Chicago Current News Feed

Cook County Medical Examiner cuts back on autopsies due to doctor shortage

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:53:00 -0500

The Cook County Medical Examiner's office, which is facing a shortage of pathologists, will no longer conduct autopsies in some cases involving drug or alcohol use.

The new policy will remain in effect for the next few months, and will curtail full autopsies when a patient has suffered a drug overdose and received hospital treatment before his death. It also applies to patients with certain types of heart disease who have histories of drug abuse, says CBS2.

Several physicians have resigned from the Medical Examiner's office recently, and the office received a dose of unfavorable publicity earlier this year when photos of bodies stacked outside an overstuffed corpse cooler leaked out.

A year after Daley leaves office, his legacy is diminished

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:51:00 -0500

Just in case you were thinking positive thoughts about our former mayor, Eric Zorn has a sobering reappraisal of Richard M. Daley's time in office.

From the parking-meter fiasco to Daley's sleazy self-enrichment at the hands of the state's pension fund, it's an impressive list of greatest hits.

CPD floods gang turf with police, social services to curb violence

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:25:00 -0500

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is banking on a new network of social services to help police bring Chicago's spiraling homicide rate under control.

The so-called 'wraparound' strategy saturates troubled neighborhoods with city services after police take down drug markets and arrest gang members.

Yesterday, Emanuel held a press conference at a West Pullman church to announce the strategy is in play in the Englewood and Harrison districts, where the city has been removing graffiti, fixing street lights and cleaning up vacant lots in the wake of busts.

Reunited at last: Blagojevich gets prison visit from wife and daughters

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:46:00 -0500

The Blagojevich family packed up for Denver over the weekend and visited hubby Rod in federal prison.

Patti Blagojevich mentioned the trip on Facebook, saying she and her two daughters were "so happy to see him," the AP reports.

She also describes the prison visiting room as "one of the saddest places on earth."

County settles Burge torture suit for $600k

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:35:00 -0500

Cook County will pay $600,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that an assistant state's attorney was present as detectives working for then-Chicago police Lt. John Burge tortured a homicide suspect.

The case involves Michael Tillman, who spent 23 years in prison before a special prosecutor determined his conviction was based on "coerced statements."

He's suing the county, the city, and former Mayor Richard M. Daley. The case against the other defendants continues, the Trib says.

Chicago Dems look for way to unseat Derrick Smith

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:18:00 -0500

Derrick Smith, the West Side state representative facing federal bribery charges, is becoming that guy who won't leave the dinner party.

Though Democratic officials led by Secretary of State Jesse White invited him to the banquet, they're now frantically trying to send him on his way, and Smith's not budging.

He won the Democratic primary and says he'll stay on the ballot in November. So Dems have formed a third party to select an opponent who can unseat Smith, the Trib reports.

Tom Tunney's haul from rooftop club owners: $171,356

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:15:00 -0500

Alderman Tom Tunney has received $171,356.50 from the owners of rooftop clubs overlooking Wrigley Field since 2003, even as he's become a powerful foe of changes to the stadium that would harm club owners.

Tunney is at the center of the dispute over Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to renovate Wrigley with new billboards, a jumbotron and street fairs outside the stadium.

The Sun-Times reports Tunney took $4,500 in donations from club owners the week before he announced his opposition to Emanuel's Wrigley plan. About a tenth of all the money Tunney has raised since his first run for aldermen has come from club owners.

Results of CTU straw poll are a mixed bag

Fri, 11 May 2012 16:02:00 -0500

The Chicago Teachers Union has been polling members for the past several days on their reactions to the Board of Education's contract proposals, as well as their level of comfort with schools chief Jean-Claude Brizard.

Early results are in, and a union press release is trumpeting one result—that 90 percent of its members say the district's contract proposals will harm educational quality.

Interesting, yes, but not nearly as interesting as the answers to some other questions on the survey.

At the Sun-Times, the future is the past

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:03:00 -0500

Over the past few weeks, I've been raising some questions about the overall strategy in play at the Sun-Times, which has a new editorial director and is rumored to be buying the Chicago Reader.

Yesterday, S-T investor John Canning spoke with Crain's, and didn't do much to inspire confidence in the paper's future. He says it's focused on:

doing niche acquisitions of different ways to gather news, gather local news, different ways to send it out electronically on a real-time basis. So you've got an app that you can pull up and find out who got arrested in your neighborhood, or what your neighbor's house is selling for. It's really recognizing that nespapers are giving away news for nothing. Now we've got to make it valuable enough that people will pay for it.

Quinn to sign bill requiring government retirees to pay insurance premiums

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:36:00 -0500

Gov. Pat Quinn says he plans to sign a bill requiring state government employees to begin contributing toward their health-insurance premiums, despite backlash from some labor groups.

The state Senate yesterday voted 31-20 to approve the measure, says the Sun-Times. It was approved earlier this week by the House.

The legislation is part of Quinn's plan to rein in health-care costs, which are expected to rise from $880 million this year to over $1 billion under the program's current structure.

IL Senate votes to trim roster of regional school superintendents

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:33:00 -0500

In an effort to save money, the state Senate yesterday approved cutting the number of regional school superintendents from 44 to 35.

The move would save about $1.5 million, says the Herald & Review.

Last year, Gov. Pat Quinn attempted to do away with the offices, which certify bus drivers and teachers and serve as a contact point between school districts and the state Board of Education.

The Trib goes hyper, hyper, hyperlocal

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:18:00 -0500

John Fritchey: Cook County should take over indigent burials

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:05:00 -0500

With stricter burial regulations expected to increase the county's cost of handling funerals for the indigent through a private cemetery, a Cook County commissioner is pushing a plan for the government to open its own graveyard.

Commissioner John Fritchey says operating a five-acre cemetery on the grounds of the county's former Oak Forest Hospital would save the county $180 million, the Sun-Times reports.

The county operated a cemetery near Fritchey's proposed site from 1911 to 1971. In the wake of the Burr Oak Cemetery scandal, burial requirements have become more stringent, prohibiting mass burials and requiring visible grave markers and separate burial areas for babies and unknown people.

State IG: Former IDOT official misused agency car, NASCAR tickets

Thu, 10 May 2012 12:45:00 -0500

The state inspector general is accusing a former senior Illinois Department of Transportation official of hitting up a state vendor for NASCAR tickets and then lying about it.

Michael Stout, who headed IDOT's Division of Traffic Safety, doled out the Chicagoland Speedway tickets to acquaintances in hopes he'd "look like a 'big shot,'" the Sun-Times reports. He then tried to pass his friends off as state employees by having them wear IDOT t-shirts, the report says.

The IG also accused Stout of misusing his IDOT vehicle, and failing to disclose outside employment. He resigned in December.

In House hearing, Derrick Smith declares innocence, declines to answer questions

Thu, 10 May 2012 12:34:00 -0500

The Illinois House committee probing bribery allegations involving Rep. Derrick Smith heard from the lawmaker himself today, but likely not in the way they'd hoped.

Smith, who is facing federal bribery charges, appeared before the committee, read a statement maintaining his innocence, and through his lawyer declined to answer questions about the events surrounding his indictment.

As the Sun-Times reports, Smith's attorney, Victor Henderson, said allowing Smith to testify would disadvantage him during his criminal trial.