Page 9 - Dick Simpson News Today

Two Democrats racing for the Mayorship of Chicago are promising to help give illegal migrants the right to vote in some city elections.

In a flurry of pretrial filings, lawyers for the so-called “ComEd Four” are seeking to keep large swaths of evidence away from the jury next month, including the utility’s admissions of a scheme to influence then-House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Objections to nominating petitions reach a 40-year low in this year’s municipal election cycle. “I think everybody was surprised at how few challenges there were,” said longtime Chicago election attorney Michael Dorf.

“Some of these guys have made out like bandits,” the former Illinois House Speaker was allegedly recorded saying of associates who benefited from what prosecutors describe as a scheme for jobs and contracts. He’s far from the first Chicago pol to trip over a federal wire.

Prosecutors have revealed new details of wiretapped conversations and other evidence they intend to use against four people accused in an alleged scheme between Commonwealth Edison and Michael Madigan.

Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

The wiretapped conversation was contained in a 126-page proffer filed late Tuesday by prosecutors in anticipation of the March 6 trial of Madigan confidant Michael McClain and three others, all accused of trying to bribe the former speaker of the Illinois House to benefit ComEd.

Ald. Edward Burke is stepping down as alderman of the 14th Ward, where he and his father held sway for some 70 years even amid sweeping demographic changes.

Party leaders and political pundits ponder the future of the Illinois GOP after Tuesdays drubbing at the polls.

WILLIAMSBURG — Following the passing last Saturday of long-time County Treasurer Jeff Gray, Whitley County Fiscal Court met in special session Tuesday morning to appoint Deputy Treasurer Nicholas Simpson to