Morning Shorts
Friday, Mar 20, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray
* Jurors Deliberate in Sanchez Trial
* Chicago pension probe: City inspector targets ties to Mayor Richard Daley
City Hall’s inspector general has begun investigating how at least three city pension funds came to make investments with a firm co-owned by a nephew of Mayor Richard Daley, the Tribune has learned.
The office of Inspector General David Hoffman has subpoenaed records from the pension funds dealing with their investments of tens of millions of dollars in DV Urban Realty Partners, a real estate investment firm formed by a top Daley ally, Allison Davis, and Daley nephew Robert Vanecko. […]
The inspector general’s office also subpoenaed information that the pension funds’ trustees reviewed before investing with DV Urban Realty, suggesting investigators are trying to learn how the decisions were made and whether they were influenced by Vanecko’s relationship with the mayor, the source said.
* State court: Pardon doesn’t mean clean slate
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that gubernatorial pardons based on convicts’ innocence do not automatically clear their criminal record — a decision some attorneys said would cause their clients undue anguish.
The ruling involves pardons that declared two men, Stanley Howard and Dana Holland, innocent of violent crimes and could have been the first step to officially wiping away their convictions. But when the men took steps to expunge their records, judges said no.
“When we have a declaration of innocence, we should be trying to make it easy for that person to clear their record, not harder,” said Daniel, of Northwestern University School of Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions.
* ‘Marijuana club’ operator pleads not guilty
* Chicago may have priciest art museum
* Legal opinion: No tax obligation for Daley’s jet trips
* O’Hare gets $12 million in stimulus cash
* Durbin: 3 smaller Ill. airports to get nearly $10 million in stimulus money
* Aldermen criticize repaving around potential Olympic site
Mayor Daley’s plan to outline spending for Chicago’s $1 billion cut of the federal stimulus pie without consulting aldermen came under fire today — and so did the surprise decision to re-pave the streets surrounding Washington Park, site of a temporary Olympic stadium.
* Olympic dispute: Ald. Sandi Jackson says focus on pothole-plagued roads first, not Olympic sites
* Aldermen upset about no input on stimulus spending
* Trying to look good for IOC makes sense
* Chicago parking meters: Changes leave drivers angry, confused
* Weatherization money from stimulus to help Southland homeowners
* Sherman, Chatham projects in running for stimulus funds
* St. Louis-Chicago High Speed Rail and Future Gen Could Receive Funding from Federal Stimulus Act
High-Speed Rail & Future Gen
* Sales of Cat’s heavy equipment fall 27%
* Auto bailout may help Illinois-based suppliers
* Exelon CEO Rowe got ‘08 pay package of $12.2M
* White House launches Web site to help homeowners with mortgage payments, refinancing
* Sun-Times newsstand price to rise a quarter
* Cook County to require thumbprints from home sellers
The law is intended to deter housing fraud, which often involves forging a property owner’s signature on a deed and selling the property illegally. Sellers also must provide valid photo identification. The thumbprints will not be public records.
* Lisa Madigan heads to Washington
The specific topic: State enforcement of consumer protection laws and the home foreclosure crisis.
- wordslinger - Friday, Mar 20, 09 @ 9:41 am:
The Daleys must be running out of trustworthy buffers if they have to keep pushing the nephews out in plain sight on these scams.
This is a great story with a lot of follow-up to come, I hope, from the press, inspector general and feds.
Let’s see, how did the past Davis and Rezko low-income housing projects go? A lot of government money allegedly invested to rehab low-income housing, yet the buildings turn out to be rat-traps, no heat in the winter, boarded up and foreclosed. Where did that government money go again? With that track record, seems like a real good investment for city pension funds.
This Hoffman guy is great. He was hired to chase city workers drinking beer at lunch or playing golf on city time, and he goes after the pension funds. He must be really popular at the 5th Floor Christmas Party.
- Captain America - Friday, Mar 20, 09 @ 12:21 pm:
I’d be shocked if jurors don’t convict Sanchez, who was running Streets and Sanitation exactly the way Mayor Daley wanted, without direct Mayoral involvemnt in the incriminating details.
- Captain America - Friday, Mar 20, 09 @ 12:28 pm:
Controlling and manipulating pension fund investments, ans steering tehm to favored inside investors has always been a primary Mayoral objective. I guess the key issue is are the returns fair/commensurate with the risk,and is the risk manageable rather than who gets to invest the funds for investment purposes.
- Niles Township - Friday, Mar 20, 09 @ 3:58 pm:
Glen Beck apparently has a spot on his show today about the fingerprint requirement. He is appalled. He has a post on it today:
http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/03/20/glenn_beck_government/
My favorite line, “The First, Third, Fourth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments to our Constitution all include specific provisions pertaining to your right to privacy.” Gotta love a Conservative making that mistake. The right to privacy is not referencd in any “specific” manner in the Constitution. Of course, the Supreme Court accurately read it in as a penumbra. But you gotta love Beck, the know-it-all getting it wrong. Can’t wait to see how attacks the figerprint requirement on-air.