Biography
John Kass has covered a variety of topics since arriving at the Chicago Tribune in 1983.
The son of a Greek immigrant grocer, Kass was born ...
Tea party will survive only if it challenges Republican dogma
August 14, 2011
Can the tea party movement survive the Republican candidates and the campaign for president?
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John Kass: London riots are illiterate homage to 'Lord of the Flies'
August 12, 2011
Before the mobs set the fires in London and the feral boys ran the streets to pay unwitting, illiterate homage to "The Lord of the Flies," we had a fantasy family vacation:
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Emanuel isn't Daley's water carrier — at least, he shouldn't be
August 11, 2011
When Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Wednesday that Chicago taxpayers would pick up former Mayor Richard Daley's legal defense in the Jon Burge police brutality case, the first thing I thought of was the heroic Gunga Din.
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Nothing brings out donkey noise like a blame game
August 10, 2011
As President Barack Obama's mouthpieces panicked and blamed the tea party for the nation's economic downgrade, I closed my eyes and thought of happier days.
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Never-ending list of good books just keeps growing
August 7, 2011
Some of you are weak for my favorite storyteller, the blind poet Homer.
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No surprise: Disappoint-mints strike liberals as bad taste
August 5, 2011
Corrections and clarifications: In a Page 2 column on Wednesday, John Kass incorrectly asserted that by raising the federal debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion, President Barack Obama had grabbed "reality by the hair" and kicked it repeatedly "in the behind." But Thursday's stock-market plunge of more than 500 points proves that reality remains immune to the president's charms. The Tribune regrets the error.
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Nepotism? Or Newmanism?
August 4, 2011
Stefano Allesina, an assistant professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago, comes from a town near Modena in north-central Italy, which is known for excellent balsamic vinegar.
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Arm yourselves, Canadians
August 3, 2011
Proving once again that he is the undisputed master of American politics, President Barack Obama claimed another victory this week.
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Don't pass up 2nd chance to crack open a good book
July 24, 2011
Some of you do your summer reading with sand between your toes. Others read while sitting at a lake in the woods, smelling faintly of mosquito repellent, wondering if there's a bear in the bush.
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Chicago needs school vouchers. And Rahm needs to meditate.
July 22, 2011
Mayor Rahm Emanuel certainly made news over his angry, finger-wagging scolding of NBC Chicago TV reporter Mary Ann Ahern the other day.
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Salt on watermelon? Best Italian ice and the brain freeze? What's a summer for?
July 21, 2011
With temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, what are the three most important questions to help us survive a long, hot summer in Chicago?
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Hanhardt walks on new landscape, but it's the same Chicago Way
July 20, 2011
The Chicago Outfit's top cop, former Chicago Police Chief of Detectives William Hanhardt, left federal prison Tuesday after a decade behind bars.
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Kass: Turn your back on the Casey Anthony feeding frenzy
July 17, 2011
So what do you do if you meet America's most famous celebrity mom, Casey Anthony?
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American soccer has advantage over fumbling NFL
July 15, 2011
Sports historians will look back on what happened at ESPN's ESPY awards the other night and pinpoint it as the broadcast that signaled the rise of soccer and the death of football.
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Babes with Bullets and other women who believe the Constitution applies in Illinois
July 14, 2011
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a concealed carry bill late last week, making Wisconsin the 49th state to allow trained, law-abiding citizens the right to carry concealed firearms.
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Bodyguard solution: Trade the town cars for clown cars
July 13, 2011
Mayor Rahm Emanuel took a great big baby step Tuesday on the issue of who's the mayor of Chicago, him or the guy known as King Shortshanks.
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Emanuel lets guard down while Daley keeps his
July 10, 2011
Does Mayor Rahm Emanuel have the fortitude to challenge former Mayor Richard M. Daley over who will be the boss of Chicago?
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Our economic choices could turn the U.S. into Greece — without the beautiful beaches
July 8, 2011
Not a day goes by without readers demanding that I write something about the economic chaos in Greece and the protests and riots there.
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Sickening story sure to provide 'Bella Vita' for Anthony
July 7, 2011
Just when you think Casey Anthony can't possibly nauseate you anymore than she has already, try this:
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Readers: Big Brother still a pain, but Little Brother is cool
July 6, 2011
Many of you know I've got some unresolved libertarian aggression issues developed over years of covering ham-fisted government in Illinois.
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A recipe for a tasty, all-American Fourth of July
July 3, 2011
The last thing decent Americans need before a Fourth of July cookout is to hear the High Priests of the Carbon Footprint telling us we're big fat sinners.
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Rahm better send Daley and Burke to driver's ed
July 1, 2011
Sooner or later, Mayor Rahm Emanuel must sit down with Ald. Ed Burke, 14th, and retired King Shortshanks and tell them the bodyguard party is over.
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Nature vs. neuter
June 30, 2011
I used to think that American preschools were great, with all the blocks and the "quiet time" and the snacks, but now, when compared with what's going on in Sweden, our schools are positively prehistoric.
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Blago, you're formally invited to Cooking with Kass
June 29, 2011
Proving once again that there's nothing quite like a tasty roast turning slowly over coals, readers get their writes on ex-Gov. Dead Meat's guilty verdict.
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Imagine the thoughts in Blagojevich's veins
June 28, 2011
A blue vein ran along the back of Rod Blagojevich's left hand, snaking back from the base of his index finger as the former governor of Illinois took that beating in federal court Monday.
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Verbal gaffes are just empty calories
June 26, 2011
President Barack Obama made the mother of all verbal gaffes last week as he invoked a fallen hero while talking to troops who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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A jury of Dead Meat's peers. All it takes is one Blagojevich panelist to hang jury
June 23, 2011
On my way over to the Tribune Tower, I stopped at the federal building to visit with Shooter, the young reporter who helps me with the column.
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Conceal-and-carry? I prefer reveal-and-carry
June 23, 2011
Illinois may indeed lead the nation when it comes to political corruption, but we're doing lousy in protecting the right of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves.
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There aren't alcohol wipes big enough for the Taste of Chicago
June 22, 2011
The real Chicagoland food taste festival — the one in which I will spend hours slowly roasting several delicious whole pigs over coals for a few lucky and hungry Tribune readers — won't take place until later this summer.
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A Father's Day gift to dream about
June 19, 2011
I never dream of my father anymore. Never.
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John Kass on Sarah Palin: Just a friendly game called 'the Sarah Experiment'
June 17, 2011
Excited reporters rummaged desperately through more than 24,000 emails of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the hopes of finding her saying something stupid.
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Dr. Millionpills becomes Mr. Unemployed
June 16, 2011
Dr. Joseph "Millionpills" Giacchino, the famed pain pill-dispensing doctor, could have walked straight out of an Elmore Leonard novel.
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Nation seems to have appetite for Weiner roast
June 15, 2011
If there's one thing that might help Rep. Anthony Weiner fight off those hypocritical calls for his resignation, it's that fabulous new action figure that just came out.
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In a world of political emails, why wait for the real thing
June 12, 2011
Distinguished reporters began poring over 24,000 pages of email messages from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin last week in the outside chance they could make her look really, really stupid.
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As Blagojevich twists in wind, Daleys and Madigans are doing just fine, thanks
June 10, 2011
Son of Boss — and savvy airport Wi-Fi investor — Patrick Daley wasn't in the federal building during the closing arguments of the corruption trial of former Gov. Dead Meat on Thursday.
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Liberal talk hosts don't get it: Weiner's no poster boy
June 9, 2011
There's not much fun left in watching that New York liberal, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-Pervert, twist in the political winds.
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On race and crime in the City of Tribes
June 8, 2011
The Red Line is the CTA train that delivers South Siders to Daleyland.
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Blago team not playing the kids-in-court card, yet
June 5, 2011
Rod Blagojevich's daughters will not attend his trial Monday as federal prosecutors continue their cross-examination of the former governor, his lawyer said.
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After heat from the prosecutor, Gov. Dead Meat is well-done
June 3, 2011
Rod Blagojevich's hands were on his tie, straightening it, then on that fine suit coat, adjusting the lapels like some nervous TV guest during a commercial break.
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Welcome to Weinergate: It's a problem you don't see in Chicago
June 2, 2011
I never thought I'd publicly admit this, but there's something reassuring about covering Chicago politics.
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Casino plan deals unfair hand to Illinois
June 1, 2011
Politicians in this historically squeaky-clean state of Illinois finally passed that gambling bill in Springfield on Tuesday, which includes the big enchilada, a Chicago casino controlled by City Hall.
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Gov. Dead Meat tries to fill dead air
May 27, 2011
The distinguished federal judge in the trial of former Gov. Dead Meat didn't exactly say that politicians on the witness stand can't shut the heck up.
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Blago, thankyouverymuch: Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. gives an Elvis impersonation and something that might stick
May 26, 2011
There was U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Bud Light, channeling former Gov. Dead Meat channeling Elvis.
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For 2012, it's Obama vs. the Smoothies
May 25, 2011
President Barack Obama moves as smoothly through a news cycle as Muhammad Ali once moved through a prize ring.
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No point. World's over.
May 22, 2011
I can't believe I'm saying this, but does it really matter what's in the column today, now that all my loyal readers have been raptured up to heaven?
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Leave Shriver — and 'The Good Wife' — alone
May 20, 2011
With a new mayor in Chicago and Mrs. Schwarzenegger saying "Hasta la vista, baby," it's time readers get their writes.
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Schwarzenegger probably already had what he was looking for
May 19, 2011
Raffaele Raia, the renowned Italian philosopher and soccer expert — and the guy who cuts my hair — was busy with his scissors.
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A free non-boring commencement speech for Obama
May 18, 2011
Does President Barack Obama need a new commencement speech — something that won't bore the brains out of the kids at those stuffy graduation ceremonies?
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Chicago desperately needs Emanuel to succeed
May 17, 2011
If you love Chicago, then you should want Mayor Rahm Emanuel to succeed.
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Rich and me: How we fell out
May 5, 2011
For two decades you've known Richard M. Daley as mayor and boss of Chicago. As a columnist, I've been his chief critic. But there are a few things you probably don't know about the mayor and me.
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When Daley defeated his 'Mayor Chucky'
April 30, 2011
At a news conference in 2009, Mayor Richard Daley battled with his inner Mayor Chucky.
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Weis talks uniforms, politics, case of Daley's nephew
March 30, 2011
Former Chicago police Superintendent Jody Weis said Tuesday that the 2004 death of David Koschman — after a confrontation in the Rush Street nightclub area with a nephew of Mayor Richard Daley's — should be reinvestigated by an independent law enforcement agency.
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Looking back at when race clouded City Hall
September 19, 2010
Will Chicago once again become the city of tribes, racial and otherwise?
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Dead Meat walking, but heat to be applied again
August 18, 2010
You've got to be bleepin' kidding me.
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What's the stupidest thing Daley has ever said?
May 21, 2010
One of the great debates in American politics can be summed up with this question:
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Emanuel as the successor to Daley is a scary thought
April 21, 2010
The American media is absolutely turgid with emotion over White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's ambitious plan to become mayor of Chicago once Mayor Richard Daley leaves office.
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Lottery commercial redefines joy in spirit of Chicago Way
December 10, 2009
When it comes to greetings during the Winter Shopping Spree vaguely associated with the 25th of December, I guess I'm hopelessly old-fashioned.
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Numbers could add up for downstate guy in race
November 13, 2009
State Sen. Bill Brady, the Bloomington Republican running for governor in the Illinois Republican primary, isn't your typical lawyer politician.
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Hope smokes eternal when it's Chia-grown
September 11, 2009
It sure is a good thing that the bumper Hopium crop from my Obama Chia heads has finally come in.
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Honor freedom with a beer can, chicken
July 1, 2009
Nothing quite says 4th of July -- and American independence from unreasonable taxation and those intrusive federal regulations -- like a chicken with a beer can stuck up its behind, roasting silently over wood charcoal.
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To raise loyal fans, try tough parenting
June 18, 2009
Here are perhaps the two most important questions in the known universe:
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Outfit's faithful reader has many a puzzle to ponder
February 5, 2009
One of my loyal readers, Chicago mob boss James Marcello—captured on grainy federal recordings eating salty corn chips while discussing my column—will be sentenced in the "Family Secrets" case on Thursday.
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Fear, not passion, drove Outfit killer
February 3, 2009
Even Outfit hit men have feelings.
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Don't ask mayor to discuss 'Secrets'
February 3, 2009
As Outfit killer Nick Calabrese was testifying Wednesday about murders, about the killings of gangsters Tony and Michael Spilotro, about Tony asking to say a prayer before dying and about holy pictures burning in Nick's cupped hands during an Outfit "making" ceremony, someone else was burning, too.
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Mob boss' tale offers peek at city's 'secrets'
January 29, 2009
With the national media finally interested in Illinois corruption, it's too bad they were focused on Springfield's dancing monkey show and not on what happened in a federal courtroom in Chicago on Wednesday.
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Chicago cop's acquittal in Iowa fight is long overdue, but appreciated
October 1, 2008
Great news from baseball-loving Iowa:
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Chicago cop in Iowa prison while drunk is on the loose
August 3, 2008
Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis and Cook County State's Atty. Dick Devine have asked Iowa Gov. Chet Culver for justice in the case of Chicago cop Mike Mette.
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There's no real justice in Iowa politics
January 4, 2008
The assault on the people of Iowa by national politicians telling them what they want to hear is now over and done.
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Bad PR for officers claims wrong man
November 1, 2007
What do you talk about when you're driving your son to prison?
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Self-defense is, inexplicably, no defense
October 28, 2007
On Sunday, Bob Mette and his son, Mike, 30, will go to the game at Soldier Field to watch the Bears play the Lions. On Monday, Bob will drive Mike to Iowa, to prison. Mike Mette, until recently a Chicago police officer, is scheduled to begin serving a 5-year prison sentence.His crime? According to the judge's ruling, Mike threw one punch at an angry drunk who chased Mike down the street and attacked him verbally, physically, repeatedly.
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Outfit's fate signed, sealed, delivered
September 30, 2007
The letter that spilled the Outfit's Family Secrets arrived at the Chicago offices of the FBI in November 1998.
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Case closed, but coffin on Outfit isn't
September 28, 2007
Is the Chicago Outfit dead, now that the historic Family Secrets trial has ended?
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Without feds, we'd never hear the 'lies'
September 12, 2007
Federal prosecutor Mitchell Mars was telling the jury about a litany of 18 Outfit murders -- solved by federal investigators, not locals -- and he put several corpses at the feet of convicted mobster Frank Calabrese Sr.
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Required reading: Closing argument
August 31, 2007
As the Family Secrets trial was put into the hands of the jury, City Hall offered up poetic symmetry in choosing a book for all Chicagoans to read as part of its One-Book-One-Chicago program:
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Why I can't let 'Family Secrets' slide
August 30, 2007
There was a break in the courtroom action at the Chicago Outfit trial called Family Secrets, so I took a walk outside the federal building, wondering how to explain my obsession to you.
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Luck of the Irish won't be with Outfit
August 29, 2007
The last thing you'd expect at the Outfit trial would be a big green shamrock next to Jimmy Marcello's name.
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Finally, wronged cop gets some support
July 22, 2007
Michael Mette -- the young Chicago police officer sentenced to an Iowa prison for 5 years for the crime of defending himself against an angry drunk in Dubuque -- wanted to thank the readers of this column.
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Mob trial hits on badge, buried secrets
June 22, 2007
How do 18 Chicago Outfit murders remain unsolved for decades?
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'Fast Eddie' finally gets nailed
May 10, 2007
I always figured Fast Eddie Vrdolyak to take up space in the trunk of a Cadillac in Rosemont or Cicero before he'd ever take up space in a federal corruption case, but today I'm wrong about him, again.
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News about us is just part of the news
April 3, 2007
A.fter a week of a relaxing family vacation, watching the cherry blossoms pop in Washington, D.C., I came back to work to the news that Tribune Co. had been sold and the Cubs are up for sale.
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It's end of the run for fugitive mobster
December 18, 2005
The union boss slipped into a booth in a restaurant on Jackson Boulevard. He was wearing a federal wire, trembling, as the waitress brought over some ice water.
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Mayor swayed by shiny objects, such as badges
May 5, 2005
Mayor Richard Daley is an extremely complex man. He's been Mayor Little Big Man, Mayor Fredo, Mayor Idunno, Mayor Details, Mayor Fedheimers and Mayor Queeg.
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Mob charges tell a story, but more isn't told
April 26, 2005
How could the Chicago Outfit prosper and survive without the help of corrupt local police, politicians and judges?
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Hull learning nothing fair in Illinois politics
February 29, 2004
Blair Hull is the multimillionaire Democrat spending his own cash to campaign for the U.S. Senate in Illinois.
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Small talk ends when GOP boss' name comes up
January 29, 2004
Illinois Republicans campaigning to replace outgoing U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) got a bit testy with each other during a Tribune editorial board meeting Wednesday.
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Bring on lights, camera--we've got mob action
November 5, 2003
If you care about movies, you've probably noticed that Illinois politicians from the mayor to the governor have been eagerly promoting Chicago as a setting for Hollywood movies.
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DNA test could have Outfit guys grinding teeth
August 6, 2003
Discovering a human tooth in Bridgeport is like finding a seashell at the seashore: Find a seashell, and chances are that you're at the beach.
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FBI digs not just for body, but for mob secrets too
July 30, 2003
When the FBI began carefully digging on the edge of the parking lot at White Sox park on Tuesday, they were looking for:
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One witness at a time, feds turning up heat
June 6, 2003
With her nice black suit and pearls at her throat, Andrea Coutretsis Prokos, political girlfriend and alleged perjurer, was properly dressed for federal court.
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Outfit bosses dive for cover as enforcer talks
February 21, 2003
Until recently, the bosses of the Chicago Outfit felt relatively safe, with their connections in politics and local law enforcement.