Chicago Sun-Times

Brown: Rosemont mayor questions sense of DePaul arena at McCormick

Tue, 21 May 2013 02:14:32 -0500

Rosemont Mayor Brad Stephens wanted to be heard Monday on the subject of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal to build a $173 million arena at McCormick Place. “I don’t know that it’s economically viable,” Stephens said. Well, that’s not very neighborly of him, I thought, which was no reason not to listen. For both good and bad, this is definitely a case of: consider the source. Rosemont, as you know, stands to lose DePaul University basketball as a tenant of its village-owned Allstate Arena if the McCormick Place arena is built — and possibly concert business as well. In addition, the …

Brown: Are jabs at Rahm early campaigning? Or just healthy dialogue?

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:40:08 -0500

Former school teacher Toni Preckwinkle may have only been trying to get Rahm Emanuel’s attention with a sharply worded rap on his knuckles on the front page of this newspaper Friday. But in a city still unaccustomed to anyone talking back to its mayor, Preckwinkle’s public critique of Emanuel’s school closing plans reverberated loudly through the political community. With Emanuel now midway through his four-year term, such a rare public airing of differences between two powerful Democrats served as a reminder that the 2015 election is just starting to come into view. Preckwinkle’s complaints about school closings — and about …

Mark Brown: Welcome to Rahm’s Grand Illusion

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:07:45 -0500

Appearing soon at a new 10,000-seat arena at McCormick Place: The Amazing Rahm, Grand Illusionist. He’ll razzle and dazzle you with mind-bending feats of job expansion, financial wizardry and most of all, public relations packaging. Was that our mayor last seen trapped in a glass-encased parking meter box and dangled from a crane over the goby-infested waters of Burnham Harbor with hordes of Chicago public school parents threatening to tip the crane? Yes, but there he is at Navy Pier, unveiling a $115 million redesign plan that includes an expanded Chicago Children’s Museum (didn’t we announce that already?) and added …

Mark Brown: Vanecko judge should step down — or explain why not

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:07:26 -0500

The elephant in Room 201 of the Rolling Meadows courthouse Tuesday was what the judge handling the trial of Richard J. Vanecko might have to say about a judicial ethics investigation into the circumstances surrounding debts her ex-husband escaped through their divorce. Unfortunately, McIntyre said nothing about either the Sun-Times’ stories or a resulting Judicial Inquiry Board probe.

Will ex-judge’s opinion reverse decision to close two CPS schools?

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:58:00 -0500

David Coar served 16 years as a federal judge in Chicago, presiding over such important cases as the city patronage abuse trial of Robert Sorich. That doesn’t make Coar infallible in matters of law or judgment, but it does mean he’s someone to be regarded seriously. And I took it very seriously last week when Coar, serving as an independent hearing officer to the Board of Education, ruled that proposals to close two schools next year should be denied for failing to specifically address student safety issues involved in the move to a new school.

Brown: Get a second opinion on parking meter proposal

Sun, 12 May 2013 02:40:12 -0500

Two dozen aldermen pledged allegiance to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s revamped parking meter deal on Thursday — barely 24 hours after receiving a thick stack of documents setting forth the actual agreement. Are they nuts or what? Mind you, this 24-hour period was their first opportunity to READ the agreement and maybe analyze it a little for themselves, as opposed to accepting the representations of the Emanuel administration wholesale. This is the same way of doing business that got them in trouble in the first place. In fact, many of the 24 are the same aldermen who helped Mayor Richard M. …

Cicero making its own pitch for for the Cubs

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:05:29 -0500

Cicero Town President Larry Dominick wants us to take seriously his invitation to Tom Ricketts to move the Cubs to his west suburban community best known for its sordid political history. That’s not going to happen, but you can never blame a diehard Cubs fan for trying.

John Stroger’s staffers loyal to the end — and after

Tue, 07 May 2013 02:20:17 -0500

In an embarrassing postscript to a proud political career, memorabilia that had belonged to the late Cook County Board President John Stroger Jr. was put up for auction last summer after somebody failed to pay the bill on a storage locker in which it was being kept. Granted a reprieve when the auction failed to produce the minimum bid requirement, the old Stroger allies slipped in afterward and bought the materials from the storage scavenger who had originally claimed them.

After long absence, Salvation Army is back helping homeless on Lower Wacker

Sun, 05 May 2013 02:38:34 -0500

Christine Henry used to know the name of nearly every homeless person living on Lower Wacker Drive and where they slept. That was several years ago, before her mobile outreach team and feeding truck from the Salvation Army was forced to abandon its work in the downtown area. On Friday evening, Henry and her team set out to renew old acquaintances and make new ones.

Payton baseball coach shouldn’t be fall guy in forfeit controversy

Thu, 02 May 2013 02:26:12 -0500

A lot of important people were embarrassed last weekend when Payton College Prep backed out of its baseball game with Brooks College Prep after some parents at the North Side school raised security concerns about sending their kids into the Roseland neighborhood at night. When important people are embarrassed, they start looking for a fall guy, and for a while at least, they thought they’d found one in Payton baseball coach William Wittleder.

Cop who hunts big game aims — and misses — in bid to restore disability pay

Wed, 01 May 2013 02:21:42 -0500

While on safari in Africa, disabled Chicago police officer Charles T. Siedlecki bagged his share of big-game trophies and was famously pictured with one of them on the cover of this newspaper last year. But on Tuesday, it was Siedlecki who found himself in the crosshairs of city officials at a meeting of the Chicago Police pension fund.

Brown: Gifts to Uptown from down under — homeless get backpack beds

Thu, 02 May 2013 09:10:47 -0500

The sun was just setting over Uptown one night last week when a tall, lanky Australian with more enthusiasm than just one continent could handle threw himself into the business of helping homeless Chicagoans. Tony Clark, 39, is co-designer of what he calls the backpack bed, a lightweight backpack that rolls out into a fancy sleeping bag. For nearly two hours Wednesday night, Clark handed out free backpack beds to homeless men who had shown up at the corner of Hazel and Wilson for their weekly visit from the Night Ministry bus. Combining the patter of an infomercial pitchman with …

Hadiya Pendleton’s dad: ‘Every child’s life does matter’

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:35:09 -0500

It’s not fair to the parents of Hadiya Pendleton to put them on the spot every time another young person falls victim to gun violence. But I called her father, Nathaniel Pendleton, just the same Wednesday, hoping to get his thoughts on the death of Cornelius “Cornbread” German, the latest 15-year-old felled by a bullet in Chicago. “I’m really sorry that another child has become the victim of gun violence,” Pendleton said.

Cornelius ‘Cornbread’ German’s life — and death — matters, too

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:34:23 -0500

Mark Brown: It may not be as easy to find a place in your heart for Cornelius “Cornbread” German as it was for Hadiya Pendleton. The two 15-year-old Chicago kids are bound by fate of being shot dead within blocks of President Barack Obama’s home. Hadiya was a high-achieving honor student from a middle-class, church-going family. Cornelius was a kid raised in poverty who hung with the wrong crowd and met his demise at a backyard dice game. That’s why Cornelius’ death Monday night is a test for this city.

Brown: No fire for raising smoking age

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:07:37 -0500

Last week while I was in Florida on vacation, I stopped in a bar that still allows smoking and was immediately reminded of two things. One, I sure don’t miss breathing that smoky air. Two, I’ve always been out of step on the smoke-free issues, remaining sympathetic to smokers long after that put me in a minority. Now here we go again. On Monday, top city officials in New York proposed legislation to raise its smoking age from 18 to 21. That prompted City Council Health Committee Chairman George Cardenas to say Chicago should explore raising the smoking age here …

Brown: Tax filings might be a struggle for gay and lesbian couples

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:53:19 -0500

Monday’s federal income tax filing deadline could put anybody on edge, but for gay and lesbian couples, it can be a particular irritant. That’s because their IRS 1040 forms spell out in dollars and cents how they are regarded as second-class citizens by the U.S. government. Under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, same-sex married couples are treated differently for tax purposes from their opposite-sex counterparts. The result is not only discriminatory; it can be downright expensive. The most glaring example of this is the tax treatment of employer-paid health insurance benefits. In a marriage between a man and a …

Mark Brown: Requiem for a friend — to his church, the elderly and all those beloved dogs

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:20:20 -0500

Tom Vollman was a dog guy. For me and many other Chicagoans, he was THE dog guy. Vollman started his day Wednesday the way he always did. He rose early, fed the Great Dane and the mutt he was dogsitting, gave them their meds and took them out back to take care of business—just like clockwork, which is how the dogs like it. Then he brought them inside, sat down in a chair and passed away. He was 54, fit and trim, with no known health problems. You never know. Vollman isn’t the sort whose death would normally warrant a …

Private showers for transgender police recruits a win for inclusion

Sat, 11 May 2013 06:36:06 -0500

The Chicago Police Department is installing two new private “changing rooms” with showers at its training academy to better accommodate transgender police recruits. A CPD spokesman said the facilities are for “anyone who may feel uncomfortable in the men’s or women’s showers,” and are not intended solely for transgender individuals. But the extreme sensitivity with which the department has handled my inquiries about the matter tells me this is not your everyday bathroom remodeling project.