Chicago... nice city you have here

[LawBeefaroni]

Gotta make sure those guns are properly thawed after the long winter freeze...

Wait until we have a warm weekend without rain...

[Jeff V]

Gotta make sure those guns are properly thawed after the long winter freeze...

Wait until we have a warm weekend without rain...

Celebration time! That's when you do your housecleaning of all 2018 ammo.

[Jaymann]

Stupid snowstorm in April. You cancelled my Angels game!

[LawBeefaroni]

Inevitable.

Chicago police tonight said 21 people have been charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass to vehicles and one of them is also charged with felony financial identity theft in connection with a massive fraud against the Car2Go vehicle rental app.
...
But investigators believe more than 100 Mercedes vehicles were taken in the scam by using fraudulent credit card information in the Car2Go phone application.

According to a police source, some of the thieves tried to re-steal the cars from a police impound lot.

Car2Go rents high-end cars for short periods. The company deactivated all of its Mercedes vehicles on Wednesday and temporarily suspended operations in Chicago due to the widespread theft and fraud operation.

Misdemeanor trespass to vehicle.

[Zarathud]

Ballsy.

[LawBeefaroni]

Just keeps coming.

CHICAGO (CBS) — Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has agreed to recuse herself from Jedediah Brown’s case, after a photo surfaced of the two posing for a selfie on Facebook, and they appeared together at a press event earlier this month.

News of the recusal came Tuesday morning, days after Chicago police officers filed a motion asking for her to be removed from the prosecution of Brown, a community activist accused of punching and kicking several officers last year.

....

McKay’s motion said Brown’s selfie with Foxx isn’t the only issue. He’s also concerned that Brown stood behind Foxx at a Rainbow/PUSH Coalition event earlier this month, defending Foxx’s decision to drop disorderly conduct charges against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.

Even if she didn't know (hard to believe because he's an outspoken activist) , he certainly did and was no doubt looking at it as a personal get.

[em2nought]

Trevor Noah's latest bit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z4XOE9U6LY

[LawBeefaroni]

Daley's legacy.

Chicago’s parking meter system took in another $132.7 million in 2018, putting private investors on pace to reap a hefty return on their initial $1.16 billion investment with 65 years to go on the 75-year lease.

Two other privatization deals also have resulted in windfalls for private companies. Four underground city-owned parking garages took in $34.1 million in 2018, while the privatized Chicago Skyway generated just under $99 million in cash, separate audits of those assets show.

Not a penny of the combined nearly $266 million in revenues, once a key source of funding for city government, went to ease the $2 billion avalanche of tax increases imposed by Emanuel to solve the city’s pension crisis.

That’s because all three assets were unloaded to private companies by former Mayor Richard M. Daley, who used the money to avoid raising property taxes while city employee pension funds sunk deeper in the hole.


....

Factoring in the newly reported figure for 2018, the company has already extracted $1.2 billion in parking-meter revenues from the contract.

CPM’s net income after operating expenses last year was $89.3 million, documents show. That figure does not include debt payments or investment losses. The company distributed $49.5 million to its private investors last year.

In 10 years, investors recouped all their original cost. They now have 65 years of pure profits left. While the city slides into crushing debt or bankruptcy.

[LawBeefaroni]

Oh, and meanwhile...





Why the cop being pushed by the Rolls didn't light it up I don't know but it later crashed and they caught one of the occupants. Everyone else got away. Just another night in the Chi.

[Unagi]

this some GTA shit!


damn, that's a pretty frightening scene actually.

[em2nought]

They just lit this _____ up like it's the fourth. It's May!

[LawBeefaroni]

Proco Joe in custody. . If it's for the false report, let's see if he gets the Smolett treatment.

Outgoing Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno was taken into police custody Tuesday evening on an arrest warrant, according to Chicago police.

The 1st Ward alderman has been investigated twice in the past year, most recently in February for a possible false police report.

[Unagi]

Speaking of Smolett…

How is he still saying that he was a victim of this attack when the attackers are known and known to have been hired by him.
How in the hell is Smolett still standing by his "I was attacked" bullshit?

[Isgrimnur]

The Root

The judge who was to decide whether to appoint a special prosecutor to look into how all charges came to be dropped against Jussie Smollett has decided to let a different judge handle it.

Judge LeRoy Martin Jr. said Friday he was not recusing himself from the case, merely reassigning it.

Martin came under scrutiny after the person pushing for a special prosecutor argued that Martin should recuse himself because his son works for the Cook County State’s Attorney Office; even though he had no role in the decision to drop the charges against Smollett.

[LawBeefaroni]

Speaking of Smolett…

How is he still saying that he was a victim of this attack when the attackers are known and known to have been hired by him.
How in the hell is Smolett still standing by his "I was attacked" bullshit?

Because an admission would open him up to all kinds of liability, I think. The city is still seeking like $300K from him. Plus in the age of Trump, it's the new standard. Lie, deny, and then lie again until the news cycle moves on.

[Isgrimnur]

[em2nought]

I guess not everybody dies from gunshot wounds, sometimes you get treated like a tin can. Opened, contents removed, tossed out.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/pregnant-hig ... 23786.html

[LawBeefaroni]

I guess not everybody dies from gunshot wounds, sometimes you get treated like a tin can. Opened, contents removed, tossed out.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/pregnant-hig ... 23786.html

Baby will likely die when removed from life support soon. Terrible case.

He girl was lured by someone she met in a Facebook group for new mothers. The woman promised her secondhand kid's clothes. 4 people in custody (woman, female friend, and their boyfriend's). They won't get the fate they deserve in Illinois though.

[LawBeefaroni]

Nearly 10% of Chicago City Council out on bond, 3 of them still working the job.

Meet the City Council's finest!

[pr0ner]

Nearly 10% of Chicago City Council out on bond, 3 of them still working the job.

Meet the City Council's finest!

DC is facing some scandals lately with a couple of their council members, but in a city of single party rule, nothing really appears to be happening to them here, either.

[Jeff V]

I guess not everybody dies from gunshot wounds, sometimes you get treated like a tin can. Opened, contents removed, tossed out.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/pregnant-hig ... 23786.html

Baby will likely die when removed from life support soon. Terrible case.

He girl was lured by someone she met in a Facebook group for new mothers. The woman promised her secondhand kid's clothes. 4 people in custody (woman, female friend, and their boyfriend's). They won't get the fate they deserve in Illinois though.

Not even the first time this sort of thing happened.

[Zarathud]

We only reelected 1/5 of the aldermen.

[LawBeefaroni]

Our courts are a net exporter!

Two people were arrested over the weekend in what the Duluth Police Department said was the largest heroin seizure in the history of the department.

On May 30, investigators executed search warrants at an apartment and a hotel room and recovered approximately 4.3 pounds of heroin, a half-pound of cocaine, a loaded gun and $94,623. The heroin has an estimated street value of $350,000, according to police.

At the time of the arrest, the 36-year-old man was out on bail for a first-degree murder charge in Chicago.

[LawBeefaroni]

Feds making the City Council sweat.

FBI agents executed a search warrant Wednesday morning on the Far South Side ward office of Ald. Carrie Austin (34th).

The search marks the latest step in ongoing, widespread federal investigations of Chicago aldermen.

So far, Ald. Edward M. Burke has been indicted on political corruption charges, and former Ald. Danny Solis has cooperated with the investigation by wearing a wire for the feds and secretly recording conversations. Burke has denied any wrongdoing, and Austin has not been charged with any crimes. Austin, 70, is second in seniority on the City Council after Burke.

[stimpy]

Feds making the City Council sweat.

FBI agents executed a search warrant Wednesday morning on the Far South Side ward office of Ald. Carrie Austin (34th).

The search marks the latest step in ongoing, widespread federal investigations of Chicago aldermen.

So far, Ald. Edward M. Burke has been indicted on political corruption charges, and former Ald. Danny Solis has cooperated with the investigation by wearing a wire for the feds and secretly recording conversations. Burke has denied any wrongdoing, and Austin has not been charged with any crimes. Austin, 70, is second in seniority on the City Council after Burke.

And it's about damn time. Just a shame it took this long and that it took the FBI to realize what voters should have realized a looooooong time ago.

[LawBeefaroni]

Smollett may be back in Chicago...

Sun Times:

By putting her top deputy Joe Magats in charge, without any legal authority to do so, Foxx effectively invalidated every part of Smollett’s prosecution — from bringing charges before the grand jury to the decision to drop all 16 counts against the actor, the judge determined.

“There was no duly elected state’s attorney when Jussie Smollett was arrested. Ms. Foxx had already effected her recusal,” Toomin said, nor was there any legally appointed prosecutor when Smollett was charged, or the charges dismissed.

Toomin expressed concerned about Foxx’s decision to delegate the case to Magats.

“There isn’t an office of ‘acting state’s attorney.’ It existed only ... in the imagination of Ms. Foxx,” Toomin said.

Foxx and her staff later backpedaled to say that Foxx had recused herself in a “colloquial” sense by delegating decision-making the case to her top deputy.

Toomin wrote in his opinion that “discerning members of the public have come to realize that the ‘recusal that really wasn’t’ was purely an exercise in sophistry.”

Foxx is such a damn joke.

NBC News:

Toomin excoriated Foxx for creating "an entity that did not exist."

"There was and is no legally cognizable office of Acting State's Attorney known in our statutes or to common law," Toomin ruled. "Its existence was only in the eye or imagination of its creator, Kim Foxx."

...

Gloria Schmidt, a lawyer for the brothers, said they're willing to answer any questions from a special prosecutor.

"The special prosecutor would have an opportunity to look at the evidence and effectively do this whole case over again — re-charge him, re-arraign him, reconvene the grand jury," Schmidt said. "It's like we're back to square one."

It's almost a case where he should have said "thanks but no thanks" for favors from Foxx and Tchen. Tragi-comic ineptitude of Trumpian proportions.

[LawBeefaroni]

Pride parade roundup. Pretty tame since we got some storms rolling through as the parade was wrapping up and into the usual madness.

9:23AM — “Mr. Evans is being harassed outside the bathhouse. Disputing with staff who won't let him back in." 3246 North Halsted.
...

1:50PM — Winner! The first known arrest of the 50th Annual Chicago Pride Parade is made for battery near Belmont and Broadway. The 20-year-old “winner” also has an arrest warrant out of Lake County.
...
2:17PM — People jumping on vehicles at Belmont and Clark. "Several hundred out here." Also, this happened near Belmont and Sheffield. We don't know what it is, although it looks like an exotic bird mating dance that we saw on NatGeo recently:


2:27PM — A man is taking off his clothes in the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive.

2:31PM — Woman is battered by two 12-year-old boys in the Walgreens parking lot, 3646 North Broadway. The boys get away.

2:57PM — The Walgreens at 3046 North Halsted wants to lock their doors to keep a flood of parade-goers out of their building, but the staff is overwhelmed. Also: The crowd is jumping up and down on the employees’ cars.
...

6:27PM — Ironically, a woman has reportedly fallen through the glass door at the Open Door Youth Center, 3262 North Clark.

....

7:22PM — 1010 Belmont: "Five hundred people outside smokin', drinkin', and botherin' people."

7:27PM — Fire’s rolling for an “incoherent, drunk female with her foot caught in a fence” at 837 West Roscoe.

....

7:40PM — 911 caller says there’s a man under his porch and he can’t tell if the man is crying or having sex.

...

2:31AM — 3641 North Halsted: “The caller called 911 an hour ago about a man who she thought was breaking in. Now he’s passed out on the street, and people have gone through his pockets.”

3:35AM — 52-year-old man reports that he was robbed on the Red Line at Belmont five hours ago.

3:36AM — 100 people blocking the road at Clark and Belmont.

Just some selections but you get the idea.

[hepcat]

Now imagine if it had been a gay St. Patrick's day celebration. I doubt we'd have had survivors.

[Zarathud]

I’ll raise you.

Gay St. Patrick’s Day Sportsball Championship celebrations. For the Three-peat.

[LawBeefaroni]

With free t-shirts to the first 5000 fans, sponsored by BMO Harris.

[Unagi]

But only if they bring a disco record !

[Jeff V]

But only if they bring a disco record !

Best Sox game I ever attended! This year is the 40th anniversary!

Today I had to work downtown and my wife and kids decided to tag along and roam the city all day. At 4:30 pm, this exchange started:

Her: I'm at Water Tower Place.
Me: I'll start walking that way, stay on the same side of the street (my office is Dearborn & Wacker).
I get past Tribune Tower, then get another text:
Her: Where are you? We are by Trump Tower.
Me: Why are you there and how did you get there so fast?
I walk to Trump Tower. No sign of her. See a sign by stairs down to river level that says "Trump Tower Shops". Figure that's where she must be, walk down the stairs. Every single shop is vacant...no sign they were ever even occupied! Come up the stairs on the other side, by the main entrance. Observe a dog making an obvious political statement by laying a big steaming pile right in front of the revolving door. Got another text.
Her: "We're at the park, where are you?" She warped to Millennium Park.
Finally we hook up, my 2 year old saw me first and charged through a rush hour crowd on the sidewalk to get to me. Bought them ice cream and wife decided we should eat dinner at Park Grill. I've eaten there twice before, never very good but hey, it's been years and a totally different menu. Maybe it's ok? Order a Bell's Two Hearted and disappointed in came in a small Dixie cup and not the large 24 oz cups they used to server there. Was even more disappointed with the food. When the kids wouldn't eat the corn on the cob, my son thrust his at me and demanded, "here, you try it!" $75 of disappointment.

I have to work downtown tomorrow too. Wife and kids had enough today, so I can instead travel peacefully on the train.

[Zarathud]

You’re just around the corner and didn’t call?

[ImLawBoy]

I've eaten at the Park Grill a couple of times. Stupidly expensive for mediocre food. It does have a convenient location and it doesn't seem like there's ever a wait, though.

[LawBeefaroni]

The Gage is my go-to when we hit that neighborhood.

Not cheap either but...scotch egg. And lots of other great food.


The kids like some bakery near there, can't remember the name. Like $2.50 macaroons but Guinness was an astonishing $3/can last time I was there!

[hepcat]

I remember a restaurant in the Loop back in the late 90s/early 000s that had a monstrosity called a "Francheesie". It was essentially a hot dog that someone used an industrial injection molding machine to shove a gallon of hot cheese into it. A friend of mine would get one once a week.

...because the other 6 days he had to stay near a defibrillator. My god it was insanely unhealthy.


although not Bennigan's Monte Cristo level unhealthy

[LawBeefaroni]

You get a Francheesie and slap a pizza puff on top for a quick pick me up. That'sa Chicago!

[hepcat]

In the words of a friend who visited about 8 years ago, "Christ, does anything in this town come without fries?".

[Zarathud]

Fries in Chicago.
Deep Fried in Ohio.

[hepcat]

You say that like it's a bad thing.