Did Rita Crosby imply: Black Vote=Hoodlum Vote?

You be the judge:

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Jewel-Osco recalls certain Pepsi products

Numerous media outlets are reporting today that Jewel-Osco is recalling certain Pepsi products after receiving reports of a chlorine like smell:

Jewel stores pull Pepsi from shelves

February 21, 2006 (CHICAGO) - A chemical smell detected by some customers who bought Pepsi products from a Chicago-area Jewel store is likely an "isolated off-taste issue," a spokesman for Pepsi-Cola North America told the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday. But the company will test the recalled soda to see what caused the odor.

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Car crashes into house on Edens

Car lands in home after Edens crash

February 22, 2006

A crash Tuesday night on the Edens Expy. ended with one car coming to rest inside a nearby home, according to the Illinois State Police and a Chicago Fire Department spokesman.

No one was injured in the 10 p.m. crash just north of the Peterson/Caldwell exit, State Police officials said.

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Man runs over, kills wife after seeing her with her girlfriend

Very interesting story from today's Chicago Sun-Times:

Man allegedly runs over estranged wife

February 21, 2006

BY CHERYL L. REED Staff Reporter

An Elgin man became so enraged when he saw his estranged wife with her female lover that he shattered her car window with a golf club and then ran her over with his SUV, according to the victim's lover and her aunt.

"He said: 'Bitch, I'm going to run you over,'" recalled the girlfriend who was with Frances McCoy, 28, when she was run down in her Hoffman Estates apartment parking lot on Friday afternoon. McCoy, the mother of two children, died Sunday afternoon from her injuries.

"He jumped the curb with his car and ran over her body," said the 27-year-old girlfriend, who wants to be known only as "Chanteuse."

"Then he sped off. He didn't even know if she still had life in her."

After she was hit, McCoy sat up and talked to her girlfriend. Another witness at the apartment complex called police. McCoy was taken to Advocate Lutheran General in Park Ridge, where she died.
-snip-

Click here for entire story.

Sheriff takes matters into his own hands, catches escapee

After multiple escapes from Cook County Jail, sheriff Michael Sheahan has taken matters into his own hands:

Sheriff, under fire for Chicago jail escapes, recaptures latest escapee

CHICAGO (AP) - Prison breaks have become a big issue in the campaign for sheriff in Chicago. And the sheriff himself has helped catch the latest escapee.

Authorities say drug suspect Lawanda Warren walked away from a hospital when the deputy guarding her left to take a phone call. Sheriff Michael Sheahan tracked her down through relatives, who got her to tell him by phone where she was. The sheriff drove over and picked her up.

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It has happened again. . .another Cook County inmate escapes

Jail inmate escapes from hospital

By David Heinzmann
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 17, 2006, 12:10 PM CST

A female Cook County Jail prisoner who had been taken to Loretto Hospital on the city's West Side escaped from the custody of sheriff's personnel today, Chicago police said.

The inmate has not been found, according to police.
-snip-

Click here for story

Pay attention to the firing of Bruce Wolf. . .

In this morning's Chicago Tribune, Teddy Greenstein raises some of the issues that may have led to FOX32's firing of Bruce Wolf.

Teddy Greenstein

No dismissing money as motive for Wolf's dismissal

Published February 16, 2006

Bruce Wolf's picture still appears prominently on the front page of the foxchicago.com Web site. Under a "Fox News in the Morning" banner, he hams it up in a dance pose with anchor Tamron Hall.

But Wolf has had little to celebrate this week after Fox's WFLD-Ch. 32, his home for 18 years, handed him his walking papers.

Station officials have declined to specify their reasons for terminating Wolf, who also declined to comment Wednesday.
-snip-


What is known is that in September the station suspended Wolf for three days after an awkward on-air incident involving "Crazy" Howard McGee, a WCGI-FM 107.5 radio personality.

Wolf, whose whimsical, sometimes daring style has been reined in occasionally by Fox producers, took exception after McGee made a seemingly crude, below-the-waist gesture during a show.

Wolf apparently denigrated the gesture during his sports segment, and that led to an off-camera confrontation with a producer.

While others watched, sources said Wolf cursed at the producer.

Wolf returned to work three days later, but it wouldn't be long before he unnerved his bosses. That came last week while Wolf filmed a bit at the Chicago Auto Show that never aired.

Few have been permitted to view the tape, but part of the off-beat segment called for Wolf to interview a man standing outside the show in front of his own car.

Wolf asked if he could "key" the car, and the man dared him to do so, if not flat-out insisted. But after Wolf followed through, the man "flipped out," a source said.

Another source said Wolf suspected he was being "punk'd," thinking the station had hired the driver of the car to play a practical joke on him.
-snip-

Click here for entire story.

Random thought: US Olympic snowboarders. . .

. . .after watching numerous interviews with them I have come to two conclusions:

1) Don't drug test them.

2) The probably are having the best parties in the Olympic Village.

Sox visit White House, Ozzie stands by decision

The Chicago Tribune reports that Ozzie is standing by his decision to skip the White House ceremony and he takes a shot at Da Mayor in the process.

Guillen: Vacation still right move
By Mark Gonzales
Tribune staff reporter

February 14, 2006

At the same time President Bush praised the 2005 World Series champions at a White House visit Monday, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen stood firm in his decision to skip the trip despite widespread criticism.

Guillen also sounded refreshed in the midst of a long-awaited vacation with wife Ibis in the Dominican Republic as he reflected on his loyalty to his family and players with spring training starting Saturday.

"My players are family, and them and my family are more important than anyone else," Guillen said, noting that he excused several players last season to attend to family matters for as long as they needed. "The players appreciate the way I feel about family.

"A lot of managers push their players toward baseball and not enough toward family. Baseball isn't going to be around forever, but family will be."

Guillen remained amazed by the scrutiny over his decision not to accompany his team to Washington and provided a sharp response to Mayor Richard Daley's disappointment over his decision not to break away from his vacation to go to the White House.

"[Daley] has more problems than I do," Guillen said. "What do I do to these people to deserve this?"
-snip-

Click here for the entire story.

Jail break a political ploy? Guard confesses

Both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times are reporting this morning that this weekends jail break may have been an inside job perpetrated to give political advantage to a candidate for Cook County Sheriff.

Source: Politics behind escape

February 14, 2006

BY FRANK MAIN, STEFANO ESPOSITO AND NATASHA KORECKI Staff Reporters

A Cook County Jail guard has admitted to investigators that he helped six inmates escape over the weekend to give a political advantage to a former jail supervisor running for sheriff, a law enforcement source said Monday.

The 36-year-old guard confessed that he allowed a convicted killer, two accused robbers and two others charged with aggravated kidnapping and battery to bust out of the jail to cast a shadow on Sheriff Michael Sheahan's management of the complex at 26th and California.

The guard knew the negative publicity would hurt Sheahan's chief of staff, Tom Dart, who is running for sheriff, the source said.

And the guard admitted he helped engineer the escape to give a political boost to Richard Remus, a candidate in the Democratic primary election and the former leader of the jail's Special Operations Response Team, the source said. The guard is a member of the SORT unit.
-snip-

Click here for entire story.

David Gregory takes Scotty Boy to the woodshed the Chicago Tribune reports

Its getting ugly at the White House the Chicago Tribune reports on their blog:

The atmosphere can get pretty testy in the White House press briefing room from time to time.

But there were no cameras rolling in the Monday morning "gaggle'' today, the morning after news belatedly broke about Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shooting a hunting companion on Saturday. The broadcast sessions of press encounters with White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan are saved for formal afternoon briefings, with the morning gaggles serving as more informal warm-ups. And David Gregory, the chief White House correspondent for NBC News, was warmed up.

Why was the White House relying on a Texas rancher to get the word of Cheney's hunting accident out over the weekend, asked Gregory, accusing McClellan of "ducking and weaving.''

"“David, hold on… the cameras aren't on right now,'' McClellan replied. "You can do this later.''

"Don't accuse me of trying to pose to the cameras,'' the newsman said, his voice rising somewhat. "Don’t be a jerk to me personally when I’m asking you a serious question.''

"You don't have to yell,'' McClellan said.

"I will yell,'' said Gregory, pointing a finger at McCellan at his dais. "If you want to use that podium to try to take shots at me personally, which I don’t appreciate, then I will raise my voice, because that’s wrong.’’

‘’Calm down, Dave, calm down,'' said McClellan, remaining calm throughout the exchange.

"I'll calm down when I feel like calming down,'' Greogry said. "You answer the question.'
-snip-

Click here to read the Chicago Tribune blog.

BREAKING: "Dead Eye" Dick Cheney shoots 78 year old hunting partner

This just in many news outlets are reporting that Dick Cheney accidently shot his hunting partner this weekend!

Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter
Feb 12 3:58 PM US/Eastern

WASHINGTON

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, his spokeswoman said Sunday.

Harry Whittington, 78, was "alert and doing fine" after Cheney sprayed Whittington with shotgun pellets on Saturday at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, said property owner Katharine Armstrong.

Armstrong said Cheney turned to shoot a bird and accidentally hit Whittington. She said Whittington was taken to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital by ambulance.
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Click here for more.

We could not agree with Mike Downey more. . .

In today's Chicago Tribune Mike Downey goes after Mayor Daley for going after Ozzie for not going to the White House.

Daley caught off base when it comes to invites
Mike Downey
Published February 11, 2006

Downey's Eleven:

1 Richard M. Daley is as wrong as a man could be in knocking White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen for skipping the team's scheduled trip Monday to the White House.

The mayor should be ashamed of saying, "I don't care who you are. Maybe you think you're too important."

What a cheap shot after everything Guillen has done for this city.
-snip-

Click here for the entire column

Daley upset with Guillen, needs life . . .

. . .its kind of ridiculous for Mayor Daley to be upset with Ozzie for choosing a family vacation over a White House visit, doesn't he have bigger issues to worry about? Rumor has it Da Mayor won't participate in any public events on Sundays because that is family day, well isn't Ozzie entitled to a little family time before the start of a long baseball season?

Guillen skipping D.C. trip irks Daley

By Gary Washburn
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 10, 2006

Mayor Richard Daley tried not to criticize the man who guided his beloved White Sox to a World Series championship last season, but he acknowledged Thursday he is "disappointed" manager Ozzie Guillen and some other members of the team won't travel to the White House to be honored next week.

Daley is a Guillen admirer and rode with him in the city-sponsored parade after the Sox won last October.

Guillen a few days later visited City Hall, where he and the mayor posed for countless photographs before the Sox skipper was honored at a City Council meeting.

But Daley clearly was not happy on Thursday with the news that there will be less than 100 percent participation at the White Sox's White House visit.

"I don't know who you are," he said. "Maybe you think you're too important. I think Ozzie is on vacation or something. I mean, that is up to him. But you don't realize how precious that is, and very few Americans have ever been in the White House. To me, that is a privilege for anyone to be."
-snip-

Click here for entire story.

When Daley says "Maybe you think you're too important," it strikes me a tad bid immature, but that is just me.

Mary Mitchell doesn't get it, again. . .

. . .in today's Chicago Sun-Times, columnist Mary Mitchell takes issue with the eulogies at Coretta Scott King's funeral. windycitywatch takes issue with the following statements she makes:

-snip-
After all, when the King family decided to hold Coretta Scott King's funeral at a megachurch in an Atlanta suburb instead of at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church where King had preached, I figured it would end up a show.
-snip-

Mrs. King was a civil rights icon who continued the great legacy of her late husband Dr. Martin Luther King, in many ways she was American royalty as well as a national hero. While it would have been a poignant statement to hold her funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church it would have been a logistical nightmare given the number of people paying their respects as well as the number of speakers who eulogized her. Given Mitchell's logic Pope John Paul II's funeral should have been at his church in Poland and Ronald Reagan's funeral should have been held in his hometown of Dixon, Illinois.

-snip-
At a political gathering, it's fair game to criticize the president.

But it was tacky and disrespectful for anyone to launch into a political attack at a funeral.

President Bush and his wife Laura were sitting directly behind the speaker's podium on big, leather pulpit chairs listening to remarks that were often caustic.

A photographer captured Laura Bush's body language. As the Rev. Joseph Lowery, who worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, launched into his tirade, the first lady squinted, pursed her lips and folded herself into the form of a disapproving mom.

"We know there were no weapons of mass destruction over there," he said. "We know there are weapons of misdirection right down here," Lowery taunted.

Where is our dignity?

Former President Jimmy Carter also got in his jabs, criticizing the Bush administration's slow response to Hurricane Katrina victims.

"We only have to recall the color of the faces of those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi to know that inequality existed," he said.
-snip-

Oh please! According to the New York Times (02/05/06) the president did not originally plan on attending the funeral, with the plan being that the First Lady and his father, former President Bush, would attend in his place, so lets not pretend that this was big priority for W*.
One thing that Mitchell fails to comprehend is that Mrs. King was in the business of civil rights, humand rights and social justice, and the statements made by Reverend Lowery and President Carter were appropriate given her life's work. It should be noted that many of the published obituaries, including the one ran by Vibe (1/31/06) mentioned her opposition to the war in Iraq, so its not a reach for a speaker to raise the issue when eulogizing her.

And so it starts. . .

Michael Sneed breaks the news that beloved White Sox manager will not be with the team when they visit the White House next week. Now one must wonder how did Sneed get a hold of this, did the Sox call her? Methinks the leak may have come from somebody in DC, I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

From today's Sun-Times:

Sox pox . . .

February 9, 2006

BY MICHAEL SNEED SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

Hmmm. White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen is blowing off an invite to the White House on Monday, where his World Series-winning team will be honored by President Bush.

Hmmm. Is this an anti-Bush statement? Is this a snub by native Venezuelan and newly minted U.S. citizen Guillen, who is treated like a king in his home country by President Hugo Chavez, who detests Bush? (The feeling is mutual, by the way.)

*The Sox reply: "No. It's a vacation," said White Sox spokeswoman Katie Kirby.

*Sox Reply II: "Ozzie will be on a family vacation," Kirby added. "He had scheduled the vacation long before the [White House] date was confirmed. We worked for a long time on scheduling it, but we weren't able to secure a date. So he went ahead and booked his vacation. He worked over the holidays and Soxfest, and he just wanted to have a vacation before the season started again."
-snip-

Click here for story.

Take that motherf$*#er, Boom! Boom!

In eulogizing Coretta Scott King today, the Reverend Joseph Lowery laid the smackdown on W*:

"She deplored the terror inflicted by our smart bombs on missions way afar. We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. But Coretta knew, and we knew, that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war, billions more, but no more for the poor."

Damn, that is cold. . .but hey W* if the shoe fits wear it!

Not to be out done former president Jimmy Carter pimp slapped W* as well:

"This commemorative ceremony this morning and this afternoon is not only to acknowledge the great contributions of Coretta and Martin, but to remind us that the struggle for equal rights is not over. We only have to recall the color of the faces of those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, those who were most devastated by Katrina, to know that there are not yet equal opportunities for all Americans."