Rahm Emanuel leads confirmed Biden nominees in late-night logjam break

Ex-Obama chief of staff will go to Japan after deal for vote on Russia pipeline sanctions ends Republican Senate resistance

The former Obama White House chief of staff and Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel was among more than 30 ambassadors and other Biden nominees confirmed by the Senate early on Saturday.

The Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, broke a Republican-stoked logjam by agreeing to schedule a vote on sanctions on the company behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will deliver natural gas from Russia to Germany.

Continue reading...

Biden confirms plan to nominate Rahm Emanuel as ambassador to Japan

• Obama’s former chief of staff also served as Chicago mayor

• Emanuel joins long list of ambassadors awaiting confirmation

Joe Biden plans to nominate Rahm Emanuel, a former US lawmaker who served as chief of staff to President Barack Obama and as mayor of Chicago, to be ambassador to Japan, the White House said in a statement on Friday.

White House officials lauded Emanuel’s experience and long years of public service in announcing the nomination.

Continue reading...

Biden’s political appointments for ambassador posts rile career diplomats

Progressives had hoped for fewer Biden allies, more foreign service professionals

Joe Biden is sticking to tradition as he slowly fills the vacancies in the ranks of ambassadors across the world, focussing on mixing longtime career diplomatic officials with figures with strong ties to himself and the Democratic party.

Among Biden’s expected picks is Caroline Kennedy, former US ambassador to Japan, daughter of the former president, and longtime Biden friend, ally and donor, to be ambassador to Australia. He has picked the Los Angeles mayor, Eric Garcetti, who was a prominent Biden surrogate on the presidential campaign trail, to be ambassador to India, despite a relative lack of foreign policy experience. And the president is also widely expected to name the former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel ambassador to Japan.

Continue reading...

Chicago police: 2 officers die after being struck by train

Police investigate the scene where two officers were killed after they were struck by a South Shore train near 103rd Street and Dauphin Avenue on Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, in Chicago. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi posted on Twitter that the "devastating tragedy" occurred when the officers were investigating a shots-fired call.

Chance the Rapper isn’t running for Chicago mayor after all, but he still drove for Lyft

Instead, he held a news conference at City Hall Tuesday to endorse Amara Enyia in the 2019 race to replace Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The Grammy Award-winning artist, whose real name is Chancelor Bennett, raised hopes on Monday when he tweeted a photo of a media advisory: "Chance the Rapper to hold press conference regarding Chicago mayoral election," with an additional comment from Chance: "City Hall pull up."

Kanye and Trump talk Chicago, stop-and-frisk, Gangster Disciples,…

Declaring that his red "MAGA" hat makes him "feel like Superman," rapper Kanye West made a free-styling appearance in the Oval Office on Thursday. Ahead of a private lunch, President Donald Trump and West spoke with reporters as they sat across from each other at the Resolute Desk.

Latest: Legal expert: Van Dyke could get 6 years in prison

The Latest on the murder trial of white Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke in the shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald : One legal expert says a white Chicago police officer is likely looking at less than 10 years in prison for killing a black teenager rather than decades because jurors opted to convict him of second-degree murder and not first-degree murder. Steve Greenberg has defended clients at more than 100 murder trials.

Jury in murder trial of Chicago policeman to begin second day of deliberations

A second day of deliberations will begin on Friday in the murder trial of a white Chicago police officer who killed a black teenager in 2014 in a hail of bullets, a case that has put the city's large African-American community on edge. Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke watches the prosecution's closing statements during his trial for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., October 4, 2018.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Library Announce the…

A new public art fund will also be established as part of the sale of Kerry James Marshall's Knowledge & Wonder which currently hangs in the Legler branch Mayor Rahm Emanuel today joined Chicago Public Library Commissioner Brian Bannon and Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Commissioner Mark Kelly at the Legler Branch Library, located at 115 S. Pulaski, to announce its transformation into a regional library for the west side. The first-ever public art fund will also be established to support public art projects in underserved communities.

Mayor Emanuel Announces Solar Energy Developments for City-Owned Vacant Land

The City is seeking Solar Developers to design, install, own, operate and maintain ground-mounted solar panels on large parcels of underutilized City-owned vacant land. Mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced the Chicago Solar-Ground Mount initiative, a multi-site solar energy development project for city-owned vacant lands.

Public hearings set on Chicago police reforms

Two public hearings have been announced for late October, at which people can comment on a proposed consent decree that will govern reforms of the Chicago Police Department. Both hearings -- Oct. 24 and Oct. 25 -- will be in the John B. Parsons Ceremonial Courtroom on the 25th floor of the Dirksen Federal Building, 219 S. Dearborn St., Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office announced Wednesday.

, Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Archdiocese…

The Office of Emergency Management and Communications , Chicago Public Schools and the Archdiocese of Chicago today announced the city's first Crossing Guard of the Year Award in recognition of the important role crossing guards play in helping Chicago children and families travel to and from school safely. During a ceremony at the Alexander Graham School in Canaryville, OEMC, CPS and the Archdiocese of Chicago recognized Maredith Robertson with the first-ever Crossing Guard of the Year Award for her work in the 2017-2018 school year.

Seeking justice for Laquan McDonald, without relying on prisons

"This week, the landmark trial of officer Jason Van Dyke began in Chicago, raising critical questions about what justice for police killings can-and will-ultimately look like. In October 2014, Van Dyke lethally shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times, an act that was recorded by the police department's own dash cam.

Blame-game rages after gun violence in Chicago kills nearly a dozen people

At least 11 people were shot to death and about 70 wounded in a weekend burst of violence in Chicago that instantly became a political issue when President Donald Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, blamed the carnage on longtime Democratic rule in the city. Police on Monday attributed the dozens of shootings to gangs, the illegal flow of guns and sweltering August heat that drew more people outside.

11 dead, nearly 70 wounded in weekend violence in Chicago

In this Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018 photo, two women cry outside the Stroger Hospital in Chicago, after they were asked to leave due to overwhelming crowds of family and friends of shooting victims. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson plans to discuss the weekend violence during a Monday news conference.

At least 72 shot, 13 killed in Chicago over violent summer weekend,…

CHICAGO At least 72 people were shot, including 12 fatally, over the weekend in Chicago, another eruption of violence in a city that has struggled with murders and shootings in recent years even as the national homicide rate hovers near historic lows. Police investigated a 13th murder the slaying of 32-year-old woman who was found dead around 9 p.m. Sunday in a bathtub with her hands and feet bound.