Latest News from Chicago City Wire

State Rep. Curtis Tarver arrested for carrying a weapon with a revoked license

By W.J. Kennedy | Nov 21, 2019

State Rep. Curtis Tarver II (D-Chicago) was arrested Monday night in the Woodlawn section of Chicago and charged with carrying a weapon with an invalid concealed carry license (CCL), according to Chicago police.

Chicago Mayor Lightfoot, with cover from liberal press, refuses to confront city’s violence, Fox News analyst says

By W.J. Kennedy | Nov 12, 2019

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is “cut from the same cloth” as her predecessor Rahm Emmanuel for diverting attention away from the city’s tragic distinction of having more homicides than New York and Los Angeles combined, writes native Chicagoan Gianno Caldwell, a political consultant and Fox News political analyst.

Wirepoints: Teachers' contract deal will increase pressure on tax base, driving even more Chicagoans away

By W.J. Kennedy | Nov 7, 2019

With junk credit and a broke city to fall back on, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) will have to cover the costs of a new teachers’ contract through higher property taxes. That bill will amount to an estimated $1.5 billion over the next five years, according to an analysis by Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner of Wirepoints. And, they say, the estimate is on the low side.

Teachers union president, Sharkey, wants city homeowners to pay more in property taxes while he gets a big break on his

By W.J. Kennedy | Oct 31, 2019

Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Jesse Sharkey gets a discount on his property taxes, but wants other city homeowners to dig even deeper to satisfy the demands of the city's 24,000 teachers and their broke pension system.

Sun-Times sports columnist, Morrissey, sees similarities in the plight of minorities in the U.S. and China

By W.J. Kennedy | Oct 23, 2019

Sun-Times sports columnist, Rick Morrissey, recently berated (gently) NBA players for shying away from criticizing the Chinese government when it hit back at the NBA for a coach’s statement in support of the freedom protestors in Hong Kong.

Shoplifting up sharply under Kim Foxx’s restorative justice policies

By W.J. Kennedy | Oct 18, 2019

A spokesman for Chicago’s police union places the blame for a sharp increase in shoplifting over the last few years squarely on the shoulders of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

Council’s Progressive Caucus Tax proposals would set us back over 100 years, financial expert says

By W.J. Kennedy | Oct 15, 2019

A truckload of new taxes proposed by Chicago City Council’s Progressive Caucus appears as if they “deliberately selected some of the most foolish of all options,” said financial analyst and Wirepoints founder Mark Glennon.

Chicago’s police union lawyers demand civilian oversight board stop 'illegal' preparation of search warrants

By W.J. Kennedy | Sep 19, 2019

Attorneys for the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) are demanding that the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), an administrative oversight agency, stop preparing complaints for search warrants in cases that involve investigations of potential police misconduct.

Chicago’s police union rips city Inspector General Joe Ferguson

By W.J. Kennedy | Sep 12, 2019

Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson isn’t finished making enemies within the Chicago Police Department.

Tribune’s Hinkel, other reporters caught up in anti-police movement

By W.J. Kennedy | Sep 9, 2019

A local writer skewered Chicago Tribune reporter Dan Hinkel for his coverage of Chicago Police officer Robert Rialmo, who the Chicago Police Board recently investigated over a 2015 shooting death of a bat-wielding 19-year-old man, and, the accidental shooting and killing of the man’s neighbor.

Chicago FOP demands U.S. Attorney investigate new findings that show consent decree based on manufactured evidence

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 28, 2019

The union representing the Chicago Police is demanding that the Department of Justice consider new findings that the Obama Administration relied on manufactured evidence in an investigation of the CPD that led to a consent decree. The consent decree, a court order that forces the overhaul of the department’s policies and practices, went into effect in March of this year.

Former Gov. Pat Quinn, New Yorker journalist fighting depositions in Tyrone Hood wrongful conviction case

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 23, 2019

A journalist with The New Yorker magazine and former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn are fighting efforts to depose them in a federal wrongful conviction lawsuit brought by Tyrone Hood, convicted of a 1993 murder and then set free in 2015 soon after Quinn commuted his sentence, court records show.

Cook County Judge John Lyke sets $1,000 bond for violent offense, $100,000 for non-violent offense

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 20, 2019

A few weeks ago, 19-year-old Deontae Brisco, who allegedly threw a woman to the ground in Lincoln Park in the middle of the day and stole her phone, made bail by putting $100 down. A few months before that the same Cook County judge who set Brisco’s bail, John Lyke, set bail for former Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno (1st Ward) at $100,000. He was charged with the non-violent crime of insurance fraud.

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At least one member of CTU delegation to Venezuela unphased by report of government’s torturing

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 16, 2019

One member of a Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) delegation that visited socialist Venezuela in June “to learn from the Bolivarian Revolution” had no reaction to this week’s New York Times front page story of the government there resorting to torture and murder to quash opposition.

Chicago FOP encouraged by city’s motion to dismiss civil action in 25-year-old murder case

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 15, 2019

A spokesman for Chicago’s police union say they are delighted with a motion filed Aug. 9 in federal court that asks for the dismissal of a civil action against the city of Chicago for wrongful convictions in a 25-year-old murder case.

Bill Conway, candidate for Cook County State’s Attorney, says he can rebuild trust with the Chicago Police

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 9, 2019

Bill Conway, who just announced that he will challenge Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in the Democratic primary, says he can heal the toxic relationship between the prosecutor’s office and the Chicago Police Department.

Dr. Willie Wilson’s reparations proposal faces cost, other obstacles in City Council

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 6, 2019

Chicago businessman Dr. Willie Wilson faces a long, tough list of obstacles to his proposed city ordinance awarding reparations to Chicagoans who descended from slaves.

Chicago Teachers Union president Sharkey in hot water as some of his “useful idiots” visit and embrace impoverished, socialist Venezuela

By W.J. Kennedy | Jul 30, 2019

A recent pilgrimage to socialist Venezuela by a contingent of Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) extremists has some of the rank-and-file union members who stayed behind calling for the ouster of CTU President Jesse Sharkey, himself a card-carrying socialist.

Chicago police union calls Lightfoot's 'clown' comments 'misguided and dangerous'

By W.J. Kennedy | Jul 25, 2019

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s comments yesterday directed at FOP vice president Patrick Murray were “misguided and dangerous things to say to a 30-year veteran police officer and FOP representative, particularly at a time when the city is facing such chronic violent crime,” Chicago’s police union said in a statement.

Kim Foxx should be front and center in blame game over city’s violence, Chicago FOP says

By W.J. Kennedy | Jul 24, 2019

Chicago’s police union believes that one city official is missing from the mix in the recent back-and-forth between Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson and Mayor Lori Lightfoot over where the blame lies for the city’s relentless wave of violent crime – Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

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