Free Republic

A dozen years ago, five financially strapped city of Chicago pension funds invested $68 million in a shaky real estate deal put together by a former boss of President Barack Obama and a nephew of Mayor Richard M. Daley. It was a high-risk investment. Allison S. Davis — a longtime Daley ally who once headed a small Chicago law firm that gave Obama his first job out of Harvard Law School — and Daley nephew Robert G. Vanecko even warned in the prospectus that the pension funds could lose their entire investments. But, with Daley in office and three top...

At the same time, Emanuel acquiesced in Obama administration oversight of the city’s police department. And police officers’ retreat from proactive policing has led to enormous increases in shootings and homicides. I happened to be in Chicago in the early weeks of December 2008 and saw the celebratory air of a city festooned with posters hailing the new president — the first president Chicago ever produced. But after leaving office in January 2017, Obama has not moved back to Chicago and recently only visited briefly. Hope and change is not in the air. Chicago is one of the great creations...

LGBT flag once hung over sanctuary of gay parish, displayed at Cdl. Bernardin's MassParishioners of Resurrection Parish in Chicago, Illinois, held a rainbow flag-burning event last week, cutting up and setting on fire an LGBT flag that once hung in the sanctuary at the parish's first Mass. The event was originally scheduled for Sept. 29, the Feast of St. Michael and the Archangels, but the Chicago archdiocese — heeding complaints by gay activists — called the pastor, Fr. Paul John Kalchik, and ordered him not to hold the event. A handful of parishioners took things into their own hands and...

Vanecko and Davis. Their firm made millions in fees even as retirement plans for teachers, cops, other Chicago city workers suffered big losses. A dozen years ago, five financially strapped city of Chicago pension funds invested $68 million in a shaky real estate deal put together by a former boss of resident Barack Obama and a nephew of Mayor Richard M. Daley. It was a high-risk investment. Allison S. Davis — who once headed a small Chicago law firm that gave Obama his first job out of Harvard Law School — and Daley nephew Robert G. Vanecko even warned in...

With $40 million in new investments announced Thursday, Chicago-based e-commerce logistics company ShipBob is eyeing an expansion — starting with a new fulfillment warehouse and a push to hire 100 people in the next year. The startup aims to help small to midsize e-commerce companies ship their products at speeds similar to Amazon. Shipping logistics tends to be the hardest part of launching an e-commerce brand, said Dhruv Saxena, ShipBob’s co-founder and CEO. “The expectation from a customer standpoint is that they will get all of their e-commerce orders delivered to them like Amazon Prime: same-day, next-day,” he said. “These...

There are various exit strategies for a Chicago mayor. [G]et out before getting beat and not run for re-election. The most painful and humiliating is to run and get defeated. A mayor has to be egregiously inept to lose. And then there is the great beyond, dying in office. Smart mayors get out before they're voted out. Emanuel is a smart mayor. Make no mistake about this: With close to $9 million on-hand, Emanuel would have run in 2019 if he thought he would have won. His advisors concluded that he would not win, so he bailed, spewing forth the...

**SNIP** What keeps the city afloat, and allows it to maintain a robust jobs-based economy, is the ability to borrow money and deliver services. Only cities that manage their finances responsibly can hope to woo the bond market, and that’s what Emanuel has done. In municipal bond circles, he’s seen as a trusted partner whose departure is unsettling. “I’ve been pretty impressed with the mayor,” Howard Cure of Evercore Wealth Management told The Bond Buyer, an industry publication. “He inherited a very structurally weak budget and I think he’s made a lot of improvements and is striving to achieve structural...

At the woman’s feet, detectives found a curled strand of telephone wire. Draped over her right hand was a different kind of wire: thin and brown. The same brown wire was wrapped around each armrest of a wooden chair next to her. The following day, July 24, a pathologist in the Cook County medical examiner’s office noticed something else that had been obscured by rotting skin: a thin gag tied around the corpse’s mouth. Thanks to some still-visible tattoos, detectives soon identified this unfortunate woman: Tiara Groves, a 20-year-old from Austin. She was last seen walking alone in the wee...

Chicago’s rampant crime rate left Rahm Emanuel with little choice but to withdraw from the city’s mayoral race. One recent poll showed that only 31% would vote for his re-election, and 62% wanted to vote for someone else.

I believe that we should end abortion on demand, and at every opportunity I have translated this belief into votes in the House of Representatives. I am opposed to the use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions, and will continue to support amendments to prohibit the funding of elective abortions for federal employees and Medicaid recipients. Also, notwithstanding the result in Webster, I continue to believe that the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade should be reversed. Richard J. Durbin Member of Congress

Rahm Emanuel ducked out of City Hall alone on Tuesday, his usual security detail walking slightly ahead of him. Across the street at Daley Plaza, 150 activists had gathered to celebrate his vanquishing at an event called "Celebrate the End of Rahm Emanuel’s Reign of Terror". . . The calm, matter-of-fact way that Rahm's rule is coming to an ending is shocking—particularly so if you compare it to the mood of eight years ago. In 2010, Obama's former chief of staff returned to Chicago from the White House poised as a conquering hero ready to assume his rightful place on...

CHICAGO (AP) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions told an event for Chicago police that heeding the advice of those he dubbed "radicals" when it comes to police policy results in higher rates of violent crime. The Chicago Tribune reports Sessions addressed an annual Chicago Police Memorial Foundation vigil held at Soldier Field late Wednesday. It honors police who died on duty. Sessions said law enforcement should set policy on crime-fighting. He said "the last thing" anyone should do is, in his words, "follow the protestations of anti-police radicals and those who have never walked a beat."

The Democratic makeover is in full swing. **SNIP** Those tensions could come to a head if Pelosi struggles to be elected speaker. Even if she wins, it could be difficult for her to preside over a more liberal caucus. James, of the Collective PAC, said that's exactly the idea. "The status quo to me doesn't mean getting rid of people who have been in office a long time," she said. "It means you can't have the same mentality, you can't have the same goals. You can't have the same playbook. You've got to switch it up."

Chicago’s rampant crime rate left Rahm Emanuel with little choice but to withdraw from the city’s mayoral race. One recent poll showed that only 31% would vote for his re-election, and 62% wanted to vote for someone else.Last year, Chicago had 650 homicides. The number was down from 2016, but still almost 90 more than New York and Los Angeles combined. Unfortunately, the true number is even worse, because Chicago has been intentionally misclassifying murders as non-murders.  It is easy for Chicago politicians to point fingers and deny responsibility. Insufficient gun control, even in Illinois where it costs $450 to...

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Tuesday announcement that he won’t seek a third term throws a big unknown into the city’s efforts to score Amazon’s second headquarters, which would be the crowning achievement in a line of corporate wins under his leadership. The city is one of 20 locations in the running for what Amazon has dubbed HQ2, which will bring up to 50,000 high-paying new jobs to the chosen North American location. Amazon has said it will pick a location by year’s end. Emanuel has been hands-on in trying to woo Amazon to Chicago, touting the city’s growing tech sector,...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel drops a political bombshell on Chicago, announcing he won’t run for re-election, and just like that the race for mayor has been transformed: It’s Lord of the Flies on LaSalle Street. Bill Daley, son of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley and brother of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, is rumored to be getting in. And Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, protege of Boss Madigan, might also jump. Now, the one announced candidate who benefits from Emanuel’s decision to pull the plug is former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas. He’s no friend of the Rahmulans. And they...

Violence erupted over the Labor Day weekend in Chicago with shootings killing at least six people and wounding 23 others. In all, more than 1,000 people have been shot since Memorial Day, the Chicago Tribune reported, and while total shootings are down slightly from the same period in 2017, many Chicagoans have said the deadly gun violence remains a major problem that the city desperately needs to fix.

It looks like Judge Bruce will not be hearing any more cases in the near future. Back in October of 2013 Judge Bruce was appointed by Barack Obama to the federal court. Judge Bruce was set to hear two of the most extreme profile cases in the region. Before he was in the federal court, he was an assistant US Attorney in the Central District. As an Obama-Appointed federal judge, he has finally been removed from his position. Recently, the judge admitted to being involved with illegal activity with the cases he had been hearing in the past. It was...

MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) — Two Chicago-area priests were charged Monday with Lewd and Lascivious behavior and Indecent Exposure after being caught performing a sexual act inside a car parked on a Miami Beach street. According to Miami Beach Police, 39-year-old Diego Berrio and 30-year-old Edwin Giraldo Cortez were in the front seat of a car performing oral sex. Police got a 911 call about a lewd and lascivious incident taking place in the 1300 block of Ocean Drive. When officers arrived, the police report states, the two were performing sex acts on each other “in full view of the public...

Legendary Chicago White Sox broadcaster Ken “Hawk” Harrelson took a shot at LeBron James on Sunday while he was calling a game. Harrelson apparently had a problem with James talking about politics and social injustice. “Well, I used to watch LeBron but no more,” Harrelson said during the NBC Sports Chicago broadcast. “I wish these guys would keep their nose out of politics and just play because people didn’t come to hear their opinions on politicians.”