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The [Wednesday] PapersNews broke this morning that the feds have indicted Ald. Willie Cochran (20th). Score another one for the Beachwood Bookmaking Bureau. Jason Ervin, you're up next! * Cochran's last appearance in the Beachwood was on October 25: * That was six days after the Tribune reported that he was under investigation: South Side Ald. Willie Cochran faces a federal criminal investigation into whether he improperly used campaign funds for personal expenses, say sources with knowledge of the probe. Alleged motive: Court records hint at recent financial troubles for Cochran - he has been the target of three foreclosure lawsuits over his personal home and laundry businesses he held a financial stake in. Look, if you get into financial trouble and you're an elected official, your campaign fund is going to start looking attractive as a solution, at least for the short term. But what kind of lifestyle was he leading? Cochran is paid $116,208 a year as alderman and also collects $60,280 annually from his police pension, records show. While many aldermen have rejected annual raises in recent years because of the city's financial struggles, Cochran has accepted all the raises. I'm not convicting Cochran before we see more, I'm just sayin'. Also, Chicago: Cochran, a former police officer, was elected in 2007 after his predecessor, Ald. Arenda Troutman, was arrested by the FBI on bribery charges alleging she solicited donations from developers seeking to do business in the ward. Look, Cochran isn't the sharpest tool in Rahm's shed. From the Beachwood, Nov. 13, 2008: "Elephants have a tendency to sleep four hours, then they wake up," Ald. Willie Cochran said Wednesday, arguing against an elephant cruelty ordinance. "Professional trainers need that chain on those elephants at nighttime to keep them from disturbing other elephants. That way, all the elephants will get the appropriate amount of rest and they'll be able to train and perform properly. "[Kenneth Austin is] just one of the relatives whom aldermen paid through their annual expense allowance of $73,280, according to a Tribune review of the 2009 accounts. Others are Angela Moore, the daughter of Ald. Willie Cochran, 20th, and Dorothy Burnett, the mother of Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th . . . "Ald. Willie Cochran, whose 20th Ward encompasses the Woodlawn TIF district, declined to talk to the Reporter." * Then, In the wake of the Laquan McDonald video release, when Emanuel was at the height of his toxicity: * Cochran did face moderate challenges in his last two races. Cochran, who is considered an ally of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, won a third term in office last year, surviving a tough runoff election against challenger Kevin Bailey. More interesting was the race in 2011 when Rhymefest challenged Cochran, pitting the incumbent, a former cop, against someone who really understood the streets. To no avail; Cochran, backed by Emanuel, prevailed. But even the Tribune wasn't impressed, casting its vote for the little-known third candidate in the primary . . . 20th Ward: We'd love to see Cook County Commissioner Jerry "Iceman" Butler get together with aldermanic candidate Che "Rhymefest" Smith and find out what kind of cross-generational music they'd come up with. As for the 20th Ward, Rhymefest isn't our candidate. He makes a believable argument that he has changed since he racked up convictions in 2001 for domestic violence and in 2005 for firing a gun. He's engaging, but we're not sure he would be an effective alderman. Ald. Willie Cochran, an ex-cop with a no-nonsense approach, has had some success in his first term. But why not aim higher? George Davis is an attorney who has an MBA and who has worked closely with The Woodlawn Organization. He knows the neighborhoods at a block level and has closely studied the city's complex financial challenges. He has a solid track record and sound ideas. Davis earns the endorsement. . . . before turning to Cochran in the general. It's tempting to go with the candidate who has won a Grammy Award. But the charming Che "Rhymefest" Smith just hasn't convinced us he would focus on the real job of being an alderman. We endorsed George Davis in the first round because we saw a very dynamic candidate, but that was a close call with Ald. Willie Cochran, a former police officer. Cochran has laid the groundwork in his first term for development of his struggling community, and he is endorsed. In 2015, the Trib endorsed Cochran from the get-go, calling for a more holistic approach to crime in his ward even as Cochran was proposing more of the same: more cops, more cameras, longer prison sentences. Some of the city's most startling murders in recent years have occurred in and around this ward. A 6-month-old baby was shot and killed while sitting on her father's lap in a parked car. Gunmen opened fire on a basketball game in a Back of the Yards park, hitting a 3-year-old boy in the face. He survived. Ald. Willie Cochran is vying for a third term. A retired police sergeant, he brings a well-rounded perspective to battling street violence. Only through a holistic approach of better schools, a stronger jobs climate and stable families will Chicago's most gang-infested neighborhoods get safer. Cochran has called for more police officers, installed more police cameras in the ward and supported tougher penalties for gang members caught with guns. He is endorsed over Kevin Bailey, a civil engineer, and pastor Andre Smith. Two others are on the ballot. Cochran found himself in a runoff against Bailey, but it wasn't really as close as the Trib recalls - he notched 48% of the vote to Bailey's 20%. In the runoff, Cochran won with 4,079 votes to Bailey's 3,267 votes. * The Sun-Times supported Bailey: Five candidates are running in this ward covering Woodlawn, Washington Park, Englewood, Greater Grand Crossing, New City and Back of the Yards, though just three appear to be actively campaigning. * The best of Cochran Twitter:
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- A Rob Sherman Remembrance HuffPo, BuzzFeed And Vice Lead On Climate Change Coverage How Obama Laid The Groundwork For Trump's Coming Crackdown On The Press - Aleppo Slaughter Recorded In Real Time On Twitter - By Its Own Victims. * Complete Meltdown Of Humanity. *
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- The Beachwood Tronc Line: Faithless. Posted on December 14, 2016 |
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