No reports, but Cook County keeps paying clout firm
Sun-Times and NBC5 investigation: A consulting firm headed by former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr.s stepson John Sterling has been paid more than $787,000 under a Cook County contract funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, despite failing to provide required weekly reports for 21 months. Thats the key finding of a Chicago Sun-Times and NBC5 News investigation of the contract for the troubled Project Shield program.
Sun-Times and NBC5 investigation: A consulting firm headed by former Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr.s stepson John Sterling has been paid more than $787,000 under a Cook County contract funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, despite failing to provide required weekly reports for 21 months. Thats the key finding of a Chicago Sun-Times and NBC5 News investigation of the contract for the troubled Project Shield program.
What was Michael Scott's last big deal?
The Watchdogs: Even as he served on the city's Olympic planning committee, Michael W. Scott, the late Chicago School Board president, was also involved in a multibillion-dollar lakefront development project near the proposed Olympic village, records and interviews show.
The Watchdogs: Even as he served on the city's Olympic planning committee, Michael W. Scott, the late Chicago School Board president, was also involved in a multibillion-dollar lakefront development project near the proposed Olympic village, records and interviews show.
Mayor's nephew: I'm out of city pension deals
The Watchdogs: Mayor Daley's nephew Robert Vanecko says he no longer has a financial stake in a real estate investment firm he co-founded that got deals to manage $68 million for five city pension funds. Vanecko had promised to leave the firm after it was hit with a subpoena from a federal grand jury that sources say continues to examine how Vanecko and Daley politcal ally Allison S. Davis got the city business.
The Watchdogs: Mayor Daley's nephew Robert Vanecko says he no longer has a financial stake in a real estate investment firm he co-founded that got deals to manage $68 million for five city pension funds. Vanecko had promised to leave the firm after it was hit with a subpoena from a federal grand jury that sources say continues to examine how Vanecko and Daley politcal ally Allison S. Davis got the city business.
City reacts to South Loop parking confusion
The company that collects city parking meter fees on Monday put up new signs in a confusing South Loop parking zone where cars have been getting tickets for meter violations but a city traffic-control aide had been parking for free.
Why didn't worker pay to park while writing tickets?
The Watchdogs: The city's hunt to fill its cash-starved coffers has come to this: Some traffic-control aides -- those city employees in the fluorescent coats who help cars and pedestrians move through busy intersections -- are now writing parking tickets full time. Given the furor over Mayor Daley's meter-privatization deal, it isn't a job where you make a lot of friends. And, in the case of one traffic-control worker, that has made her the subject of an investigation into whether she has been parking her personal car illegally as she tickets drivers in the South Loop.
The Watchdogs: The city's hunt to fill its cash-starved coffers has come to this: Some traffic-control aides -- those city employees in the fluorescent coats who help cars and pedestrians move through busy intersections -- are now writing parking tickets full time. Given the furor over Mayor Daley's meter-privatization deal, it isn't a job where you make a lot of friends. And, in the case of one traffic-control worker, that has made her the subject of an investigation into whether she has been parking her personal car illegally as she tickets drivers in the South Loop.
Jim Ryan backers got rich pension deals
The Watchdogs: Republican gubernatorial hopeful Jim Ryan, already dogged by questions about his ties to convicted money-launderer Stuart Levine, could have another Levine-related problem.
The Watchdogs: Republican gubernatorial hopeful Jim Ryan, already dogged by questions about his ties to convicted money-launderer Stuart Levine, could have another Levine-related problem.
Blagojevich hires holding on
Gov. Quinn took office nearly 10 months ago saying he'd "fumigate state government" in the wake of his predecessor, Rod Blagojevich, being booted from office.
Inside one questionable clout hire
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration wanted Louis Bertucci hired. So the clout-heavy Bertucci got hired.
