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The hearing officer in Rahm Emanuel’s residency case has tossed out a friend-of-the-court brief filed by 47 well-known attorneys who argued that Emanuel should be allowed to run for mayor. The attorneys raised no new arguments that Emanuel’s attorneys had not already made, and four of the attorneys work at the law firm, which is representing Emanuel in the case, hearing officer Joe Morris wrote. Morris’ ruling on the friend-of-the-court brief does not necessarily signal his decision on Emanuel’s right to run for mayor, when he presents his findings to the Chicago Board of Elections. “The hearing officer has examined...

On Monday, Emanuel made his first public comment about the case since last week, when he endured nearly 12 hours of questioning, some of it by nearly two dozen citizen objectors, without losing his legendary temper. The former White House chief of staff said he is confident he will survive the challenge because of what he called the “compelling points” that he and his attorneys made last week. Attorney Burt Odelson has argued that Emanuel should be knocked off the ballot because he rented out his Ravenswood home and, therefore, does not fulfill the requirement that candidates for mayor have...

What 100 boxes of personal items? Rahm Emanuel’s tenant, Lori Halpin, testified that she has never seen any of the 100 boxes of personal items Emanuel says he left in the basement. Halpin has not found any hidden room where such boxes might be stored. There is plywood behind some shelves against an outside wall that would lead to an area under a porch. But she would not think people would store valuables there, she said. Emanuel testified that he kept 100 boxes of valuable personal items in the home he rented out a year and a half ago. A...

During an 11-hour marathon session Tuesday, Emanuel testified his family has 100 boxes of their most prized possessions in the basement of the Hermitage Avenue home. He cited that as evidence he maintained his Chicago residence and planned to move back after serving President Barack Obama. Emanuel said his wife's wedding dress is there in a locked storage area along with family china and a coat that belonged to his grandfather. But Halpin testified today that Emanuel and his wife, had left only a few items including a piano and their bed. She said she has never seen boxes belonging...

Emanuel's tax forms are at issue in the hearing into whether he qualifies to run for Chicago mayor under residency rules, and attorney Burt Odelson pressed him on the question as he neared the end of 90-minutes of questioning this morning. The former White House chief of staff filed a correction with Cook County in November to get a homeowners exemption on property taxes at his house. "It was prepared by my accountant. I signed it and gave it a cursory review," Emanuel said of the tax return. "We made a correction, having found a mistake." Odelson ended his questioning...

The hundreds of pages of records Rahm Emanuel's attorneys filed ahead of Monday's hearing on his bid to stay on the Chicago mayoral ballot complicate questions about the former White House chief of staff's residency. Emanuel amended his most recent tax returns late last month as those opposed to his candidacy talked about the arguments they would make in trying to knock him off. In his original 2009 Illinois tax return, Emanuel checked the box "part-year resident" and noted he lived in Chicago through June 30, 2009. The amended return is dated Nov. 24 of this year, the same day...

When Rahm Emanuel originally filed his 2009 Illinois tax return, he indicated he was only a “part-year resident’’ of the state that year, since he had moved to Washington D.C. to serve as President Obama’s chief of staff. But after he decided to return to Chicago to run for mayor this fall — and after several people challenged whether he was eligible to run based on the fact that he hadn’t lived in the city for a full-year prior to the Feb. 2 election — he filed an amended return.

“We object strenuously” to having to bring in Rule to testify, said Emanuel’s attorney Mike Kasper. “She is the mother of three young children and it’s no secret they attend school in Washington, D.C.” Objector Denise Gilbert stood up and asked, “Has Mr. Emanuel’s wife ever heard of a baby-sitter or a nanny?” Taping “Connected to Chicago,” to be broadcast at 2 p.m. Sunday on WLS-AM (890), Emanuel called summoning his wife dirty pool. “I’ll answer the questions. I’m the one running for mayor. My wife has a responsibility, obviously, because we want the kids to finish school [in Washington...

Rahm Emanuel is known for playing political hardball, winning a seat in Congress and dealing with the pressures of being White House chief of staff, but even he could have his hands full next week when he's expected to face hours of questioning at a hearing on whether he's eligible to run for Chicago mayor. On Friday, an elections hearing officer called a lengthy inquisition "inevitable" because Emanuel will be queried by his own lawyers in addition to as many as 25 objectors or their attorneys. Emanuel is expected to be the first witness at the residency hearing, now set...

One thing Rahm couldn't do before was to convince people that he was some kind of delicate little flower being victimized by those rough Chicago politicians. He's always been the tough political guy, the guy who gets in the policy wonk's face and tells him to put a cork in it before the policy wonk has a chance to screw up a campaign. Rahm's the guy who sends the fish, the guy who never lets a good crisis go to waste. Clearly, he hasn't let this one go to waste, either. Our delicate little rose. How will this gentle soul...

One wonders why the penny wise and pound foolish Rahm did not simply maintain a pied-a-terre inside of the city for the past year and half? He could have easily afforded to do so. Emanuel has had a history of sticking his foot in it when it comes to housing matters. While in Congress, the thrifty Emanuel lived in a basement apartment in the home of Connecticut Democratic representative Rosa DeLauro. The problem was it was an illegal basement apartment in a single family home that violated District of Columbia zoning laws. When the story was publicized, Emanuel was ridiculed...

Our country has become a country of Americans and other people who just live here. It pains me because I believe that this will change our nation from greatness to mediocrity. I saw the flag wave as I stood at attention during the playing of our national anthem. It was simply sublime. I could see the tears well up in the eyes of my brother, a twenty-year Army veteran. I could feel the tears in my own eyes. The song pulled at the heartstrings of every member of our family. But not everyone in the crowd felt that way. Not...

Tighter attendance rules for American Canyon schools By KERANA TODOROV, Register Staff Writer | Posted: Saturday, June 19, 2010 12:00 am Starting this fall, public school parents in American Canyon will have to show proof that they live in American Canyon, not only when they register their children, but every year after too. The Napa Valley Unified School District is imposing a strict residency test to keep interlopers, including those from Vallejo and Fairfield, from squeezing out American Canyon youngsters from local schools. Under district policies, only American Canyon children can attend the city’s three elementary schools, middle school and...

Currently, some federal legislators are considering legislation to update our approach to citizenship which, based on the 14th amendment, provides citizenship to any person born on U.S. soil regardless of how they got here. Effectively, citizenship is given to children born here during parents’ vacation, as a result of their illegal entry, and everything in between. The portion of the 14th amendment concerned here states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Not surprisingly, the language was created in...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth. The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, New Jersey, to intervene in the presidential election. Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth -- his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject -- he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the...

The campaign of Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, who’s been under fire for registering to vote at a barn with an apartment rather than at his homesteaded primary residence, called Republican challenger Tom Rooney a hypocrite today upon learning that Rooney was registered to vote for five years at the Palm Beach Kennel Club dog track. While Rooney was in law school and then in the Army in Texas and at West Point from 1998 to 2003, the address on his voter registration was the Kennel Club, which is owned by the Rooney family. “He used his father’s office address...

Rep. Robert Wexler is getting desperate. After several media outlets discovered the Democratic congressman from Florida uses his in-laws' house in a Florida retirement community to meet residency requirements, he has sent out an e-mail (entire text here) asking for campaign donations - alleging it's his "strong and vocal stands in favor of impeaching President Bush and Vice President Cheney" that has made him a target of "ultra-conservative" media. "In the eyes of the right wing, I am seen, along with Rep. Kucinich, as one of the symbols of the impeachment fight. They believe that if they defeat me -...

I've looked at the State of Georgia website and can't find this info. I know FReepers can help me. :^) I need to know how a person establishes residency in Georgia. Let me tell you my story. I'm trying to verify this for a relative of mine. This relative lives less than a mile from Georgia but has always been a resident of Tennesee (drivers license, mortgage, property taxes, etc). However they have a post office box just on the other side of the state line in Georgia. They've been told that because the post office box is located in...

........Israel was charitable toward the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza because the quality of their lives rose during the years of occupation.

Ophelia Ford won a razor-thin 20-vote victory in the Democratic primary for state Senate District 29 Thursday, while Terry Roland crushed his opponent in the Republican primary. Ford's win puts her a step closer to winning the state Senate seat her brother John Ford held for 31 years. He resigned following his indictment on federal bribery charges in May. Ophelia Ford will face Roland in the general election Sept. 15. "This is a joyous night," said Ford, 55, surrounded by family and friends at her campaign headquarters in the Southgate Shopping Center. "I want to say to all my opponents,...