By Steve Rhodes

Note: Zay N. Smith’s QT column appears on our People, Places & Things page every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but you can now also visit a handy archive where we’re storing all of them for posterity.
Now, on to the news.
1. President Barack Obama flew into Chicago on Thursday to vote early in an effort to encourage others to do the same just in case a huge scandal breaks before now and Election Day and they want to change their mind.
Obama also cast votes for Todd Stroger, Rod Blagojevich, Richard M. Daley and Emil Jones just for old times’ sake.

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Posted on October 26, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“One of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s appointees to the state agency that operates U.S. Cellular Field has suggested the board interview a former top Chicago Public Schools administrator for its long-vacant executive director job,” the Tribune reports.
“Diana Ferguson, who served as chief financial officer at CPS and at Sara Lee Corp., confirmed to the Tribune on Wednesday that she’s a candidate to manage daily operations for the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.”
Well, by Chicago standards she has impeccable credentials. From the Beachwood vault:

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Posted on October 25, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“After she had been viciously beaten by a patron she knew as ‘Tony,’ bartender Karolina Obrycka made it clear to the Chicago police officers responding to her 911 call that she believed her attacker was the ‘police.’ She then wrote down his last name – or how she thought it was spelled – on a scrap of paper and pointed out that security cameras at the Northwest Side bar had likely captured the attack,” the Tribune reports.
“Yet none of that wound up in the officers’ report. On Tuesday, Obrycka’s lawyer grilled Officer Peter Masheimer about the missing details as he testified at a trial stemming from a lawsuit she brought against the city of Chicago and Anthony Abbate, the off-duty cop convicted of attacking her.
“Masheimer testified he did not include the alleged offender’s name or the security camera in the report because it was ‘speculation and assumption,’ because Obrycka got the information secondhand.”
May I remind you, Officer Masheimer, that you’re under oath.
So let me rephrase: Your explanation is that you’re a crappy police officer?

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Posted on October 24, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

It just gets weirder by the day.
“Chicago congressmen Bobby Rush and Danny Davis, fresh off a meeting with Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. at Jackson’s Washington D. C., residence, called on the public and the media to give Jackson the time and breathing space to allow his mental illness to heal,” the Sun-Times reports.
Sure. I say we give him two years and then he can run for Congress again as a challenger to regain the seat he should clearly relinquish. He and his wife and handlers have squandered the benefit of the doubt, and goodwill should be extended to the public, not to his personal political ambition or employment needs.

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Posted on October 23, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

Xerography, Mitt, miracles and moles. In today’s QT: Innovations In Fact-Checking.
Patty Cake
I hope Patrick Fitzgerald’s new job in corporate investigations includes the corporate suite. Start with the banks, Pat.
Robo Jackson
The long strange trip of Jesse Jackson Jr. just got stranger: Here’s a robocall he made to constituents that hardly inspires confidence.
Remember when Sandi Jackson assured us he was ready to hit the campaign trail?

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Posted on October 22, 2012

By Natasha Julius

Due to a labor dispute, we’ve decided to cancel the news for another week or so.
Market Update
It turns out even if something is bigger than one person, one person can still pretty much bankrupt that thing.

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Posted on October 20, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

QT has seen the present, and it does not work.
Plus, Today’s Birthdays and the QT Early Warning System.
From Zay N. Smith to you:
QT: And A Closed Window Is A Draft Deferment.
Cook County Clue
“Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle says today she wants a City Hall insider caught up in an ethics probe to resign from the obscure county board job she gave him last year,” the Tribune reports.
“Preckwinkle still hasn’t said who recommended that she appoint John Bills, a longtime political worker for House Speaker Michael Madigan, to the part-time post at the Cook County Employee Appeals Board, a panel known as a haven for those with political clout. It pays nearly $35,000 annually plus health benefits.”
Our guess: Madigan in a Smoke-Filled Room with a Threat.
*
No, but seriously, The Beachwood has narrowed down the list of suspects.

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Posted on October 19, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“The former city official now at the center of an ethics investigation into the city’s red-light camera program was appointed last year by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to a part-time job on an obscure board known as a haven for those with political clout,” the Tribune reports.
Ha! The only thing that could make it more perfect would be a Michael Madigan connection.
“John Bills, who retired from the city last summer after a 32-year career, is a longtime campaign worker for House Speaker Michael Madigan, the state Democratic Party chairman.”
There’s never an egg-timer around when you need one.

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Posted on October 18, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

We’re still having issues with QT, none of which are the fault of legendary Chicago journalist Zay N. Smith.
Nonetheless, he soldiers on in service of the people.
Today’s column here.
Red Flexics
“Accusing Chicago’s red-light camera vendor of covering up a 2-year-old breach of ethics until a Tribune investigation brought it to light, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office on Tuesday threw out the company’s bid for a lucrative new speed camera contract,” the paper reports.
And take your cameras with you!
“The city also raised serious doubts about the future of Redflex Traffic Systems Inc.’s role as the longtime operator of Chicago’s red-light camera program that since 2003 has generated some $300 million in fines for the city and $97 million in revenue for the publicly traded company, according to city records.”

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Posted on October 17, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“When City Council budget hearings start today, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s finance officials are sure to point out that his spending plan for next year would balance the books without an increase in taxes, fees and fines,” the Tribune reports.
“But that doesn’t mean city government won’t be taking a bigger bite from the pocketbooks of residents, property owners and visitors – taxpayers will be paying more thanks to new or higher fees and fines set in motion some time ago.”
In other words, to quote the Tribune headline, Emanuel’s no-hike budget plan isn’t quite so.

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Posted on October 16, 2012