Social War Chicago

2012-01-02T06:59:00.000-08:00

The "Committee for Illegal Life" seems to have taken up where this blog left off. While SWC might return for the months around the G8/NATO conferences, it's been a bit of a chore to dig up articles continually. This blog's not offically 'dead' though.

Graffiti sprawled on Marilyn Monroe statue’s leg

2011-08-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

Poor Marilyn — even in death people just can’t leave her alone.

The 26-foot-tall statue of Marilyn Monroe on Michigan Avenue, which depicts the legendary actress in her iconic pose from the 1955 movie, “The Seven Year Itch,” was defaced sometime late Friday or early Saturday, police said.

The black markings on the right calf of the statue appear to contain the letters, “Pi$tola,” a picture of a heart and the word, “Ariel.”

Police weren’t notified of the graffiti until 2:40 p.m. Saturday, police said.

The statue went up this summer in Pioneer Court, on the 400 block of North Michigan, and is scheduled to remain there through spring of 2012. It has attracted the attention of passersby, residents and tourists alike, and many have stopped to gaze up at it or have their photos taken next to — or under — it.

As of Saturday evening no arrests had been made and it was not known if police were looking at any suspects in connection to the incident.

from the Sun-Times

Man throws molotov into grocery store

2011-08-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

Bond was set at $2 million Monday for a Sleepy Hollow man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail-style fire bomb inside a crowded grocery store in northwest suburban Algonquin.

The incident occurred at about 12:15 p.m. Sunday at the Joe Caputo & Sons store in the 100 block of South Randall Road.

According to Deputy Police Chief Steve Kuzynowski, 24-year-old Fabian J. Torres threw a burning “incendiary device fashioned out of a bottle filled with flammable liquid among a large group of people standing near the delicatessen in the rear of the store.”

Only one person was injured, and he was treated for minor burns at the scene, police said. A Crystal Lake man who was shopping followed Torres out of the store and, with the help of an off-duty Carpentersville police officer who happened to be in the parking lot, subdued the Sleepy Hollow man until police arrived, Kuzynowski said.

Torres was charged with aggravated arson and was taken to the McHenry County Jail after his bond was set Monday morning. Kuzynowski declined to say what may have motivated the attack.

Published reports say Torres is a former Caputo’s employee and that he told one witness he is a Native American who is upset about how the American land has been exploited. The store sustained some damage, but reopened for business Monday.

more from the Sun-Times

"Community mediators" snuff out incidents of smoldering unrest

2011-08-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

Watching the events in London unfold over the past week hit home for me. I was reminded of one of the young men from a British-based version of CeaseFire, the US public health programme, who had come here last October to train with us. Sitting with several of our members on a porch in Auburn Gresham, a disadvantaged Chicago neighbourhood, he enthusiastically threw his arms up and declared: "This is Brixton! I am home!"

"This is Brixton," carries a very different meaning today: burning cars, smouldering buildings and damaged store fronts.

more from The Guardian

Conservative rag fears flash mobs will ignite new Chicago "fire"

2011-08-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

[June 13]

Stories about violent "flash mobs" roaming Chicago's North Side neighborhoods have been in the news the past 2 weeks. People are worried about the impact these mobs will have on tourism and the city's economy. Some are asking why this social unrest is happening, now, so soon after Mayor Daley left office.

Kevin O'Neil writes in the CTA Tattler, "Chicago police and Streeterville universities are warning residents and passersby to be aware of traveling mobs of teenagers who use the CTA and cell phones to meet up in the Near North Side area and commit crimes..."

O'Neil continues, "Police arrested seven young men in their mid-to-late teen Saturday night on "mob action" charges after about two dozen men attacked a person parking his scooter in the 300 block of E. Chicago Avenue...according to a Tribune news report."

Other flash mob incidents this year include: "A group of 70 youths storming a McDonald's at Chicago and State and creating a disturbance that forced the restaurant to close for three hours."

There were also "'Flash mob offenders' exiting the Chicago/State Red Line station and shoplifting at area stores. This behavior prompted Loyola University to warn students and staff at its Water Tower campus."

more from the American Thinker

Chicago police brace for flash mob attacks

2011-08-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

[June 9]

Police here are girding for another weekend of "flash mob" attacks after arresting 29 people in connection with a recent rash of assaults and robberies in and around the city's tony shopping and dining district.

Twelve crimes involving large groups of young men were reported last weekend, in addition to others earlier this spring. The incidents are some of the first major problems confronting newly appointed Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

The attacks have received wide attention in Chicago because they have occurred around the city's affluent north side, including near the "Magnificent Mile," a Michigan Avenue strip popular with tourists.

The latest attack occurred early Thursday morning. A spokesman for the Chicago Police Department said the attack involved "multiple" perpetrators near an elevated train platform. Described in the police report as a "strong arm robbery," the group of assailants took the victim's iPad and money and punched him in the face. No arrests have yet been made in that case.

more from the WSJ

Group ditches government hearing to block traffic

2011-08-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

It was billed as the community’s best chance to vent about a controversial federal program targeting illegal immigrants.

About 200 protesters instead decided they had had enough of talking — and marched out of a downtown task-force hearing Wednesday evening on the Secure Communities program, before blocking an intersection and the Kennedy Expy off-ramp at West Washington Street.

Ten people were arrested, police said, including one young male protester who ran down the off-ramp and starting waving off approaching traffic.

Chanting “Terminate the program! No more lies,” the protesters hoisted signs that read: “Police should protect and serve, not deport and terrify,” and “The Secure Communities Act is domestic terrorism.”

The hearing at the IBEW Hall, 600 W. Washington, was supposed to be an opportunity for the public to comment about the Secure Communities program, which automatically shares arrestees’ fingerprints and details with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those opposed to the program — touted as a way to protect citizens from dangerous convicts who are illegal immigrants — say it also ensnares people who have committed minor offenses and is a waste of police resources.

An advisory task force has held meetings in Los Angeles and Dallas — and now Chicago — to gather input and make a recommendation to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about the program. Just 26 of Illinois’ 102 counties participate in the program. But Homeland Security recently told Gov. Pat Quinn and the governors of two other states that they can no longer opt out.

About 500 people — twice the number at either of the two previous hearings — packed the IBEW Hall. Most said the program deprives immigrants of their most basic rights.

“It is outrageous to incarcerate our neighbors — to pull them out of churches,” said protester Jim Cusack, 75, speaking before the task force.

But about 20 minutes into the hearing, almost half of the protesters marched out, led by a group that calls itself “Immigrant Youth Justice League.”

The protesters marched to Washington and Des Plaines, where they linked hands and sat down. By about 7:30 p.m, most had dispersed.

Several protesters admitted being illegal immigrants.

“This is something we face every day — being in deportation hearings. So putting ourselves in front of a street isn’t that far off from the fear the government makes us feel every day,” said protester Tania Unzueta, 27, who came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 10.

from the Trib

Slain cop mistakenly listed on report of low-performing officers

2011-08-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

Michael Bailey was one of the names on a list of low-performing Chicago Police officers sent to supervisors earlier this month.

Their work activity was “lower than other officers performing the same assignment” from Jan. 1 through June 6, the memo said.

The problem: Bailey was shot to death outside his house in July 2010 during an apparent robbery attempt after completing work on a security detail for then-Mayor Richard M. Daley.

more from the Sun-Times

Pro golfers clubs stolen at charity event

2011-08-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

Pro golfer Ricky Barnes, in the Chicago area for a charity tournament, had his golf bag, clubs and an $8,000 watch swiped from his rental car this week, authorities said.

On Monday, Barnes was the guest of honor at the Middle Market Open National Kidney Foundation golf tournament at Olympia Fields Country Club.

Barnes, who’s ranked 93rd in the world, put his golf bag in the trunk of his car and locked it around 4 p.m. When he returned about 25 minutes later and opened the trunk, his wallet, bag, clubs and watch were gone.

The 14 clubs are valued at $3,500. His chrome Breitling Bentley watch was worth about $8,000.

more from the Sun-Times

Social War Milwaukee

2011-08-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

A "total destroy!" to the anonymous comrades who started Social War Milwaukee.

For SWC's rather small Mke archive, check out the milwaukee tag.

Wage-slashing funeral home targeted by vandalism

2011-08-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

On July 10, three Chicago-area Alderwoods funeral homes were viciously vandalized. All were Dignity Memorial network facilities that had also been targeted for a strike by local Teamsters.

Teamsters Local 727, which represents 16 Alderwoods embalmers, drivers and funeral directors, had been negotiating with the company that owns the homes after their labor contract expired June 30. The union complained that the other side had bargained in bad faith and had "…proposed a three-year wage freeze and a company health care package that is more expensive and less comprehensive than the union's health and welfare benefits," reports the Chicago Sun-Times. And so the Teamsters targeted four funeral homes for strike.

more at the Baltimore Sun

Arson at Chicago Tea Patriots' Christmas Party

2010-12-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

A Statement from Chicago Tea Patriots founder Catherina Wojtowicz concerning the events on the night of Friday, December 10, 2010:

12/16/10

“We were the target of an arson Friday at our Christmas Party.

At appromixmately 8 p.m. smoke began to fill the rooms of Dugan’s Irish Pub where we hosting our Christmas Party. The entire bar soon became engulfed with thick, heavy smoke and the bar was evacuated. Within moments the Chicago Fire and Police arrived and began to clear and secure the premises. We were detained outside while firemen cleared the bar. After waiting an hour outside, with other dozens of other bar patrons, we were allowed back in to gather our belongings. The bar was covered in soot and patrons had great difficulty in breathing. Bar management had to close the bar for the night, thus losing revenue during the busy Christmas season.

Tuesday I received a phone call from detectives from the Chicago Bomb and Arson Department who informed me that four devices, which appeared to be roadside flares, were taped together and left lit and smoldering in the trash can of the men’s bathroom. On the lid of the toliet seat, written in red, it read: F#CK THE CHICAGO TEA PARTY

Bomb and arson police have deemed this an arson and are now investigating. To those who came to Friday’s party — THANK YOU! To those who we missed because you came after the bar closed — THANK YOU AND I’M SORRY WE MISSED YOU!! To those who were unable to make the party, here’s your 2nd chance!!

Because the devices were left in the bathroom it will be difficult to deduce who is the offender from videos and because nobody was killed or harmed (thankfully), fingerprints will not be processed for anywhere from six months to a year. However, if an offender is found, they will be charged with a felony.

LET THE LIGHT SHINE!

Catherina Wojtowicz,

Chicago Tea Patriots
312-662-8666"

From Chicago Tea Patriots

Pro-Lifer Joe Scheidler’s Home Hit by Pro-Abortion Vandalism

2010-12-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

Joe Scheidler is a name pro-life advocates know because he has been one of the leaders of the pro-life movement for decades. Scheidler has become a frequent target of pro-abortion activist and now his home has been vandalized.

His home was attacked in the middle of the night, at approximately 2:00 a.m., with an abortion advocate throwing bricks of asphalt through two front windows.

One of them contained a threatening note making it clear the source of the vandalism supports legalized abortions

“We are crazy feminist bitches who will destroy your sexist ideas,” a note, containing an anarchist sign and scrawled in a child-like writing, said.

“P.S. I’ve had an abortion and no laws could ever stop me,” the note continued. “You can’t make Queen Anne’s lace illegal, asshole.”

Troy Newman, the president of Operation Rescue, praised his longtime friend in an email to LifeNews.com as someone who has always has had the best interests of the pro-life movement at heart and who has been selfless in trying to protect women and unborn children.

“We denounce in the strongest terms the cowardly violence that shattered the peace of the Scheidler home last night,” Newman said after learning of the attack.

He urged the Obama administration to investigate the attack in the same way it has assertively looked into incidents at abortion facilities and the shooting death of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller.

“We demand that Attorney General Eric Holder order the Justice Department to launch an immediate investigation into this violent hate crime and to provide the same protections to Joseph and Ann Scheidler as they have in the past for unthreatened abortionists,” he said.

Newman is concerned about the rising levels of violence against pro-life advocates, as this attack on Scheidlers’ home comes after multiple other incidents of vandalism and after pro-life protester Jim Pouillon was shot and killed outside a local high school in Owosso, Michigan because his killer Harlan Drake didn’t like him using graphic pictures of babies victimized by abortions.

Operation Rescue’s headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, has been repeatedly vandalized, and staff threatened in recent months. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, sidewalk counselors were threatened by a man at gunpoint and police later discovered a cache of weapons in the man’s vehicle, he indicated.

“Joe and Ann Scheidler are pioneers in the pro-life movement whose knowledge and experience has benefited everyone who has ever taken a stand for the lives of the pre-born,” said Newman. “Please join Operation Rescue in sending a special Christmas gift to the Scheidler’s today as a show of support and to help defray the cost of repairing the damage to their home.”

Cards and letters can be sent to: Joe and Ann Scheidler, Pro-Life Action League, 6160 N. Cicero Ave., Chicago, IL 60646.

source: LifeNews

Snitchin results in arrest in parking box theft

2010-10-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

A suspect was charged early this morning in connection with the theft of several of the hefty pay-and-display parking boxes from city streets, police said.

Jeffery Kaput, 38, of the 5500 block of West Cortez Street, was charged with four felony theft counts related to the 200-pound LAZ boxes, according to police. He was also charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Kaput was pulled over late Monday at 5518 W. Augusta Blvd. by an Area 5 robbery mission team after police had received a description from a witness of a car that had collided with one of the LAZ parking boxes, according to a police report.

Officers also had video evidence of the same vehicle being used by a suspect who dumped one of the meters, the report said.

The drug charge pertained to a crack pipe that police said Kaput admitted he had dropped as officers pulled him over about 11:45 p.m., according to the report.

Earlier this month, police said about 20 parking boxes have been stolen since Sept. 17, with only four recovered.

The thefts occurred citywide, with nearly half in Area 5 on the Northwest Side. It was not known how much money the boxes had held.

The deal that privatized the city's parking meters has been a political nightmare for Mayor Richard Daley and aldermen who granted lightning-fast approval of the the 75-year, $1.15 billion lease of the city's 36,000 meters.

The theft of the meters is still being investigated by Area 4 and Area 5 detectives.

Kaput is scheduled to appear in bond court later today.

from the Trib

Parents occupying field house win demands

2010-10-19T10:55:00.001-07:00

Chicago Public Schools agreed Monday to lease a field house next to Whittier Elementary School to a community group for $1 a year and build a library inside the school.

The action comes as a group of Pilsen parents continued a sit-in to gain control of the building and convert it into a library to prevent it from being razed.

more at Sun-Times

Electronic pay machines stolen in continued sabotage of parking meters

2010-10-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

Irate drivers may have found one way to deal with Chicago's new parking meters.

Twenty of the 200-pound electronic parking pay machines have been stolen throughout Chicago since Sept. 17, police department spokesman Roderick Drew said in an e-mail. It isn't known how much cash may have been taken from the stolen machines, he said.

Four of the pay machines have been recovered, Drew said.

Drivers who paid for parking with a credit card shouldn't be concerned about their information being stolen because the machines don't store credit card numbers, Drew said.

Although the thefts have been reported citywide, nearly half have occurred in the Grand Central Area on the Northwest Side, he said.

"Area 5 Detectives have been working with LAZ Parking to address this issue. Residents who witness vandalism or suspicious behavior should call police immediately," Drew said.

Police are still investigating, he said.

Nearly two years ago, the city signed a 75-year parking meter lease with Chicago Parking Meters LLC that led to soaring rates and initial troubles with jammed, broken and error-prone meters that angered many drivers.

Avis LaVelle, a spokeswoman for Chicago Parking Meters LLC, said in a statement she could not confirm the reports of thefts.

But she added, "Theft or destruction of pay boxes and meters is regarded as a very serious offense and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

If a driver comes across a parking spot with a missing pay box, he or she should find another nearby box, LaVelle said.

If there is no box, the driver can park, then should call the customer service line of meter operator LAZ Parking at ... to notify the company of the missing box. That call is used as "documentation of defense in the event of a possible citation," LaVelle said.

from the Trib

Witnesses dispute police account of fatal CTA shooting

2010-09-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

Chicago police shot and killed a man on a CTA Red Line train early Saturday who, officials alleged, was walking through the train with a gun.

The shooting occurred inside the Garfield CTA station on the South Side shortly after 1:40 a.m., after a train operator directed police to the train car in which George Lash, 19, was last seen, police said in a news release.

Police said that two officers approached Lash and that he allegedly began to fight with the officers and pointed a gun at them, prompting them to shoot him.

But several witnesses who telephoned the Tribune and other media outlets Saturday countered that version of events, arguing that Lash appeared unarmed and that the shooting appeared unjustified.

"I didn't see a gun at all," said Natalie Bruce, who said she was on her way home from church when the shooting occurred. "The officers put his hands behind his back. They seemed like they were patting him down, and they tussled a little bit, but they had him pinned against the wall."

Ordered to leave the train, Bruce said she did not see the actual shooting but heard shots as she stepped onto the platform.

After the shooting, Lash was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 2:30 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Police spokesman Roderick Drew said Saturday that a gun was recovered at the scene. The Independent Police Review Authority, which reviews all police-involved shootings, is investigating.

from the Trib

Tinley Park cop cruiser shattered

2010-09-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

A landscaping brick was used Sept. 2 to shatter the windshield of a squad car and to damage a 2009 Chevrolet Impala in the 17300 block of Valley Drive.

from the Southtown Star

Pilsen parents occupy field house to protest demolition

2010-09-17T11:07:00.000-07:00

Several dozen parents are staging a sit-in at a Pilsen elementary school field house, protesting the planned demolition of the dilapidated structure.

"We want it turned into a library, that's what we want," said Araceli Gonzalez of the Whittier Elementary school field house, 1900 W. 23rd St.

Gonzalez, who has a 10-year-old daughter at Whittier, had staked out the field house and surrounding playground with about 30 other parents and community members to stop the demolition of the building. Parents said they had been camped out in the field house since Wednesday.

The field house -- paint peeling, roof warped -- had been set to be destroyed this fall after a CPS engineer found it to be structurally unsound, said CPS spokeswoman Monique Bond. But the demolition is not happening this week, as permits have been delayed, Bond said.

Although parents have lobbied for the building to be repaired or rebuilt into a library, Bond said the district lacked the money.

"(With) the budgetary constraints we are under, nothing is going to happen," Bond said. "That building has to come down."

But community members said they hired their own engineer who came to a different conclusion. Pilsen resident Gema Gaete said their engineer determined that the building could be salvaged with minimal investment.

While nobody has been arrested, the sit-in at times has become tense. Police this morning pushed the doors of the field house open, but did not try to enter the building.

"Why are you treating us like criminals?" Gaeta said when school liaison Sgt. Ramone Ferrer pushed the door open. "Go fight the real criminals."

"I'm asking you guys to step out so we can talk," Ferrer said, during the heated conversation.

"You cannot take control of the building," he said.

The parents, who said they have been asking for a library for years, refused to move.

Although the school has classroom libraries parents said they are too small, their book collections incomplete.

"Our kids are missing out," said parent George Merga. "They want to read books, they don't have a place they can come and sit down."

Along the outside of the building, signs read "Mr. Huberman don't wreck our dreams" and "re-polish don't demolish."

Under the noon sun, the protest continued. Parents shouted, "Queremos Biblioteca!" CPS officials milled around outside the playground fence.

Police are working to facilitate a meeting between parents and school officials, blocking others from entering the school property.

"The residents want for their children, a library, a library that is dearly needed in this community," said 10th District Commander Scott Ruiz. "Hopefully both sides will get together and they will talk."

from the Trib

Bogus driver took bus for a spin

2010-09-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

There was something not quite right about the CTA bus that pulled into the agency's 103rd Street garage last week.

It hit another bus as it entered, and when a CTA worker went to confront the driver, who was wearing a bus driver's uniform, the man took off on foot, according to video from the bus' security cameras.

Turns out, the driver was not a CTA employee. Authorities believe he stole a uniform from an acquaintance last month and used it to pass himself off as a bus driver. He is now the subject of a search by the CTA and Chicago police.

The driver knew what he was doing, CTA President Richard Rodriguez said Thursday.

Video shows that he was able to log in and start the bus. He used the bus between about 8 p.m. and midnight Sept. 9. The bus traveled between the garage and 95th Street, according to the GPS on the bus, Rodriguez said.

The man, whose identity has not been released by police, even picked up passengers and stopped the vehicle a few times.

"This person was in uniform, so the person looked like a legitimate CTA employee. So every indication, anyone off the street would have said that this was an employee," Rodriguez said.

The CTA employee whose uniform was stolen is cooperating with police and is not considered to be involved in the theft. CTA officials are now re-evaluating check-in procedures.

from the Trib

Woman charged with her third attack on jail guard

2010-09-10T20:32:00.001-07:00

A Chicago woman who is already facing prison time for attacking a jail guard is apparently at it again, charged with her third assault on an officer in just over a year.

Sabrina Streeter, 27, who was sentenced to prison last week for assaulting a Cook County Jail correctional officer, was charged with assaulting yet another officer just days before she was to leave the jail for prison, according to a release from the Cook County Sheriff's office.

Streeter first came to the jail in August 2009 after being charged with prostitution in Burbank, the release said. She was assigned to the women’s general population while awaiting trial, and in March 2010, was charged with assaulting a correctional officer.

She was convicted of that charge and sentenced to spend 364 days in the ail. But in June, she was again charged with aggravated battery to another officer, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison, the release said.

On Aug. 22, a first-year correctional officer went to Streeter’s cell to let her out for recreation. When the officer opened the cell door, Streeter stepped out and punched the female officer in the face, the release said.

Because of her record of violence against officers, all of Streeter’s movements are videotaped, and other officers were quickly able to detain Streeter and arrest her again.

Just 10 days later, she was transported to the Dwight Correctional Center to begin her three-year sentence. She will be transported back to Cook County Jail for hearings on the latest charge.

from the Sun-Times

Rock hits cop car in rock-throwing probe

2010-08-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

A state trooper sent to catch whoever was throwing rocks at cars from an Edens Expy. overpass had his squad car windshield cracked by a rock-thrower, authorities said.

The rocks were being heaved from the railroad overpass near Peterson Avenue about 12:15 a.m. Friday. A driver in a passing car called police, initially fearing his car had been hit by a gunshot.

No one was hurt by the rocks. But when troopers reached the scene, the windshield of a squad car was cracked when it was hit by a rock, state Trooper Ivan Bukaczyk said.

Police arrested an 18-year-old man at the scene, and charged him with trespassing on railroad property. The teen -- Kevin D. Houlihan -- was also charged with underage drinking, state Trooper Clare Pfotenhauer said.

At least two others were seen fleeing the scene but were not in custody, authorities said.

from the Sun-Times

Man brought gun to foreclosure hearing

2010-08-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

A Chicago man was charged Monday with unlawful use of a weapon, accused of trying to bring a loaded handgun to a court hearing where he was set to be evicted from his home, authorities said today.

According to the Cook County Sheriff's office, the home of Thomas Pridgeon, 48, in the 7300 block of South Laflin Street had already been in foreclosure when he arrived Monday morning at Daley Center.

When he got to the security checkpoint, Pridgeon put his briefcase on a belt passing through an X-ray machine as he passed through the metal detector. The courthouse deputy monitoring the X-ray machine spotted the outline of a gun in the case, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Pridgeon told police he forgot to remove the .45-caliber handgun, which had one round in the chamber and seven more in the clip. He was immediately arrested.

According to the sheriff's statement, the purpose of Monday's hearing was to approve the sale of the Laflin property to a lender in North Carolina, which purchased it at a tax sale. Pridgeon would have had 30 days to vacate the property and turn the home over to the new owners.

from the Sun-Times

iWant

2010-07-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

RETAIL THEFT Joshua Long, 22, of Chicago, was charged with retail theft July 25 after stealing two iPods from Target, 4120 W. 95th St., Oak Lawn, where he worked, police said.

from the Southtown Star

Police suggest car explosion at Lockport bank was intentional

2010-07-17T01:45:00.000-07:00

One person is in custody after apparently driving a vehicle up to the PNC Bank on Ninth Street in southwest suburban Lockport Friday evening and intentionally triggering an explosion, officials said.

Fire crews were initially called to the bank at the intersection of East 9th Street and Read Street about 8:30 p.m. to reports of a car on fire, Lockport Fire Department Batallion Chief John Kure said.

Some type of device in the car exploded, causing minor damage to the bank by blowing out the building’s doors and windows, Kure said. The explosion seemed to be intentional, he said.

The Cook County Bomb Squad and the Joliet Fire Department's hazardous materials team were called also to the incident.

Officials on the scene said the driver of the vehicle was caught a short distance from the blast and he told authorities there was another bomb in the car.

The person in custody, thought to be the car’s driver, refused medical treatment and was taken into police custody, Kure said.

The Lockport Police Department, Cook County Bomb Squad and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are investigating the incident, Kure said.

Roads were blocked off in the bank area Friday night and the investigation was continuing.

from the Herald-News

Jail guard helped prisoners escape

2010-07-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

A former correctional officer at Cook County Jail was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Thursday for helping six inmates escape in 2006.

Darin Gater, 41, was convicted of six counts of official misconduct in May after a bench trial before Circuit Judge James Obbish.

Gater turned over his uniform and keys to inmates and handcuffed himself in a cell to make it appear he had been overpowered, according to prosecutors. An inmate wore Gater's uniform and tricked another guard into opening a door.

All six escapees were recaptured in a little more than 24 hours. Prosecutors said Gater hoped the scheme would embarrass then-Sheriff Michael Sheahan and his chief of staff, Tom Dart, who was running against a candidate favored by Gater and is now the sheriff.

from the Trib

Anti-cop graffiti found in South Loop

2010-07-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

An alderman was notified after graffiti that reportedly said "we kill police" was found on a building in the South Loop Monday, police said.

Someone apparently complained and Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) was notified when the graffiti was found Monday on the building at 1234 S. Michigan Ave., according to a Central District police lieutenant.

The writing, which reportedly said “we kill police’’ looked faded, and the word ‘police’ was barely visible, according to the lieutenant.

The writing was going to be removed, according to the lieutenant who said the writings did not appear to be recent.

The alderman was not immediately available early Tuesday.

from the Sun-Times

Vandals target patio flowers at Chicago restaurants

2010-07-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

Chicago's outdoor-cafe ordinance mandates that 50% of the fencing around a patio be furnished with live plants. But some shop owners are having a hard time keeping the greenery safe from vandals this year.

Al Rose arrived at his coffee shop, Kopi A Traveler's Café in Andersonville, one morning in June to discover plants yanked out and thrown against a wall, leaving dirt and flower parts strewn on the sidewalk.

Vandalism isn't a surprise — experience has taught him to use inexpensive flowers — "but it's rarely been this early in the year, and they've not been this violently destroyed before," he says.

The patio at Letizia's Natural Bakery, along with a handful of other businesses on Division Street in Wicker Park, was hit in June. Fabio Sorano, whose mother, Letizia, opened the bakery 12 years ago, once used thorny plants to discourage tampering but switched to petunias when the vandalism stopped several years ago.

"This year, somebody's doing it, and I don't know why," Mr. Sorano says.

The Chicago Police Department does not separate indoor and outdoor reports of criminal damage to property, so it's difficult to count reports. But Randi Kowal has taken steps to protect the greenery outside Little Threads, her children's clothing store in Roscoe Village. In past years, thieves made off with smaller planters; now she uses heavy, four-foot-tall ones.

Still, passersby stub out cigarettes or deposit beer bottles in the planters.

"I don't know whether it's juveniles or drunks rolling out of restaurants at the late hours, but it's unacceptable," says Mary Markarian, executive director of the Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce. "Them and the graffiti guys — please, get a job."

from Chicago Business

Man briefly steals squad car

2010-07-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

A Cook County sheriff's squad car was briefly stolen by a man who led police on an unusual chase after a traffic stop Friday evening near the Stickney-Chicago border.

The incident began about 5 p.m. near 47th and Knox in an unincorporated area between Chicago and Stickney, according to the Cook County sheriff's office.

A Cook County sheriff's officer was attempting to pull over the driver, but the man continued to drive for two more blocks, finally pulling over at 47th and Kenneth, authorities said. A Chicago Police officer arrived on the scene for backup.

But after stopping, the motorist put his vehicle in reverse and struck the sheriff's police squad, authorities said. He then got out and ran, followed by both officers on foot.

The offender circled around and came back to the original scene and jumped into the empty sheriff's police squad. He then drove east on 47th Street, authorities said.

The police officer got back into his vehicle and pursued the suspect down an alley.

The offender then stopped the sheriff's squad car, got out and again ran off. After a short foot chase, this time the Chicago officer was able to apprehend the man and take him into custody, officials said.

from the Sun-Times

Public defender chokes prosecutor

2010-07-01T08:57:00.000-07:00

An apparent argument between two attorneys Thursday led to Assistant Cook County public defender Henry Hams, 47, appearing before a Cook County judge Friday morning. He was charged with felony aggravated battery in a public place and felony resisting arrest for allegedly shoving an assistant state's attorney before putting him in a "choking headlock" near Jimmy's snack shop on the ground floor of the courthouse. The scuffle allegedly took place after a courtroom debate earlier Thursday morning between the two attorneys.

After Friday's brief hearing, Judge Maria Kuriakos-Ciesil ordered Hams released on his own recognizance.

Hams allegedly said he choked the victim -- who was briefly hospitalized -- because he was "sick" of being "mocked" by the prosecutor, a source told the Sun-Times.

from the Sun-Times

Sweet 16 party turns riot

2010-07-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

A bar and grill has been shut down after seven teens were arrested when a Sweet 16 birthday party turned into a free-for-all Thursday.

Deputy Police Chief Mike Trafton said the "melee" began around 9 p.m. at Bar Blu, inside Union Station downtown.

"The business had rented out part of the inside for a 16th birthday party, but allowed minors access into the bar area without any adult supervision," Trafton said.

The youngsters apparently got out of hand and a nearby police officer was flagged down.

"There were 50 to 60 people, mostly juveniles, tearing up the bar, wrecking chairs and tables, brawling inside and out into the street," Trafton said.

Police began dispersing the crowd, but needed about 15 minutes to get the situation under control.

During the commotion, a 16-year-old boy "headbutted" an officer in the face, reports said. That boy was arrested and booked into the River Valley Juvenile Detention Center on charges of aggravated battery to a police officer and mob action.

from Herald News

Road workers strike spreads

2010-07-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

Road construction laborers went on strike Wednesday morning followed at midnight by heavy equipment operators.

Among the reconstruction projects put on hold are the Eisenhower Expressway, Lower Wacker Drive and the Congress bridge.

The strike over wage issues by some members of the Laborers' District Council of Chicago caused relatively minor disruptions to the $95 million Eisenhower resurfacing project, Marisa Kollias, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said Wednesday.

But she said the situation would quickly worsen if other unions joined the strike, which they now have.

Local 150 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, whose members operate heavy machinery, went on strike at midnight after an authorization vote earlier in the evening. The walkout involves about 8,500 union members working under several agreements in nine northeastern Illinois counties.

Other unions that could follow include carpenters, cement masons and technical engineers.

"We are in OK shape right now on the Eisenhower and we will be OK if the strike lasts a couple of days,'' Kollias said Wednesday. "But if this goes on for a couple of weeks or a month, the project will be seriously delayed.''

from the Trib

Bored youth proletarian vanguard

2010-07-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

Shots from a pellet gun put two holes into a window at Buffalo Wild Wings in Tinley Park, 7301 183rd St., on June 23.

Five vehicles were keyed between June 26 and 28 at Orland Toyota in Tinley Park, 8505 159th St.

from Southtown Star

BP vacuum leaks quarters

2010-07-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

The owner of an air vacuum machine outside the BP gas station, 11040 S. Pulaski Road in Oak Lawn, said someone stole $475 in quarters from the machine between April 7 and June 7.

from Southtown Star

Man throws beer bottle through occupied cop car

2010-04-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

A man was charged with throwing a beer bottle at a police squad car causing the front window shield to break Sunday night on the Northwest Side, police said.

Andrzej Domian, 19, of the 3900 block of North Nottingham Avenue, was charged with felony criminal damage to government property and misdemeanor aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon. He was also cited with underage drinking, according to police.

Domian was booked into Cook County Jail Tuesday after being ordered held on $20,000 bond, according to an online inmate report listed on the Cook County Sheriff’s Web site. Domian is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing April 26 at an unidentified courthouse.

A uniformed officer was sitting inside a squad car on the 7100 block of West Irving Park Road about 11:20 p.m. when Domian allegedly made eye contact with her and threw a 40 ounce beer bottle at the police car, causing the front windshield to shatter, according to a police report.

from the Sun-Times

Streamwood cop charged in motorist’s beating

2010-04-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

As Ronald Bell crouched on his hands and knees on his driveway, the Streamwood police officer started whaling away with his metal baton, striking Bell on his back.

Bell tried to block the blows with his right arm, but Officer James Mandarino then hit him on the head and arm — 15 times in all — until Bell collapsed to the pavement, clasping his head in his hands in a desperate attempt to shield himself from further abuse.

Bell was charged with resisting a police officer and reckless driving, both misdemeanors, and was issued a handful of traffic tickets, including driving under the influence.

But less than a day later, the attention of law enforcement shifted to Mandarino. A digital camera mounted on his squad car recorded every second of what Cook County prosecutors said was an unprovoked beating. The early-morning assault played out amid the headlights of the police cruiser as its windshield wipers swept back and forth in the rain.

from the Trib

Teens throw bottle through Blagojevich window

2010-04-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

Two teenage boys were arrested and charged Wednesday after they threw a bottle through a window of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's home, police said.

Two 16-year-old boys threw a bottle through the window of Blagojevich’s home in the 2900 block of West Sunnyside Avenue about 4:30 p.m., police said.

Blagojevich was home at the time with his wife Patti and two daughters, said Glenn Selig, a Blagojevich publicist.

from the Sun-Times

Hinsdale bank teller takes cash on way out door

2010-04-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

A supervising cashier who gave herself a $23,760 parting gift when she was about to be fired from the Hinsdale branch of Bank of America in April 2009 faces up to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to theft Tuesday.

After being told she was about to be terminated because of personnel issues, Latoya White, 33, of the 4000 block of Blanchan Avenue in Brookfield, took the money from a teller drawer, Assistant DuPage County State's Attorney William Wu told Judge George Bakalis on Tuesday.

White then wrote a cash-out ticket to try to conceal her theft, Wu said.

The theft was uncovered by routine bank accounting.

Wu said none of the missing funds has been returned.

The bank is at 118 W. 1st St.

Bakalis set May 25 for sentencing.

from the Tribune

Politician’s SUV broken into in South Loop

2010-04-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

A man was charged with felony burglary after allegedly breaking into a sport-utility vehicle local registered to a local politician Sunday afternoon on the Near South Side.

from the Sun-Times

Elk Grove thieves nab trailer of vodka

2010-04-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

Thieves got away with a trailer and the vodka it contained -- worth a combined $75,000 -- from a northwest suburban trucking yard earlier this month.

The theft occurred sometime between the late evening on March 18 and early morning on March 19 at Coast Connection Trucking, on the 2600 block of Greenleaf in Elk Grove Village, according to Elk Grove Police Sgt. Mike Gaspari.

The thieves took the trailer and 30 pallets of Vitali vodka inside from the lot at the trucking company, Gaspari said.

The trailer was not attached to a tractor when it was in the lot. "We surmise that the offenders had their own tractor which they attached to the trailer," Gaspari said.

from the Sun-Times

Man who threw egg at judge stays in jail

2010-04-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

Naperville resident Agim Demiri could remain in jail this Easter for egging the wall behind a DuPage County Circuit Court judge's dais.

Demiri, 40, was jailed March 24 for hurling a raw egg at domestic relations Judge Timothy J. McJoynt. And while his seven-day contempt of court sentence ended Wednesday, Demiri was sent back to his cell in DuPage County Jail for ignoring McJoynt's order that he make good on overdue child support payments....

Demiri's aim was poor when he allegedly threw the egg at McJoynt. The missile missed the judge but splattered on a state of Illinois emblem on the wall behind his chair.

from the Sun-Times

Prosecutors: $1,000 bribe for making false driver's license

2010-04-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

The manager of a West Side driver's license facility accepted a $1,000 bribe to produce a fictitious driver’s license for a driver whose license had been suspended, prosecutors charged Thursday.

from the Sun-Times

Arrest made for graffiti written in acid

2010-04-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

Eddie D. Garcia told officers he began his graffiti career with a spray-paint can.
But he apparently wanted to leave a more permanent mark.

So Garcia etched his tag, "SOAR," on windows across the Southwest Side -- using acid, according to Chicago Police.

Garcia, 23, was arrested earlier this week and charged with felony damage to property.

"Some artists move from paint to sculpture," said Cmdr. John Kupczyk of the Chicago Lawn District. "But he said he started out in paint and moved to acid."

Garcia, a full-time student at Richard J. Daley College, was caught in an early morning stakeout in the 3700 block of West 63rd with a sponge-tipped marker filled with hydrofluoric acid and a cell phone containing photos of his handiwork, Kupczyk said.

Police searched his home in the 5800 block of South Rockwell and found spray-paint cans, a bottle of acid and sketch books of his graffiti, according to court records.

Garcia gave a statement implicating himself in the crimes, authorities say.

from the Sun-Times

Police bust underground club

2010-03-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

The manager of an illegal West Side club has been arrested and charged after police shut down the establishment late Saturday, police said.

Markley Jenkins, 33, of the 2700 block of West Polk Street, was charged late Saturday with reckless conduct, contributing to the delinquency of minor, possession of drug paraphernalia, no business license, license required-public place of amusement, no occupancy signs, and no city tax emblem, all misdemeanors, according to a police News Affairs release

from the Sun-Times

Demolition of homes near O'Hare begins

2010-03-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

The demolition of about 600 empty homes and businesses in west suburban Bensenville -- to make way for the O'Hare Airport expansion -- starts today.

The demolition, which follows years of litigation, is expected to continue through the summer, said Eve Rodriguez, Chicago Department of Aviation spokeswoman.

The buildings are coming down to make way for a runway.

from the Sun-Times

Petty theft as social war

2010-03-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

Someone stole a charity collection jar containing about $50 from Abel Distributing, 1529 Chicago Road, [Chicago Heights, IL] on Feb. 23 or 24.

from SouthTown Star

Chicago antifa crush "White Pride" march

2010-03-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful Sunday Spring afternoon where the Illinois National Socialist Front were supposed to march for “White Pride World Wide”. But for the few Nazis that dared show their face in the city of Chicago, there was nothing but a barrage of blows raining on their parade.

Southside ARA had been scouting in the downtown area early on, watching out for neo-Nazi skinheads and other white supremacists. Within minutes of their pathetic march of four boneheads waving white pride flags, clandestine anti-fascists took formation and confronted them, successfully delivering U-lock justice to the unsuspecting Nazi trash with trained precision. In broad daylight on Michigan Avenue, Nazis helplessly had flags ripped from their hands and were beaten down as pedestrians watched in awe. Later, a police car pulled up and arrested the bewildered and injured boneheads while the anti-fascists swiftly dissapeared into thin air. Showing up seconds later, the pro-diversity / anti-hate rally laid the final icing on the cake by surrounding the humiliated and obviously defeated boneheads and taunted them with chants, holding a rally directly in the path of their march.

from SSChicago ARA

Lowercase: Chicago squat blog

2010-03-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Lowercase Collective now has a Wordpress blog, all the better to more easily disseminate information on their upcoming eviction and defense.

http://lowercasecollective.wordpress.com/

Taggers nail multimillion dollar Gold Coast home

2010-02-16T09:33:00.000-08:00

Graffiti artists, for those inclined to call spray-painters something other than vandals, turned a 50-foot brick wall of a Gold Coast house into their canvas.

The taggers, who left at least three monikers, are believed to have scaled a fence at a construction site in the wee hours Monday, said the builder and neighbors. The street artists defaced the coach house in the 900 block of North Clark Street behind the protective cover of a tarp and then tore it off when they left to unveil their work.

Builders have been working on the multimillion-dollar, Architectural Digest-worthy site for two years. The original structure was built in the early 1900s as a ComEd substation. Two stories were added later to repurpose it as a home, along with the coach house that abuts the street.

from the Tribune

ARA call-out against Chicago White Pride World Wide rally

2010-02-10T11:55:00.000-08:00

On March 21st, 2010 the Illinois National Socialist Front is planning to march in Chicago for what they call “White Pride World Wide.” South Side Anti-Racist Action is making plans to confront the march to let them know that they are not welcome in our city. ....

The INSF’s intention to march in Chicago shows that they are growing bolder and aren’t go away unless we take a stand.

South Side Chicago Anti-Racist Action is calling out for other groups inside and outside of Chicago to stand with us against fascism. Join us to confront the National Socialist Front’s march on March 21st!

Given some revious events and SSARA's targeting of several Chicago WP happenings, antifa momentum seems to be gaining power. The Chicago Branch of the Imaginary Party offers an analysis of these occurances and some possibilities for antifascism, however, they cryptically conclude that "anti-fascism may be doomed to run aground the same rocks as identity politics and single-issue struggles." Unfortunately, the CBIP doesn't follow this claim further.

Other endorsers of the call include the Four Star Anarchist Organization, a platformist group; News & Letters, a weird Marxist group; and the Gay Liberation Network, the largest and most activist gay rights organization in Chicago. We fondly remember the legacy of Chicago ARA, arguably one of the fiercest antfia crews among the Midwest ARA sections, themselves arguably the fiercest region during the 90s and early 2000s.

Whether this incarnation of Southside ARA can fulfill itself in the streets is yet to be seen; the company kept (within and without) is a strong symbol to others about what can be expected, whether they can be trusted, whether they can be strategic. Without the INSF having revealed its plans yet, a strategy of public head-to-head confrontation (with police in between) can only continue to seek supporters and then respond when the specific terrain is selected; the one location that can be assured is the political terrain.

The CBIP essay argues the strength of the Phoenix action lay in its framing of the discourse: "Anarchist/Fascist" rather than "Democracy/Fascism." It also recognizes the limitation of this discourse: the waging of private hositilities. Their suggestion is that the tactics of antifascism can be applied elsewhere, and this can generalize the struggle. Yet, we see this as an inversion -- to us, this is the logic of single-issue applied outward. Instead, generalization would mean the application of communizing tactics to the single-issue, such that it dissolves as a single-issue and cannot be resolved as such.

Can't stop chaos.

read Callout to Confront the INSF

Lowercase squat facing eviction

2010-02-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

The Lowercase Collective has existed for over three years now. It has been a public squat for two years, and opened its doors to countless people, projects, and events. One would be hard pressed to find an anarchist who has travelled through Chicago without ever spending time in this space. When a place becomes so integral to the collective ethos of a community, as Lowercase has in Chicago, its destruction can be simply debilitating.

On December 18th, we received an eviction notice for our landlord, who is in all likelihood a fictitious entity. Shortly thereafter, we proved to the state that we ourselves have been responsible for paying the bills for the past years, making repairs, etc. Unfortunately, our attempts were only able to buy us a few more weeks, as the eviction notice for all occupants
came like a cold wind. Despite the machinations of the Federal National Mortgage Association, or any other partial owners, we have no intention of leaving this space without a fight.

Social tension has been percolating throughout our neighborhood for some time now. There is a general hatred of the police, all the more so with the existence of gangs on our street. Within a two-block radius, three other families have already been evicted in the past few months. A month ago, a black man just riding his bicycle was knocked off it by the police, beat up, and left without his bike in front of the watching eyes of the neighborhood. With all of this occurring in the context of our neighbors reproducing capital and themselves on the daily, this situation could prove explosive, as we look to push those tensions to the breaking point.

As the legal situation surrounding the house crystallizes, we will be announcing the time in which we want to invite our friends, in Chicago, the Midwest, and elsewhere, to join us for the most crucial aspect of solidarity: collective action on the day of eviction. We hope to create something truly wild around the very place we eat, sleep, fuck, dream, and share ourselves with each other. We hope for solidarity actions from friends who can’t make it here, but are more hopeful to see your faces.

Defending space in which we live, share, and combat capital is integral to revolutionary movements. Our past has connected us to so many different trajectories, and in the near future, perhaps together through our actions we can give ourselves the time and space to create so many more.

from Occupy CA
see also: Chicago Indymedia

Employee steals $20,000 in jeans

2010-01-29T13:26:00.000-08:00

A former store employee is suspected of taking 47 pairs of jeans -- worth $450 each -- from an Aurora outlet store and selling them on eBay, police said.

Police started investigating whether the former worker took the $20,000 worth of jeans from Diesel outlet store at the Chicago Premium Outlets mall in Aurora after they got a tip about the jeans being sold on eBay, officials said.

from the Sun-Times

Bomb threat empties suburban WalMart

2010-01-18T15:05:00.000-08:00

Officials are still investigating a bomb threat that led to evacuating about 200 people from Wal-Mart on Sunday morning in north suburban Antioch.

An unidentified male called the store at 475 E. Route 173 around 11 a.m. and threatened to blow up the 200,000-square-foot building, said Antioch police Cmdr. Jim Ruth.

Police and fire departments responded immediately and evacuated the building -- with 200 customers and store personnel inside -- in about 20 minutes.

Investigators conducted a search, were unable to find anything suspicious and allowed people to re-enter the building three hours later, Ruth said.

He said this was the first bomb threat made to this Wal-Mart since the store opened in October 2004.

from the Sun-Times

West Side woman kills abusive boyfriend

2010-01-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

A 24-year-old West Side woman, charged with fatally stabbing her live-in boyfriend, was only defending herself when he became “enraged” and tried to attack her, the woman’s attorney said this afternoon.

Edrinna Bryant, who was ordered held in lieu of $350,000 bail today, even drove Levile Hardy to Mount Sinai Hospital after he was injured in their apartment in the 1600 block of South California late Friday, Bryant’s lawyer Mark Kusatzky said.

On their way to the hospital, Hardy placed a phone call to his mother and admitted to her he was the “aggressor,” Kusatzky added.

But Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Antara Nath said hospital personnel had initially noticed Bryant did not have any injuries when she first came to the emergency room. But, when she came back after moving her car, they noticed she had “obvious self-inflicted stab wounds to her hand,” Nath said.

Neighbors had heard the couple arguing inside their apartment building and then later saw Bryant outside, standing over Hardy, 30, with a large butcher knife in one hand and two knives in the other hand, Nath said.

Hardy was stabbed in the chest bicep, shoulder and hand.

Bryant, a receptionist at the Metropolitan Club, had been trying to leave the apartment, which made Hardy angry, Kusatzky said. The lawyer said Hardy came after Bryant with a knife when she ran inside the bathroom to escape.

from the Trib

Priest accused of abuse plunges from church balcony

2010-01-07T12:27:00.000-08:00

A Shorewood Catholic priest who parishioners described as a "very holy man" apparently tried to kill himself by jumping from the balcony of a shuttered downtown Joliet church Wednesday as Kane county investigators began looking into allegations he molested a 13-year-old boy, authorities said.

from the Trib

Police shut down illegal warehouse party

2009-12-30T09:51:00.000-08:00

Party over.

Nine guns were recovered, three people were arrested and more than a half dozen others were cited early Sunday morning when police officers broke up an illegal night club on the West Side.

The warehouse, unbeknownst to the owners, had been transformed into an elaborate lounge with $5 drinks, pulsating music, crowd control stanchions, velvet ropes, rugs and industrial spot lights beaming down on a party advertisement, authorities said today.

As patrons waited to join the 300 revelers packed in the building, Dwayne Troupe, 22, and Ambrosio Silva, 28, allegedly patted them down. Both men were wearing soft body armor and had handguns, police said.

Officers with the department's Mobile Strike Force also recovered a gun from 28-year-old Zenobia Mills when they searched the building, in the 4400 block of Fifth Avenue, police said.

All three Chicago residents were charged with felony weapons violations.

Others were cited performing as a disk jockey without a license and serving alcohol without a license.

Bernard Harrison, 26, of Oakbrook Terrace, allegedly organized the party and was cited for numerous violations, including operating a public place of amusement without a license.

The owners had leased the space for storage and an office and had no idea of the raucous activities inside, their attorney, George Hodges, said.

Police had been called to the scene at least once before for similar complaints, Hodges said.

“Whoever was allowed in there had no right to be there,” he said.

from the Trib

Milwaukee couple steals for fun

2009-12-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

A doctor and his wife arrested for shoplifting at a Macy's store near Milwaukee told police they did it for the thrill. The doctor, who told officers he makes more than $150,000 a year, said his wife suggested they take what they wanted. So they took turns serving as a lookout while the other took items -- more than $1,500 worth -- from just about every department in the store, police say.

from the Sentinel Journal

Man punches meter maid for issuing ticket

2009-12-15T11:24:00.000-08:00

A Chinatown restaurant owner allegedly hit a meter maid in the face after she issued him parking ticket outside his eatery Friday afternoon on the Near the South Side, police.

Tie Lee, 38, of the 3200 block of South Hamilton Avenue, was arrested at 1:25 p.m. Friday outside a restaurant at 2162 S. Archer Ave. shortly after he allegedly hit a parking enforcement employee. Lee was later charged with felony aggravated battery to a government employee, according to police.

from the Sun-Times

Car burglar wrote how-to guide

2009-12-04T08:05:00.000-08:00

A suspect who was burglarizing a Jeep Cherokee and found with an apparently self-written “how to” guide for breaking into vehicles early Friday on the North Side has been charged, police said.

At 3:30 a.m. in the 5100 block of North Oakley Avenue, police on routine patrol saw and recognized Barringer apparently burglarizing a Jeep Cherokee parked on the street, according to Barker who was one of the officers who saw him.

Barker gave chase on foot when Barringer began running and apprehended him. Barringer was allegedly trying to steal a pair of gloves and what looked like a business folder or clipboard, according to the sergeant.

He was placed under arrest and one of the things police found as they were going through items he had on him was a “notebook or how-to guide on how to break into cars,’’ according to Barker who said it appeared he had written it himself.

Some of the “tips” he had written in the guide included, “Keep looking around for five seconds. Run through gangways. Be carfule [sic]. If you hear squealing brakes it may be a cop coming, so look behind you.’’ according to Barker.

from the Sun-Times

Striking teachers cancel classes

2009-12-02T23:46:00.000-08:00

Officials from the Prairie Hills Elementary School District 144 which serves more than 3,000 students in the south suburbs have canceled classes after teachers voted to strike late Wednesday after they could not agree on salary issues, officials said.

In a statement issued on its Web site, officials from the Board of Education said classes and extracurricular activities have been canceled beginning Thursday morning and until further notice. Officials warned parents not to bring their children to school.

from the Trib

Ravenswood church vandalized

2009-12-02T09:57:00.000-08:00

A Ravenswood church was damaged when a stained-glass window was broken, then a garden hose was put through it and turned on, flooding part of the building, Chicago police said Sunday.

The damage happened between about 4 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday, when a worker at All Saints Episcopal Church, 4550 N. Hermitage Ave., arrived and found much of the sanctuary floor in about 4 inches of water, said Bonnie Perry, the church's rector.

Signs of the damage Sunday were hardly noticeable, Perry said, though much of the water seeped into the basement.

from the Trib

David Irving talk disrupted on NW side

2009-11-24T08:38:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-23T12:10:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-21T07:44:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-18T13:36:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-16T19:51:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-09T17:14:00.000-08:00

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

Shoplifter slashes security guard

2009-10-29T08:15:00.000-07:00

A shoplifter who allegedly tried to steal Theraflu cut a Walgreens security guard with a box cutter -- causing him to have to get 20 stitches Monday night in the Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side.

About 7 p.m. police responded to a battery at a Walgreens on the 3400 block of West Roosevelt Road, according to an Ogden District police lieutenant.

Officers arrived and found a security guard who was outside the store holding his right hand, which was dripping with blood, according to the lieutenant.

The guard told police that a 44-year-old man had allegedly just cut him with a box-cutter during an argument that ensued when the man was trying to leave the store without paying for two packages of Theraflu, the lieutenant said.

Employees witnessed the 44-year-old man placing two packages of the medicine in his coat pocket. As he walked past cash registers without paying, the guard tried to question him outside.

The arrestee allegedly told the guard, “Get the fuck away from me,’’ and he slashed the guard with a box cutter, he said.

from the Sun-Times

Vandals flatten tires on 32 school buses

2009-10-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

Service was delayed on a number of north suburban Zion-Benton Township High School bus routes Monday morning because of flat tires on 32 buses.

School authorities got vendors to help re-inflate the tires. One or more tires were deflated on each of the buses.

from the Sun-Times

BofA windows smashed

2009-10-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

Broken Windows

This week, three large windows were smashed on a Bank of America branch in Chicago. You can probably guess why. Spooky shit like this has been happening more and more often. If you're not creeped out yet, just you wait. See you soon!

In solidarity with whoever wants it,

The Monster Squad, Cell of Shattered Glass

from Chicago IndyMedia

Veteran cop steals from sick cop

2009-10-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

In an unusual theft case, a veteran Chicago police officer has been charged with stealing $800 -- from another officer who was undergoing treatment for cancer, authorities said Thursday.

Police and prosecutors said Officer George Porter had agreed to buy groceries for the ill co-worker with her bank card but instead made four $200 withdrawals from ATMs over the next three days and pocketed the cash.

from the Trib

Bad cop really bad

2009-10-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

A Dolton cop caught on camera allegedly breaking a 15-year-old special needs student's nose for failing to tuck in his shirt has a troubling history that includes killing a man in a case of disputed self-defense and is now in an Indiana jail on an unrelated rape charge.

Christopher Lloyd, 38, was identified Thursday by his father Charles Lloyd and Dolton Mayor Ronnie Lewis as the officer who in May was recorded by a school security camera scuffling with 15-year-old, 140-pound Marshawn Pitts at the Academy for Learning in Dolton.

An attorney hired by Pitts' parents released the video this week, calling the incident an "unprovoked attack" on a vulnerable child. The video, which has no audio, appears to show the officer slamming Pitts against a locker, wrestling him to the ground and pinning him.

But speaking Thursday, Charles Lloyd said he had seen the video and discussed the incident with his son, who he said was "just trying to do his job as a police officer and is completely innocent."

from the Trib

Bomb scare causes theater evacuation

2009-10-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

Chicago police evacuated the Bank of America Theatre downtown tonight, interrupting a popular musical after two suspicious boxes with notes were discovered in the alley behind the theater.

Police were alerted at about 8:58 p.m. when two boxes -- each with a note -- were found behind the theater at 18 W. Monroe St.

One letter read: "This is not a bomb" while the second note read: "This is not going to end good," Chicago Police Lt. Charles Flynn said.

Authorities immediately evacuated the theater, which was showcasing the Tony-winning musical "Jersey Boys."

Police were treating the incident as a bomb scare and closed off several surrounding streets as police Bomb and Arson detectives and fire officials secured the scene, Flynn said.

from the Trib

Video disputes police arrest claim

2009-10-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

The attorney representing nearly two dozen people who have filed federal civil lawsuits against a Chicago police officer they allege has made false DUI arrests and has harassed gays and people with disabilities revealed a video today that disputes at least one of the officer's police reports.

The video, which was mounted in Chicago police officer Richard Fiorito's squad car, shows Michael Vaughn, who was pulled over for suspicion of drunken driving in June, walking in a straight line with his arms at his side as part of a field sobriety test. But Fiorito said in a police report that Vaughn couldn't keep his balance and raised his arms more than six inches.

from the Trib

Retribution Against Daily Life; Bank Attacked in Chicago

2009-10-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

...seven windows were broken at Chicago Community Bank on the near south side. One for each of those arrested, and one more for the bid.

On Tuesday night, the state arrested six individuals and charged them with felonies in connection to anti-Olympic hooliganism. This persecution is completely unacceptable.

To extend revolutionary solidarity, seven windows were broken at Chicago Community Bank on the near south side. One for each of those arrested, and one more for the bid. In the joyful wake of this criminal-becoming, three windows were done away with on an unmarked police cruiser. This was done because, well-- You know.

While this was done in the dead of night this past evening, in the future there will be opportunities for more inclusive forms of violence. Hopefully this gesture resonates with others who refuse containment and the misery of capitalist hell.

- No Games Chicago Cell of Revolutionary Conspiracy

from Chicago IndyMedia

50 vehicles vandalized

2009-09-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

At least 50 vehicles parked at CFC International, 500 State St., were damaged with spray paint on Sept. 3.

from the Sun-Times

Orland BMWs attacked

2009-09-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

Two BMWs had their rear passenger windows broken between Sept. 12 and Sept. 14 at BMW of Orland, 8470 W. 159th St.,

from the Sun-Times

Chicago Olympics banner vandalized

2009-09-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

Six people were arrested this evening after they yanked an Olympic banner from the Daley Center's Picasso statue and tossed it into the nearby "eternal" flame, police said.

The suspects, arrested just after 7:30 p.m., weren't believed to be a part of an anti-Olympics bid rally that took place in front of City Hall this afternoon, police said.

After gathering in the Daley Center, the six vandals pulled down a banner -- valued at thousands of dollars -- from the statue and damaged a portion of it in the flame dedicated to veterans, Chicago Police Lt. Charles Flynn said.

The alleged vandals then got into a physical confrontation with responding police officers, who took all six into custody. Authorities were meeting with prosecutors seeking felony charges including damage to property and possibly aggravated battery to a police officer, Flynn said.

from the Trib

video here

Glenn Beck was right

2009-09-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

A year of gesture. Our memory of the election is chaos in St. Paul. For Christmas and New Years, we were shared gifts and kisses with Greece. Iranians told us what they thought of their lives. We were attracted to the Parisians too, as always: we're not nostalgic for 68, but we figure they've been at it for a while so they know what they are doing.

Everyone agrees, it's about to explode

2009-09-21T10:32:00.000-07:00

An off-duty Chicago firefighter has been charged with assaulting a police officer Sunday evening near Soldier Field after the Bears game, officials said today.

Scott Holland, 42, of the 2800 block of South Wood Street, was charged with one count of aggravated battery to a peace officer and one count of resisting arrest, police said.

At Holland's bond hearing this morning, Assistant State's Atty. Erin Antonietti said the unformed officer was riding a bicycle after the Bears game and approached Holland from behind and off to one side.

Holland, for unexplained reasons, shoved the officer into a fence and punched him in the face, she said.

Holland's bail was set at $65,000.

Holland was arrested in the 1800 block of South Calumet Avenue shortly after the Bears game ended. Police earlier had said the attack occurred on a pedestrian bridge near Soldier Field.

-from the Sun-Times

Taking a page from Twin Cities police, anarchists make pre-emptive G20 strike?

2009-09-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

Sources indicate nails and screws were forced into the tires on at least a dozen marked and unmarked police cars as well as a number of private cars.

Pittsburgh Police sources say at least a dozen police cars and a number of private cars were vandalized.

Sources also confirm police investigators have substantial information to believe the crime was committed by anarchists in town for the G-20 Summit.

Police detectives took photographs and looked for evidence in the parking lot of police headquarters Thursday afternoon.

The damage was done to the cars' tires.

Sources indicate nails and screws were forced into the tires on at least a dozen marked and unmarked police cars as well as a number of private cars.

Sources indicate it is believed a number of suspected anarchists came to police headquarters late Wednesday night and damaged as many cars as possible.

Police indicate the tires cannot be plugged and must be replaced because the cars have to operate at high speeds.

Damage estimates at this time are running in the thousands of dollars.

Sources indicate the suspected anarchists came to prove to police they can do damage whenever and wherever they want.

There was no official comment regarding the incident.

KDKA's Marty Griffin has been told the mayor, police chief and public safety director are outraged by the brazen nature of the attack.

There will also be increased security in the parking lot starting Thursday night.

video from YouTube

Chicago pig attacks bus driver

2009-09-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

An off-duty Chicago police officer allegedly beat a CTA bus driver so badly Saturday night that the driver was left unconscious, a representative from the driver's union said Wednesday.

"There is a belief on our part that [the driver] was unconscious for a while," said Darrell Jefferson, president of Amalgamated Transit Union 241.

Jefferson said two union representatives who have seen CTA video surveillance of the alleged incident remarked that the driver doesn't move after he's punched, and "he's not feeling for his glasses -- he's not doing anything," said Jefferson, who had not seen the video surveillance Wednesday.

The incident is being investigated by Area 3 detectives and the Independent Police Review Authority. At the time of the incident, the officer already had been relieved of his police powers for an "unrelated matter," a Chicago Police spokesman said, without elaborating.

The alleged beating occurred Saturday night in the Loop. At the time, the officer was riding a bicycle, and then allegedly boarded the bus, accusing the driver of trying to cut him off.

Jefferson said video surveillance shows the police officer repeatedly punching the driver, leaving the bus, and then returning to punch the driver some more.

from the Sun-Times

Chicagoans ignoring laws, citations, fines

2009-09-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

At a time when Mayor Daley has laid off 431 city employees and forced those still on the payroll to take unpaid days off, $61.3 million has slipped through the city's fingers in the last 19 months alone.

That's because an alarming number of people cited for violating city laws still are blowing off their administrative hearings or ignoring the judgments that hearing officers render.

from the Sun-Times

An evening with Liam Sionnach

2009-09-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

What's better than the late '90s hardcore scene and early '00s anti-globalization activists traveling through your town and eating all the garbage at your so-called collective house?

IEF insurrectuals making it fucking rain.

“Social Justice or Social War?”
Friday | September 11 | 7pm
UWM Union | room 280

from the Institute for Experimental Freedom

String of trash bin fires hits Northwest Side

2009-09-02T10:39:00.001-07:00

At least six fires were started overnight in trash receptacles in the Logan Square and Humboldt Park neighborhoods--with some of them spreading to nearby garages--and authorities are investigating to see if they are connected.

"The fires were quickly put out, but not without some damage," said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Kevin MacGregor. "Some [garages] were more than scorched."

The first of the fires was reported shortly after midnight and alarms continued to come in for the next two hours or so.

A witness said a fire on the 1900 block of North Fairfield Avenue had severely damaged a garage and damaged two cars inside. "The windshields were melted, the walls were burned through," he said.

Another fire on the 3300 block of West Wrightwood Avenue burned through the wall and roof of a garage housing a vehicle. The windshield and tail lights of the car were melted, according to the fire department. In addition, power lines in the alley caught fire and were lying on the ground. There were no reports of a power outage.

from the Trib

Downtown ATM stolen

2009-08-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

Someone made off with an entire automated teller machine in Millennium Park, police said Friday morning.

Police were notified at 7 a.m. that the ATM was taken from 11 N. Michigan Ave. in Millennium Park near the Bean, according to a Central District police lieutenant.

Police were reviewing video surveillance of the area to see who last used the machine but it appeared someone was able to get into the vestibule of the building, that is locked but accessible by swiping an ATM card, according to the lieutenant.

“They took the entire machine,’’ the lieutenant said.

No alarms went off at the building, which was closed at the time and the lieutenant said money could be retrieved from machine, though it is difficult.

No windows were broken on the building and as of 10:15 a.m. no one was arrested.

from the Sun-Times

Teens tag Chicago police memorial

2009-08-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

Four teenagers are in custody after they spray-painted graffiti on a memorial near Soldier Field honoring slain Chicago police officers and their families, authorities said.

Police arrested three 17-year-olds -- two females and one male -- and a 15-year-old boy, said Chicago News Affairs Officer Michael Fitzpatrick.

The teens were arrested at about 3:05 a.m. after police on routine patrol saw them running from the Gold Star Families Memorial and Park, Fitzpatrick said.

The teens used red spray paint to write words on the north end of the memorial in the 1400 block of South Museum Campus Drive, just east of Soldier Field on Chicago Park District land, police said. The tagging was neither gang-related nor anti-police, Fitzpatrick said.

A wall in a nearby tunnel had also been spray-painted by the teens, Fitzpatrick said.

from the Trib

Denver Democratic HQ smashed up; anarchist arrested

2009-08-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

Ariel Attack, Denver based anarchist and Bash Back member, was arrested on Monday night. She is facing felony charges for allegedly participating in property destruction of the Denver Democratic Party Headquarters.

She is being charged with Felony Criminal Mischief. She has court tomorrow (Wednesday Aug. 26th) at 10 am in courtroom 12T. Please come and support her in court tomorrow if you can!

Denver Anarchist Black Cross is asking for folks to donate to her bail and legal defense and will make details public as soon as possible and as soon as it makes sense to.

If you can help, please contact us at denverabc@rocketmail.com

here

Update: Ariel is out of jail.

Teamsters local 743 on strike

2009-08-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

Workers at SK Hand Tools in Chicago (3535 W. 47th St.) and McCook (9500 W. 55th St.) voted unanimously to STRIKE as of Tuesday, August 25, 2009 due to the company’s unilateral
withdrawal of the workers’ health insurance without notice!

Strike support will be needed on a 24/7 basis at both locations – please contact the Teamsters Local 743 union hall at (773) 254-7460 for more information.

more at Teamsters 743

Bank robbed in yuppie-hipster central

2009-08-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

FBI agents remain on the scene of a bank robbery that happened Friday morning at a Bank of America branch in the Wicker Park neighborhood.

No one was hurt but at 10:30 a.m. when a suspect entered a Bank of America branch at 1585 N. Milwaukee Ave., displayed a weapon, took an unidentified amount of money and fled, according to police News Affairs Officer JoAnn Taylor.

There was no dye pack, according to the officer.

FBI spokesman Ross Rice said at 1 p.m. agents remained on the scene interviewing witnesses. He confirmed there were no injuries and no arrests made.

from the Sun-Times

Suspicious package found outside Oprah's Harpo TV studio

2009-07-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

A suspicious package did not blow up Friday morning after is was found outside Harpo Productions Inc. on the Near West Side, police said.

The item did not explode and no one was hurt, according to a Monroe District police officer at 8:52 a.m., who said police were clearing the scene.

About 6:20 a.m., a security guard found a dark-colored backpack with wires hanging out of it in a flowerbed outside the studio at 110 N. Carpenter St., according to police News Affairs Officer JoAnn Taylor, who was citing preliminary information.

The district officer did not immediately know whether the backpack had the capacity to explode and police said studio was not evacuated.

The police Bomb & Arson Unit was sent to the scene but a detective did not have further information.

The studio is where Oprah Winfrey records her television show.

from Sun-Times

Street signs honor slain officers

2009-07-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

Almost 39 years to the day after two Chicago police officers were gunned down while on foot patrol in the Cabrini-Green housing project, the street outside the nearby police station was dedicated to their memory Saturday.

Street signs bearing the names of Anthony Rizzato and James Severin were unveiled at a ceremony attended by Police Supt. Jody Weis, members of their families and a crowd of former colleagues.

Mary Schlaak, Severin's niece, told attendees outside the station at 1160 N. Larrabee Ave. that the memorial will make it clear the deaths still matter.

"Thank you for understanding that 39 years later this loss of two 18th District cops who died in the line of duty, it's still meaningful and still relevant," Schlaak said.

Rizzato and Severin were on patrol near Seward Park on July 17, 1970, as part of the department's "Walk & Talk" program they volunteered for, when shots rang out from a nearby high rise, fatally injuring both.

Two men were sentenced to 199 years for the murders and are still in prison.

Weis said the two officers were heroes and that Chicagopolice remain targets now.

"It's not that different today," Weis said at the ceremony. "People try to murder our officers. I don't know what that says about society, but it says our mission isn't done."

A memorial to Rizzato and Severin stood on the spot where they were shot, but had to be moved recently because of a construction project, according to Near North District Cmdr. Steve Georgas.

Retired Chicago Police tactical Sgt. Ed Wodnicki remembered the two as extremely brave officers at a time the Near North District was a dangerous place.

"It was a combat zone, and they were combatants," Wodnicki said.

from the Trib

Two cops shot in leg while executing warrant

2009-07-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

Two narcotics officers were shot, both in the leg, while executing a search warrant on the Far South Side early this afternoon, officials said.

The officers were shot by someone inside the home near East 112th Place and South State Street where they were serving the warrant, a source said, adding that both officers are doing fine.

They were taken in good condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.

No other details were immediately available.

from the Trib

Absenteeism and class struggle in Streets & San

2009-07-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

"The one-laborer truck was born out of necessity. It was something we developed because I can't afford to budget for 30 percent relief. If we did, it would cost the city $19 million to have two men on every truck to cover that relief."

An interesting article from the Sun-Times highlights how everyday absenteeism cuts into workplace productivity and management planning; in a sense -- class struggle pushing forward capitalist innovation.

On the one hand, Laborers negotiated disciplinary amnesty for its workers, which is a really interesting concession. On the other, it looks like they will be complicit in enforcing new workplace rules:

At a news conference with Mayor Daley called to warn of 431 layoffs affecting two hold-out unions, Phillips said he and Byrne had agreed to work together to implement "some new work rules that I'm very excited" about.

One can only hope the workers will be as excited and respond in kind.

City booting more cars

2009-07-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

When Chicago's City Council decided to lower the threshold for slapping a metal boot on cars, you had to know there would be an influx of cash going into city coffers. After all, that was half the point.

An investigation by the Sun-Times shows the program has been a huge success, as far as city accountants are concerned. Since April 22, the city has mailed a whopping 183,293 seizure notices and booted nearly 3,500 cars.

Good news for the city; bad news for you.

Now, to get the boot, all you need are two unpaid tickets older than a year to get the boot. The city has even put $1.5 million behind new technology to bolster their booting abilities. They now have 26 vans equipped with electronically controlled cameras that can check 900 license plates per hour, searching for bootable cars.

If your car is booted, you'll have to pay all unpaid parking violations and fines to get it removed. And if your car also gets towed, you'll also have to pay those pesky towing and storage fees.

A Revenue Department spokesman said they're out to "maximize collections" for the city.

from NBC
I'm unsure of the success rate, this pamphlet claims to have information on how to beat the boot. In particular, this suggestion sounds enticing:
That means, of course, that an anarchist thug with a penchant for trouble-making (or a wily hustler with an eye for a quick profit) could easily dismantle and remove the boot from some poor innocent scofflaw's illegally parked car, take the thing home, bust the lock off and pay a less-than-scrupulous locksmith to make up a new key -- a key that would instantly unlock every boot in the city.

Prison escapees still at large

2009-07-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Authorities believe the three inmates escaped Sunday from the maximum-security prison in Michigan City through underground tunnels and pipe chases.

Grand Beach Police Chief Dan Schroeder said authorities were maintaining a heavy presence in the town because they don't know if the escapees still are in the area.

"This is a large area and there's all different kinds of places they can hide," Schroeder said about the heavily wooded community.

The escapees could conceal themselves in the woods, in the tops of trees, in a ditch or a creek, behind homes or on the beach, Schroeder said. "Hiding (in Grand Beach) is really not that much of a trick actually," Schroeder said.

Many residents of Grand Beach -- including those who commute from Chicago for weekend and summer stays -- said they weren't scared. They continued to keep their doors unlocked and taking walks up and down the quiet streets. Many residents use golf carts to get around.

from the Trib