Carol Felsenthal

As 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... Read more

After 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... Read more

After 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... Read more

I 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... Read more

Alderman 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... Read more

The 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... Read more