Officer Cheech, Meet Officer Chong

Along with lowered hiring standards, now they're going to allow weed?

• A Chicago police officer who faced dismissal after testing positive for marijuana can remain on the job, the Chicago Police Board ruled in its first weed-related decision since the drug was legalized.

  Police Supt. Larry Snelling had pushed to fire Officer Marshall Andrews Jr. for failing a random drug test in August 2021, but the board instead voted Thursday to suspend the veteran cop for 90 days.

  “While the board has discharged officers from CPD in the past for using cannabis, medical and recreational use of cannabis is now permitted by Illinois state law,” the board wrote in its written ruling, noting that future discipline will be assessed “on a case-by-case basis.”

  Still, the ruling could set a precedent for two other pending disciplinary cases in which officers face firing for allegedly using cannabis.

No doubt someone is going to write something about alcohol use and the CPD's long tradition of drinking to excess and then killing civilians while off duty. Alcohol has been legal for a long time, but so have the consequences for doing something stupid while drunk. We can name more than a few coppers who got fired and/or served hard time after having had way too many. We could name even more who got away with lesser incidents.

But the thing about weed is, it sticks around a long time. You might not be actively high, but if you get into a shooting, on or off duty, or a car accident, or pretty much anything, even a hint of marijuana in your system from a week ago or a month ago is going to open up you and the City taxpayers to mountains of litigation. You're already subject to a breath test following a shooting, maybe even an accident. But under the "consent decree," how soon will a mandatory blood, urine or hair sample be forced on anyone using force of any sort?

Not to mention that marijuana use is still a restriction on the Firearms Transaction Record Form 4473 Section 21(f) meaning you can't buy a gun.

This is a potential disaster of epic proportions. 

FCC Violation

This is the Officers' lifeline to getting assist cars?

• OEMC Recording

And what does she mean her "screen is off."? Is she deliberately shirking her duty to record who is responding where and when? 

Those timestamps are massively important in an investigation....and in Court - criminal and civil. 

Especially at the Federal level. We know that far too well.

Not Millions - BILLIONS

Remember all those tax hikes that took effect on 01 July?

Keep reaching for that wallet!

• The Gov. J.B. Pritzker administration’s spending on migrant ILLEGAL ALIEN care has seen massive cost overruns and a troubling lack of transparency, drawing criticism for prioritizing migrants ILLEGAL ALIENS over the needs of taxpayers.

  Here’s how Pritzker is spending over $2.5 billion in taxes.

  Health care has been the primary cost. Recent audits have found Illinois has spent over $1.6 billion on migrant ILLEGAL ALIEN health care through July 2024 – far more than originally predicted.

  Migrant ILLEGAL ALIEN health benefits are split between two programs. The Health Benefits for Immigrant ILLEGAL ALIEN Seniors was created during the pandemic in 2020 and serves those over the age of 65. The Health Benefits for Immigrant ILLEGAL ALIEN Adults program was created in 2022 and serves ages 42 to 64.

We took the liberty of replacing "migrant" with "ILLEGAL ALIEN" so you get a better feel for how much Fata$$ and democrats hate actual citizens.

And this ties in with yesterday's post about Kwame the Faoul suing the Administration for restricting billions in other spending on ILLEGAL ALIENS, even though it's Kwame's own people (or folks) suffering the most from these money diversions.

You know, if ILLEGAL ALIENS don't get money, then ILLEGAL ALIENS stop coming. 

Nice Mag Mile Conehead

How soon until another tax generating business flees?

But hey, don't demonize! 

This is at least the second time this particular store has been targeted. In 2023, a stolen vehicle was driven through the front doors. In 2021, the store in  Oak Brook was looted by over a dozen non-demonized yutes racking up over $150K in merchandise..

Fuck This Judge (UPDATE)

A couple posts below this one, we linked to the guilty verdict coming out of 26th Street yesterday. Certainly a bit of good news and closure for everyone involved. But it almost didn't happen because of a judge who deserves nothing but contempt from all decent citizens, cops, and society as a whole:

• Before the verdict was read, there was a shocking moment in the courtroom prior to closing statements when Judge John Lyke agreed with the defense that jurors could consider the charge of second-degree murder, instead of murder in the first degree. Ultimately, jurors convicted Montano of the more serious first-degree murder charge and all additional counts.

We've been following this trial pretty regularly. We have had people inside the courtroom e-mailing us. The media coverage has been pretty decent all things considered. The States Attorneys involved have been putting on a clinic with the material provided via a top notch investigation by the detectives. 

And Lyke almost gave this scumbag an out on a lesser charge? Why?

There was absolutely no doubt shithead did it. The body cam video by the Officer recording his own murder - painful as it was for everyone to view -  made it airtight. We were told (unverified) that Officer Vasquez Lasso could be heard announcing his office on the audio, like we were all taught over and over and over at the Academy. The State made no significant errors that might plant the seeds of reasonable doubt in a jury where they'd need a lesser charge to save the case. Even the asshole's own testimony made no holes in the State's case and was pretty much lie after lie.

And Lyke opened the door to a lesser verdict on a Hail Mary motion that the defense always makes when the clock is showing zero AND they don't even have the ball. Thank God the jury saw through it and applied the law as written.

Lyke, in effect, painted a target on all Officers' backs from this point forward. He created a future defense opportunity for other cop killers to claim that there is some sort of "right" to self defense when an Officer pursues an armed suspect in a wildly dynamic situation, something that local, state and national law says is our duty. That, in our opinion, is an unforgivable sin.

This is exactly why we vote "NO" on ALL judges, every single election.

This is why you should, too. It doesn't take much time or effort. It doesn't even get you put on the jury summons list - Cook County hasn't used the voter rolls for jury duty in decades - they use the Drivers License lists. If you get a summons and it ain't Registered Mail....well, we shouldn't have to spell it out for you. 

UPDATE: A bunch of people are opining that the judge did the right thing by permitting consideration of a lesser charge so as to close off an avenue of appeal at a later date. 

Sorry, that doesn't fly. You know how you stave off an appeal like that?

• Jury instructions. Define the charge of First Degree Murder versus Second Degree Murder and make sure the jury knows exactly what the law says and make sure they apply it

We've seen it done, more than once. It's completely legal and has withstood appeals for years. The judge has a ton of leeway and it also shuts down the appeal avenue because all he's doing is quoting the text that the Legislature passed and removing confusion.

But it's all moot, all opinion, all discussion. The jury rendered the correct decision. But you can bet that a whole can of worms has been opened allowing it to even be breached.

Democrats Hate You

Not that you needed a reminder....but here's one anyway:

• Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has once again joined a coalition of other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over new rules that could bar immigrants without legal status from health and education programs.

  The suit, announced Monday, seeks to stop a series of orders from federal agencies that would block people from the early childhood education program Head Start, Title X family planning, adult education, mental health care and community health centers based on immigration status.

So after passing another massive series of tax hikes and running up the Illinois debt a few extra billion dollars, Kwame the Faoul is using taxpayer funds to pay for lawyers to sue the national administration for daring to tell states to only spend taxpayer money on....actual legal citizens. 

The nerve!

You'll be replaced, you'll like it, you'll shut up about it, and you'll damn well pay for it. 

Another SAFE-T Act Win

When do you think we're going to get a giant tax cut for the money that they aren't spending on housing inmates? Because no one seems to be held in any jail any more:

• A Waukegan man accused of concealing the death of an Antioch woman in April was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers over the weekend in Chicago. Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, 52, was taken into custody by ICE officers Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said.

  At the time of his arrest, Mendoza-Gonzalez, an immigrant from Mexico, was awaiting his next court appearance in connection with the death of 37-year-old Megan Bos. He was charged with concealment of a death, abuse of a corpse and obstructing justice. Mendoza-Gonzalez had made a court appearance in that case April 12, two days after his initial arrest. A judge ordered him released from custody pending trial.

  Megan Bos’ mother, Jennifer Bos, said she was “in absolute shock” when a friend sent her an online news article about the ICE arrest. “I think people expected me to be upset that he was arrested by ICE,” Jennifer Bos said. “My intention the whole time is to bring attention to the fact that he was released after what he did to her.” 

Did you catch that? Mom wasn't upset that ICE arrested him - she was upset he was even out on bail in the first place. But don't count on the Sun Times telling readers why Mom was unhappy. For that you have to go elsewhere:

• Immigration authorities in Chicago arrested a Mexican illegal immigrant accused of decapitating a missing Illinois woman and storing her body in a storage container filled with bleach.

Yeah, after hiding her body....FOR TWO MONTHS....he chopped off her head.

This isn't enough to keep someone in jail pending trial now. Ain't "progress" grand? 

Another Great Weekend

Two of our favorite sites - CWB quoting HeyJackass.com:

• Seven people were murdered and at least 27 others were wounded in shootings across Chicago over the just-ended weekend, according to police. The total of 34 victims marks the lowest tally for the same weekend since 2015, according to HeyJackass, a site that independently tracks Chicago crime data using open source and official databases.

  Only 2024 recorded fewer victims, with 27 reported that year. For statistical purposes, HeyJackass defines the weekend as running from noon Friday through 6 a.m. Monday.

By the way, those thirty-four put Chicago over the One-Thousand Gunshot Victims for the year, so Congratulations are in order. 

While the year is looking pretty good, it's nice to know that traditions carry on.

Guilty Verdict

Two hours of deliberation:

• A Cook County jury on Monday convicted Steven Montano of first-degree murder for killing Chicago Police Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso two years ago on a Gage Park playground.

  After a weeklong trial, jurors arrived at the verdict in less than two hours.

  The swift guilty verdict, which comes over two years after the officer’s death, has brought “some level of justice” to the Vasquez Lasso family, Chicago police Supt. Larry Snelling told reporters Monday.

  “We lost an officer; they lost a family member, we lost a family member.” Snelling said, standing in front of the Vasquez Lasso family Monday.

  “When we think about Andres Vasquez Lasso, here was a person who went out to do good, to protect others, to keep the city safe, and lost his life doing this. His life was taken away from it from someone who just did not care that he was taking a family member away. "

We'll have a bit more to say in our midnight posting.

Whitley Wants to Hide

This probably shouldn't be allowed to happen, but it's Cook County so she'll probably be granted it:

• The woman found not guilty by reason of insanity after running over a Chicago police officer with his own squad car is now asking the court to let her start anew—by changing her name.

  Whitley Temple, who was acquitted last year of attempting to murder Officer Ed Poppish during a bizarre 2022 West Side encounter, filed a petition on July 11 to legally change her first name to “Michelle,” according to Cook County court records.

  Temple, 36, was accused of violently carjacking Poppish’s squad car in the 4400 block of West Jackson after he stopped to help her. Poppish said he found Temple partially undressed and lying in the street as he responded to a shots fired call.

She ran over the Officer with the squad car and fled the scene at over 90 MPH before crashing into numerous cars.

Then she went to trial....and was found to be insane while the judge accused CPD Officers of emailing her anonymous threats and doxxing her address. Funnily enough, not a single CR number was generated and ZERO complaints were filed with the Cook County Sheriffs' Office....you know, the people in charge of protecting and investigating threats against judges. Nothing at all.

And during the trial - or "trial" if you prefer - it was discovered Whitley had somehow been hired as "a lead accountant for the City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services" while on bond for an Attempted Murder charge. Over $85K in salary while high on crack cocaine, stealing city property and attempting to murder a Police Officer.

Turns out she did campaign work for Cook County Board president Prickwrinkle, so there's the political connection. She'll be granted her name change in an attempt to conceal her criminal drug-addicted past. There's not much anyone can do about it besides spreading the work by linking the CWB story and anything you can find in our archives - that way, both her names are always connected somewhere before she disappears into the City or County payrolls again.

Nice Parking Lot Larry

It all just a joke now....trouble is, we don't hear the laughter:

• A crew of car thieves pulled off a doozy on Saturday morning by stealing a Jeep from the parking lot of Chicago Police Headquarters, smashing through the entrance gate, and making a clean getaway. It gets worse: The Jeep belonged to a retired Chicago cop — and his gun was inside the vehicle.

  According to a CPD document reviewed by CWBChicago, the crooks didn’t exactly sneak out. They plowed through the parking lot’s barrier arm to escape, and yet — somehow — no one reported the theft or property damage for over an hour. The lot and headquarters have a security patrol, or at least they’re supposed to, and questions were raised about why it took so long for the crime to be discovered.

  Unaware of the theft, officers on patrol spotted a black Jeep SRT and a Genesis SUV blowing red lights near Pershing and King Drive at 7:32 a.m., about three blocks from headquarters. The Jeep’s windows were shattered, and both vehicles tore off toward southbound Lake Shore Drive, officers said.

  Shortly after, someone at Jackson Park Golf Course called 911 to report five Black males in ski masks standing next to a Genesis SUV trying to steal a Jeep that had its windows busted out. But by the time police arrived, they were all gone. It wasn’t until 8:50 a.m. — well over an hour after the barrier was smashed — that someone realized the Jeep had been stolen from the police department’s own parking lot.

"...plowing through the [...] barrier arm" isn't that big a deal. If it isn't in the raised position, it's either aluminum or a painted one-by-four from Lowes....pretty much the flimsiest piece of lumber in existence. There are no tire spikes or anything stopping a car thief from leaving.

But who was manning the booth? Did they not notice someone "plowing through"? 

And cameras. Where were the cameras watching the lot and cars entering/leaving? CPD has cameras in the lockup and lobbies, in-car and body worn, on lampposts and in most intersections. Not one was reviewed in a timely manner after some people (or folks) hopped a waist high fence, broke a window and stole a car from what should be one of the more secure parking lots in the city?

And leaving a gun in the car? Retirees are allowed to carry. Even if they aren't supposed to carry into HQ, how much would it cost to install a lock box in the lobby? They had/have them at Federal Court.

A bunch of simple fixes along with prompt notifications of a crime taking place at HQ. But what's another hot car and another hot gun on the streets?

But Did They Keep the Car?

Sure, the City got their impound fees....:

• A Missouri man who wore a police costume and allegedly brought a gun and a flamethrower to a Gage Park street takeover last year has been sentenced to probation.

  Judge Carol Howard sentenced Emmanuel Wilson to 24 months of first-time weapon offender probation and 50 hours of community service after he pleaded guilty to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in a vehicle.. She also barred him from participating in street takeovers and driving recklessly. If Wilson completes probation successfully, he will be eligible to have the conviction expunged from his record.

  Wilson, of Columbia, Missouri, was arrested on November 3, 2024, after Chicago police responded to a donut-spinning street “takeover” in the 5600 block of South Kedzie around 2:44 a.m.

  He was wearing a police costume when officers found him in his 2023 Dodge Charger Hellcat, which was outfitted with flashing police-style lights and a siren, officials said. Inside the car, police found a flamethrower, a loaded 9-millimeter handgun, a second firearm, fake license plates, and other props associated with takeover events, according to his arrest report. 

....but confiscating a vehicle decked out to look like a squad car, along with the guns, weed, fake plates, etc would send a better message than a few hundred bucks in fines. Why don't the aldercreatures ever propose something like that?

Overdose Wave Inbound?

A bunch of crime that happens here has roots or origins elsewhere. A lot of what happens in New York, heads downstream toward Philly and Baltimore before landing in the grittier parts of DC and heading west.

Is this headed west?

• Five people in Baltimore were hospitalized for a reported mass overdose incident, one week after 27 were sickened in the same area of the city because of a "bad batch" of drugs, police said.

  The victims Friday were in serious condition, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said at a news conference, including addition to two who refused treatment after first responders deployed Narcan.

We've always been entertained by that description - "bad batch," implying that there's a "good batch" of heroin floating around somewhere.

Officials also admitted that the "supply across the city is very volatile right now," so in addition to the unlicensed pharmacists adjusting their mixes to give the junkies a little more kick (stoking the rumor mills about who has the best blow), the shortages might be stoking a sudden uptick in violence over spots and boundaries.

Anyone over at Narcotics willing to enlighten the masses? 

 

Halfway Through the Weekend

And already, almost twenty people have extra holes in their bodies:

• At least 16 people have been shot, four fatally, in gun violence across Chicago so far this weekend, police said.

  There were multiple shooting overnight Friday into Saturday across the city. It's the latest outbreak of violence in Chicago.

Channel 7 has it at four dead, twelve wounded.

HeyJackass.com (the only source for real and accurate crime numbers) is currently at four dead, fifteen wounded.

Twenty-four hours to go 

Given, Not Earned

Nice to see the tradition continues:

• Retiring City Council dean Walter Burnett said Thursday his 29-year-old namesake is not only his son but a “son of the 27^th Ward” who has earned the right to replace him.

  Some community leaders have argued that the city’s fastest-growing ward deserves better than a continuation of the old-school, all-in-the-family parade of Chicago politicians who have bequeathed their seats to their children.

  Burnett doesn’t view it as nepotism. He believes Walter R. Burnett — who goes by the nickname “Red” — deserves to inherit his father’s mantle because he has built the “relationships and the resources” to continue the development progress that has transformed a ward that once included “skid row.”

Continuing the "lucky sperm" qualification that has doomed not only the political class, but the Police, Fire, Streets and Sanitation, Transportation, and pretty much every city department in one form or another.

Another Crash

Squad car partially rolled over:

• Three police officers were hurt after a woman allegedly crashed into a CPD squad car on the city's South Side. The crash happened at about 5:15 a.m. in the 1200 block of W. 83rd Street on Saturday, police said.

  A CPD squad car was crossing an intersection eastbound on 83rd Street when a Kia sedan crashed into the squad car, police said. A 23-year-old woman allegedly ignored a traffic light and caused the crash, police said. 

  Video shows the squad car on its side and pinned into a fence.

A speedy recovery wished to all and a reminder - with zero traffic enforcement allowed, people are going to revert to driving like assholes more often than not. Be careful.

Trial Wraps Up

Asshole took the stand to spout his lies:

• Steven Montano told a jury Friday that he shot and killed a Chicago police officer “out of pure fear.”

  Montano, 21, said he instinctively turned and opened fire when he heard a call to stop as he fled officers and ran toward a Gage Park playground on March 1, 2023. Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso was fatally struck in an exchange of gunfire.

"...instinctive...."

So he knew a cop was chasing him because he claims he had other encounters with police and fled those times, too. This time though, he had a gun, and "instinctively" used it because....

Not a very good story and wholly unbelievable.

Jury returns Monday for closing arguments and deliberations. 

Show Us the Money!

How does $14 Million balloon to $195 million (maybe even more)?

Compound Interest AND penalties baby!!!

• Already facing massive yearly budget deficits, the city of Chicago could face a bill in the hundreds of millions of dollars for police overtime in a long-running case on behalf of 8,500 current and former Chicago Police Department employees.

  It’s been nearly 10 years since the case was filed and almost five years since a federal judge ruled in favor of the officers, who argued that the city “willfully violated” labor laws by miscalculating overtime pay they were due over a span of years.

  But the two sides are still fighting over how much the city will have to pay.

  An expert hired by the officers says the city owes the cops somewhere between $310 million and $450 million, court records show. City Hall’s hired expert says it’s much less — no more than about $195 million.

  Even that is far more than the $14 million the city could have settled the case for at the start, Paul Geiger, a former police union attorney who represented the police officers who sued, said after a court hearing Thursday.

Remember, this was filed ten years ago....and the FOP won it five years ago. The City was playing fast and loose with how OT was calculated (as they often do) and went with the paying the lowest possible rate because the City is always crying poor and CPD can't take any labor action to force an honest negotiation.

And this time, it's going to cost them tens of millions of dollars. A sergeant acquaintance tells us the PBPA has a separate lawsuit regarding a VRI payout that - again - they won in court, but the city is - again - refusing to pay. Can anyone confirm?

Conehead isn't solely to blame - this dates back to before Groot and started with the 9.5 Digit Midget. But any one of them could have stepped up and just ended it, but you can't let the cops have a win, even if a Federal judge says they were the wronged party. 

It Was a Long Shot Anyway

Crooked political prosecutions and crooked political prosecutors will probably never be held accountable:

• A federal judge has thrown out claims against former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and two prosecutors named in a lawsuit brought by a Chicago police officer who says he was wrongly charged after a 2022 on-duty shooting that led to his suspension and a criminal trial that ended with his acquittal.

  In a July 11 opinion, U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso granted motions to dismiss all claims against Foxx and assistant state’s attorneys Lynn McCarthy and Alyssa Janicki, citing prosecutorial immunity. The officer, Christopher Liakopoulos, alleged the trio knowingly pursued charges “despite the absence of probable cause,” withheld exculpatory video evidence, and “conspired in the preparation and presentation of testimony that was misleading and inaccurate” to the grand jury.

  [....] Because prosecutors are immune from civil suits for actions tied to their core responsibilities—even if they act “maliciously, unreasonably, without probable cause, or even on the basis of false testimony or evidence,” as the court quoted from a landmark case—Foxx, McCarthy, and Janicki were dismissed entirely from the lawsuit. 

But guess who might be facing civil consequences?

• Although Foxx and her prosecutors are out of the case, Alonso allowed several claims against Chicago Police Officer Emmet Welch to proceed. That includes allegations that Welch gave knowingly false testimony to the grand jury, which led to the criminal indictment.

The IAD "investigator" who committed alleged perjury will be facing a trial and jury for potential damages, but not the political class.

Cops Injured

All should be okay:

• An SUV collided with a Chicago police patrol vehicle, injuring four people early Friday in Washington Park on the South Side.

  Around 12:45 a.m., a black SUV collided with a CPD patrol vehicle at 60th Street and South Michigan Avenue, police said.

  Two officers were taken to an area hospital where they were in good condition, officials said.

  A man and woman in the SUV were taken to Saint Bernard Hospital where they were both in good condition, police said.

Speedy recovery to all.

Trial Wrapping Up

Another brutal day of testimony and video footage in evidence:

• In jarring video footage, jurors Thursday watched the final moments of Chicago Police Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso’s life, from his own perspective.

  The trial of the officer’s alleged killer, Steven Montano, resumed Thursday morning with footage from Vasquez Lasso’s body-worn camera viewed in the courtroom. The case, which began this week, is expected to head to a jury Friday to begin deliberations.
  
  On the afternoon of March 1, 2023, Vasquez Lasso and his partner were responding to a domestic incident when they spotted a possible suspect running toward an elementary school with a gun.

  What followed was captured on Vasquez Lasso’s bodycam. In the video, he jumps out of his car and begins to chase after the man, while screaming out, “Stop! Stop! Stop!” Seconds later, the man turns and points a gun at Vasquez Lasso, standing feet away. Shots ring out, and the officer falls backward. His bodycam shows just the sky above.

  Another officer enters the video frame, removes Vasquez Lasso’s vest and appears to begin chest compressions. The officer yells out, “Come on man! Come on, man!” as more screams are heard in the background.

The article further states the trial is expected to wrap up and be handed to the jury today. 

Does this mean the defense isn't calling any witnesses? Or even offering a rebuttal?

You Can't Make This S#$% Up

An accused serial killer, tied to half a dozen murders across the southwest side, has a strange connection to the Officer Vasquez Lasso murder.

His mother (who raised this serial killer) was dating the now-on-trial cop killer and was the one who called 9-1-1 to say she was being chased by her "husband" with a gun.

The entire article is like a badly written soap opera with so many twists and turns we had to read it three or four times. 

"Birds of a feather" and all that, but what a f#$%ed up situation.

A Voice of Reason?

Police family and Gold Star family member:

• As the civilian body overseeing the Chicago Police Department prepares to consider major limits to when and why the city’s cops can stop drivers, one member of the group is speaking out against the effort — and she’s not mincing words.

  “I believe the entire argument for restrictions is built on a faulty premise,” said Sandra Wortham, one of seven members of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA).

  The panel recently concluded a public comment period on traffic stop policy. But the group has already said that a majority of its members favor banning stops for a host of violations, including expired plates, broken lights, and loud sound systems. Wortham is squarely not in the majority.

CWB has what looks like the entirety of her dissent with the other members of the CCPSA and it is an eloquent, well reasoned, and completely logical approach to Police being allowed to use every tool in their arsenal.

Maybe she'll run for office at some point? 

What in the Absolute F#$%??

We're going to guess that someone retired and either stuck this in the back of a closet or tossed it in one of those donation bins and it ended up on the street?

Talk about painting a target on your back.

In the meantime, That's a quick arrest for "False Personation" 720 ILCS 5/17-2. 

Apologies in Advance

The Contrarian tracked down what Crimesha has been up to lately. Have something nearby to sanitize your brain if you can:

• Contrarian Link Here

She dances as well as she prosecuted.

Anyone know how the root beer felony turned out? 

Tough Day at Court

Very tense and difficult testimony:

• After allegedly shooting a Chicago police officer to death on a Gage Park playground, Steven Montano begged for police to kill him too, the officer’s partner testified Wednesday.

  “He begins to walk toward me and says, ‘Kill me,’” Officer Miguel Enciso told jurors. “He begins to beg me to kill him.”

  The trial for Montano, the man accused of killing Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso, resumed Wednesday with a jury viewing body camera footage from the deceased officer’s partner.

  On the afternoon of March 1, 2023, Vasquez Lasso and his partner, Enciso, were responding to a domestic incident when they spotted a possible suspect running toward an elementary school.

  Vasquez Lasso jumped out of their squad car and ran after the man, Enciso testified Wednesday. Moments later, Enciso said he heard gunshots.

  When Encisco arrived at the playground, he saw Vasquez Lasso on the ground, bleeding from his head, and Montano seated about 15 feet away, with a gun nearby.

  Encisco was able to grab the gun and instructed Montano to stay on the ground, he said. But instead, Montano got up and began walking toward Enciso and Vasquez Lasso, Enciso testified.

  Montano continued ignoring commands, according to Enciso, so the officer holstered one weapon, pulled out a taser, and shocked the then-18-year-old, bringing him to the ground.

  “He told me to kill him, I told him to shut the f- - - up,” Encisco told jurors Wednesday.

  “He [Montano] said, ‘You shut the f- - - up b- - - -, that’s why I killed your b- - - - ass boy.”

  Vasquez Lasso’s mother stepped out of the courtroom as body camera footage of the encounter played.

The body camera footage and recorded conversation ought to be enough to secure a conviction alone.

Finding: 100% True

 

Did They Read the Bill?

So Porkulous had his budget passed in Springfield recently, and now people are starting to read it to find out what was in it. This stood out to someone who is wired in far more than we are (click for larger version):

 

That's a cool half-a-million dollars going to Lincoln College for infrastructure improvements. How very generous of Illinois to spend our tax money so wisely.

The trouble is when you find out that Lincoln College closed three years ago.

So where was this $500,000 headed? And how many other instances are there where money is being steered to non-existent entities? 

Aside from the legislators and governor  not doing their due diligence, you'd think that there might be a sort of watchdog third party keeping an eye on things like this.

Quick Hits

 Lots of interesting stories yesterday:

• Conehead's veto survives:  Barring another outbreak of teen trends-turned-violent, the heated debate over “snap curfews” in Chicago is being put to rest.

  The City Council put the nail in the legislative coffin on Wednesday by upholding Mayor Brandon Johnson’s one and only veto.

  Thirty-four votes were needed to override Johnson’s veto. The override fell six votes short.

  The ordinance that would have empowered Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling to declare three-hour curfews anywhere in the city with 30 minutes’ notice was approved last month by a 27-22 vote

Conehead's claim that this was probably unconstitutional was our argument from Day One. Glad to see someone talked some sense into this moron.

Besides, unless the Department was allowed to actually enforce the curfew, with tickets, arrests and fines, it wasn't going to do anything.

• Search Warrant "reforms:"  Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday finally followed through on his promise to propose police raid reforms — without a ban on no-knock warrants — that nevertheless appears to satisfy social worker Anjanette Young. Young was handcuffed and forced to stand naked while a team of police officers mistakenly raided her home in February 2019.

  Twenty-seven months ago, four years to the day after the botched raid that changed her life, Young endorsed Johnson in hopes he would deny then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot a second term.

  Although Young had already received a $2.9 million settlement from the city, Lightfoot and her City Council allies had blocked the so-called Anjanette Young Ordinance, which goes far beyond the police raid reforms imposed by Lightfoot and her embattled Police Supt. David Brown.

  Johnson embraced those same, more sweeping reforms, which notably included bans on no-knock warrants and officers pointing guns at children.

  But the mayor’s ordinance, introduced at Wednesday’s Council meeting, allows officers to carry out a raid without knocking, with a judge’s approval, if there’s a threat of violence or “imminent danger.”

The "no-knock" warrant survives, but only to be executed by SWAT. And all other warrants will have a timed thirty-seconds from knock until the ram hits the door. Plenty of time to surrender....or go all out the other direction along with destroying or disposing of evidence. Great plan!

• Traffic stops are still "racist:"  Chicago police traffic stops plummeted last year, but the drop varied wildly across the city, and sharp racial disparities persisted, a WBEZ analysis of Illinois Department of Transportation data found.

  Compared to the previous year, 2024 vehicle stops by the Chicago Police Department fell 45% citywide, with declines in all 22 police districts, according to the analysis. Yet while seven districts reduced their traffic stops by more than 60%, four others cut them by less than 20%.

  For the first time in nearly a decade, Black drivers accounted for less than half of stops citywide in 2024, amid shock waves and promises of reform after the fatal shooting of Dexter Reed during a traffic stop. But IDOT mileage rate ratios for last year show the police department was still four times more likely to pull over Black and Latino drivers than white ones.

We've said it for years, but why can't certain communities get their vehicles into compliance? We even argued that there might be economic factors that come into play where disadvantaged persons of any race might have to make a difficult choice between a new windshield and a past due electric bill.

It happens and should be taken into consideration. But taking away legal and legitimate enforcement tools from the police leads to the results we're seeing across the city and state today.

Trial Continues

We're told Room 700, one of the largest in the building:

• More than two years after a Chicago police officer was fatally shot while responding to a domestic incident in Gage Park, the trial of his alleged killer began Tuesday with prosecutors introducing jurors to two men who they say lived two very different lives.

  Chicago police Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso made choices to be proud of, Assistant State’s Attorney Katie Siefert told jurors Tuesday morning.

  “He made a choice to put on that uniform,” Siefert said. “He made a choice to serve his community, he made a choice to answer his calling to serve and protect, and he was killed in the line of duty doing just that.”

  On the other hand, Steven Montano, the 21-year-old charged with killing Lasso, made a series of “despicable choices,” she said.

  “He made a choice to run onto a playground with that loaded handgun, and he made a choice to point a loaded handgun at a uniformed Chicago police officer,” Seifert said. “When he was done making those choices, he made five more,” Seifert added, referring to the five shots Montano allegedly fired at Vasquez Lasso.

It was reported to be a very crowded courtroom to support the family through this trying time. The trial is expected to last all week at a minimum.

Finally

Holy crap....blaming the correct causes of crime? The Contrarian has a good article up:

• Another weekend. Another mass shooting. Another round of official reassurances that “this wasn’t random.”

  But does that really make anyone feel safer?

  The latest bloodbath — four killed, 14 injured in a drive-by shooting outside a River North lounge — wasn’t some chaotic outburst by an unstable loner. It was, as police quickly pointed out, a targeted attack tied to an ongoing gang feud between factions from the South Side. The intended victims didn’t even live in River North. They were there for a party celebrating the release of an album by Chicago drill rapper Mello Buckzz, who, according to the Chicago Tribune, claims an affiliation with NLMB, a South Shore–based gang also known as “No Limit Muskegon Boyz.”

  The fact that this made front-page news is significant — not just for the carnage involved, but because the Tribune broke a longstanding media taboo: They named the gang. For years, mainstream outlets refused to do so, citing concerns about glorification or stigmatization. That taboo, thankfully, is now crumbling under the weight of grim reality. These gangs are responsible for a staggering share of the city’s gun violence, including many of its most horrific mass shootings.

Instead of blaming an inanimate object, the media is waking up to the fact that evil people do evil things, regardless of the tool used. And they offer concrete suggestions:

• It’s time to stop tiptoeing around this fact: Chicago’s mass shootings are overwhelmingly gang related. Gangs like NLMB and their rivals aren’t just “part” of the problem. They are the problem. And if city and county leaders are serious about stopping the bloodshed, they need to do more than issue statements. They need to take down these criminal networks — fully, aggressively, and without apology.

  The Tribune article makes clear what many Chicagoans already know but few politicians are willing to say out loud: These gangs are engaged in a multi-year cycle of retaliation and public slaughter. It’s not just one-off murders or isolated incidents. It’s a pattern. And that pattern fits perfectly within the legal framework of federal racketeering laws, particularly the RICO statute — a powerful tool the federal government has used to dismantle organized crime for decades.

For decades now, we've advocated for holding the criminals responsible, mostly via something like Project Exile that applied Federal Law to gun crimes and "exiled" offenders to prisons far from home and far from their gang influences for fifteen years at a time....or more. When instituted in Virginia, murders dropped by 33% within a year and shootings by at least that much.

But after the past few years of NOT holding criminals responsible for their actions at the local (Crimesha), state  and federal (drooling vegetable) levels, crime soared and homicide numbers climbed because democrats claim you can't arrest your way out of situation and they need those voters to not be in the Federal prison system.

As usual go read it all. 

Mendoza Running for Mayor?

Signs are pointing to yes:

• In the 2026/2027 game of chess, another piece has moved.

  Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is signaling she might be eyeing a different office. Mendoza, first elected in 2016, may skip the all-important Cook County Democratic Party slating meeting later this week.

  “That, to me, is kind of like a trigger point. I know her folks are saying, ‘Well, it’s kind of a pro forma thing and they could still slate her if she didn’t show up,’ But I think not showing up is an indication of how, as her people have pledged, she’s only going to run for one office, she’s not going to run for two offices,” said Chicago Tribune political reporter Rick Pearson.

She's been ripping Conehead pretty regularly, she has a brother (?) on CPD and she's been making the right support noises for a few years now, and the Hispanic Machine is eager to flex their political muscles after taking a backseat for years now and Mendoza is the logical candidate to unite behind.

We voted for her back in 2016 when Chicago ended up with Groot vs Prickwrinkle and that disaster has been echoing for years now.

This Jagoff Again?

Would you trust this guy with a single dime?

• Former Democratic Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., whose political career was derailed by a federal corruption conviction, is reportedly exploring a potential return to Congress. Sources indicate Jackson is actively engaging with community members to gauge the viability of a run for his old seat in Illinois’s 2nd congressional district in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections.

  Jackson, son of influential civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson, served time in prison after pleading guilty in 2013 to misusing over $750,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses. He was released in 2015 after approximately 18 months in federal custody.

  His legal troubles were compounded by concerns about his mental health, including a bipolar diagnosis.

Yeah, his legal troubles were also compounded by his then wife taking a guilty plea for a year in prison where the judge allowed them to coordinate their sentences because their corruption jeopardized their child care.

Next thing you know, Ed Burke will be running for his old seat, too. 

Murder Trial Opens Today

Jury selected Monday, opening arguments expected today:

• The jury has been selected in the trial of a man accused of killing a Chicago police officer.

  Steven Montano is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Chicago police Officer Andrés Vásquez Lasso. Prosecutors say Montano shot and killed Vasquez Lasso in March of 2023.

  Officers were responding to a domestic disturbance call at Montano's home in the 5200-block of South Spaulding in Gage Park. There was a 911 call about a man with a gun chasing a woman down the street. Officers pursued someone, and Vásquez Lasso was shot.

  Vásquez Lasso was with the CPD for five years.

If you're at the Court Building, stop by and show some support for the family. We don't have a room number at the moment but we're sure it'll be available at the Assembly Room and in our comment section shortly.

Logical Conclusion

That post we had up yesterday about the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability wanting to outlaw traffic stops for so-called "minor" offenses? Something became crystal clear to us yesterday.

We haven't completely lost our street awareness as we sail off into retirement and we noticed a lot of cars on the road that have no front or rear license plates....and no temp tags. Back in the day, that was an automatic stop and a couple of movers. But now?

The CCPSA doesn't want you pulling over people (or folks) for no plates. And even if you tried to pull someone over, the number of persons fleeing and eluding has skyrocketed....and the Department has decreed you can't chase.

Not only that, but the car is now unidentifiable by cameras and plate readers, meaning there is no incentive to comply with licensing or registration requirements demanded by State Law and City Ordinance.

You park that car in a garage and it's pretty much invisible from any sort of ticketing, towing and impounding. And that means even less revenue into city coffers.

We might have to try not registering one of our cars, ditch the plates, drive like an asshole through red light/speed camera zones and refuse to pull over should we be observed by CPD and hide the car in the garage when not needed.

It's already happening elsewhere. 

Money Spigot

You want to see what a drain the "Consent Decree" actually is? If you go to the Independent Monitoring Team website, you can download six years worth of monthly statements and hunt through their expense paperwork. The summary page (page 1) is obscene:

• Jan 2024 - $476,312.23 
• Feb 2024 - $360,892.82 
• Mar 2024 - $466,239.62 
• Apr 2024 - $446,884.71 
• May 2024 - $502,926.51
• Jun 2024 - $412,025.14

That's for only half of last year (the last year available) and there are names and hourly breakdowns how they're charging the city. There are tens of dozens of entries that cover "review" and "meeting preparation" and all manner of bureaucratic nonsense.

How efficient are they? Well, what's the Department "compliance" rate currently at? Under 20%? Meaning this is going to go on for another two or three decades enriching Maggie Hickey and how many connected lawyers with untold millions.

Stop Screwing First Watch

You know how you can tell house mouses and "merit" bosses never worked a midnight shift? Crap like this:

• (from an e-mailer) So once again the LMS system doesn’t account for 1st watch officers, many if not all of us are scheduled for Constitutional policing at 0700 during the first week in August! We were told by our watch secretary that this is the only time that the class is being offered! So why not schedule it when it’s available for all watches, our responsibilities to our families and loved ones don’t magically disappear because the lack of classes available to us! I was notified for this same class at 0700 a few weeks ago as a 1st watch officer but others on my watch has a 1100 start and a 1600 start!

Here's an idea since the Department has been over-staffing the instructor ranks for years now:

• since the "instructors" are three year wonders who don't want to work the streets, make THEM change shifts to accommodate the officers already on First Watch

Otherwise, you have midnight people, already on an unnatural shift that disrupts body clocks and experiencing wholesale sleep deprivation, having their work weeks completely derailed by a bunch of morons who don't understand the work day doesn't start at 0700 hours for almost a quarter of the Department - it's starts at 2200 hours the night before.

The Enemy Within

Corporate America is infested with do-nothing drones in made up positions that pretty much suck equity from shareholders.

City government is the same way. Here's a CPD civilian drone on his Linked-In page (click for larger pictures):

 

These positions really exploded after the "Consent Decree" was foisted on taxpayers as a "reform" effort that pretty much wastes tens of millions of scarce tax dollars for little return.

But this mope in particular has an .... interesting back story:

So he was a participant at the pantifa riot at the Columbus Statue that ended up with almost two dozen Officers a laundry list of injures and probably cost the Department hundreds of lost man hours along with a few million dollars in IOD compensation. (paragraph corrected regarding a specific injury)

AND he claims he "will never feel safe around a Chicago police officer again...." but he's taking a paycheck from CPD now as a "macro social worker" and "anti-racist" and "anti-oppressive policy maker." 

Pretty much made up bullshit duties at a pretty penny on the taxpayer dime.

Another Tool Going, Going....

Soon to be gone:

• The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), the civilian panel responsible for overseeing the Chicago Police Department, is wrapping up a public comment period as it weighs major restrictions on the types of traffic stops CPD officers are allowed to make.

  The group is taking public input through Monday but has already outlined a list of restrictions most of its members support. Among them: barring traffic stops for plates expired less than a year, improperly displayed or missing front license plates, improper rear license plate lighting, having a single non-functioning head-, tail-, or brake lights during daylight hours, and driving with a loud sound system.

  A minority of CCPSA commissioners also support banning stops for failure to wear seat belts or failure to signal turns or lane changes. Some community members are pushing to go even further — calling for a ban on stops for tinted windows, among other minor violations.

  Why? Because they believe traffic stops are disproportionately used against Black and Brown drivers, often as a pretext to look for guns or other contraband.

So the list of Rules and Laws that black and brown people don't have to follow - solely because they're black or brown - continues to expand.

No one on the CCPSA seems to be asking why black and brown people can't maintain their vehicles to be street legal after all that effort in Springfield writing and passing the Laws.

On the plus side, policing in Chicago just keeps getting that much easier. 

Is This Something?

So someone sent us these pictures. They were posted on the Twitter / X platform by reporter Austin Berg:

 

They are the tax exemption forms from 2022 and 2023 from the Chicago Teachers Union. If you notice the red boxes in both forms, you might notice they are exactly the same....as in 100% exactly the same.

Does any organization or individual have two tax returns that are completely the same year over year? No changes whatsoever?

We aren't accountants, but this seems slightly unusual. Any CPAs out there? Or IRS agents? 

Fleeing, Eluding, Dying

You would have to have a heart of stone not to laugh:

• A 15-year-old Queens armed mugging suspect on an e-bike fleeing NYPD cops was fatally struck by an unlicensed hit-and-run Lexus driver with an atrocious driving record after crossing into Long Island, police said Sunday.

  Cops responding to a 911 call about a knifepoint robbery in progress outside a corner pharmacy in Floral Park came across the suspect fleeing on the e-bike about 8 p.m. Saturday, police said. Officers pursued the teen for a little over a mile from Hillside Ave. and 257th St. into New Hyde Park in Nassau County, just over the Queens border, an NYPD spokesman said.

  The teen was headed east on his e-bike on Bryant Ave. when a 2015 Lexus  GX 460 driven by 28-year-old Ruyan Ali slammed into him while going south on Lakeville Road, Nassau County police said. Ali, who had a suspended license and whose car registration had expired, crossed into opposing traffic to pass a car that was slowing to a stop in front of him, according to a criminal complaint.

  The teen died at the scene, and Ali tried to flee but was arrested nearby, Nassau County cops said.

That karma-train hits hard sometimes.

Scandal(s) in Waiting

Just wondering, but how many times is a former high ranking exempt's son going to be stripped and sent to Callback for domestic after domestic, year after year before he faces the Police Board for a Thirty Pending hearing?

Bookmark this post, because one day sonny is going to kill someone and people might start asking why there weren't any warning signs.

There were plenty.  

Another SAFE-T Act Win

Another great job by Fata$$, the legislature and progressives everywhere!

• A reputed two-six gang member was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet for a pending gun case when he gunned down a man in Little Village last weekend, prosecutors said Friday.

  Daniel Alvarado, 20, was arrested in March after Chicago police said they saw him crash a car and discard a firearm after shots were fired toward nearby CPD officers. Although Judge Antara Rivera initially granted prosecutors’ request to detain him, Alvarado was released on electronic monitoring on May 16, less than two months later, by Judge Charles Burns.

  Since then, court officials say Alvarado violated the terms of his monitoring agreement at least eight times, including on July 5, the night 47-year-old Moises Juarez was shot and killed near 27th Street and Central Park Avenue.

Part of being a democrat is never admitting when your policy goes wrong and costs people money....or their lives.

The other part is voting for the same thing, year after year. 

Another ShotSpotter Miss

Haven't covered one of these in a while:

• A man was found fatally shot on a Near West Side street this week—the latest gunshot victim to go unnoticed until it was too late in a neighborhood that could once rely on ShotSpotter to detect gunfire.

  Officers responded to a call of an unresponsive person in the 2600 block of West Wilcox around 9:13 p.m., according to a Chicago police statement. They found a 44-year-old man on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head. Paramedics took the man to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

  No one reported hearing gunfire in the area; however, officers at the scene reportedly found 12 shell casings near the man’s body, raising questions about how quickly first responders could have located the victim if the city’s ShotSpotter technology had still been active.

What's the latest from City Hall about re-instating or re-bidding the ShotSpotter-type contract so that Conehead-connected people get their beaks wet?

CWB has a list of 49 incidents now....and growing weekly. 

"Merit" Under the Spotlight Again

We've been talking about this for years, decades now. So much so that the authors of the article reached out to us for information and comment (the first part of the article deals with one particular connected person):

• For most Chicago cops looking to advance through the ranks, the path is through an exam that is notoriously difficult and inconsistently offered—sometimes only once or twice per decade—that has inspired multiple cheating scandals over the years. For a select few, the alternative path is to be nominated by a department higher-up for the CPD’s merit process. 

  After being nominated, such officers are reviewed by a Merit Board made up of additional CPD insiders, including five deputy chiefs and the head of the OPSA, who serves as a nonvoting secretary. For most of the program’s history, members of the Merit Board couldn’t also nominate officers. That changed under Superintendent Johnson, who only required that they recuse themselves from votes on their nominees.

  The city’s human resources and OPSA offices then compile a nomination packet on each nominee, including their complimentary histories and limited disciplinary information from recent years, and the Merit Board interviews some nominees, according to city policies. Merit Board members vote up or down on each nominee and send their results to the superintendent—who has ultimate decision-making power. The superintendent can even select officers for merit promotions who weren’t put forward by the board at all.

That isn't quite how the process goes according to our contacts, but it's close. A lot more favors and phone calls are involved.

But as we've said here numerous times (and what got quoted in the article) is that if you believe the process is transparent and/or fair, you're a moron. Until the City and Department publish what makes you qualified for "merit" then the process is rigged, unfair and political.

Rehashing Morale

It sucks and has sucked for a long time - not much new here:

• Former Chicago police officer Charles Walters says the department is in crisis due to what he calls a collapse in authority, surging crime and a lack of leadership from City Hall.

  Walters, who spent more than two decades with the Chicago Police Department in patrol, gang units and seven years undercover in narcotics, said the department’s challenges begin at the top.

  “The previous mayor (Lori Lightfoot) didn’t seem like they really had our back,” Walters told Chicago City Wire. “And this mayor (Brandon Johnson) really seems like he doesn’t have the back of the police. It starts there and trickles down to the superintendent. Then the fact that it took a lot of powers from us. We can’t do a lot of things we wanted to do, and the criminals know that.”

In our opinion, it's not that we couldn't do what we "wanted" to do - it was what we weren't permitted to do moving forward....like enforcing the Law. The rules of the job never bothered us, but the endless documentation did. 

And then, how the documentation was used was our biggest complaint. It wasn't use to prosecute law breakers, it was used to screw law enforcers to the point continued employment, financial well being and actual freedom was at stake. 

Once everyone saw that writing on the wall, disengagement became the only way forward in order to make it to the finish line, and Chicago citizens ended up paying a hefty price for electing "progressives" and other morons. 

But we made it to the finish line with minimal damage.

Performative Theater

Top story across all media:

• Chicago Public Schools sent layoff notices to 1,458 teachers and other staff Friday due to enrollment shifts, school-specific needs and other programmatic decisions, the school district said.

And what does it all mean?

• CPS says most of the laid off staff will likely find positions at other schools within the district.

  Overall, CPS says it plans to spend about the same amount on school-level staff as last year, and these actions do not help the school district close its $734 million budget gap.

So nothing at all.

How about closing a dozen underutilized schools, lay off those people and sell the buildings? You'd close the budget gap overnight. 

Shooting Footage

Earlier this year, an Officer was wounded in the leg following a struggle with an armed suspect. We wouldn't usually post video of this sort except for one very important part:

• video link here

The application of the tourniquet to the wounded Officer's leg was very well done, almost flawless, and that's difficult to do in a dynamic situation like that. 

Hats off to the Officers involved.

Hired then Fired

We thought CPD's hiring was bad....check out NYPD's disaster:

• The NYPD is trying to force dozens of officers and recruits who failed to meet the department’s standards to resign  —  but the effort faced a roadblock late Thursday after a state judge blocked the move, the Post has learned.

  At least 30 cops and cadets – hired between 2023 and 2024 under Inspector Terrell Anderson, who has since been transferred out of his role with the Police Academy – were notified of the NYPD’s attempt to purge them Thursday, according to the sources.

  “They all got called down,” a police source told The Post. “They’re being told: ‘You didn’t meet the qualifications. You shouldn’t have been hired. You have 24 hours to resign or be fired.’”

Many of the individuals had psych issues. Others lied about arrests, convictions and previous job terminations. But an allegedly crooked high ranking exempt-type passed them all through the hiring process after the commissioner lowered hiring standards.

For those who were around in the early 90s, CPD had a similar fiasco when a number of people were disqualified during the "psych exam" and deemed unworthy of being hired. Many dozens sued and were later scattered among later hiring classes. 

We met quite a few, and some ended up being decent cops. Others....well, there certainly appears to be some solid reasoning behind those types of exams.

The whole NYPD thing is going to court, but perhaps the first hiring mistake was the exempt who thought he could just disregard established protocols.

Skip a Grade?

Well why not?

• Chicago Public Schools is trying to make sure more students from a range of backgrounds are able to skip an entire grade or accelerate in a single subject.

  Board members were briefed Wednesday on proposed changes to the acceleration policy and will vote at their July 24 meeting.

  In the past, few students were allowed to jump ahead a grade or get accelerated instruction in math or reading, or both, and they were mostly from schools with few low-income students, according to data obtained by WBEZ. In a statement, CPS said most students came from North Side schools.

We can hear the cries of "racism!" already:

• The current policy for skipping a grade or moving ahead in reading and math calls for schools or parents to refer students and says they are only eligible if they exceed standards on the state standardized test. But only 4% of elementary school students exceed standards, and no students in either math or reading hit that mark in more than 100 schools.

It isn't like the teachers are actually helping the kids learn anything.

Best Rant Ever

We didn't know he was still alive:

We were still in high school when Lee Elia let loose with this one, and we heard the censored version for years on the Dahl and Meier radio show opening. He played for both the Cubs and the Sox, but he probably picked up most of his salty attitude in Philadelphia

Without a doubt, one of the greatest rants ever. 

Rapper's Dad Gunrunning

Who would have thought a rapper who "sings" about gun, dope and ghetto violence would have a family members involved in crime?

• The father of rapper Mello Buckzz was arraigned on federal firearms charges Tuesday, just days after drive-by gunmen targeted her fans in River North, leaving four people dead and 14 others wounded.

  Federal officials say Melvin Doyle illegally sold 13 guns since May 20 to confidential informants working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) — including one transaction that took place after the July 2 mass shooting outside Artis Lounge, where his daughter, Melanie Doyle, had hosted a record release party.

Thirteen guns to federal informants, so he's probably going away for twenty or forty years, perhaps more, all in the federal system.

The presser was quick to rule out poetic justice though:

• A law enforcement source told CWBChicago that investigators have found no evidence connecting Doyle’s alleged gun sales to the shooting outside the lounge at 311 West Chicago Avenue.

That's not to say he wasn't supplying other guns to rival gangs in other crimes....just not this one.

PPP Sentencing

This one slipped by us last week:

• A South Holland was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing nearly $20,000 in rent payments from public housing tenants and more than $40,000 in federal Paycheck Protection Program loans. Delvya Harris, 32, pleaded guilty to a felony theft charge after an investigation by the Chicago Housing Authority’s inspector general’s office.

  “I am pleased to see an individual held accountable for taking advantage of tenants and the public by stealing public funds for personal financial gain,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Monday.

  Harris was working for the Habitat Co. as an assistant community manager at the CHA’s Trumbull Park Homes in South Deering when she stole 50 money orders worth a total of $18,125 and deposited them into her personal account between December 2022 and March 2023. Prosecutors said that, in some instances, she gave the checks to her significant other to cash.

  In February and May 2021, Harris received more than $41,000 in PPP loans and received an advance on a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan — both for businesses that did not exist, prosecutors said.

So another single case is closed, while the Statute of Limitations marches onward, letting dozens more cases fall by the wayside, including a number of high ranking CPD exempts, a dozen OEMC leeches and forty or fifty CPS employees.

It's Happening

Conehead will probably go down in history as the mayor who let the Bears get away:

• In an offseason surprise, some Chicago Bears fans got an email this week asking their opinions on seating options and pricing for a new stadium.

  Is this a sneak peek at the new seats, and does it signal plans are moving forward for a move to Arlington Heights?

  Some of the fans who received the email have long histories with the team, and there are a lot of concerns. But at least one expert asked for a quick time out on the speculations, though he does think this signals the team is moving forward with their plan to move to the northwest suburbs.

If the McCaskey's were any sorts of business people, they would have moved out years ago, built a new stadium out-of-pocket (instead of swindling taxpayers), and have a franchise comparable in value to the Cowboys. 

Conehead was willing to sign away all the taxpayer money he could scrounge up, but Springfield was actually smarter in this case since they'll get their cut no matter where the Bears play in Illinois and taxpayers are more than a little fed up with billionaires getting hundreds of millions in "subsidies" for private enterprises.

But this is going to blow another giant monetary hole in the Chicago budget. 

Welcome Home Ed!

We guess Madigan will have to hunt up a different bunkmate:

• Former Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke has left the northwestern Illinois prison where he’s been held since September for his historic racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion conviction, officials have confirmed.

  Burke transferred Tuesday from a low-security prison facility in Thomson to community confinement, according to a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson. That means Burke will either continue to serve his sentence in home confinement or a halfway house. His official Bureau of Prisons release date remains Feb. 20, the spokesperson said.

  Burke’s two-year prison sentence raised eyebrows when it was handed down in June 2024 by U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall, now the city’s chief federal judge. And in the end, it appears the punishment for Burke’s abuse of office is a total of nine months behind bars.

So Ed will have time to spend his ill-gotten gains as he shuffles off this mortal coil. Nine months behind bars and a few extra months getting home cooked meals and see friends and family.

Mike is looking at triple what Ed got, so he's desperately looking to stay out of prison while he runs through his appeals.

Chicago Media Catches Up

Remember, you don't hate the media nearly enough:

• ABC Channel 7 - GLEN ELLYN, Ill. (WLS) -- A suburban park district is investigating what happened over the weekend when staffers were overwhelmed by hundreds of young people.
• Fox Channel 32 - A rowdy crowd of teenagers and young adults prompted the early closure of a pool Saturday afternoon in Glen Ellyn.
• NBC Channel 5 - A suburban community pool closed early over the Fourth of July weekend after unruly behavior erupted when a large crowd swarmed the area, police said.

We're sure there's more, but one has to wonder why they waited almost four days to cover what ended up becoming a national story. It probably has to do with the video spreading far and wide to the point they couldn't actually ignore it any more and continue to call themselves "reporters."

Kind of the like the Philadelphia shooting where there were 3 dead and ten wounded - a far cry from Chicago's 4 dead and 14 wounded. What's the main difference?

• video of the shooting 

The Chicago shooting had a single grainy video of the suspect vehicle rounding the corner after unloading on the crowd. The Philadelphia shooting has four or more people upping their pistols and unloading down the block at another set of shooters, including some fool unloading a switched-Glock over the heads of six or more peoples (or folks) heads. 

We have to wonder how many of the dead/injured were friendly fire.

More Suburban Adventures

The mayhem is spreading!

• Shots were fired in the parking lot of Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, north of Chicago Monday night, but police say there are no known victims.

  Gurnee police were called to the theme park at 8:20 p.m. Officers found evidence at the scene confirming that shots had been fired, police said.

  Preliminary information indicated there may have been a quarrel immediately before the shots were fired.

And don't forget all the gun offenders Naperville cops are finding at Top Golf. Pretty soon it might be safer in the City than the burbs.

Is that Conehead's plan?