sneed
Michael Sneed biography
Michael Sneed has been a Chicago journalist for nearly four decades covering everything short of war.
Among the stories Sneed has reported on in her …
Read More-
Sheriff Tom Dart vs. Chief Judge Timothy Evans in courthouse security dustup
It’s chuckles & knuckles time at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building, where the latest dustup between Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is now at hand. Dart’s dander rose recently after Evans, who banned cellphones in the courtrooms, blasted Dart’s courthouse security for not tackling the electronic device misuse.
-
A sign for Rosie
A beacon of hope. . . It’s riveting for Rosie! †Translation: Rosie Colucci, an eight-year-old who has been battling inoperable brain cancer for the past five years, now has her own star in the twinkling firmament atop the Novak Construction Company, which looks over the …Read More
-
Sneed: Paralympic marathoner pushes forward in face of ‘evil’
The marathon nightmare. . . After two shrapnel-spreading bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon, hundreds of people selflessly rushed to help the wounded athletes and their families. But not everyone at the scene was noble. Deborah McFadden ran into one guy who should be ashamed …Read More
Search recent columns
More Columns
Quinn takes poignant letter from Chicago student to Mexico City
Crime time. . . Thirteen words tell it all. ◆ To wit: One of the letters sent by a student at Chicago’s Benito Juarez Community Academy to its sister school (Benito Juarez High School) in Mexico City recently read: “I like to go downtown because …
In the early days, it was clear Roger Ebert was going to make it big
Roger Ebert was a pudgy, nerdy kind of guy when I met him back in the late 1960s; probably going horizontal on a bar stool at O’Rourke’s Pub in Old Town — backdropped by a life-size poster of Brendan Behan spitting in your face. But even back then, Ebert, the rumpled, intellectual, bespectacled doughboy, stood out. He had it. You sensed he was going to make it. Many of us were still slogging it out at the legendary City News Bureau before the era of uberjournalism, but he was on his way.
Cook County Sheriff to patrol expressways while troopers attend colleague’s funeral
Sneed exclusive Scoopsville. . . In a move to honor late Illinois State Trooper James Sauter, 28, who was killed Thursday when his emergency vehicle was struck by a truck, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s police officers will patrol the county expressways during his funeral, …
HOLDING THEIR FIRE
Bang! Bang! Here’s a shocker: The Northern District of Illinois has a lousy record for federal gun law prosecutions, according to a study tracking federal data done by Syracuse University. In fact, the districts that contain Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City ranked last …
Sneed: Are Chicago cops protecting Chicago cops at O’Hare?
The gravy train. . . Memo to Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, who istrying to keep the murder rate down: How about eliminating the use of Chicago cops at O’Hare airport in order to put them back on the street? ◆ The buckshot: Sneed is told …
FBI SHOULDERS GACY SEARCH TAB
The Gacy file. . . $$$$ The unsuccessful search for possible victims of mass murderer John Wayne Gacy buried near his mother’s Northwest Side apartment building — which Sneed exclusively reported was quietly conducted last Wednesday — did not cost Cook County taxpayers an arm …Read More
Sheriff Tom Dart’s search for Gacy victims comes up empty at NW Side building
Sneed exclusive: It’s over. There was no Geraldo moment. The search for victims of mass murderer John Wayne Gacy in the Northwest Side apartment building where Gacy’s mother once lived turned up squat . . . nothing. Sneed hears the elaborate, sophisticated search for more Gacy victims — conducted by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s office, and exclusively reported by Sneed months ago — was for naught.
Sneed: Metra cops concerned over security
MICHAEL SNEED: Do you think security is all it could be on Metra? Think again. Sneed is told Metra, the system of 11 rail lines connecting Chicago to six counties and 241 stations in Northeastern Illinois, may not be as safe as you think it is. “We have been derailed by understaffing, poor equipment and leadership without a mission,” said a Metra police source.
Jonylah’s funeral: Where were celebrities who attended Hadiya Pendleton’s service?
The Jonylah funeral . . . Hmmm . . . . . . In case you didn’t notice, the funeral of 6-month-old Jonylah Watkins, who was killed by a bullet meant for her father while sitting in his lap in a minivan last week — …
Pope Francis may send Cardinal Bernard Law back to Boston
Back to Boston? Law’s flaw: Sneed hears rumbles that Cardinal Bernard Law, the most vilified American cardinal in the U.S. pedophile priest probe — who has been living in Rome since 2004 — may find himself doing penance publicly in Boston. ◆To wit: Sneed hears …
Sneed: Jonylah’s dad has long rap sheet
The Watkins wire... He’s got quite a rap sheet. The arrest record of Jonathan Watkins, 29, whose six-month-old baby, Jonylah, was slaughtered last week as he held her in his lap while sitting in his minivan, is shocking. It goes all the way back to …
Penny Pritzker for Commerce? Done deal; the real Jonylah Watkins story
The Pritzker file . . . It’s a go. Sneed hears President Barack Obama is thisclose to announcing his appointment of Hyatt Hotel heiress Penny Pritzker, an investment guru, as his new U.S. Commerce secretary. “It’s a done deal. There are no hiccups involving Penny …
Michael Sneed: Cardinal George says Catholics waiting for ‘this man with great depth to show it’
It’s a double blessing. The election of Pope Francis Wednesday will result in a “twofer” for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, Cardinal Francis George tells Sneed. “Now I won’t be the only ‘Francis’ mentioned in the daily blessing at Mass,” he said. “It will now be for Francis our pope, as well as Francis our bishop.” “It’s historic. The first pope from the New World,” said George, who described the church’s new shepherd as “quiet and poised and intense.”
Sneed: Get points if you’re betting on Francis George to be next pope
The papal conclave... Ah, Paddy Power. Paddy Power, the Irish betting website, is weighing in on the papal race to head the Roman Catholic flock and is listing Italy’s Cardinal Angelo Scola, 71, the Archbishop of Milan, as a 9/4 winner. ◆Next on the list: …
Sneed: Justice Mary Ann McMorrow was an amazing woman
Mary Ann’s memory... I didn’t know Justice Mary Ann McMorrow loved chocolate; especially Boston cream pie. I didn’t even know her maiden name. She may have been the first and only woman to become chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, but, after all, she …
Fed raid on NIU focused on alleged abuse of criminal database system
The police blotter . . . Psst! Scoopsville: Sneed has learned that the federal raid on the Northern Illinois University campus police Wednesday was related to alleged abuse of their criminal database system. “There are allegations someone was misusing their Law Enforcement Database System, which …
Cardinals call media blackout as some seek details of Vatican leaks report
The meeting of cardinals in Rome in preparation for choosing a new pope is beginning to read like a Dan Brown “DaVinci Code” mystery. A new Vatican leaks scandal, dealing with Italian media reports of private deliberations among cardinals, has resulted in a media blackout imposed by the College of Cardinals. The blackout comes in the wake of news that a contingent of cardinals wants access to a secret Vatican report dealing with papal papers stolen by the pope’s butler.
