David Irving talk disrupted on NW side

Updated: A speech by Holocaust denier David Irving at the Edelweiss restaurant, 7650 W Irving Park, was disrupted and shut down by antifascists Monday night. Our rumors have it that 5-7 black-clad thugs stormed into the restaurant, throwing chairs and aggressively engaging the crowd of mostly elderly men. Irving was moved to safety, and some damage was done to the restaurant.

Several individuals were arrested shortly afterward. Everyone's outta jail with disorderly conduct charges.

Arson suspected in school fire

A fire that caused more than $100,000 damage at Naperville's Scott Elementary School is being investigated as an arson, police said Monday.

Cmdr. Mike Anders said investigators have interviewed several students and staff members at the school at 500 Warwick Drive.

He said the initial probe was handled by a joint team of police officers and firefighters, but police took over once it was determined a crime was involved.

Scott students and faculty had to be evacuated about 9:30 a.m. Friday after a fire began in the boys washroom and destroyed a toilet paper dispenser and stall partition.

No one was injured, but smoke spread throughout the building and caused extensive damage.

from the Daily Herald

Underground immigration ring busted

Ten people with Chicago connections have been indicted on federal charges of running a marriage fraud scheme that paid American citizens thousands of dollars to marry immigrants in an effort to skirt immigration laws, the U.S. attorney's office said today.

Federal authorities allege Maria Cruz, 49, and her co-defendants arranged up to 15 "sham marriages" in which non-U.S. citizens -- many of them Filipinos -- offered to pay Cruz $3,000 to arrange marriages with American citizens.

According to an indictment unsealed today, Cruz paid a fee for referrals to U.S. citizens willing to enter into the fake marriages. She allegedly promised them they would be paid about $3,000 up front for the marriage and $300 to $350 for each month until the non-citizen got citizenship.

The indictment alleges that between 2003 and 2009 Cruz would drive people to their purported weddings and take pictures before and after to make it appear that real ceremonies had taken place. She would also advise participants in the scam on how to make their marriages seem real to immigration officials, federal authorities allege.

from the Trib

Cop skims $600k from police association

A statewide police association will check its financial books after learning one of its board members -- a Chicago Police sergeant -- was charged with skimming $600,000 from the Chicago Police Sergeants' Association.

Sgt. John Pallohusky, a detective and president of the Chicago sergeants' association, also serves as financial secretary for the Springfield-based Police Benevolent & Protective Association of Illinois.

On Friday, Cook County prosecutors charged Pallohusky, 53, with stealing from the Chicago Police Sergeants' Association and spending the money on a home, an online stock brokerage, gambling trips, hotels and steak dinners.

from the Sun-Times

Man plants fake bombs downtown

A West Side man faces felony charges after he was arrested on suspicion of planting fake bombs near the headquarters of the Boeing Co. and One Prudential Plaza, police said.

Chicago police foot patrol officers arrested Roosevelt Billups, 42, in the 100 block of North State Street about 5 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

Someone who saw Billups in the area called police after recognizing him as a suspect in three incidents involving fake bombs, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Gabrielle Lesniak.

Billups is suspected of planting hoax bombs outside 100 N. Riverside Plaza -- which is the Boeing headquarters -- and One Prudential Plaza, a police source said.

from the Trib

Suspicious cans shut down courthouse garage

Authorities shut down the parking garage across the street from the Cook County Criminal Courts Building for about a half hour today after a law enforcement officer found two suspicious canisters attached to his vehicle.

The officer was leaving the garage at about 1:15 p.m. when he heard a rattling sound coming from his vehicle, according to Cook County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Patterson.

"The officer got out of his vehicle and found two rattling canisters adhered to his car," Patterson said.

The officer called for assistance. The investigation is being handled by members of the Chicago Police Bomb and Arson unit, Patterson said.

from the Trib

Twin Cities activists defy Iowa Grand Jury subpoena

The federal government's Green Scare campaign took another depressing turn Tuesday morning as a federal district judge in Iowa ordered the detainment of Twin Cities activists Scott DeMuth and Carrie Feldman at a contempt hearing. DeMuth and Feldman were subpoenaed to a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa, compelling them to testify regarding a animal rights-related vandalism incident at the University of Iowa. These are the first reports from Iowa:

Feldman and Scott spoke to the local press and 30 to 40 supporters at a rally beforehand in Davenport, then refused to testify. At the contempt hearing, the judge offered both immunity, but they still refused to talk, and were taken away. The judge believes they will remain in jail until they comply or the jury ends (likely in 11 months).

from Twin Cities IndyMedia

Cabrini Green anti-eviction blockade announced

We are kicking off the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaing this Tuesday with an eviction blockade to stop Lenise Forrest and her family from being evicted from Cabrini Green for owing back rent. She had a payment plan under previous management but the new management has refused to recognize it and is trying to put her out on the street. She is appealing the eviction but the Sheriff is still scheduled to evict her Tuesday morning.

from Chicago IndyMedia

UIUC grad students on strike

University of Illinois graduate student instructors plan to continue striking Tuesday after an estimated "several hundred" classes were canceled Monday, organizers said.

Carrying umbrellas and strike signs, instructors picketed outside four major classroom buildings in the Urbana-Champaign campus while undergraduates worried about missing class time, the due dates for assignments and their grades if the strike continues.

from the Trib

Witnesses held in contempt still won't testify at murder trial

Three witnesses who refuse to testify in a gang-related murder trial will remain in jail until at least Dec. 7, when the judge presiding over the trial returns from vacation.

Raul Galarza, Jeffrey Pawlak and Carlos Roa all refused once again to testify Monday at the Cook County Courthouse in Maywood despite being granted immunity. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Tucker found they remained in contempt of court and sent them back to jail. If they persist, all three could face more than a year in prison.

from the Trib