Free Republic

Like father like son. Chicago Alderman Isaac “Ike” Carothers has pleaded guilty to corruption and faces 28 months in jail. His father, former Alderman William Carothers, was convicted of attempted extortion in 1983. Here’s how Chicago’s WGN TV News announced the 31st Chicago City Council Alderman since 1973 – but, hey, who’s counting – to be convicted of crimes that include paying a bribe, taking a bribe, extortion, attempted extortion, tax fraud, tax evasion, racketeering, and ghost-payrolling schemes. Ike was formally charged with fraud and bribery last May by U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the legal beagle who has former...

Let's give Mayor Richard Daley a big, gushy get-well wish, so he recovers quickly from the flu. Because I bet you can't wait to hear him tell you how shocked he is that his nephew Robert Vanecko, now under federal investigation, made a fortune after receiving almost $70 million in city pension-fund money to invest. And how Vanecko did it all without Daley's knowledge. He'll expect you to believe it, since he figures you're a bunch of chumbolones, and that, like so many times before, you'll take a slap in the mouth and then ask, "Please, sir, may I have...

U.S. attorney says business could help cut murder rate, hire teens as interns U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald stood before a room packed with business officials Thursday and asked them to do something they probably have never considered: Hire felons Not exactly the kind of request you'd expect from the area's top federal law enforcement official, who's better known for locking up criminals. But Fitzgerald told the audience that while law enforcement targets the worst of the worst, the community needs to get more involved -- especially the business community -- to help drive down murder numbers and keep kids out...