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A prosecution witness spent about a minute sprawled on the sidewalk Thursday, and the courthouse cafeteria specials -- sandwiches named after Rod and Patti Blagojevich -- sparked a fracas. Just another day at the Blagojevich trial. Prosecution witness Joseph Cari hit the deck outside the Dirksen Federal Building as he tried to navigate his way through reporters and photographers after he testified. Cari landed on his back and then rolled onto his stomach, according to a WGN-Channel 9 video. He was helped up about 40 seconds later. Kenneth Jakubowski, a spokesman for Cari, said, "He was struck by a cameraman...

Abstract: President-elect Barack Obama said attacking global climate change is a "matter of urgency" that will create jobs as he got advice from Al Gore, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the issue. Obama made clear he would adopt an aggressive approach to global warming when he takes over the White House on January 20. He and Vice President-elect Joe Biden met for nearly two hours with Gore at Obama's presidential transition office in Chicago. Obama hopes addressing climate change can create the kind of jobs that will help pull the U.S. economy out of a...

The sentencing of former Democratic National Committee fund-raiser Joseph Cari Jr. has been delayed at the request of prosecutors. It's a sign the feds want to use Cari as a witness -- again. Cari, who has admitted guilt in a corruption case, is a former campaign fund-raiser for Vice President-elect Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Blagojevich. He was supposed to be sentenced months ago, after he testified against Tony Rezko, the former fund-raiser for Blagojevich and President-elect Barack Obama. But that was put off, and no new date has been set. At Rezko's trial, Cari testified that...

DENVER -- No matter what help Barack Obama might get from Sen. Joseph Biden, his newly named vice presidential running mate won't give Obama much cover on the Tony Rezko front. Biden has described himself as a 30-year friend of a key figure in the Rezko trial who's pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge in Chicago and is awaiting sentencing. When the Delaware senator began contemplating his own 2008 presidential run, he initially was helped by Chicago lawyer Joseph Cari Jr., who also served as Biden's Midwest field director in his failed 1988 bid for president.

SACRAMENTO — Soon after taking office in January 2003, state Controller Steve Westly began helping three venture capital firms land multimillion-dollar investments from California's giant pension system, according to public records including e-mails and officials' calendars. Westly, now running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, received campaign donations from individuals associated with each of the funds, campaign finance records show. At any given time, hundreds of fund managers are angling for CalPERS investments. Westly is one of 13 members of the California Public Employees' Retirement System board, and as the state's chief financial officer, one of the most influential. The funds...

SACRAMENTO — State Controller and gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly steered California's giant pension system to invest in a fledgling venture capital fund whose politically connected partners helped him raise campaign cash. Before Westly's involvement, the pension board's outside advisors had rejected the fund as ill-suited for its portfolio. After the investment was made, one of the partners became enmeshed in an unrelated pension-fund scandal in Illinois, pleading guilty to attempted extortion. As New York-based Healthpoint Partners LP lobbied the California Public Employees Retirement System in 2003 and 2004 to invest in their fund, two managing directors, including the one in...

A politically connected businessman has been indicted for a second time on federal fraud charges. Stuart Levine is linked to a scam involving the Illinois Teachers Pension Fund along with one of the Democratic party's biggest fund raisers, Joseph Cari. The message from the feds Wednesday is crystal clear: Chicago City Hall is only one of the fronts in the war on government corruption. It also appears to be rampant at the boards and commissions that oversee billions of dollars in state of Illinois programs. One of the alleged scammers is multi-millionaire businessman Stuart Levine. Another is Joe Cari, one...

Millionaire charged with taking kickbacks from teachers' pension fund By Andy Shaw Stuart Levine August 3, 2005 — A politically connected businessman has been indicted for a second time on federal fraud charges. Stuart Levine is linked to a scam involving the Illinois Teachers Pension Fund along with one of the Democratic party's biggest fund raisers, Joseph Cari. The message from the feds Wednesday is crystal clear: Chicago City Hall is only one of the fronts in the war on government corruption. It also appears to be rampant at the boards and commissions that oversee billions of dollars in state...