Rahmstoppers Face Off With Rahm at Hearing

Witness: Emanuel's renter wanted $100K to move out
CHICAGO (AP) - A hearing over residency challenges to Rahm Emanuel's mayoral bid grinded on Thursday with a witness testifying that Emanuel's tenant wanted $100,000 to move out of his Chicago house when the former White House Chief of Staff came back to run for the city's top job. Paul Levy, a friend of Emanuel's who has advised him on Real Estate matters, said he reached out to businessman Rob Halpin and his family about breaking their lease early so Emanuel could move back into his home after...

Rahm's crawlspace: Center of the Board of Elections hearing
Day two of Rahm Emanuel ’s Board of Election’s residency hearing turned into a debate about what is and what isn’t in Emanuel’s basement.  Laurie Halpin , wife of Robert Halpin who momentarily ran for Chicago mayor and temporarily refuses to move out of Emanuel’s House which he has been leasing on Hermitage Avenue, challenged Testimony given the day before by Emanuel.  On Tuesday, Emanuel spoke of family treasures being stored in the basement of which Lau...

Emanuels Chicago residency hearing enters 3rd day
CHICAGO (AP) — Attorneys for former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel are focused on showing that he always planned to come back to Chicago after he finished working for President Barack Obama. A Chicago Board of Election Commissioners hearing on residency challenges to Emanuel’s mayoral bid enters its third day Thursday with more witnesses expected to testify. More than two dozen opponents say he doesn’t have a legal right to run because he lived for nearly two years in ...

Were Emanuels tenant demands for $100K related to residency case?
* The plot thickens… The Real Estate manager who helped Rahm Emanuel buy his North Side home testified in a residency hearing today that Emanuel’s renters wanted $100,000 to end their lease early when he returned to Chicago this fall to run for mayor. […] Levy said he passed the $100,000 figure to Emanuel, who called it “ridiculous.” The counter offer was $5,000 a month for every month early the Halpins left, Levy said. The lease is set to expire in mid-2011. * An...

Obama agenda: Aloha?
President Obama will delay his annual trip to his birth state of Hawaii in order to sign the tax bill. The New York Times’s Leonhardt notes that Conservatives’ political attacks against the health-care law are similar to the Conservatives’ (unsuccessful) crusades against Medicare, Social Security, and other expansions of the safety net. "Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s former Chief of Staff, testified yesterday about his wife’s Wedding Dress, family China, and car...

Rahm Emanueuls Chicago residency still open to dabate
Attorneys for former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel are focused on showing that he always planned to come back to Chicago after he finished working for President Barack Obama. A Chicago Board of Election Commissioners hearing on residency challenges to Emanuel’s mayoral bid enters its third day Thursday with more witnesses expected to testify. More than two dozen opponents say he doesn’t have a legal right to run because he lived for nearly two years in Washington. Wednesday...

Renter Testifies at Emanuel's Residency Hearing
(Chicago) — A friend of Chicago mayoral hopeful Rahm Emanuel's wife testified Wednesday that she helped pack away their family heirlooms and other mementos for storage before Emanuel moved to Washington to become President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff. Mee Kim-Chavez spoke at a Chicago Board of Election Commissioners hearing on residency challenges to Emanuel's bid for the city's top job. She said she helped Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, store 20 to 30 boxes in a crawl space under a home add...

At Issue in Emanuel Hearing: Boxes in Basement
Chicago — The contents of Rahm Emanuel’s basement took center stage on Wednesday in an election board hearing to determine whether he can run for mayor. A tenant who is renting Mr. Emanuel’s home here told a hearing officer that she had never seen any of the boxes Mr. Emanuel said he stored in the basement when he left for Washington to work as President Obama’s Chief of Staff. The tenant, Lori Halpin, testified during the second day of hearings over whether Mr. Emanuel meets the

Renter Testifies at Emanuel's Residency Hearing
(Chicago) — A friend of Chicago mayoral hopeful Rahm Emanuel's wife testified Wednesday that she helped pack away their family heirlooms and other mementos for storage before Emanuel moved to Washington to become President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff. Mee Kim-Chavez spoke at a Chicago Board of Election Commissioners hearing on residency challenges to Emanuel's bid for the city's top job. She said she helped Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, store 20 to 30 boxes in a crawl space under a home add...

Rahm Emanuel Residency Hearing Turns Circus-Like
Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. (Credit: AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) Ordinary Chicago citizens questioned Mayoral Candidate Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday -- but some of their questions were far from ordinary. At a daylong hearing before the Chicago Board of Elections, Emanuel answered questions on everything from the first name of the current mayor to his familiarity with the phrase, "smiling like a butcher's dog." The hearing was part of an inquiry into whether President Obama's fo...

Chicago hearing: Does Rahm Emanuel qualify to run for mayor?
Rahm Emanuel faced questions Tuesday on whether he has been a Chicago resident - a requirement for a mayoral run. Mr. Emanuel served as White House Chief of Staff until October....

Rahm Emanuel's Residency Hearing: Day Three To Focus On Plan To Return From Washington
Chicago — Attorneys for former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel are focused on showing that he always planned to come back to Chicago after he finished working for President Barack Obama. A Chicago Board of Election Commissioners hearing on residency challenges to Emanuel's mayoral bid enters its third day Thursday with more witnesses expected to testify. More than two dozen opponents say he doesn't have a legal right to run because he lived for nearly two years in Washington. Wed...

Emanuel testifies in Chicago residency hearing (AP)
Chicago – Rahm Emanuel, who left a powerful job with President Barack Obama at the White House to move back to Chicago and run for mayor, endured nearly 12 hours of questioning Tuesday from everyone from attorneys to a woman named Queen Sister — all intent on keeping his name off the ballot. Testifying before a Chicago election board official during a hearing that was sometimes funny, contentious and downright strange, Emanuel defended himself against claims by opponents who say he...

Where are Rahm Emanuel's Boxes?
CHICAGO -- Taking center stage at the Chicago Board of Elections hearing Wednesday was Lori Halpin, the woman who currently rents Rahm Emanuel's North Side home with her husband Rob. In the second day of hearings to determine whether the former White House Chief of Staff meets the residency requirements to run for mayor, Lori Halpin recounted the phone call she received in September informing her Rahm Emanuel planned to return to Chicago to run for mayor and wanted to move back into his house. A...

Emanuel's wife won't have to be at Chicago hearing
Chicago — An election official says Rahm Emanuel's wife won't have to testify at a hearing over challenges to the former White House Chief of Staff's Chicago residency. Chicago Board of Election Commissioners hearing officer Joseph Morris said Monday there's no information Amy Rule can provide that those trying to prevent Emanuel from running for Mayor of Chicago can't get from Emanuel himself. Emanuel is set to testify at the Tuesday hearing.. The key question is whether Emanuel is inel...

What's in Emanuel's basement?
The fight over Rahm Emanuel's eligibility to run for mayor turned into a debate Wednesday over what's in the basement of his Chicago home. On day two of a rambling hearing into claims that Emanuel doesn't meet the one-year residency rule for Candidates, Testimony focused on his contention that his family left prized possessions stored in their North Side house when they went to Washington for his job as President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff. Emanuel's attorneys argue that that shows he intend...

Live from the Rahm Residency Hearing
Rahm Emanuel at yesterday’s hearing. Chicago — During the eleven-plus-hour hearing yesterday to establish Rahm Emanuel’s residency in the city of Chicago—an old state law requires that Illinois Candidates must have lived here for one year prior to campaigning—the former White House chief-of-staff sat humbly at a desk in the crowded, badly lit basement of 69 West Washington Street. Wearing a subdued tie and a modest blue jacket, he appeared more bookish functionary t...

Woman renting Rahm Emanuel's home to testify at residency hearing in his Chicago mayoral bid
Chicago (AP) — A woman who rented Rahm Emanuel's house after he became President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff is scheduled to testify at a hearing about whether his name should be on the ballot in the race for Chicago mayor. Emanuel endured nearly 12 hours of questioning Tuesday from attorneys and Chicago residents who say he's not eligible to run for mayor. The challengers say he does not meet the requirement that Candidates live in the city a full year before the election because he mo...

Chicago magazine - A Look at Joseph Morris, the Hearing Officer in the Rahm Emanuel Residency Challenge
Joseph Morris Rahm Emanuel took the stand this morning in a hearing to determine whether he meets the residency requirements to run for mayor, given that he has been living in D.C. for the last two years. The hearings, held at the Loop offices of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, have been something of a spectacle, with crowds of objectors swarming the tiny basement conference room, shouting “indict Rahm”—or worse. Presiding over the three-ring circus has been hearin...

Chicago Mayoral Candidate: Only Blacks Should Be Considered Minorities
Don't you just love it when the mask drops and these Racists expose themselves for all to see?Mayoral challenger James Meeks came under fire Thursday for suggesting that only African-Americans should be eligible for city contracts set aside for Minorities and women. Meeks made the statement on Wednesday during an interview on WVON Radio. It happened during a discussion of why African-American businesses got a 7 percent sliver of Chicago’s $1 billion spending pie through Aug. 31, down from 8 ...

Is Upton looking to clean House energy staff?
Incoming House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton may be doing some house cleaning. The Michigan Republican on Monday asked Republican committee staff to submit their resumes if they’d like to stay on, according to a House GOP aide. The deadline was Tuesday. It’s not unusual for incoming chairmen to replace top committee aides with their own Staffers, but some policy experts and lower-level aides are often kept on for their institutional knowledge. But it’s u...

Hearing focuses on items at Emanuel's Chicago home (AP)
Chicago – The second day of a hearing into whether Rahm Emanuel has the legal right to run for Chicago mayor focused Wednesday on the family items he says were left behind in his basement when he went to Washington to become President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff. The woman renting Emanuel's house testified at the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners hearing that she had not seen treasured items Emanuel said were left in the basement. But Mee Kim-Chavez, a friend of Emanuel's wife, A...

Disturbance at Northwest Side High School leads to arrests, injuries
One person was hospitalized in fair-to-serious condition and "multiple arrests" are being made after a disturbance at a High School on the Northwest Side, officials said. The incident was reported at about 1:03 p.m. today at Foreman High School, 3235 N. Leclaire Avenue, officials said. Officials said the an altercation broke out between Students at the school and lead to 10 people being arrested, said Chicago Public Schools Spokeswoman Monique Bond. A Chicago Police Officer received minor injur...

Charity Begins at Home, and Sometimes Stays There
Serving as an umbrella organization for 39 national and local Advocacy Groups for women of African descent both in the U.S. and abroad, the National Council of Negro Women coordinates its activities with partners in 34 states. The Council also runs four research and policy centers in its efforts to develop best practices in addressing the health, educational, and economic needs of African-American women. Unfortunately, all of these centers take a lot of resources to run, and with administrative ...

Goring oxen
* Whenever a legislature tries to do some sort of budgetary or policy reform, somebody’s ox is gonna get gored. And sometimes, that certain somebody is a powerful interest group. For instance, the Illinois Hospital Association testified this week against lowering the rates paid for doctor visits for Workers Compensation patients… Barb Malloy, consultant and former workers’ compensation administrator for the city of Chicago, said that medical fees employers pay for injured work