At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, President Obama drew applause when he mocked the conspiracy theory that he was born in Kenya. “It’s been quite a year since I’ve spoken here last—lots of ups, lots of downs—except for my approval ratings, which have just gone down. But that’s politics. Beside[s], I happen to know that my approval ratings are still very high in the country of my birth…
Editorial boards and earnest columnists have exhorted readers to sign those petitions for Forrest Claypool—the one man, in their words, standing between fair property tax bills and Joseph Berrios, a machine pol who won the Democratic nomination for assessor in February.
The signatures are flowing in, and the 52-year-old Cook County commissioner will almost certainly claim a spot on the November…
THE COLDEST CASE: Since February 14, 1929, when seven men were gunned down inside a Clark Street garage, the mastermind behind the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre has remained a mystery, though suspicions usually point to Al Capone. Now a new biographer has uncovered fresh information implicating a different suspect—a forgotten Chicago felon with a simple and timeless motive: revenge.
Images from the 1929 case. Click the thumbnails for larger images.
WHAT I WAS THINKING: The businessman discusses buying the Sun-Times, the beauty of bankruptcy, and the joy of new kidneys
Early Monday morning, I spoke on the phone with Jim Houlihan, whom I interviewed in person last Wednesday. I wanted an update on the Senate race in light of the closing of the Giannoulias family’s Broadway Bank on Friday. Houlihan was in Washington for the wedding of a friend, but he got a chance to see his pals, David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel…
MAN OF LETTERS: The former Chicago Cub and ESPN baseball analyst with the Ivy League pedigree is playing a new position: author of a thinking man’s book about baseball
Click the thumbnails for larger images. RELATED STORY: On Doug Glanville and his book, "The Game from Where I Stand" »
TALK ON THE HILL: Durbin is said to be lining up support
The Cook County Assessor has his eyes on the office—whether or not Daley runs
On Wednesday, I met with outgoing Cook County Assessor James Houlihan at his spacious downtown County Building office. The last time I interviewed him was in July 2006, when I was writing about Bill Clinton’s post-presidency. (The two men are golfing buddies.) Houlihan is a big man with an open face and manner—a great talker who has the natural gift of remembering…
