Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Friday, December 8, 2017. Have a great weekend!
- CPS inspector general: Forrest Claypool “repeatedly lied” and should be fired
Chicago Public Schools inspector general Nicholas Schuler is recommending the firing of CPS chief executive officer Forrest Claypool. Schuler’s investigation found that Claypool “engaged in a ‘full-blown cover-up’ by altering records and lying to mask the true purpose of a bill for legal advice he requested to ward off a probe by the district’s watchdog,” according to the Tribune. Claypool “repeatedly lied” during the investigation and claimed that he never asked an attorney to change the bill for legal advice, according to Schuler. “At every turn in this matter, Claypool kept making matters worse,” Schuler wrote. “And it appears that his decisions were driven by a clear desire to keep information harmful to his narrative from the Board, the OIG and the public.” When asked about Schuler’s recommendation to fire Claypool, Mayor Rahm Emanuel defended his handpicked CPS chief. “There’s always two sides, and Forrest deserves the right to be heard, and he’s preparing to have that heard,” Emanuel said. Claypool met privately with school board members Thursday and “he acknowledged where he was wrong and took responsibility for it. That is a sign of character. And he did it in a very public way.” [Tribune]
- The battle of the billionaires escalates as J.B. Pritzker fights back against Rauner
Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker slammed Governor Bruce Rauner’s suggestion that he’s a bad investor and/or sheltering money to avoid taxes. “It’s laughable that Bruce Rauner is complaining about my taxes,” Pritzker said Wednesday. “I released way more information than Bruce Rauner has, and it’s important to recognize that unlike Bruce Rauner, who, yeah, he paid taxes, but you know how he made his money? By cutting jobs. By buying companies and firing people. [Sun-Times]
- Body found in north-side clothing donation bin
A body was found in a clothing donation box in the 1500 block of West Wilson Thursday morning. Chicago Fire Department officials found the body after extinguishing a fire in the box. [Tribune]
- West Pullman’s forgotten Frank Lloyd Wright home
There’s a largely forgotten Frank Lloyd Wright home at 121st Street and Harvard Avenue in the West Pullman neighborhood. Inspired by Japanese architecture, it’s currently on the market for less than $200,000. [WBEZ]
- Emanuel to appear on The Late Show Monday for the first time since 2013
Mayor Rahm Emanuel will appear on CBS’s The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Monday. It’s the first time Emanuel has been on the show since 2013 and his first time with Colbert as its host. “I’m scared of Stephen Colbert. I’m not alone,” Emanuel said of Colbert in 2008. “My colleagues in Congress, political operatives, the top minds in Washington, even some of the people in this room—we’re all scared of Stephen Colbert.” [Tribune]
- Eight Chicago restaurants are among OpenTable’s top 100 in the U.S.
Online reservation service OpenTable has compiled its annual list of the top 100 restaurants in the U.S. based on user reviews, and eight Chicago restaurants were included. Oriole, RL Restaurant, Riccardo Enoteca, True Food Kitchen, Girl & the Goat, Bavette’s Bar & Boeuf, RPM Italian/RPM Steak, and Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab all made the cut. [NBC Chicago]