Chicago Sun-Times

Sneed: Joe Biden uses shutdown showdown to raise money

Tue, 01 Oct 2013 02:14:16 -0500

The shutdown saga. . . Checkbook checkmate: Uncle Joe is at it again! ◆ Translation: Vice President Joe Biden used the threat of a government shutdown to raise moola for the Dem party. ◆ To wit: Biden dispatched two emails Sunday and Monday reminding supporters of a Sept. 30 fund-raising deadline — after blasting Republicans for authoring the shutdown. ◆ Quoth Biden: “Fight back against the far right by chipping in today.” Gulp! It’s kaput! The longtime drinking ban for faculty and staff at Chicago’s conservative evangelical Moody Bible Institute may have ended recently, but they still are not permitted …

Iranians are blocked from using Twitter: Sneed

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 02:31:30 -0500

#Hashtag Hell . . . Twitter twaddle: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani may have hit his Twitter account button to describe President Barack Obama’s historic phone call to him before he left town Friday — but the following should be noted: ◆ The kicker: The Iranian people are blocked from using Twitter, which is banned in their country. Now isn’t that something? Downtown Blabby . . . Upstairs/Downstairs: Well, I’ll be gobsmacked! First lady Michelle Obama may be a huge fan of the hit PBS series “Downton Abbey,” but when she arranged a White House tour for members of the ‘Downton’ …

Sneed: Blackhawk Andrew Shaw’s stitches in restaurateur Grant DePorter’s hands

Fri, 27 Sep 2013 02:22:46 -0500

Puck yuck! Hey! Hey! The icky puck stitches have arrived! † Translation: Grant DePorter, a sports showman with a flair for the ridiculous who manages the Harry Caray’s restaurants, is now in possession of the stitches once embedded in the face of Chicago Blackhawk Andrew Shaw — who took a puck to the face in a Stanley Cup clincher. † DNA play: DePorter, who won the stitches for $6,500 in an eBay auction designated by Shaw for the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research, tells Sneed jokingly that he sent them to a chemist to see if they could extract …

Sneed: State troopers already helping out at request of Chicago cops

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 02:17:24 -0500

The cop shop . . . No way! No how! Hmmm. That was Chicago top cop Garry McCarthy’s response Monday to Gov. Pat Quinn’s offer of state police help to quell gang violence following Friday’s shooting at a Back of the Yards park — which left 13 people wounded, including a 3-year-old boy. Well, that’s a surprise. ◆ The backshot: Sneed hears that over the last three years, the Illinois State Police — under the leadership of Hiram Grau, a former first deputy Chicago police superintendent — have been quietly providing targeted reinforcement as requested by Chicago Police, according to …

City compared to Iraq war zone

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 02:21:18 -0500

The cop shop . . . Bang. Bang. Police Supt. Garry McCarthy must be bristling. A CNN national security adviser just called Chicago “the Mogadishu of the United States.” Huma duma . . . Sneed hears rumbles that the state of the marriage of Hillary Clinton’s top aide, Huma Abedin, and sexting hubby Anthony Weiner, which has been a mystery since her news conference endorsing Weiner’s Dem primary bid for New York mayor — is in shambles. Stay tuned. Cooper dooper . . . Hmm. Will CNN powerhouse Anderson Cooper, whose great-great-great-grandfather was the legendary mogul Cornelius Vanderbilt, lend his …

Sneed: Mr. President, our kids need you

Sun, 22 Sep 2013 02:32:52 -0500

The snitch pitch. . . Is President Barack Obama a solution to Chicago’s new title as the country’s murder capital? Sneed is told former Police Superintendent Jody Weis feels Obama may be part of it. ◆ To wit: At a recent lecture to medical students at Loyola University, Weis reportedly said he thinks Obama could do more to help Chicago kids understand that keeping information from police will only further the shooting. Weis said he spoke to children who told him hearing from Obama would help them overcome their fear of being snitches. A visit from Obama to address the …

Sneed: Chicago is no second city to New York — when it comes to murder rate

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 11:32:32 -0500

It has always been nettlesome for Chicago to be called the “Second City” to New York. But news Chicago has passed up New York as the murder capital of the U.S. is a title no one wants.

Sneed: Rod Blagojevich’s dark hair goes white in prison

Thu, 19 Sep 2013 02:18:28 -0500

The color white . . . Jailed former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who reportedly doctored the color of his thick head of dark hair when he ran the state, is now sporting a new look. ◆ Hair scare: Sneed is told his hair has turned “completely white,” according to a top Blago source. ◆ Update: “He is doing OK, talks to his family frequently, and is teaching,” said the source. “But his brown hair is now white.” Attorney Sheldon Sorosky, a close friend who defended Blago in his corruption trial, tells Sneed: “I’m told Rod’s hair has turned white. But I …

Bill Daley says Bruce Rauner strongest contender in gov race

Wed, 18 Sep 2013 02:20:52 -0500

The Daley discussion . . . “There was no tipping point!” Thus spoke former White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley in a one-on-one interview Tuesday about his decision to pull out of the gubernatorial race — and his belief that Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner is the strongest contender. “It was brewing for a month, but the final decision happened Saturday after a long, quiet talk with my wife, Bernie, in the country,” said Daley, whose announcement Monday to quit the contentious Dem primary race stunned political pundits and threw his staff off-guard. “A month ago, I began wondering …

Sneed: Jacksons’ furs, celebrity memorabilia go to auction

Tue, 17 Sep 2013 09:56:42 -0500

It’s a tour de fur auction starting Tuesday for former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, Sandi, who are awaiting federal jail time. An auction preview of furs purchased by Sandi Jackson and paid for with campaign donations — which earned her a year in prison — went on the Internet on Monday.

Mayor plans on opening new selective enrollment high schools or expanding existing ones

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 21:09:09 -0500

Scoopsville. . . Sneed has learned Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has been criticized for closing schools, is planning on opening new selective enrollment high schools for academically advanced students or expanding existing ones. “Mayor Emanuel is quietly charging ahead on his school modernization plans,” said a top Rahm source. “Although it is not clear yet how many schools that will involve. There are about 2,500 students who qualify already for advanced curriculum high school, but there are not enough seats available — and the mayor plans to fix that,” the source added. “His new modernization plan will include expanding old …

Sneed: Rahm Emanuel invites ‘Zealot’ author Reza Aslan for City Hall chat

Fri, 13 Sep 2013 02:20:38 -0500

The Rahmster . . . Click. Click. Pop. Pop. Pencils poised for an ecumenical happening! Sneed hears that Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is uber-proud of his Jewish heritage, has summoned Reza Aslan — the Muslim author of the controversial New York Times best-selling book, “Zealot,” based on the life of Jesus Christ — for a private chat in his City Hall office on Friday. Rahm, an avid reader, “is a great fan of the book,” said a Sneed source. Controversy has swirled around the book since Fox News anchor Lauren Green chastised Aslan, a Muslim, for writing a book that …

Sneed: Arlington Park chief Dick Duchossois thinking about retiring

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 02:17:50 -0500

Turf trouble . . . Mr. D may be going bye-bye. Sneed has learned that Arlington Park racetrack impresario and mega-businessman Dick Duchossois, a Chicago legend who’s approaching 92, is finally thinking retirement. “He still puts in over 50 hours a week as the track’s CEO, but he is concerned nobody is going to step up to the plate to ensure the viability of racing in Illinois,” a top Duchossois source tells Sneed. “Dick can’t continue being the go-to guy all the time and there are a lot of distressed faces at the track because horsemen are concerned about the …

Sneed: In TV show, Bill Daley’s months-old comments on war prove prescient in Syria crisis

Wed, 11 Sep 2013 08:53:42 -0500

Daley, who was once President Obama’s chief of staff, was interviewed last May for a Discovery Channel show, “The President’s Gatekeepers,” set to premiere Wednesday night.

Rev. Jackson offers rare ‘no comment’ on his alleged publicity ‘addiction’

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 02:17:31 -0500

Sneed contacted Jackson Monday about his “addiction” to publicity detailed in excerpts from an allegedly purloined diary of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. published by the New York Post Monday.

Obama could pardon Ald. Sandi Jackson before leaving office

Sun, 08 Sep 2013 02:38:59 -0500

The Jackson file. . . The hottest rumor to come down the political pike: Speculation President Barack Obama may pardon former Ald. Sandi Jackson before he leaves office in January 2017. ◆ Fact: Sandi’s hubby, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., is scheduled to begin serving 30 months in federal prison around Nov. 1 for corruption. ◆ Fact: Sandi is scheduled to report to prison for one year on a tax evasion conviction no more than 30 days after the completion of her husband’s sentence. Interesting timing. However, if the president waited until the last minute to pardon her, she …

Sneed: This year’s vacation theme is ‘Two weddings and a bumpy ride’

Fri, 06 Sep 2013 02:20:25 -0500

Sneed’s two-week vacation beginning and ending with nuptials included a detour to why me?

Sneed: Biden’s son’s medical scare

Thu, 19 Sep 2013 10:01:07 -0500

The Biden beat. . . Sneed is told Beau Biden, Delaware attorney general and son of Vice President Joe Biden, was sent via helicopter to Northwestern Memorial Hospital Wednesday night from an Indiana summer home due to a medical scare. Sneed has learned Biden, 44, was treated by a doctor at Northwestern and left town Thursday. “He’s okay,” said a source, who refused to comment further. It was unknown whether Biden was transferred to a hospital in Philadelphia, where he was treated for a stroke in 2010, for observation. Biden was reportedly alert when he arrived in Chicago. Upping the …