City Briefings: A sad week in Chicago with no justice for Tyshawn
Police plea for help to solve 9-year-old's murder
Flanked by community activists, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy stood at the end of the Gresham alley on Chicago's South Side where 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee was gunned down Monday and issued a plea for tips that will lead to an arrest in the child's death.
The boy was lured into a South Side alley and killed in a deadly tit-for-tat between rival gangs, said McCarthy, who singled out Tyshawn's father, Pierre Stokes, 25, as being unhelpful in the investigation.
McCarthy called the slaying "probably the most abhorrent, cowardly, unfathomable crime that I've witnessed in 35 years of policing." Standing alongside the Rev. Michael Pfleger, he said police need help from the community. The reward in the case stands at $35,000,
Emanuel defends taxi reform record
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he had consumer choice in mind when he rushed through rules that will allow ride-hailing services to cash in on the Thanksgiving travel rush while failing to deliver promised reforms to struggling cabdrivers.
During the heated election campaign that culminated in his runoff victory, Emanuel pushed through a "Taxi Fairness" ordinance aimed at putting more money in the pockets of struggling cabdrivers without raising fares.
The mayor subsequently gave cabdrivers a 15-percent fare increase as a consolation for losing their last bastion of exclusivity at Chicago airports.
Feds believe corrupt deal wasn't first
An FBI agent believed corrupt former Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett worked to "fraudulently steer" a $40 million contract to one of the country's biggest educational publishers while she worked for the Detroit schools, according to records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
The court documents also show federal law-enforcement authorities suspected two aides who later worked for CPS helped Byrd-Bennett to rig the bidding process in Detroit in favor of Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Byrd-Bennett pleaded guilty Oct. 13 to steering $23 million in CPS contracts for The SUPES Academy and Synesi Associates, two North suburban education-consulting companies that employed her before she became Mayor Rahm Emanuel's schools chief in 2012.
Spike Lee defends 'Chi-Raq' movie
Filmmaker Spike Lee fired back at critics of "Chi-Raq" who have been offended by his upcoming film about violence in Chicago.
"Some people are getting it twisted that this is a comedy," Lee said. "'Chi-Raq' is not comedy, it's a satire. … In no way shape or form are we making light of the lives that have been murdered with this senseless violence."
McCarthy recruits for police exam
In his pitch to recruit a diverse pool of applicants for an upcoming police entrance exam, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy's approach was equal parts practical and ideological.
"At the end of the day, it's a pretty-good-paying job with great benefits," McCarthy said. "Officers will start with a salary of $47,000 and after 18 months that will go to $72,000, and there's not a lot of places where you can get that in this environment right now, in this economy," he said, adding that health care for the whole family was included.
This week's City Briefing was collected in partnership with the Chicago Sun-Times. For complete versions of the items, check chicago.suntimes.com.