April 2011
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04/28/11Rahm Emanuel's Wife, Amy Rule, Scores the Better Table at the White House Correspondents' DinnerMayor-elect Rahm Emanuel is scheduled to attend the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this Saturday, but it’s his wife, Amy Rule, who will be sitting at the better table during the annual event... Posted at 03:39 PM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (3) |
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04/28/11Donald Trump and the Emanuel Brothers—What's the Deal?Within minutes of the White House’s release of Barack Obama’s Hawaii birth certificate yesterday, Donald Trump took the credit, saying, “I’m very proud of myself”—only he could get the president to do what he should have done a long time ago. Trump’s campaign to vilify Obama is dominating headlines these days, so it’s worth a look to examine the real estate tycoon's ties to two of the president’s most energetic backers: Rahm Emanuel and his younger brother, Ari... Posted at 11:07 AM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (1) |
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04/20/11Expert Defense Lawyer Makes Predictions for Blagojevich RetrialAs round two of the Rod Blagojevich trial approached, I called one of the city's most prominent criminal defense lawyers. I had published my conversations with him last summer, and reading his insights now confirms my trust in his instincts. Here's his take on the second trial, which opens with jury selection today. This man has so many previous professional and personal ties to players in the case... Posted at 09:14 AM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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04/18/11Roland Burris: No Regrets on Accepting Senate Seat from BlagojevichAfter a nightmarish two years in Washington, former U.S. Senator Roland Burris is settling back into life in Illinois, trying to rebuild his reputation and retire an $800,000 debt from a legal battle to keep his Senate seat. Still, he told me he does not regret accepting the position from former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose retrial on corruption charges... Posted at 10:54 AM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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04/11/11Garrido Decides Against Recount in the 45th, but Is 'Contemplating' Suing SEIUAfter conferring with his lawyers, John Garrido told me in a telephone conversation this morning that he has decided against a recount in his razor-thin loss to John Arena in 45th Ward runoff. Although he says he suspects irregularities, Garrido has no proof yet—the Board of Elections has not yet released details—and the deadline for filing for a recount is... Posted at 01:10 PM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (4) |
04/07/11Lessons, Thoughts from the Aldermanic RunoffsI tracked all 14 aldermanic runoff races closely most of the day and late into the evening on Tuesday. Sound boring? Not for me—not with a new mayor coming in and the possibility, slim as it might be, that aldermen under Mayor Emanuel may morph into something more lively than potted plants. Here, some lessons and thoughts I had along the way... Posted at 09:25 AM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (1) |
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04/04/11Solis Announces Lead Pollution Ordinance on Day Before Election; Morfin Cries FoulAlderman Danny Solis, in a runoff tomorrow for the 25th Ward seat, sent out a press release today announcing that he had drafted an anti-lead pollution ordinance requiring any “facility emitting lead at levels that are higher than... EPA standards... [to] cease operations immediately.” The release states that “new information” about “high lead levels” impacting a Pilsen elementary school prompted him to act... Posted at 04:58 PM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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04/01/11Toxic Lead in Pilsen—and Just Days Before the Solis-Morfin RunoffThe front-page story in the Chicago Tribune today about toxic lead found in Pilsen has to strike fear into the hearts of the neighborhood’s parents. And it can’t be good news for 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis, either, as he is caught in a runoff with activist Cuahutémoc “Témoc” Morfin. Tribune reporter Michael Hawthorne writes that a monitor placed... Posted at 01:26 PM in Felsenthal Files | Permalink | Comments (1) |
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Felsenthal Files is a blog by author Carol Felsenthal, a lifelong Chicagoan and self-proclaimed political junkie. Her focus here will be Chicago politics, which, in the age of Obama, extends to the national and international spheres. Felsenthal is a regular blogger for The Hill and The Huffington Post and has written several books, including Clinton in Exile: A President Out of the White House. Among her many stories for Chicago are memorable profiles of Michelle Obama and Rod Blagojevich.
