By Steve Rhodes

“Three years ago, after learning that numerous police departments were failing to take a basic first investigative step and analyze DNA evidence from reported sex crimes, Illinois became the first state to mandate testing, even in older cases in which rape kits had sat untested for years,” the Tribune reports. “Advocates called the sweeping law ‘landmark.’
“As of last month, the Illinois State Police had completed analysis in all of the 4,000 reported rape cases in which DNA evidence had previously gone untested, a massive undertaking that required federal grants to pay for outsourcing the work and included one case dating back more than three decades.
“Of the 4,000 profiles, 927 were matched in the national DNA database, providing a potential key lead in cases that might be stalled.”

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Posted on December 18, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

The Papers will return on Wednesday. Things might get a bit iffy in these waning days of 2013 as I try to wrap up a bunch of stuff.
In the meantime:
* Remembering Aaron Moore.
Last of the Mississippi-born blues pianists in Chicago.
* The Ironic George Ryan.
Like Nelson Mandela, he spent time in prison.

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Posted on December 17, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Maybe yesterday was the day,” our very own Jim “Coach” Coffman writes.
“Maybe on a cold blustery day in Cleveland Jay Cutler had a breakthrough. Or maybe it happened while he was out with groin and ankle injuries or when he returned to practicing full steam this past week. The main thing was this: The breakthrough had nothing to do with his performance on the field.”
You’ll have to click through to see what he’s talking about.

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Posted on December 16, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“The Cook County probation department has lost track of hundreds of convicts, overlooked new crimes committed by offenders and failed to rein in those who violated curfew or used illegal drugs – some who went on to rape or kill, a Tribune investigation found,” the paper reports.
“At a time when county officials have argued for more people to be redirected from jail cells to programs such as probation, the Tribune has found a dysfunctional department that has fallen short of its mission of instilling responsibility in offenders and creating safer neighborhoods.
“Perhaps no case is more emblematic of the problems in the probation department than that of Micheail Ward, who is accused of killing 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton on Jan. 29, a week after she performed with her high school band during President Barack Obama’s inauguration.”
The rest is behind a paywall, but we get it.

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Posted on December 14, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Removing everything from Chicago’s closed schools will cost $10 million more than the district originally signed on for,” Linda Lutton reports for WBEZ.
“The price tag for moving desks, chairs, books, computers, and everything else out of 43 shuttered school buildings is now $18.9 million, more than double the original $8.9 million contract.”

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Posted on December 13, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Despite a 1990 state law requiring that African-American history be taught in public schools, the subject has been taught sporadically in Chicago, often coming up only during Black History Month or to mark the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday,” the Tribune reports.
“On Wednesday, Chicago Public Schools unveiled a new curriculum guide that will allow teachers to incorporate African and African-American studies into core subjects throughout the year, bringing the district into compliance with the state requirement, officials said.”
The first lesson in the new curriculum should be how the law is applied unevenly when it comes to black people.

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Posted on December 12, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“A Cook County judge on Tuesday threw out the conviction of a South Side man imprisoned for decades for a 1980s rape, concluding that two of disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge’s top lieutenants had tortured him into confessing and then covered up the abuse,” the Tribune reports.
“The two former detectives, John Byrne and Peter Dignan, asserted their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination when called to testify during a hearing Monday, according to lawyers.
“Wrice had alleged that Byrne and Dignan beat him in the basement of the Area 2 police headquarters on the South Side after his arrest in a brutal gang rape. Byrne hit him with a flashlight, while Dignan struck him with a length of rubber hose, Wrice said.”

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Posted on December 11, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“McCown is going to get paid in the off-season,” our very own Jim “Coach” Coffman writes in SportsTuesday: McCown Clowns Cowboys.
“The soon-to-be-former back-up will get a shot at starting somewhere in the NFL. The consensus among the ‘experts’ in Chicago has been that the Bears’ first priority was taking care of Cutler’s contract. The thought has been that he should have the first shot at running this offense in 2014, even if the team had to franchise him and pay him $16 million in the process.
“Surely even the most simple-minded of analysts have to now be thinking that isn’t necessarily the case. Here is another fascinating fact: Did you know that at 33, Tony Romo, who earlier this year signed a whopping $108 million contract extension with the Cowboys, is all of one year younger than McCown? If I am McCown’s agent, I play the tape of the highlights of last night’s win for any and all interested teams when negotiations begin in a few months. On a brutally cold night in Chicago, McCown was considerably better than the $108 million man.”

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Posted on December 10, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Xadrian R. McCraven has a criminal history that includes ‘at least’ 24 arrests on charges including arson, illegal gun possession, attempted robbery, drug possession and aggravated assault, according to federal court records,” the Sun-Times reports.
“He’s also an Illinois state prison official. On the job since July 1, he makes $110,000 a year as an administrator with the Illinois Department of Corrections, according to records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.”
Seems like he should be running for county board.

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Posted on December 9, 2013

By Natasha Julius

Politician lies. Details at 10.
Special Weather Report
Basically, you have a choice: go outside and get hit in the face by extreme cold or stay home and get bit in the ass by your extremist friends.

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Posted on December 7, 2013