Chicago Sun-Times

Sheriff Tom Dart vs. Chief Judge Timothy Evans in courthouse security dustup

Wed, 01 May 2013 23:08:26 -0500

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

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 02:20:53 -0500

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 Kennedy Expressway near Addison Street. †Heart shot: A new sign emblazoned with two hearts and Rosie’s name was a love letter to her from the firm’s owner, John Novak -- when he learned she used his holiday lights as a switch to turn off the pain while traveling to the hospital. “A scary emergency trip …

Sneed: Paralympic marathoner pushes forward in face of ‘evil’

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 02:19:38 -0500

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 of himself. “The trucker I hailed who extorted $400 from us — all the cash I had — to transport 18 [handicapped] kids out of danger and to the airport,” said McFadden, mother of University of Illinois Paralympic team senior Tatyana McFadden , 24, who had just won the Boston Marathon’s wheelchair race shortly before …

Quinn takes poignant letter from Chicago student to Mexico City

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 02:41:19 -0500

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 my neighborhood is too violent. Is yours?” ◆ Backshot: It was one of 200 student letters that accompanied Gov. Pat Quinn on his trade mission to Mexico last week. A child’s plea. . . In the midst of the same-sex marriage muddle comes an appeal from a 10-year-old girl, Braiden Neubecker, who lives in River …

In the early days, it was clear Roger Ebert was going to make it big

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:27:52 -0500

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

Wed, 01 May 2013 15:46:52 -0500

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, Illinois State Police Director Hiram Grau tells Sneed. Sauter’s funeral is 11 a.m. Tuesday at Morraine Valley Church, 6300 W. 127th in Palos Heights. Grau also plans to call a security summit to protect Illinois State Troopers from being killed during roadside emergencies — a tragedy that has claimed the lives of two troopers in …

HOLDING THEIR FIRE

Wed, 01 May 2013 14:52:42 -0500

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 in terms of federal gun law enforcement in 2012, according to the study. ◆ The flip side: U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Randall Samborn tells Sneed fewer federal gun prosecutions reflect a decision by federal prosecutors to weigh whether their case should be pursued in a state court — rather than a federal court — which …

Sneed: Are Chicago cops protecting Chicago cops at O’Hare?

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:10:08 -0500

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 the Aviation Security officers at O’Hare International Airport, a state-certified police agency qualified each year to carry guns, are not allowed to carry their weapons while working — and are required to call Chicago police officers assigned to O’Hare if they need backup. ◆ The upshot: “It’s a shocking and unnecessary display of overlapping — …

FBI SHOULDERS GACY SEARCH TAB

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:10:47 -0500

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 and a leg. ◆ Translation: The majority of the tab, which included the FBI’s cadaver dogs, was picked up by the FBI. “It only cost the county $4,000 for an infrared diagnostic bill and overtime for several Cook County sheriff’s deputies,” a Sneed source said. “Although initial reports showed absolutely nothing — and are expected …

Sheriff Tom Dart’s search for Gacy victims comes up empty at NW Side building

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 06:23:58 -0500

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

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 07:12:53 -0500

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?

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 06:40:03 -0500

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 — was celebrity-shy. ◆ Backshot: When Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was mistakenly killed by a street gang’s bullet in January, her funeral was attended by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Gov. Pat Quinn, first lady Michelle Obama, Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, the Rev. Michael Pfleger — and the Rev. Jesse Jackson was somewhere in the mix. So what was …

Pope Francis may send Cardinal Bernard Law back to Boston

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 06:37:30 -0500

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 whispers that Law, who was forced to resign as archbishop of Boston in 2002 after it was revealed he was engaged in a clerical sexual abuse cover-up — and now lives in a fourth-century basilica in Rome — may be given a new job by a new pope. ◆The new job? Sneed is told Law …

Sneed: Jonylah’s dad has long rap sheet

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 06:55:26 -0500

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 1999 and ends in June 2012 — despite the assertion last week of the Watkins family spokesman, Rev. Corey Brooks: “He hasn’t been in any trouble since 2007.” Jonathan Watkins, whose baby’s diaper became the repository of the bullet that destroyed her, has been arrested 39 times. But it’s unclear whether the vast majority of …

Penny Pritzker for Commerce? Done deal; the real Jonylah Watkins story

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:19:28 -0500

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 Pritzker’s appointment,” said a top Sneed White House source. “My guess is the president announces it next week.” “The White House has been in the process of floating names for Cabinet posts to assess any blowback in the press — and there has been none on Pritzker,” the source said. Pritzker just resigned her spot …

Michael Sneed: Cardinal George says Catholics waiting for ‘this man with great depth to show it’

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:43:25 -0500

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

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 06:41:17 -0500

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: North American prelates. Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet is listed at 10/1; Boston’s Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, 68, at 14/1; and New York’s favorite former cheesehead, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, 63, at 20/1. ◆Begorrah! Last name on the list of potential winners: Irish singer/philanthropist/great guy, Bono, 52, at 1000/1. ◆Favored papal name: Leo, by 5/4, followed …

Sneed: Justice Mary Ann McMorrow was an amazing woman

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:01:09 -0500

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 was my dear friend and there were so many things I didn’t know about her when I attended her funeral recently at St. Mary of the Woods Catholic Church. There was a coffin draped in her black robe; a funeral mass strung into a necklace of songs sung in Latin; and elegies by her favorite …