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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Reporters ask Daley tough questions, and Desmond Tutu frowns on them |
| 2009-03-12 |
| Now that Mayor Richard Daley doesn't have South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu nearby to protect him from the questions of pesky reporters, I wonder what the mayor will say about Denise Alcantar's tummy ache. Alcantar, a loyal Daley political worker, testified in federal court on Wednesday that she filled out her city job application at a political meeting in a South Side biker bar and was soon hired as a garbage truck driver, though she'd never driven a heavy truck for pay in her life On Wednesday, Alcantar was dressed quite stylishly for federal court, in jeans and a bright orange city truck driver jacket over a bright orange city sweatshirt. "I've got a stomachache, oh my God," Alcantar said as she left the federal courtroom where she testified in the trial of Daley henchman and former city Streets and San boss Al Sanchez. .... ....Alcantar was driving her truck and crushed co-worker Earceen Alexander against a telephone pole in an alley, breaking her pelvis and causing lung damage. I watched Alcantar on the witness stand Wednesday, as she blamed everything on Alexander and said she fell. Alcantar even blamed Alexander for being obese. "She was overweight, she was 400 pounds," said Alcantar, who is about 5 foot 5 and pushing past 300 pounds. "She was too heavy, she didn't want to climb up into the truck. So she rode out on the side, and she slipped off the side and she got hurt." As a loyal Daley foot soldier, she'll keep her paycheck. If you have any doubts, just jingle the quarters in your pocket—all 28 of them—that you'll need to park downtown for a couple of hours. Later, reporters followed her into the elevator, and she said, "No comment, no comment, no comment." I asked whether she'd like to thank Daley for supporting Latinos who worked on his political campaigns. "Ugh! No comment," she said. She sounded like Daley, who didn't like reporters' questions about the Sanchez trial, or about free private jet trips he and his wife, Maggie, accepted from a nonprofit education group now under federal investigation. Archbishop Tutu, standing next to Daley, admonished reporters for daring to question our city's lord. "I just want to say—I can't believe this," said Tutu, adding that the education group is "an outstanding operation. ... I would hope that is what you would be wanting to concentrate on." Then Tutu mockingly absolved reporters of their sins against Daley. The mayor stood by, giggling, as he often does when demanding reporters kiss his tutu. Archbishop Tutu smiled as he blessed the press, but he should have saved a blessing for Earceen Alexander, the woman in the accident with the truck driven by Alcantar, the pro-Daley political worker hired with HDO influence without any professional truck driving experience. Alexander never returned to work after being crushed against the pole in 2003. She died last year, and Alcantar has a tummy ache. |
| Posted by:mom |
| #4 Does Medina realize he has all the qualifications and experience necessary to be POTUS one day? |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2009-03-12 13:21 |
| #3 Roberto Medina, a former city worker and HDO co-founder, testified Tuesday that HDO provided a route for Hispanics to gain city employment. On cross-examination by Sanchez's attorney, he grew emotional said he was not just a political soldier. "I'm a community activist," he said. "As a matter of fact, I don't even like politicians." |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-03-12 12:46 |
| #2 In a bright orange city sweat shirt, Alcantar, who is paid about $62,700 a year as a recycling truck driver, described how she first learned about public job openings from teammates at a softball league in Harrison Park. ...and she's got a lotta ballls calling anyone else fat. http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2009-03/45534497.jpg |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-03-12 12:37 |
| #1 A befitting Zapiro cartoon. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-03-12 12:28 |
