Free Republic

The estranged daughter-in-law of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has been charged in connection with covering up the grisly murder of a woman inside a home in suburban Atlanta, authorities say. Ronisha Preckwinkle, 40, was arrested July 10 and charged with murder, tampering with evidence and false imprisonment in connection with the attack that happened at an apartment in Stockbridge, a southeast suburb of Atlanta, according to police and prosecutors in Henry County, Georgia. She is married to Kyle Preckwinkle, Toni Preckwinkle’s son. The couple lived with their children in a Hyde Park condominium where Chicago police were repeatedly...

The Cook County Board voted Thursday to recognize Juneteenth as an official paid holiday for county government employees starting next year, following a year marked by racial justice protests over high-profile killings of Black people. In 2021, Juneteenth will be designated as one of 14 government holidays granted to all Cook County workers, making it the country’s largest populated county to grant a paid day off to celebrate both Black Americans’ freedom from slavery and their contributions to the nation. Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of the measure, which outlines the centuries of mistreatment America has dealt on Black people....

A virtual rally in support of a proposed constitutional amendment to change Illinois' income tax system to a graduated-rate tax was sidetracked by Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle delivering a lengthy pitch for State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s reelection. The rally of high-profile Democrats, hosted by the proposed amendment’s chief supporter, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, also featured Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton alleging amendment opponents were billionaires fighting against “communities of color and women and working-class families all across the state.” But pro-amendment discussion, dubbed the “fair tax” by supporters, gave way when Preckwinkle, the Cook County Democratic Party chair and a strong...

Foxx and friends — including her patron, Cook County Democratic boss Toni Preckwinkle and Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans — act as if they’re untouchable. Preckwinkle is so confident as party boss that she spearheaded a nonendorsement of respected Judge Michael Toomin in the election because he dared order a special prosecutor in Foxx’s Jussie Smollett alleged fake hate crime fiasco. Preckwinkle hopes voters won’t connect the dots. “It’s outrageous what’s being done to Judge Toomin,” retired Judge Sheila O’Brien, who pushed for a special prosecutor in the Smollett case, told me. “Preckwinkle should be ashamed. This is a...

Judge Michael Toomin appointed a special prosecutor to look at how Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her office handled the controversial Jussie Smollett case. On Monday, the Cook County Democratic Party, chaired by Foxx ally Toni Preckwinkle, took the rare step of voting not to endorse Toomin for retention. The move set off a political firestorm. Toomin called it “retaliation.” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said it looked like payback. Democratic leaders who dumped Toomin pointed to what they said was his outdated approach to juvenile justice as they declared it was time for him to retire. Adding intrigue to...

After four days of civil unrest in Chicago and its suburbs, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Tuesday turned to religious and community leaders to urge protesters to channel anger over the death of George Floyd toward efforts for criminal justice reform and economic development in minority communities. “What’s very important to me is that we establish an agenda — an agenda that’s led, in part, by the very peaceful protesters that are out on the streets, that were there protesting last night, the night before and the night before, the folks who were there...

And then she dropped charges against Smollett -- alleging that the Hollywood star faked his own hate crime and blamed it on President Trump. Smollett's vanity and recklessness could have touched off racial violence. Instead, it killed Preckwinkle's mayoral ambitions and Foxx's political future. It kills off that Foxx dream of one day becoming a U.S. senator from Illinois, once Dick Durbin is pushed out of the way. Imagine, Kim Foxx, celebrity chaser, hanging out with Kamala Harris and the Obamas... Can you imagine it? Remember that high-minded talk about Foxx having "recused" herself on account of compromising herself with...

Cook County Cook County Board Toni Preckwinkle Government and Politics Infrastructure More + Preckwinkle-seeks-pay-hikes-following-Cook-County-sales-tax-increase.com Photo by Manuel Martinez Just two weeks after raising the sales tax to pay for pensions, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is moving to give tens of millions of dollars a year in pay hikes to county workers. Legislation introduced yesterday by the county chief would extend raises of up to 6.5 percent throughout county government. Only those who make more than $200,000 in annual salary would be excluded. The proposal, sent to a Cook County Board committee for review, extends to other unionized employees...

Toke One For The Gipper: Preckwinkle Says Reagan Deserves “A Special Place In Hell” For War On Drugs Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle defended the city's move to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana by saying former President Ronald Reagan deserves "a special place in hell" for "making drug use political." Preckwinkle has been an outspoken advocate of decriminalizing pot because she says drug laws unfairly lead to minorities behind bars. Preckwinkle has never shied from making her drug stance known, and she didn't mince words with the crowd attending the conference led by former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar at...

Barack Obama's chief campaign strategist David Axelrod, once worked for a man who was an identified member of the Communist Party USA, a registered agent of the Soviet Union and a paid disseminator of Soviet black propaganda. This man went on to become a key Chicago political fixer who helped elect communist linked politicians including the late Chicago mayor Harold Washington and former US Senator Carol Moseley Braun. This man knew Barack Obama and was a key member of an organisation which endorsed Barack Obama in his 2004 US Senate race. Barack and Michelle Obama were active members of this...