watchdogs
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Another casino concern: 85 kids left unattended over 2 1/2 years
THE WATCHDOGS: Eighty-five children were left unsupervised at casinos across Illinois between Jan. 1, 2010, and July 31, 2012 — in the establishments’ lobbies, parking areas, hotels and restaurants, records show. With Mayor Rahm Emanuel urging Illinois lawmakers to give Chicago its first casino, and with video gambling machines popping up at bars and restaurants statewide, there’s concern that more children will be left alone and possibly placed in danger.
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State trying to recover $100,000 grant for failed Englewood garden
THE WATCHDOGS: Back when former Gov. George Ryan was letting lawmakers pass out grants to boost the economy and build political support, then-state Sen. Barack Obama secured $100,000 in state money to help a not-for-profit group create a botanic garden in Englewood. Now, more than a decade later, Illinois state officials are still trying to recover that grant, which they say the garden’s developers misspent.
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Mystery in Daley nephew case: Why did police open 2nd case file?
THE WATCHDOGS: There’s a mystery in the David Koschman case that the Chicago Police Department has never explained: Why did detectives open what they labeled a “non-criminal” investigation into Koschman’s death on the same day they reclassified what originally was a battery case as a homicide? Law enforcement sources say it’s unusual for the police department to open two separate files on the same case.
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The Watchdogs: Chinatown license fraud ring put dangerous drivers on the street
THE WATCHDOGS: Carolyn Parks was driving in Winnetka when a man with an Illinois driver’s license obtained with a fraudulent Chinese passport crashed into her. The Highland Park woman suffered bruises and a concussion. The driver who hit her was one of thousands of immigrants suspected of obtaining Illinois driver’s licenses through a Chinatown fraud ring between 2003 and 2008.
City Hall: Parking-meter firm off by more than $22 million
THE WATCHDOGS: The private company in charge of Chicago’s parking-meter system is demanding more money from the city, saying the revenue it has lost from City Hall taking meters out of service and for having to provide free disability parking now comes to $61 million. But city officials say the company’s math is way off — by more than $22 million, according to documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
State Sen. Sandoval’s $68,400 side gig: translating news releases
THE WATCHDOGS: When the Town of Cicero sends out news releases in Spanish, they frequently highlight the contributions of “el Senador Sandoval.” What they don’t tell Cicero taxpayers is that they are footing the bill for state Sen. Martin Sandoval to translate those words into Spanish. Sandoval’s Puentes Inc. is paid $4,200 a month as a media relations consultant for a town he represents in Springfield.
15 members of Joe Berrios' family on county, state payrolls
THE WATCHDOGS: For Joe Berrios, the Cook County assessor who is also the county Democratic Party chairman, government is the family business.
‘Disability Pays’: Felon Chicago firefighter got disability deal
THE WATCHDOGS: A month after he was found guilty of a felony that could have ended his nine-year career with the Chicago Fire Department, firefighter Thomas P. Raddatz filed an injury complaint that ultimately blocked the city’s efforts to fire him. In the end, Raddatz avoided getting fired, got to keep getting disability checks that so far have paid him more than a half million dollars and got a $50,000 settlement from the city.
Unanswered questions in homicide case involving Daley nephew
THE WATCHDOGS: It’s been two weeks now since the Chicago Police Department concluded Mayor Daley’s nephew threw the punch that led to David Koschman’s death but closed its recently reopened investigation without seeking criminal charges.
Why do Chicago taxpayers pay this man more than the mayor?
THE WATCHDOGS: As the man responsible for overseeing construction of Chicago’s new schools, libraries, police stations and even a new harbor along the lakefront, James McConnell commands a salary from Chicago taxpayers higher than anyone at City Hall makes.
Rep. Arroyo denies making threat to get Metra Healy station renamed for Clemente
State Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago), whose Northwest Side district includes a large Latino constituency, wants Metra to rename its Healy station at Fullerton and Pulaski on the Milwaukee District North Line for Roberto Clemente, the late Pittsburgh Pirates star from Puerto Rico who died in …Read More
Fight to shut Chicago’s last topless bar may be near an end
City Hall’s 19-year battle to shut down Chicago’s only topless bar could be nearing an end, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused a last-ditch appeal from the bar’s owner — the second time the nation’s highest court has taken a pass on the case.
Assessor Joe Berrios, Secretary of State Jesse White traded clout hires
THE WATCHDOGS: A nephew of Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios was hired by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White five weeks after Berrios put the son of longtime White chief of staff Thomas Benigno on his payroll last year, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show. The timing of the two hires was nothing more than coincidence, according to a spokeswoman for White.“
Chicago cop who pleaded guilty in disability scam still on force
A Chicago cop who pleaded guilty to theft on charges that he illegally collected disability pay from the city’s police pension fund ended up avoiding prison and being allowed to return to work for the Chicago Police Department.
Feds investigating disabled Chicago firefighters, paramedics in wake of Sun-Times’ reports
A federal grand jury that’s investigating disability payments to Chicago police officers in the wake of a Chicago Sun-Times investigation is also probing injury claims from Chicago firefighters and paramedics, newly obtained records show.
Rahm Emanuel’s go-to guy on labor: Leave ‘no footprints’
As one of the key people Mayor Rahm Emanuel turns to, James Franczek played a major role in the deal that ended the first Chicago teachers strike in 25 years. His work in winning concessions from labor unions was instrumental in keeping two major trade shows in Chicago. As chief labor lawyer for City Hall and other government agencies, Franczek has been paid nearly $16.5 million since 2005. So how come more people don’t know him?
Feds investigate disabled Chicago cops in wake of Sun-Times’ reports
A federal grand jury has begun looking into payments made to Chicago cops on disabilty in the wake of a Chicago Sun-Times investigation. The grand jury issued a subpoena Monday to Chicago’s police pension board, demanding all of its records on disabled police officers, including medical reports, dating to January 2006.
THE WATCHDOGS: Emanuel nemesis’ law firm sued over ex-suburban chief’s $129,192 disability pay
The attorney who waged a losing battle to keep Rahm Emanuel out of the Chicago mayoral race last year now finds his law firm enmeshed in another court fight, this time over a former southwest suburban police chief’s six-figure yearly disability pay.
Pension board: Investigate ex-paramedic’s injury claims
Chicago pension officials want the Cook County state’s attorney’s office to investigate Gregory J. Serratore, a former paramedic who claims to be permanently disabled from an on-the-job injury in the early 1980s but has been working as a police officer for the Cook County Forest Preserve District for the past 21 years.
The ‘milkman,’ dead at 64, provided dairy products to Chicago’s public schools
Around Chicago, Frank J. McMahon was known as “the milkman.” His family’s McMahon Food Corp. is one of the area’s largest dairy-distribution companies. Mr. McMahon, who lived on the near West Side, died Sunday at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. He was 64.
