Lester: Why is Cook GOP chair Del Mar holding off on New Trier appointment?
Cook County GOP Chairman Aaron Del Mar of Palatine has the power to name committeemen. And the New Trier Township Republican Organization - yes, that's Gov. Bruce Rauner's home base, as well as that of U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk - needs one.
Wilmette entrepreneur Marc Levine has been working as an unofficial interim chairman since former Committeeman Bill Cadigan resigned in June. If he wants the post, he needs to go through Del Mar, who says Levine has expressed interest but has not filled out an application.
T.J. Brown, spokesman for New Trier Republicans, says he “doesn't know what Aaron is really waiting for.” But there's speculation that Del Mar is holding onto his committeeman pick to use it as leverage when the party elects a new Cook County leader next spring.
Mettawa Mayor Urlacher missing game
Sunday, the Bears open their season against the Packers games, but for the first home game in several years, the brother of retired linebacker
Brian Urlacher won't be at Soldier Field.
Casey Urlacher - a dead ringer for older brother Brian - is the mayor of Mettawa and has committed Sunday to attend the Prairie Harvest Celebration at Deerpath Farm, Lake County's first certified conservation community.
Will he miss the game? “With technology now, I know someone will have the game streaming on one of their phones,” he says.
Casey and Brian's homes actually back up to one another in Mettawa.
Stanley Cup comes to Daily Herald
Daily Herald sports columnist Barry Rozner helped facilitate a visit of the Stanley Cup to the Daily Herald offices in Arlington Heights Wednesday. Sales consultant Debbie Nelson's two children gave up their chance to see the trophy so that Tom Erickson, a Prospect High School senior with special needs, could have a chance along with his mom Cindy. Tom is referred to by friends and family as the World's Biggest Hawks Fan.
Frank Thomas home for sale at $4.45M
Re/Max real estate listings show that the Oak Brook mansion that was once home for White Sox legend Frank Thomas is for sale again, for $4.45 million - quite a markup from the price paid by its current owner, Tahir Iqbal.
The Midwest Road house originally was built for the Big Hurt back in his playing days. It includes 13 bathrooms, a hibachi grill and an indoor basketball court that once doubled as Thomas' batting cage - in the 1990s.
Real estate developer Ronald Scarlato bought the house in 2003 for nearly $8 million but lost it to foreclosure last year. Iqbal bought it for $2.71 million in December.
Helping overseas
Since the images of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi's lifeless body on a Turkish beach first posted around the world last week, the Karam Foundation, a Lake Forest-based Syrian-American nonprofit agency that aids educational programs abroad, has received $30,000 in contributions - without doing any sort of outreach or advertising. Want to help? Visit www.karamfoundation.org.
New House Republican Leader chief of staff
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs has named Andrew Freiheit of Wheaton as his new chief of staff. He replaces Scott Reimers of Springfield, who is leaving to pursue a lobbying career.
Selfie:
It was a madhouse here Wednesday afternoon, but I had the chance to meet Mike Bolt, known as “keeper of the Cup.” He works for the Hockey Hall of Fame and travels with the cup wherever it goes. “Best relationship I've had in 16 years,” he told me.