By Steve Rhodes
With a one-day break in the Jon Burge trial, I direct you to John Conroy’s 2007 story, “The Meter’s Still Running and the Mayor’s Still Mum.”
Subhead: “Since 2003 the city has paid some $7 million in legal fees to fight five police torture lawsuits it probably can’t win. The latest turn in this saga involves a secret settlement agreement designed to protect Daley.”
The Daley Show
“Mayor Daley today convinced Wal-Mart to sweeten the pot – by paying its best Chicago employees $9.50 an hour after one year – to break the stalemate that has stalled the retailer’s $1 billion expansion,” Fran Spielman reports.
Did he really?
“Within a year, if you have good attendance and work habits, they can get you up to $9.50″ an hour, the mayor said.”
But a Walmart spokesman said that most employees get a 40 or 50 cent raise after their first year as is. Walmart’s current proposal would start workers at $8.75 an hour. A 50 cent raise after one year would result in some workers then getting $9.25 an hour. It’s not a stretch to think that a handful of the best workers might get $9.50 an hour without the mayor’s help.
In fact, some will probably get promoted.
In other words, the mayor hasn’t sweetened anything but his own publicity.
Majority Rule
“On a 1-to-1 vote Tuesday night, a motion was declared passed by a township school board president who, as a result, will receive a check for $220,000 for attorney’s fees and damages from his own board,” Phil Kadner writes.
Slacker P.I.
Tonight’s episode: Partners. On Beachwood TV.
At Cubs Fantasy Camp
A Beachwood exclusive.
How To Record Drums
As described by Bob Popp of Chicago’s very own Gunpoint Recording Studios.
Today’s Worst Person in Chicago
Is Cook County Judge William Maddux. To wit:
“Earlier this week, two Chicago law firms were planning to host an all- expenses-paid golf outing at a private country club for the judges in whose courtrooms they regularly practice,” Mark Brown writes.
“Apparently, though, until this invitation made its way to the attention of the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board, which in turn brought it to the attention of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans, who promptly sent the judges a letter reminding them of their ethical responsibilities, many of them were only too happy to take the freebie.
“In fact, Judge William Maddux, who presides over the Law Division and attended the same outing last year, still doesn’t see any problem.
“‘You think one of the judges in my division can be bought for a lousy game of golf? That’s insulting,’ Maddux told me Wednesday.”
Maddux’s anger is misdirected. After all, it’s the lawyers sponsoring the event who seem to think he can be bought off for a lousy game of golf. I wonder what ever gave them that idea.
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Fox Chicago News’s Wednesday night report:
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Easy like Sunday morning.
Posted on June 24, 2010