Time to go Fire alert!
Sneed's on target! A broom has just been used at Chicago's Fire Prevention Bureau.
• • Translation: Now comes word a deputy fire commissioner and a district chief have been told they have a month to clean out their desks.
• • The reason: They are being held accountable for fire prevention inspectors reportedly being paid $100 for inspecting the water pumps of building owners on weekends. It's hush-hush, but the tip is a pip.
Listen up! The arrest of any police officer for any type of offense will now be submitted to the felony review office of the Cook County state's attorney's office. Thus spake the top cop shop to the thin blue line.
Hair Scare: Real estate mogul Donald Trump was spotted sporting his outrageous hair wings, sipping seltzer and dining next to the windows of his posh "Sixteen" eatery Monday night.
A pop fly?! Despite a lukewarm denial by TV's fast talking Hardball Chris Matthews, speculation is rampant in Washington, D.C., Matthews is seriously eyeing a U.S. Senate bid in Pennsylvania in 2010 for a seat now held by GOPer Arlen Specter.
Sneed hears a major player who recently quit City Hall is resurfacing at the Chicago Police Department.
• • Translation: Word is Brian Murphy, a former police lieutenant who abruptly quit his job as Mayor Daley's deputy chief of staff after a blowout argument with Hizzoner recently, is going back to the cop shop as a deputy police superintendent. Daley is no dummy.
Obama drama and Hill swill: It's politics at its meanest.
• • Sneed hears a desperate battle to either keep delegates in place ... or persuade them to change their endorsement at the Dem National Convention . . . is being waged with either threats of tossing surprise primary candidates against their Dem contenders -- or promises of infusions of campaign cash for their candidates.
Writer Tom O'Gorman and the irreplaceable Rosie O'Neill were spotted at RL eatery noshing with Desmond Guinness, scion of the brewing family and founder of the Irish Georgian Society. Guinness bumped into Chicago photographer Victor Skrebneski, a longtime friend who photographed Guinness, once dubbed the most beautiful man in Ireland, 30 years ago!
. . . and Cher chat: The singer Cher reportedly told Oprah Winfrey -- during a show to be aired next month -- she was once crazy about actor Tom Cruise when he was 23 and she was 39. And they reportedly enjoyed more than dinner together. Yummy.
Freedom of the press alert! In a further clampdown on the press, the Russian Duma took the first step in passing a bill Friday allowing courts to shutter media outlets for publishing libelous statements. There ya go.
Actor Noah "ER" Wyle spotted lunching at Tempo Cafe Tuesday ... Former Blackhawks star Tony Esposito and Saks Fifth Avenue maven Nina Ivon talking business at RL . . . Frank "The Sopranos" Vincent lunching at Rosebud Prime Tuesday wearing sunglasses and a black sweatsuit.
Condolences to Res Publica's Guy Chipparoni on the death of his beloved father, Pete . . . Today's birthdays: Chet Coppock, 60; Jerry Mickelson, 57; Willie Nelson, 75; Gary Collins, 70, and Perry King, 60.
