the past few years? The old timers preaching to the young'uns that to keep your sanity, paycheck and job, the wisest course of action was to disengage from a community that wants only to sue you, take your house, and get multi-million dollar judgements against you? We weren't joking.

Now look what has been introduced in the Illinois legislature (THIS IS NOT A JOKE):

• Short Description: CRIM PRO-QUESTION W/O ARREST
  
  House Sponsors: La Shawn K. Ford
  
  Hearings: Judiciary - Criminal Committee Hearing Feb 26 2019 3:00PM Capitol Building Room 118 Springfield, IL
  
  Synopsis As Introduced
  Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that a peace officer shall not stop any person in a public place based upon an officer's inference from the circumstances that the person is committing, is about to commit, or has committed an offense as defined in the Code. Eliminates a provision requiring an officer to provide the person with a stop receipt that provides the reason for the stop and contains the officer's name and badge number. Makes conforming changes. Effective immediately.

Did you catch that? No, not the part about eliminating the stop receipt. The part where conducting a Terry Stop - the most basic of all police work, defined by the US Supreme Court and recognized nationwide as a lawful police action - is completely disallowed. A receipt isn't necessary any more because ALL STREET STOPS WOULD BE OUTLAWED BY STATUTE.

• you see someone hanging out in a known narcotics hotspot, fitting a given description, engaging in conversation with passersby, exchanging small objects for green slips of paper? No stop allowed;
• you observe someone with a burning piece of rolled up paper on a CTA platform, expelling a whitish vapor from their mouth, and discarding the paper onto the ground? No stop allowed;
• you see someone standing with their hands up in the air, while one or more persons rifles through their pockets, removing phones, wallets, other property? No stop allowed

Your observations as a police office would now be invalid according to LaShawn K. Ford's House Bill 0186. The Terry Stop would be no more. "Fetal" has been written into this bill and has already passed from First Reading to the Rules Committee on to the Judiciary - Criminal Committee and is currently awaiting action in the subcommittee.

Illinois politicians have to be among the stupidest people alive, and LaShawn Ford wins (hands down) the "Too Dumb to Breathe Unassisted" award for 2019.

If police work isn't dead, it will be if this passes. And even if it doesn't pass, guess what the prevailing attitude of the legislature is and which direction it's headed? Save yourself, your job and your freedom.

One More Day

Election Day Tuesday and many have been begging us to make an endorsement or provide some direction.

We don't endorse - we provide a forum (kind of a free-for-all forum) for people to spout their support or denigrate a particular foe.

We will say this much though:

• Prickwrinkle would be the death of Chicago.
• Only two candidates have polled at any level of support where they could beat Prickwrinkle - Daley and Mendoza. 
• Vallas might be the best choice of a crowded and crappy field, but he has no money and (in our opinion), no chance. Plus he's just wishy-washy.
• Same for just about everyone else in the field - no governing experience (aside from Chico and he's a straight up communist), little money, bare name recognition and no actual ideas.

We don't like any of the choices - Daley is another Daley, Mendoza is a poor judge of character (see Herbie), and everyone with a chance is connected to the Machine.

Good luck Chicago - you're going to need it.

R. Kelly Broke?

Being a superstar must not pay as well as it used to:

• Allegations laid out by prosecutors Saturday afternoon painted a picture of Chicago-born R&B superstar R. Kelly as a predator who for more than two decades used his fame to prey on young women and girls — including one girl the singer allegedly met during his 2008 child pornography trial.
  
  Kelly appeared at the Leighton Criminal Court Building — the same courthouse in which he was acquitted of the child pornography charges — wearing a black hoodie and jeans, and a frown that creased his face.
  
  Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr. called the charges presented by prosecutors “disturbing” as he set Kelly’s bail at $1 million during the artist’s first court appearance since turning himself in to Chicago police late Friday.
  
  Kelly failed to pay the $100,000 needed for his release ahead of trial on Saturday night, but could post bond Sunday after spending a second night in custody.

It's hard to liquidate assets and access bank accounts over the weekend we suppose. We're surprised there wasn't some sort of "bond reduction" filing by his crack legal team seeing as how Evans and Dart are so willing to cut everyone and their brother loose on electronic monitoring for all sorts of felonies.

No More 1505 Money?

A unanimous decision by the Supremes:

• The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the Constitution places limits on the ability of states and localities to take and keep cash, cars, houses and other private property used to commit crimes.
  
  The practice, known as civil forfeiture, is a popular way to raise revenue and is easily abused, and it has been the subject of widespread criticism across the political spectrum. The court’s decision will open the door to new legal arguments when the value of the property seized was out of proportion to the crimes involved.
  
  In this case, the court sided with Tyson Timbs, a small-time drug offender in Indiana who pleaded guilty to selling $225 of heroin to undercover police officers. He was sentenced to one year of house arrest and five years of probation, and was ordered to pay $1,200 in fees and fines.
  
  State officials also seized Mr. Timbs’s $42,000 Land Rover, which he had bought with the proceeds of his father’s life insurance policy, saying he had used it to commit crimes.
  
  The Supreme Court has ruled that the Eighth Amendment, which bars “excessive fines,” limits the ability of the federal government to seize property. On Wednesday, in a 9-to-0 decision that united justices on the left and right, the court ruled that the clause also applies to the states under the 14th Amendment, one of the post-Civil War amendments.

This has extreme implications for smaller departments that used forfeiture to fund all sorts of things. LArger departments? We'll see.

UPDATE: title corrected

Swamp Grabs Another Name

This is getting funnier and funnier:

• Just days before Election Day, a political consultant filed a complaint Friday against Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke for her alleged role in a fundraiser for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
  
  Jeffrey Orr, the son of former Cook County Clerk David Orr, filed the complaint with the state’s Judicial Inquiry Board, arguing that public statements by Preckwinkle and one of her advisers “have implicated Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke in potential violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct.” Burke is the wife of embattled 14th Ward Ald. Ed Burke, who is facing attempted extortion charges for allegedly trying to pressure a Burger King franchise owner to give Burke’s private law firm business.
  
  A senior adviser to Preckwinkle previously told the Sun-Times the fundraiser held at the Burkes’ Southwest Side home in January of 2018 was “the result of a friendship between Preckwinkle and Burke’s wife, Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke.”

So Orr, son of Machine Clerk Orr, files a complaint against Machine Judge Anne Burke, wife of Machine aldercreature Burke for Ethics Violations by Machine Board President Prickwrinkle.

MORE POPCORN!

Early Onset Arthritis

Crimesha hasn't been seen in recent days because she's hitting all the big Oscar pre-parties in Hollywood this weekend. She's also seeing a specialist for the arthritic condition affecting her hand.

(PS: it's a joke people (or folks).

This Asshole Again?

If his name was Mel Reynolds, he'd be on his third or fourth prison stint:

• In a bombshell development, R and B superstar R. Kelly was indicted Friday on charges he sexually abused four victims, three of them underage, over a span of a dozen years.
  
  Kelly was charged with abusing the one alleged adult victim in February 2003 — at the same time he was already fighting child pornography charges for filming himself having sex with an underage girl.

In a completely unrelated story, Crimesha Foxxx announced she was recusing herself form this prosecution because she owned at least three albums by the defendant, had seen him in concert twice and was waiting outside the stage door for an autograph about twelve years ago.

UPDATE: A spokeweasel for Crimesha has also related that the song "I Believe I Can Fly" was played on the office's Hold Music service and all States' Attorneys will be unable to prosecute due to this unfortunate incident.

Why So Many Resources?

And here comes the "blame the police" train:

• Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson on Thursday said police treated the Jussie Smollett case just like any other.
  
  But for many Chicagoans, especially those who live in neighborhoods rattled by gun violence, the superintendent’s words ring hollow.
  
  “Why so many resources for this case?” the Rev. Ira Acree asked Thursday. “No one was put in harm’s way. No one was shot. No one was killed.”

Well, you see Rev, there's money involved. And optics. And people pushing an agenda....many agendas actually - white, racist, Trump supporters bashing a gay black Hollywood type. That sells headlines and generates advertising dollars for democratic candidates to keep their voting blocs angry and donating.

A dead black kid killed by black kids selling dope or caught in the crossfire of warring black gangs? That is assumed by many people of all stripes to be business-as-usual and unworthy of reporting, investigating, solving. The "community's" refusal to assist in catching perpetrators doesn't help either.

And that's truly sad, because the innocent victims, of which there are a few, deserve the chance to grow up, get an education, be gainfully employed, and break the cycle by doing better than their parents did. You know where you find most of those kids nowadays? Not on the west and south sides for sure.

Guess what Smollet's defense is going to be? Racist police fucked up the investigation and interpreted the mountains of evidence in a way that reflected badly on Smollet because they're Trump supporters.

Which will surprise no one.

Here a Tax, There a Tax

Jay-Bee the Hutt is staying true to his democrat roots:

• For more than two years, Chicagoans have struggled with a nagging decision at grocery stores and other retailers – pay 7 cents for a disposable bag, or somehow do without.
  
  Now, if Gov. J.B. Pritzker has his way, shoppers across the state will face a similar choice.
  
  In his inaugural budget, Pritzker has proposed a 5-cent tax on all plastic bags used at checkout in Illinois. The goal is to reduce waste and raise revenue.

Unless Chicago is exempted from the tax (home rules stuff), Chicago shoppers would be saddled with a twelve-cent bag tax. That's enough to drive some shoppers to the suburbs.

Daley v Prickwrinkle?

So an e-mailer sent us an informal survey he took of coppers (click for larger version):

Unscientific, but basically along the lines of what we hear at work and on the blog.

Here's someone who studies the political scene for a living:

• Here is a current snapshot: It's all about "pockets," which means capturing 25 to 30 percent in one or more geographic, gender, ideological or racial demographic. The political expectancy is that Preckwinkle has broken the 20 percent barrier, but that her ceiling is 21 to 22 percent. Bunched at 10 to 12 percent are Daley, Willie Wilson and Susana Mendoza, with the first two on an upswing, Daley peaking at 15 to 16 percent, and Mendoza stalling. African-American turnout will be about 30 to 33 percent, and Wilson is taking votes away from Preckwinkle. Mendoza was thought to be 2019's perfect practitioner of "identity" politics ­- young, female and Hispanic. But she has some odious connections, and Hispanic turnout will be anemic.
  
  The third tier, bunched around 7 to 9 percent, consists of Lori Lightfoot, Gery Chico and Jerry Joyce. Chico blew cash on early TV ads, got some traction, but peaked too soon. Paul Vallas attempted to position himself as everybody's second- or third-choice, but that is absurd when 20 to 25 percent of the voters don't even have a first choice. And the two biggest fizzles have been former CPD superintendent Garry McCarthy and Amara Enyia, who had the fringes open to them, and bungled it. Neither will break 3 percent.

An interesting read and not far off from what we expect.

He also has a favorable view for 41st Ward Alderman Napolitano winning handily.

Bio Hazard Anyone?

So this happened the other day:

• A homeless man was shot to death Monday afternoon at "Tent City," an encampment that lies on state-supported property in the South Loop, state police said.
  
  The shooting happened about 4:45 p.m. at a "grassy embankment" in the 1000 block of South Desplaines Street, Illinois State Police said in a statement.

Now homeless "advocates" are worried the camp might be disbanded:

• Advocates for the homeless community are concerned that a planned street cleaning scheduled for next week at the site of a “Tent City” in the South Loop could lead to the shut down of the encampment, which lies on state-supported property.
  
  Attorney Diane O’Connell, of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, said she fears that the street cleaning — which comes after a shooting on the property — could be used to force the homeless population out of the grassy embankment along the expressway near the 700 block of West Taylor.

Have the "advocates" been by the encampment lately? The Fire Department showed up the other day and took at the propane heaters after one exploded (click for larger version):

CFD was worried about sympathetic detonations of the other cylinders. But the big story that the Sun Times didn't even touch on was the complete lack of running water, zero sanitation facilities, overflowing buckets of human waste and a burgeoning rat population. If it was warmer, the Los Angeles typhus outbreak would be completely overshadowed by something resembling The Plague in the Dan Ryan encampment. The "street cleaning" isn't so much a Streets and Sanitation effort as it is going to be a decontamination operation of a bio-hazardous dump.

Who the Hell lets people camp out on the highway embankments?

Freedom of What Now?

We missed this yesterday in the "Nice Bail Evans" post:

• “Besides the fact that there is language used that most would consider to be bad, there were no threats,” [defense attorney] Saken told Judge David Navarro.
  
  Prosecutors said [asshole] Baylock has no adult criminal background, but noted he had been charged with unlawful use of a weapon twice in 2015. Both cases were heard in Cook County Juvenile Court.
  
  Saken said Baylock turned himself in to police Thursday afternoon and asked Judge Navarro to release Baylock on a personal recognizance bond.
  
  “There is the possibility of an argument for free speech,” Navarro said, before noting that the guns wouldn’t have to be real for Baylock to be charged with threatening the officer. And, Baylock had faced charges in the past for incidents that did involve “real guns,” Navarro said.

Freedom of speech? While being armed with guns? Threatening to follow an officer, shoot the officer, kill the officer?

Pardon our skepticism, but those sound vaguely like "acts of furtherance in the commission of a crime." We're going to have to try this on a judge and see how it plays out the day after we retire.

Nice Bridge Rahm

Only the best for taxpayer dollars:

• Less than two months after the first section of the Navy Pier Flyover opened along the lakefront, the long-delayed pedestrian and bicycle bridge already is showing surprising signs of wear and tear.
  
  The much-anticipated project has taken longer to build than the Golden Gate Bridge, and it’s still not finished. But the section that opened in December already is showing signs of trouble before the rest of the project is completed.
  
  A shiny new bridge that lifts cyclists and runners over traffic on Grand Avenue and Illinois Street opened a few days before Christmas.
  
  Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the project would “stand the test of time,” but less than two months later, sections of the trail have cracked, markers denoting the different sections for runners and cyclists have faded, lane dividers are missing, and rusted nails are protruding in spots.

Again, who is inspecting bridges? Who is inspecting newly constructed bridges?

And who is collecting paychecks for not doing it?

Charges Filed

No, not on Smolett - that is sooooooo yesterday. No, we're talking about Special Ed filing charges against "unknown officers:"

• The Superintendent has pulled CR number in regards to the continual leaks of investigation surrounding Smolett case. He is pissed off with leaks and that victims attorney are no longer cooperating with CPD but going directly to CCSA offices at 26 & Cal.
  
  Attorneys for Alleged victim cite reasons for this is due to CPD has a major confidentiality problem?
  
  I say it’s called transparency and competence in job.
  
  But what do I know with 30 years of service?

It was obvious to any cop worthy of the title (no Special Ed, not you) that there was going to be a political cover-up from the beginning. But the "leaks" kept a couple reporters in the loop and a blog (CWB) who weren't willing to let "business as usual" bury this bit of Hollywood slander because real people got hurt and real reputations got damaged and real resources got wasted instead of being spent on real victims.

Quite frankly, we're happy that some people finally found a line they weren't willing to cross for the political class and were willing to embarrass Rahm, Special Ed, Crimesha, and every other pandering asshole who bow down to the cult of victimhood.

Perhaps this can become a trend? Judging by Special Ed's history of "merit" picks, especially for captain, he isn't going to catch anyone leaking to reporters any time soon.

Anita Throws Shade

The former States Attorney isn't impressed by her successor:

Anita was, in many cases, a buffer for the Machine. Part of that means stepping into the line of fire when politically necessary. Crimesha can't even do that.

And her excuse for recusal evolved yesterday:

• Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx recused herself last week from the investigation into a reported attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett “out of an abundance of caution” because she spoke to one of his relatives after it was reported and acted as a go-between with Chicago police, one of Foxx’s aides told the Tribune on Wednesday.
  
  The disclosure of Foxx’s reason for the recusal comes nearly 24 hours after her office unexpectedly announced she would be sitting out the case. Foxx’s decision prompted backlash on social media, including from her predecessor, whom she defeated in the 2016 election.

So what? We can't get felony approval for anything without finding twenty witnesses, a dozen surveillance cameras, a victim interview, the offender's mother's statement AND a confession on video.....and even then, it's probably going to be a C.I. until such time as God himself descends from Heaven to declare "This asshole is GUILTY and has forfeited his eternal reward."

Crimesha could have said she was actually doing her job and interviewing a potential witness.

Toke Up and Place Your Bets!

A glimpse into where Illinois is headed:

• Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker unveiled his first annual budget proposal amid an estimated $3.2 billion deficit.
  
  The Democrat addressed a joint session of the General Assembly on Wednesday with his plans for state spending in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
  
  His administration this month estimated that without action, the state could be in a $3 billion hole in the spring of 2020.
  
  Pritzker campaigned on a progressive income tax and legalizing recreational marijuana. But the graduated income tax would have to be voted on and that couldn't happen until 2020.

Vice taxes only serve to (A) change behavior, (B) travel farther to get what they need cheaper or (C) create a black market for the product. Examples include

• Shortshanks' water tax - suburban warehouse stores saw an explosion of business while city stores lost tons of money;
• Prickwrinkle's soda tax - the associated loss of sales taxes for people shopping outside of Cook County led to a repeal of the tax;
• Prickwrinkle's bullet tax - suburan Cook County sporting good stores saw such a drop off in ammo sales, they stopped carrying it at a dozen stores that we know of. Many people we know travel out of county (and out of state) to buy bulk ammo now

Sport betting might be a good thing, if done properly - and that means not by the government. But it better get done quickly, or it'll go the way of a Chicago casino, which is to say, "no where."

We are not confident.

This is Legal?

staIt's not "double dipping" technically, but it's certainly shady:

• Gov. J.B. Pritzker pledged that he would be transparent about using his personal fortune to double the state salaries of his top aides in the governor's office, but the billionaire has yet to release payroll records for those employees.
  
  Before taking office, Pritzker announced that he would supplement the taxpayer-funded salaries of key employees with his own money. For instance, the Center for Illinois Politics reported that half of Pritzker’s chief of staff’s nearly $300,000 salary would come from taxpayers and the other half from Pritzker’s East Jackson Street LLC.

And the obvious question:

• Pritzker's use of private money to pay state employees has raised some ethical questions, including about where loyalties lie, with taxpayers or the billionaire....

Because if you don't do exactly what JB the Hutt wants, you lose at least half of your "salary" and quite possibly, the entire job if you aren't an actual government employee.

It reeks of a narco-state template where the cops are getting paid by the government AND the cartels and no one knows where their loyalties lie - actually, everyone knows exactly where they lie, and it isn't with the government supposedly paying their salaries.

Nice Bail Evans

Have we told you that you suck balls lately?

• Bail was set at $10,000 Friday for a 20-year-old man charged after he was allegedly seen holding guns and threatening to kill a Chicago police officer last month in a viral Facebook Live video.
  
  Police were monitoring the Facebook account of Tavon Baylock when he began streaming a live video on Jan. 23 that showed himself and two others in the car driving alongside a police SUV in the 9500 block of South Halsted Street, according to Cook County prosecutors.
  
  The video was later posted to the Facebook account Chicago Code BLUE and has been viewed more than two million times.
  
  In the video, Baylock can been seen holding what appear to be two semiautomatic handguns in his lap as the officer is seen driving in a marked SUV alongside Baylock’s car, prosecutors said.

Anyone have a comparison to bail for Threats to Public Officials when the victim is an adercreature? Or a judge?

Open Casting Call

So this is happening today:

Are they casting for this part?

• Scenes featuring Jussie Smollett on the TV show “Empire” have been drastically cut amid the apparent unraveling of his tale about being the victim of a hate attack, according to reports Tuesday.
  
  The actor, who plays singer-songwriter Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox show, was supposed to have nine scenes and a big musical performance in the second-to-last episode of Season 5, production sources told TMZ.
  
  But five scenes and the musical number have been axed, the site reported.

So all those denials by the Production Company that they weren't cutting Jussie's screen time - they were lying before? Or they're lying now? Or it's a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Crimesha Recuses?

Without explanation?

• Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx recused herself from the investigation into the alleged attack into "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett.
  
  First Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Magats will be the acting state's attorney for the matter, a spokesperson said in an emailed statement Tuesday. No further explanation was given as to why Foxx recused herself.
  
  "Out of an abundance of caution, the decision to recuse herself was made to address potential questions of impartiality based upon familiarity with potential witnesses in the case," the spokesperson said in an email.

That's a pretty piss-poor excuse. Were there political fundraisers held with these "potential witnesses" or what? We'd say taxpayers are getting screwed paying for both unwarranted police overtime to investigate a fraud AND paying a States Attorney who can't do her job because of "conflicts."

Rumors of Grand Jury testimony from the accomplices yesterday, including that (as our readers and we speculated) Smollett cause the previously mentioned threatening letter to be produced/created as part of his ongoing bullshit drama.

This is a Really Really Dumb Idea

Who got the connected contract for this disaster?

• The CTA will be adding specialty vending machines that will offer food, phone charging services and even photos starting this spring, according to officials.
  
  At many stops on the CTA Red Line, people will be able to rent or buy cellphone charging battery packs from 35 MobileQube kiosks. Farmer’s Fridge food vending machines will be installed at four stops, offering salads, soups, sandwiches and snacks. A photo booth where people can buy photos for visas or passports, or just for fun, will be installed at the Chicago Red Line station.

If you surf assorted social media sites following a mugging, you can find all sorts of videos of yourself and your companions cowering after being relieved of your phone, wallet and other valuables....and it's free. Or maybe you'll be lucky enough to encounter this fools just funnin' on the Dan Ryan/87th Street stop:

• click here to see video of teen hijinx

How soon will a photo booth be joining that garbage can on the highway?

10-1 Benefit

These are the guys that Corp Counsel is trying to fire for mixing up the locations of two pieces of evidence - a simple mistake that the FOP wrote about:

• A move to separate two of the city’s best officers on baseless allegations that they lied about an arrest could have drastic fallout for Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s relationship with Chicago Police Officers.
  
  The possible move by the mayor’s Corporation Counsel to fire Officers John Wrigley and Jack O’Keefe for a 2013 arrest that netted a submachine gun, a pistol and a cache of dope from a career gang member comes in the wake of other decisions that have framed officers for doing legitimate police work.
  
  In their trial testimony, Wrigley and O’Keefe may have confused the location of two items only a few feet apart at the crime scene. That’s it. That is apparently enough to now get an officer fired from the CPD.

Read it all, then buy a ticket or a raffle chance.

(comments closed here - informational post only)

"Experts"

An irritated lieutenant sent us an e-mail concerning the ten names sent for pre-Captain training:

• 9 of the 10 names have seniority dates of 2016 - the other one in 2015. 4 in March 2016, 1 in June 2016, 4 in December 2016.
  
  Only 4 did significant time in patrol.
  
  At three years I was just getting a good handle on what the job of lieutenant entailed, and these 9 are so expert that they jump ahead of dozens of better qualified candidates.
  
  Yeah yeah yeah - it's the CPD, I shouldn't be surprised. but after getting two promotions on my own.......ah fuck it.

"Qualified" is a dirty word in the CPD, along with "accountability" and "competence."

Besides, where else are we going to get the next generation of incompetency if we don't promote unqualified hacks?

ISP Admits Fault

This isn't a slam at troopers (who do a near impossible jobs riding 99 on the highways), but rather their administrative structure that is supposedly enforcing a plethora of laws that keep citizens safe:

• Illinois State Police acknowledged Monday that the agency wrongly issued a gun license to the shooter in the Aurora warehouse murders, but in a detailed statement the agency also suggested that the Aurora Police Department may have failed to do its part to ensure the man no longer owned a weapon.
  
  According to state records, Gary Martin applied for a firearm owner’s identification card on Jan. 17, 2014. He provided his name and birth date for a background check, and falsely answered “no” when asked if he had ever been convicted of a felony.
  
  A records search only returned Martin’s criminal history in Illinois, a series of minor infractions that did not disqualify him from owning a gun. The screening process failed to detect a mid-1990s felony conviction for aggravated assault in Mississippi for which he served five years in prison and was released in 1997.

Now imagine these incompetent bureaucrats attempting to locate a few million guns in Illinois (along with tens of millions of magazines and more than a few billion rounds or ammo) once Jay-Bee the Hutt and his anti-gun agenda get rolling.

As noted in the comments a day or so ago, the ISP bureaucracy can't  even keep up with renewing lawful gun owners FOID cards. If they failed once, they're going to fail tens of dozens of other times. And if saddled with some half-assed gun registration/confiscation scheme, they are not only going to fail miserably, they are going to endanger cops.

Rahm Screws New Mayor

Rahm is like a virus - a gift that keeps on giving:

• Rahm Emanuel’s mayoral reign ends in May, but thanks to contracts he’s extended to many key agency heads, whoever replaces Emanuel will be stuck with them for years to come — or pay handsomely for the privilege of making new appointments.
  
  A clean sweep of the heads of the Chicago Park District, City Colleges of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Housing Authority would cost taxpayers at least $820,000 in golden parachute salaries — and more for benefits — in addition to the salaries for the new appointees. That’s according to an analysis of those contracts by the Chicago Sun-Times.
  
  Michael P. Kelly took the helm of Chicago’s parks in 2011, among the first agency heads Emanuel tapped after he was elected. Yet Kelly didn’t sign his first contract with the Park District until December — and it lasts until at least Dec. 31, 2022

Imagine being the new guy or gal and not being able to appoint the heads of your departments without costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars that are in short supply. How does this crap get by the City Council? Oh wait, they're corrupt tools, too.

Police Shooting - 010

So this happened in 010 last night:

• A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer Saturday night in the Lawndale neighborhood on the Southwest Side.
  
  About 8:30 p.m., the boy, identified as Michael Elam, was shot during an “armed confrontation” after he got out of a car that crashed during a police pursuit in the 2100 block of South Keeler, according to authorities.
  
  Officers had tried to pull the car over prior to the shooting, but the driver refused to stop and later struck a parked vehicle and a curb, Chicago police said. Elam was shot during an ensuing confrontation when he was seen running from the crash and holding a gun.

The Sun Times helpfully provides a picture of a gun recovered at the scene:

And the dead asshole provides a picture of himself holding the exact same gun from his social media page! (zoom in to see the windowed extended magazine)

Poor kid suffered from arthritis, too. All we can say tonight is thank goodness for stupid people (or folks).

Paid and Rehearsed

So is he still being treated as a "victim" Ed?

• Jussie Smollett paid two brothers to stage an attack against him, directed them to buy items used in the alleged assault and actually rehearsed it with them, sources say.
  
  Sources say at least one of the brothers bought the rope used in the incident at Smollett’s request. The sources also say the “Empire” actor paid for the rope, which was purchased at the Crafty Beaver Hardware Store in the Ravenswood neighborhood the weekend of Jan. 25.
  
  The brothers, who were questioned by police this week before being released, were paid $3,500 before leaving for Nigeria and were promised an additional $500 upon their return.
  
  They left for Nigeria later in the day on Jan. 29, after the attack.
  
  Sources said one of the brothers held the rope and poured bleach while the other wore a plain red hat and yelled slurs at Smollett.
  
  The sources say the red hat was bought at an Uptown beauty supply store and that the attack was supposed to happen before Jan. 29. The brothers told detectives the three men rehearsed the attack days prior to it happening.

This would be hilarious if it hadn't cost taxpayers untold tens of thousands of dollars and short-changed investigations of actual crimes....like one-year-old kids getting shot in the head. That crime hasn't had even a quarter of the manpower assigned that this hoax did.

Good job by the Detectives. We're thinking you aren't going to get any public recognition for going above and beyond for this case though.

Hi Dave!

This is why no one likes multiple "merit" idiots:

• OT: Capt. D. Harris is in 015 the other day and follows a po around who was down on rifle training. Upon return he had to switch cars due to bad breaks, thus move his gear from one vehicle to another. The Capt. complains to the 3rd watch Lt, wondering why he was moving bags around from squad car to squad car, and then questions of the officer is a “Dope Dealer.” The Officer got wind of what the captain said and obtained a CR# on the captain. That kind of ignorant statement can ruin a solid career. I’m glad that the officer is holding his feet to the fire. Now inspectors are in 015 for retaliation.

This is the guy who promised to have the blog shut down while he was at Media Affairs.

You'd think a guy who couldn't get along with Escamerit would have had some sort of fan base in 025, but ol' Dave alienated everyone there (like he did at Media Affairs) as badly as Tony, all while bad-mouthing Tony eight days a week. No wonder Dave got shifted to the the inspectors. This gruesome two-some ruined 025 for many years to come. Hopefully the officer gets a sizable damage award.

Federal Law Violation?

So now that the two "suspects" have been released, are they cooperating witnesses or co-conspirators? According to numerous people (who also seem to be in contact with the CWB blog - see link on the right) the evidence of a hoax is stacking up.

Supposedly, detectives have located the source of the clothesline and the Lyft driver involved. political pressure is being brought to bear (graphic from CWB blog):

Because if Crimesha doesn't have a confession, the case is going nowhere. But was we hinted yesterday, it might be out of Crimesha's hands shortly. Numerous readers sent us the Search Warrant receipt that had been circulating around Twitter, Facebook and (again) the CWB blog that has done incredible amounts of reporting. Check this out (click for larger version):

Stamps. Bleach. Proof of residence. But right on Line One is what interests us....or rather, what might finally bring the whole mess to the FBI:

• Magazine on bird cage

The warrant already lists Proof of Residency farther down the receipt. Why seize a magazine? Is this the magazine that might have all the letters cut out of it for the mail threat that was sent from a south side post office to the studio about a month ago? It's hard to believe that someone would keep that around afterwards, but everyone knows the feds take a very dim view of using the Post Office for anything illegal.

We can only hope.

Why Did He Have a Gun?

In yet another quantifiable demonstration (quantified by five dead innocents and five wounded police officers) of the failure of god-knows-how-many gun "laws" that don't do a single thing to protect citizens of Illinois, the media reports this:

• Court records show Martin was convicted of aggravated assault in the stabbing of a woman in Mississippi in 1995. He’d also been arrested six times previously by Aurora police, most recently in 2008 for violating an order of protection, Ziman revealed Saturday.
  
  Ziman said the assault conviction might not have appeared on a criminal background check when Martin applied and was approved in January 2014 for a Firearm Owners Identification card. In March of that year, Martin applied to buy a handgun from an Aurora gun dealer, and he was approved within five days.
  
  Five days after that, Martin applied for a concealed carry permit. When Martin’s felony conviction was discovered during the background check for that license, his application was denied and his FOID card was revoked. However, his Smith and Wesson handgun — the same weapon used in Friday’s shooting — was never confiscated.

Jay-Bee "BJ" the Hutt has already seen a couple of Confiscation Laws proposed in Springfield (and don't doubt for a second that he will sign anything Madigan gets passed) that won't fix a damn thing.

Per Mile Tax

Remember when Jay-Bee "BJ" the Hutt said he wasn't going to propose a per-mile tax during the campaign? He just had someone else do it:

• Bill Status of HB2864
  
  House Sponsors
  Rep. Marcus C. Evans, Jr.
  
  Amends the Motor Fuel Tax Law. Creates the per-mile road usage charge pilot program. Provides that the registered owner of a motor vehicle that is approved to participate in the program shall, in lieu of the taxes imposed under the Motor Fuel Tax Law, pay a per-mile road usage charge for metered use by the subject vehicle of the highways in this State. Provides that the per-mile road usage charge is $0.021 per mile. Effective immediately.

Two-and-one-tenth cents per mile?

And pardon our disbelief, but this would repeal the Motor Fuel Tax Law in its entirety? How are they going to register out-of-state miles since we spend a lot of time outside this hellhole on our days off?

Looks like we'll be driving to work in reverse as much as possible.

Five Cops Wounded in Aurora

Running toward gunfire:

• Six people, including a gunman, died in a mass shooting at a manufacturing firm Friday afternoon, and five officers were struck by gunfire, officials said.
  
  Authorities confirmed the shooter, Gary Martin, 45, was killed in a shootout with police. Police believe he was an employee at Henry Pratt Co. in the industrial park in the Chicago suburb, and said they did not know the motive.

Five victims didn't make it, but many others were saved by the police response.

God bless the victims, and best wishes for a speedy recovery of all the wounded, officers and workers.

Captains Made

There was a Captain Eligibility List that came out this past week. It's over one hundred names and it simply a list of those who applied and were deemed "qualified" to become Captains.

The Department, of course, immediately promoted ten of the least qualified as payoffs for certain political favors:

• BARZ, Michael -- Unit 010
  BULNES, Migdalia -- Unit 004
  CALDERON, Gilberto -- Unit 011
  MUHAMMAD, Rahman -- Unit 620
  MURPHY, Michael -- Unit 124
  PARHAM Andre -- Unit 121
  STEVENS, Jill -- Unit 024/136
  WHITE, Glenn -- Unit 051
  WINES, Patrina -- Unit 005/111
  WISER, Ricahrd -- Unit 005/181

One is on his fourth bite at the "merit" apple, one has spent less time on the street than any PPO in history, one has turned his participation in the IAD cover-up of the Lieutenant Test Scandal into his second promotion in less than three years.

Remember, earned, not given. Now go get some numbers for these "leaders."

Story Falls Apart

As everyone knew it would:

• Chicago police confirmed Thursday that detectives are talking to two persons of interest in connection with the alleged attack on "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett.
  
  Multiple sources have told ABC7 Eyewitness News that police are investigating whether Smollett and the two men staged the attack allegedly because Smollett was being written off of "Empire."
  
  A source familiar with the investigation told the ABC7 I-Team that Smollett failed to appear for an interview with detectives earlier Thursday, but has since spoken with police.

But the most useless superintendent in history continues the charade:

• Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson contacted ABC7 to say they are continuing to treat Smollett as a victim and the investigation remains ongoing.

Just when you thought Special Ed couldn't sink any lower, he finds a shovel in the basement of the ManHole and starts to dig.

Does anyone have a picture of the Search Warrant copy left behind? One media outlet had it and broadcast it. We're told that the list of items being sought/seized has one rather interesting item that could spell big problems for Smollett and his accomplices.

Washington DC Memorial Guide

We've been having issues with Scribd.com where we usually host the annual National Law Enforcement Memorial Guide put together by retired Sergeant Al Pantek.

The Guide outlines directions, accommodations, points of interest, a schedule of events....pretty much everything you would need to have an memorable experience in Washington DC for the most somber of events.

Chicago is over-represented this year with four names being added to the National Memorial.

Since we can't seem to get the entire guide published as in past years, we have been provided with this helpful link to another site that is hosting the document. It opens as a .pdf file and is easily downloadable there. It is an obvious labor of love by Al and a priceless asset to your visit, complete with many color pictures and maps.

Get the guide and make your plans early.

Click the link and either download the Guide to your device or save it to print it up later.

Lieutenant List

Once again, an amazing class of .... seven?

And those "merit" picks, wow:

• in the Personnel Concerns program;
• numerous open CR's - one with a rending recommendation of fifteen days for losing his gun in a public restroom;
• an EEOC beef from a female civilian in Unit 123

Who the fuck is recommending this idiot and who in god's name is approving him as "qualified" for anything? Oh...Barb West...never mind.

Corky Corky Corky

This asswipe:

Hey Corky, how's Carlyle doing? Still sucking prisoner dick? Might be good practice when he gets sent up for rape, right? There are consequences when you go to prison after all.

Go play in traffic you piece of shit.

How Much Money Wasted?

Amazon announced that they weren't building a $2.8 billion headquarters in New York after all, meaning 25,000 jobs fall by the wayside along with billions of dollars in tax revenue.

Anyone in the Chicago media asking how much did Rahm wasted courting these people? Yeah, we didn't think so.

And did everyone see how much Amazon is paying in taxes for 2018, on profits of $11 billion?

• Same as last year - zero.

Actually, that's not quite true. They filed for and will receive a rebate of $129 million, making their effective tax rate negative 1%.

Clearance Rate UP!

After this fine bit of detective work, a homicide was cleared:

• Notification Date/Time: 14-FEB-2019 12:57
  
  Occurrence Address:7055 W HIGGINS AVE,CHICAGO,IL
  District: 016
  
  IUCR Code: HOMICIDE FIRST DEGREE MURDER
  
  Summary: RD# E66-294110
  
  UPDATE: Command Channel review has been completed and approved by Deputy Chief JONES.
  
  On 17 Sep 1966, Lawrence STUBITSCH was shot by Richard DE ANGELO during an altercation outside of the Bistro Lounge. Richard FERRARO was also shot during this incident. STUBITSCH was transported to Resurrection Hospital where he expired from his injury. All involved parties were identified as members of the Chicago Outfit's Grand Ave/26th St crew, and refused to cooperate with the police investigation. The facts of the incident came to light during the FBI's "Operation Family Secrets" investigation.
  
  DE ANGELO passed away on 27 Jul 2007. Based upon the death of the identified offender, this case will be classified EXCEPTIONALLY CLEARED/CLOSED- DEATH OF OFFENDER.

Who said it has to be a timely clearance?

JVD Attacked in Prison

Just after being shipped out to Connecticut:

• Former Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who was convicted of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald, has been moved out of an Illinois prison and taken to Connecticut.
  
  Van Dyke, 40, is in the low security Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Conn., about an hour outside of New York City, as he serves his six-year and nine-month sentence for the fatal shooting.
  
  Those close to Van Dyke said he was beaten up at the Connecticut facility. Sources said the beating happened within three hours of him arriving at the facility. No further information was immediately provided on the incident.

So where are all the "prison reform" advocates now, seeing as how an inmate was beaten?

NYPD Tragedy

A friendly-fire incident:

• A New York City police detective was shot and killed by friendly fire Tuesday night while responding to a report of a gunpoint robbery at a cellphone store, Commissioner James O'Neill said.
  
  "This appears to be an absolutely tragic case of friendly fire," an emotional O'Neill said at a late-night news conference.
  
  Det. Brian Simonsen, 42, was struck in the chest as multiple officers fired on the suspect at a T-Mobile store in Queens, O'Neill said. Simonsen, a 19-year NYPD veteran, was put in a squad car and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
  
  Sgt. Matthew Gorman was shot in the leg, O'Neill said. A passerby stopped and drove him to the hospital in his car. He is in stable condition.
  
  The suspect, a 27-year-old man with an extensive criminal record, was armed with an imitation firearm, O'Neill said. He was wounded and is hospitalized in stable condition.
  
  "Make no mistake about it, friendly fire aside, it is because of the actions of the suspect that Det. Simonsen is dead," O'Neill said.

We don't know yet what charges the arrestee is facing in New York, but we know what he wouldn't be facing if this happened here in Crimesha's Cook County.

Deepest sympathies to the NYPD - we can't imagine what you are going through at this moment.

FOP Demands Special Prosecutor

An interesting idea.....if it happens:

• The labor union that represents Chicago’s beat cops is striking back at what it believes is a failure of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to prosecute crimes committed against officers in the line of duty.
  
  Leaders of FOP Lodge #7 told Foxx in a letter this week that the union will file a motion for a special prosecutor “in each and every case where you refuse, drop, or diminish charges when our members are the victims.”
  
  Among the State’s Attorney’s decisions that the union said demonstrate “a disregard for the safety of police officers or an apparent hostility toward them” was a dismissal of charges against an HIV-positive individual who bit a cop at a demonstration; a reduction in charges from felony to misdemeanor for a driver who “recklessly crossed multiple lanes of traffic” to strike and kill an off-duty officer; and a failure to approve felony charges against a man who allegedly issued death threats against police officers, police families, and public officials during the trial of Jason Van Dyke, the former Chicago cop who was convicted of murdering Laquan McDonald.

And let's not forget the two officers at Marshall High School who suffered bites, a broken knee and being dragged down the stairs, and who are now being hung out to dry. There are plenty more examples - cops are not below the law simply because they are cops.

The Libtardedness is Stong Here

For allegedly being among the smartest people around, the University of Chicago sure is full of dumbasses:

• On Monday, Chicago police apprehended several suspects involved in an armed robbery who had fled from officers onto the University of Chicago’s campus.
  
  The crisis, which prompted an alert from the university urging the campus community to shelter in place, also prompted some students to go into hysterics on social media.
  
  They weren’t worried about the dangers of gun violence—no, they were furious at police.
  
  From calling them “pigs” to demanding their disarmament, some students expressed fury at both the Chicago and University of Chicago police forces, who had come to protect and serve.

These were armed individuals...you know, armed with guns, robbing people and attempting to hide among the big brains at what was once considered one of the top universities in the world. No one was shot, beaten, tasered or whatever outrages the leftists nowadays. We heard that harsh language wasn't even used and officers made sure their shoes were tied before entering campus buildings.

And these assholes were ungrateful to say the least. And guess what the snowflakes did after outsiders noticed their stupidity?

• Original tweets by the students embedded in this article were removed after the students switched their accounts from public to private and contacted The College Fix regarding harassment on their social media platforms. The Fix retained their original comments, however.

They whined about being called out on their bullshit. Is there like a special farm where idiots like these are raised and then loosed upon the world?

Paging Mr. Weinstein

The fake hate crime saga has taken another interesting turn - Smollett has hired a PR Firm. Guess who is among their clients?

• The latest out of Chicago regarding the investigation into the alleged attack against actor Jussie Smollet is that he’s hired the PR firm of Sunshine Sachs to deal with the media
  
  If this name sounds familiar, it should: The firm handled PR for Harvey Weinstein

Seriously Ed, stop beating around the bush. This has gone on far too long. Just close it or charge this asshole.

Land of Drinkin'

It's a catchy title for sure:

• Weeks after Chicago claimed the crown for most breweries in the nation, the news gets even better: Illinois is home to some of the cheapest beer prices in the U.S.
  
  According to a study by the website Simple Thrifty Living, the average price of a 24-pack of Bud Light or Miller Lite in Illinois is $15.20 — 12 cents cheaper than those 24-packs would cost in the next-cheapest state (South Carolina; $15.32) and less than half the price of the most expensive state (Alaska; $31.21).
  
  Though it is just one study and quite limited in nature, the results underscore a point long understood within the local beer industry: Chicago, and by extension Illinois, are home to unusually cheap beer prices.

Politicians know if they keep beer prices cheap, people will drink to forget what a shithole they live in. Raising sin-taxes on beer might be a suicidal move.

Media Picks Up SCC Hints

Where have we heard this before? In fact, for the past three years or so:

• The Cook County Sheriff's Office electronic monitoring program is massive. There are more accused criminals being monitored by electronic ankle bracelets in Cook County than in the entire Illinois Department of Corrections' program statewide. Currently more than 300 defendants are missing from Cook County's program, according to a spreadsheet obtained by the I-Team through a Freedom of Information request. Nearly 50 percent of those currently confined to ankle bracelets are charged with either gun violations or violent crimes.
  
  Jovany Gaicia is AWOL from electronic monitoring, according the the Cook County Sheriff's Office. Court documents show Galicia is a convicted felon with a long rap sheet who was awaiting trial on gun and assault charges. The 26-year-old is listed as an "armed habitual criminal" on county records.
  
  "We prioritize those AWOL offenders as best we can with the resources we have. It's certainly a challenge and the challenge has gotten much greater since bond reform," said Cara Smith, chief policy officer for the Cook County Sheriff's Office.

Especially with the missing criminals being charged with additional crimes - threats to police, robberies, rapes, murder. Whoever is running this program isn't running it anywhere near properly and we've been posting comments and our own threads for years now before the I-Team (you're welcome again you thieves) managed to get together an FOIA request and alert the public that the Cook County system is endangering them on a daily basis.

Candidate Ranking

We haven't seen much in the way of polling data. It's almost like the media doesn't want anyone to form an actual opinion about the mayoral candidates, but rather be influenced by coverage - and a poll could endanger the supposed front runners:

• Every week during the baseball season, ESPN publishes its power rankings of all 30 teams in the MLB. In Chicago, nearly half that many people are running for mayor, so we thought we’d do the same for them.
  
  Our fourth iteration raises a big question: Is Chicago heading for another Mayor Daley?
  
  Bill Daley, who has until now been a mere prince in Chicago’s royal family, may soon wear the same crown as his father and brother. Bill has raised $6 million, far more than any other candidate, and a recent poll showed him beating Toni Preckwinkle in a runoff.
  
  For those reasons, along with the fact that Daleys are really, really good at winning elections in this city, we’ve placed Bill at No. 1 in this edition of the Mayoral Power Rankings. If you’re not ready for Daley the Third, get out and vote.

In case you were wondering, the top four right now are:

1. Daley
2. Prickwrinkle
3. Chico
4. Mendoza 

All connected to Ed Burke and therefore, all Machine hacks. No one has topped 17%, so a runoff is a foregone conclusion at this point.

Most Corrupt

No surprises here:

• The Chicago metropolitan area was ranked as the most corrupt U.S. city in a new report from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
  
  Along with Chicago, Los Angeles topped the list of the most public corruption convictions in America, based on the number of federal corruption convictions between 1976 and 2017. Chicago had 1,731 convictions during that time period, while the Central District of California had 1,534. The Manhattan area had 1,327 and Miami had 1,165, according to the report. Washington, D.C. had 1,159.
  
  Drawing information from the Department of Justice, the report shows 25 public figures were convicted of charges tied to corruption in 2017 in the City of Chicago and the northern third of Illinois. 2017 was the most recent year for which the DOJ data was available, the report says.

Anyone ever mention "rebuilding trust between politicians and the public"? Rahm did nothing to discourage corruption and in fact, fostered quite a bit more. And none of hte 14 candidates for mayor have made any concrete plans to reduce corruption either.

Sure You Did

These goofs must have gone to the "Flint Taylor School of Evidence Manufacturing"

• The New York Post has dispatched several reporters to Chicago to retrace Smollett’s steps in the minutes before the alleged attack. Last week, one of them discovered a hot sauce bottle that smelled like bleach near where Smollett said he was attacked.
  
  The bottle was turned over to Chicago Police for analysis. Investigators have already conducted several canvasses of the area and Guglielmi on Monday said it was not clear if the bottle was “connected or not connected” to the alleged attack.

The D-Unit has been retracing his steps for two weeks now, looking for evidence and video, all of which have popped up as negative. We're to believe that a coupe reporters, unfamiliar with Chicago, especially of the environs of Lower North Water Street and just happen upon a bottle of hot sauce that smelled like bleach weeks after the alleged incident. Ten bucks if it exists, it was planted in the last few days.

By the way, the initial word from the lab is not one single usable print. Who would have thunk it?

Assholes

We've said it before - cops aren't above the law....but they aren't under it either.

The attorney general seems to have an agenda and he isn't wasting any time:

• Special prosecutors and the Illinois attorney general’s office are challenging former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke’s prison sentence before the state’s highest court.
  
  A petition filed Monday does not explicitly target the length of the nearly seven-year sentence, which many activists have criticized as too lenient. But it does note that a significantly longer sentence would be justifiable under state law.
  
  Kane County State’s Attorney Joseph McMahon, appointed to handle the Van Dyke case, and Attorney General Kwame Raoul argue in the petition that Judge Vincent Gaughan sentenced Van Dyke under improper legal guidelines.

Gaughan has faults, some of which were evident at the trial, but his sentencing is exactly in line with tens of dozens of other sentences for similar charges, especially for defendants with similar backgrounds (which is to say, none.)

Van Dyke was the first person in history charged by the shot. The Cook County ME would be hard pressed to say which bullet killed McDonald as the bullets and wounds aren't numbered.... because if it was the first bullet, then every other bullet doesn't matter - they just look bad, and the law doesn't provide for charging based on bad optics.

Numerous commentators here and elsewhere have noted that there still isn't a shooter since who has been charged for each bullet fired. Is Kwame prepared to re-sentence hundreds of other prisoners? Or is this exactly what we suspect it to be?

Even McDonald's mother wants this to be over according to the Slum Times:

• And McMahon told reporters that McDonald’s mother, Tina Hunter, “would like the process to be over, whatever the outcome.”

The only one making any noise is dear old Uncle, who couldn't spare a second for McDonald.... before there was money and publicity to be had.

Fundraiser

Click for larger version:

(comments closed here - informational post only)

Bad Idea Gains Traction

What's the old adage we see occasionally?

• When you subsidize bad behavior, you get more of it.

Here we go again:

• Some Chicago families could start collecting a $1,000 check every month with no strings attached. That's the new proposal from a task force created by Mayor Emanuel.
  
  The idea is to break the cycle of poverty. The pilot program would give 1,000 struggling Chicagoans $1,000 a month.
  
  Supporters say people could use the extra cash to cover unexpected emergencies, increase their savings and improve their health.

You know what else provides $1,000 a month? A job.

And with the economy booming along, unemployment is at record lows across all racial groups. In other words, the jobs are there, go find one.

Nice Bridge Rahm

Seriously, isn't there like a Department of Bridges or something that is supposed to inspect the infrastructure around town? How do you miss this?

• Part of northbound Lake Shore Drive will remain closed through Monday’s evening commute after a bridge support beam cracked.
  
  The Chicago Department of Transportation discovered a crack in a steel beam that supports Lake Shore over the ramp from Randolph Street Monday morning, department officials said in a statement.
  
  “Crews are working to install a shoring tower as quickly as possible under the viaduct structure that carries northbound Lake Shore Drive,” CDOT said.

This beam looks like it rocked out of position, cracking who knows how many welds:

We're pretty sure that doesn't happen overnight. Who isn't inspecting infrastructure?

Toni's Lying? Again?

A well written and cited article calling out Prickwrinkle's lies regarding black and brown people in prison:

• Chicago suffered 572 homicides last year and more than 2,900 shootings, and leading mayoral candidate Toni Preckwinkle says that lowering the violent-crime rate is a top priority. But her 15-point criminal-justice plan, “Building a Safer Chicago,” gravely misdiagnoses what’s driving crime and offers policy prescriptions that won’t make the city safer.
  
  Preckwinkle assumes that crime in Chicago is driven by over-incarceration of individuals for “nonviolent” offenses; a lack of employment, resources, and investment on the South and West Sides; “lax gun laws in border states like Wisconsin, Indiana, and major gun hubs like Mississippi and Georgia”; and incompetence on the part of the Chicago Police Department. She’s wrong on all counts.
  
  According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, the majority of prisoners in the state committed serious or violent felonies, not nonviolent drug offenses. Indeed, five violent-offense categories—homicide, sexual assault/rape, assault/battery, robbery, and weapons violations—account for 57.8 percent of all Illinois state prisoners, 48.1 percent of whom committed their crimes in Cook County. Only 16.1 percent of inmates were convicted of a controlled-substance violation.
  
  Also, most shootings and homicides in Chicago are perpetrated by repeat offenders, on whom the justice system has been too lenient, not too harsh. According to a January 2017 study by the University of Chicago Crime Lab, “around 90 percent [of those arrested for a homicide or shooting in Chicago in 2015 and 2016] had at least one prior arrest.” On average, someone arrested for a homicide or shooting had “nearly 12 prior arrests, with almost 45 percent having had more than 10 prior arrests.” These alarming statistics have led Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson to call for tougher penalties for repeat offenders.

So if Prickwrinkle is wrong about the reasons that people (and folks) are behind bars, she's wrong about what's driving those numbers AND she's dead wrong about police being the cause of any of it. In fact, it's her State's Attorney and her courts (along with her jail) that have failed the minority communities by failing to hold offenders (who victimize the minority communities) accountable for their crimes.