Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Thursday, March 9, 2017.
- Rahm to Rauner: ‘The emperor wears no clothes”; Rauner to Rahm: “Sounds like someone has a Napoleon complex”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Bruce Rauner are engaged in a war of words over funding for Chicago Public Schools. Emanuel said of Rauner, who vetoed $215 million in funding for Chicago Public Schools in December, “the emperor wears no clothes.” Emanuel rejected the governor’s idea that tax increment financing funds should be used for CPS. “Governor [Jim] Edgar gave him recommendations, Governor [George] Ryan gave him recommendations, I have given him recommendations,” Emanuel said. “Everybody has tried to give him advice, everybody walks out with the same thing, including Chance the Rapper: ‘Just do your job.'” Rauner’s office released a strong response to the mayor: “Sounds like someone has a Napoleon complex.” [WBEZ]
- Journalist Jamie Kalven sues police for failure to release Laquan McDonald records
Independent journalist Jamie Kalven is suing the Chicago Police Department for allegedly violating the Freedom of Information Act by not releasing records about the police’s alleged cover-up of the death of Laquan McDonald. Kalven requested the records from the Office of the Inspector General of Chicago’s investigation into police misconduct in the handling of McDonald’s fatal shooting but was denied on the grounds that Illinois’s FOIA law exempts inspector general investigations. “The CPD’s denial is based on a misreading of the relevant law,” Kalven’s attorney Craig Futterman said in a statement. “The IG reports, now in the possession of the CPD, are the equivalent of closed IPRA investigations.” [Sun-Times]
- Man shot to death just minutes after being released from Cook County Jail on bond
Kamari Belmont was released from the Cook County Jail at 11:12 PM Monday after a friend posted $10,000 of his $100,000 bond on robbery charges, and was shot to death just minutes later. The 23-year-old was originally being held on robbery and murder charges, but prosecutors were forced to drop the murder charges in January after allowing to much time to pass, in violation of the state’s speedy trial statute. “I told him, once he gets out he’s got to get out of the neighborhood,” his attorney, Michael Johnson, told the Tribune. “Unfortunately this isn’t the first time I’ve seen this.” [Tribune]
- Lawrence and Wilson Avenue viaducts are “structurally deficient”
The Lawrence and Wilson Avenue viaducts are two of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s “most traveled structurally deficient bridges in Illinois” despite the fact that many homeless people live under them. “We have bricks falling, fallen debris, you name it. We have all that stuff,” said Charles Holder, who used to live under the Lawrence Avenue viaduct. “Praise God, no one ever gets hurts or anything. We try to keep [the viaduct] maintained [as] best we can until the city comes by and does what they’re going to do.” [DNAinfo Chicago]
- Despite the warm winter, Cook County has had at least 19 deaths from cold
At least 19 people have died this fall and winter from cold-related causes, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. Despite the unseasonably warm weather, Cook County residents have succumbed to hypothermia and cold exposure. [NBC Chicago]
- “Gary from Chicago” discusses his life in prison
Gary Alan Coe, better known as “Gary from Chicago,” became a viral sensation when he was plucked from obscurity on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles to appear at the Oscars. Coe’s criminal past and 20 years in prison quickly became the focus of many media reports about him. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, he reveals more about his attempted rape charge and his time in prison (which included two years in solitary confinement) for stealing a bottle of perfume. “But the last 12 years were productive because I got a chance to mentor and facilitate different groups,” he said. “One thing I had control over as a prisoner is how I felt every day. I chose to feel good. Some of the guys used to call me ‘Mr. Positivity.’ Everything else, they took from us.” [Hollywood Reporter]