Chicago Sun-Times

Daley nephew never the villain: Carol Marin

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 02:34:41 -0500

BY CAROL MARIN: R.J. Vanecko was never the villain in the story of trying to sort out justice in the Davis Koschman case. And he shouldn’t be now. Even though he is the only one who will ever be charged in a case that screams of clout and connections and cover-up.

Time haunts Nanci Koschman

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 10:22:38 -0500

Time is the enemy of Nanci Koschman. That was painfully clear this week when she learned that no more charges will be filed in her son’s 2004 homicide. Time’s run out. A three-year statute of limitations blocks her like an armed guard at the gate of justice. That revelation knocked her for a loop. “Should I have called police the next day and said ‘who did this to my son?’ ” she asks. The police, except for one perfunctory call after her son was taken to the hospital, never called again during the 11 days that 21-year-old David lay dying. …

To FB or not to FB? Some ‘friend’ly advice

Sun, 15 Sep 2013 02:33:50 -0500

What a conve rsation! Last week I wrote that I was thinking about quitting Facebook given that in this election season, candidates running for office can convert being a FB “friend” into what seems like a “like” or endorsement by, in my case, a political columnist. I have “friended” a number of politicos simply to follow their posts. And though FB followers know the difference between “friend” and friend, people reading campaign literature might not see any distinction at all. Hence, my dilemma. You, my FB and Twitter communities, responded in large numbers with thoughtful responses. I wanted to share …

I like but do not ‘like’ Kirk Dillard

Sun, 08 Sep 2013 02:41:50 -0500

I like politicians in general. They keep me in business. But I’m “liking” Facebook less and less as unsolicited ads pop up on my two sites, my “friend” page and my “fan” page.

American workers today gasping for air

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 02:39:14 -0500

The other night on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s March on Washington, Judy Woodruff’s question to President Barack Obama on PBS was infinitely more powerful than his answer.

Carol Marin: ‘A good lie is important,’ and other parallels of politics to golf

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 06:36:43 -0500

Readers warn, “No matter how well you play, the game will humble you if you think you’ve mastered it.”

We’re the ones who elect the slugs

Thu, 19 Sep 2013 09:57:45 -0500

The day after the Jesse Jackson Jr. sentencing, I headed out for a little vacation time in Michigan. And arrived at a sweet restaurant in Stevensville about 90 minutes from Chicago. As drinks and breadsticks arrived, so did this question from Ann, a favorite waitress and news junkie: “So, what did you think of the sentence?” Ann’s question is everyone’s question. Did Triple J and his fur-cape-clad-former-alderman-wife get off easy? No, I said. They at least pleaded guilty and finally took responsibility for their shameless irresponsibility. Unlike, I suggested, Rod Blagojevich or George Ryan, former governors with long records of …

‘Heater’ case couldn’t wilt lawyer

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 06:44:01 -0500

Dear Zach, Your mom did the right thing. And she is still the cape-wearing, justice-fighting, superhero you tell her she is. That’s why I’m writing this column. Best, Carol Marin Zach is the 12-year-old son of former Cook County juvenile court prosecutor Sonia Antolec. A 30-year-old single mother with a stellar record, Antolec recently refused to prosecute a “heater” case involving a vicious “wilding” attack in March on the CTA Red Line. The evidence, she determined, was too flawed to proceed. Multiple sources confirm that her supervisor agreed. But amazingly, higher-ups in the office of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita …

Women see hope for new pope

Thu, 05 Sep 2013 06:49:11 -0500

For the moment, Francis has done and said some critically important things for nuns and for many of the people in the pews — Catholics who love the church but not necessarily its insular male hierarchy.

South Branch of Chicago River is filthy, improving

Fri, 30 Aug 2013 06:24:33 -0500

Unlike the dazzling North Branch or downtown where a water canon decorates the landscape for tourist boats, the South Branch has always been a dumping ground for heavy industry and the long-ago shuttered slaughterhouses of the Chicago stockyards.

Carol Marin: More than one kind of Madigan

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 06:27:58 -0500

What father wouldn’t willingly step aside to clear a path for the daughter he loves? That’s a question that continues to burn inside political circles about the decision by Attorney General Lisa Madigan not to run for governor as long as her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, continues to keep his death grip on power in Illinois. She didn’t put it that way. But in a terse announcement, she came pretty darn close. “I feel strongly that the state would not be well served by having a governor and speaker of the House from the same family and have never …

Political dads become burdens

Thu, 15 Aug 2013 06:37:21 -0500

It’s been a miserable week for political daughters, thanks to their politically powerful daddies. Take Lisa Madigan. The popular state attorney general’s unpopular pop, House Speaker Mike Madigan, threw yet another bump in her road to the governor’s mansion. Thanks to revelations this week about how the Mighty Madigan sought to meddle in the Metra mess, it turns out (surprise!) that the reason the board of the rail authority gave its outgoing CEO such a huge bundle of severance cash, $718,000, was allegedly because it was “hush” money. What was he supposed to hush about? That Mike Madigan — allegedly …

Carol Marin: Business as usual at City Hall

Thu, 08 Aug 2013 06:53:11 -0500

Honest to God, politicians think we’re stupid, don’t they? Here comes Ald. Dick Mell, the warhorse boss of the 33rd Ward, who at 75 has confessed — midterm — to a sudden yearning to play with the grandkids. And needs to retire right away. Leaving a vacancy on the City Council two years before the next election. People, haven’t we seen this movie? His buddy, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, gets to appoint Mell’s successor who, despite the pretense of a blue-ribbon commission to search for said successor, knows full well that the leading contender is Mell’s daughter, state Rep. Deb Mell. …

Carol Marin: She wore an itsy bitsy GOP bikini

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 06:35:27 -0500

Sing along with me, please. “It was an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini that she wore for the first time today . . . ” In 1960, when Brian Hyland recorded it, the song was considered a bit risqué. Who imagined that more than half a century later it still had the capacity to offend? State Rep. Barbara Wheeler certainly didn’t. At least, not until earlier this month when she held a fund-raiser inviting supporters to a “Teeni Weeni Bikini Martini Party.” The printed invitations for this political pool party were actually pretty funny. Donor categories were …

Make state proud for Patrick & Jim

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 06:33:01 -0500

Pride. I’ve been thinking about the word since last month when I spent time with Jim Darby, 81, and Patrick Bova, 75, down in Springfield. Jim, a retired teacher and military veteran, and Patrick, a retired librarian, have been together for almost 50 years. Their golden anniversary is July 17. They, along with other gay and lesbian families, trekked to the General Assembly to lobby for passage of a same-sex marriage bill. Though they have the tweedy look of academics, they are longtime warriors in this battle. Another skirmish, just announced Friday, is set for Oct. 22 when a coalition …

Tragedy highlights need for caring

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 06:53:37 -0500

There is a little restaurant around the corner from my house. The food is straightforward and good. So are the people working there. The other day, they had a heart-wrenching question. “What,” asked two women behind the lunch counter, “do you think of the killing of that handicapped boy?” It’s a story that broke earlier in the week in River Grove in which the mother and godmother/caregiver of a profoundly autistic 14-year-old boy killed him. And then tried to kill themselves. And even their cat so it wouldn’t be taken to the pound. Who does that? Desperate people do that, …

Rick Halprin: Requiem for a defense attorney

Wed, 10 Jul 2013 06:36:41 -0500

Life, on a good day, can be messy. Rick Halprin knew that better than most. The colorful and accomplished Chicago defense attorney took his own life with a handgun on Tuesday morning just before sheriff’s deputies arrived to serve an eviction notice on his Hyde Park condo. Were friends shocked? No. Sad? Very. About 115 of us met at Manny’s Cafeteria and Delicatessen on South Jefferson Thursday for his memorial service. Manny’s, you ask? A Jewish deli was as close to a synagogue as Rick was going to get. The eulogies flowed. One old pal, attorney Thomas Anthony Durkin, said …

Springfield chaos and a Lisa run?

Wed, 03 Jul 2013 06:37:11 -0500

Let’s pull out the crystal ball and examine why it looks like Attorney General Lisa Madigan is gearing up for a primary challenge to her party’s own incumbent governor. With a little help from her friends. The burning question of her potential candidacy has always been whether Lisa can neutralize the Dad problem. Dad being, of course, House Speaker Michael Madigan, the most powerful and polarizing political figure in Illinois. On that score, she has already begun. Most recently by making it clear she didn’t agree with Dad’s bill on conceal and carry. It was his original proposal that the …