From F.O.P. Lodge 7: Cops on west side take on fire

Two Chicago police officers escaped injury this morning when a gunman opened fire on them in the Homan Square neighborhood on the city's West Side.

At about 1 a.m., the officers were patrolling the 3300 block of West Flournoy Street -- just a few blocks from the Harrison District police station -- when the shots were fired in their direction, police said, citing early reports.

The shots didn't strike the officers, who weren't able to return fire to the fleeing gunman. The shooting prompted a large police response, summoning flashlight-carrying officers who searched bushes as a law enforcement helicopter, armed with a search light, circled overhead.

Police were talking to at least three "people of interest," but it was unclear whether they were bystanders of suspects.

Officers from the same district were fired upon in March.

No brains, No Nuts, anti gun gun retard Pat Quinn will reallocate 73 million for kids

Governor Quinn said he has found a way to keep child care funding from being cut in Illinois.

Quinn's announcement comes just a week after his office told more than 40,000 child care providers that there wasn't state funding for them any more.

But he now said the state will re-allocate about $73 million in unused funds from the state budget to pay for the services.

Chicago and other cities keep camera's after Cali takes them down

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- It's the final chapter for L.A.'s red-light cameras: Starting Saturday, Los Angeles police will no longer have access to photos captured by the cameras.

While red-light cameras at 32 Los Angeles intersections have been taken down and the program is now defunct, those drivers who received citations before July 31, 2011, are still responsible for paying the fines.
Photos of drivers who never paid their tickets have been stored on a database, but as of Saturday, the Los Angeles Police Department will no longer have a contract with the vendor of the cameras or access to the data. Officers won't be able to contest tickets in court, but the citations will remain in the court system.
"Those records are maintained in court and if they get another citation or come in contact with the court, they will then have to adjudicate and resolve the matter at that time," said L.A. City Councilman Dennis Zine.
Zine was in favor of ending the red-light program because the city was ordered to by the U.S. Sepreme Court.
"The bottom line is we have officers who cite. They see a violation, they issue a citation, whether the officer is on a motorcycle or a car, we're back to conventional enforcement," Zine said. "So for all intents and purposes in the city of Los Angeles, that program is dead."
Red-light cameras will still be present along Metro rail lines. Those cameras will be operated by Metro and are intended to catch drivers making illegal turns in front of buses or trains.
If you have not paid a red-light-camera citation, you can still renew your driver's license and vehicle registration.

Hotdog lady by day stripper by evening hooker by night gets locked up

Catherine Scalia appeared before a Nassau County judge Tuesday and pleaded guilty but she says she did nothing except sell hot dogs and strip.

"Why should I get arrested for prostitution if I'm going to show my cleavage in a bikini and sell hot dogs?" she said to reporters.

Scalia, 45, was all smiles when she spoke just minutes after she was released from Nassau County jail. Scalia yelled at reporters and made obscene gestures to cameras as she walked out.

"Sexy and I know it," she proclaimed.

Scalia spoke after pleading guilty to prostitution charges and was sentenced to seven days behind bars.

She was also ordered to complete a psychiatric evaluation.

"I'm not pleading guilty to being a prostitute. I'm pleading guilty to being a stripper," she said. "A stripper and a prostitute are two different things."

"The penal law says you're making an offer of sexual conduct or sexual acts in exchange for currency," said Nassau County Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Kelly. "That's the charge here, and that's what she pled guilty to as a matter of fact."

Authorities say Scalia sold hot dogs out of this trailer and offered sex acts to customers on the side at her East Rockaway home.

"I gave my business card to an undercover officer. He called me up and said 'you want to come to my house,' he came to mine," she said. "I start doing my dance. The next thing you know, the cuffs were on me, I was charged with prostitution."

As it turns out, Scalia was also arrested on prostitution charges eight years ago. Still, she said she plans to keep selling hot dogs -- and stripping.

"Come to the hot dog truck tomorrow, I'll have a bikini on, a nice hot pink one," she said. "And we'll take pictures in the hot dog truck."

Scalia's next court date is June 18, 2012. The judge told her if she fails to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before then she could face up to 60 days behind bars.

NYPD caught sex offender and asked for autograph

Former New York Yankees player Rosendo 'Rusty' Torres, 63, is accused of sexual abusing an eight year old girl on Long Island.

Torres was arrested at his home in Massapequa on Tuesday.

The alleged sex abuse occurred twice inside a van used to conduct baseball clinics in Oyster Bay, according to police.

Torres is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on four misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse.

Torres started playing with the Yankees in 1971 and went on to play with four other teams before retiring in 1980.

Lakeview Shooting

Two men were shot and seriously wounded while sitting in a tow truck at a gas station in the Lakeview neighborhood on the North Side, authorities said.

The shooting occurred at about 3:40 a.m. in the 3600 block of North Ashland Avenue, police said, citing early reports. Both victims were in the truck of a private towing truck company when shots rang out, officials said.

One of the wounded men fled to a bar across the street, authorities said, citing preliminary reports. Someone there called 911 and the men were taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in serious to critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

The owner of the gas station said the victims got into an argument with another man. "They were there and some other guy came in," said Joey Skariah. "They were fighting."

Skariah said someone broke a windshield, and then shots rang out.

A bartender across the street said he thought the shots were firecrackers. "It's shocking," said Ron Walker. I saw a guy running toward the bar and I called 911."

Authorities didn't have a description of the gunman.

Bronzeville Shooting this animal is getting around

A shooting in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side this morning left one man seriously wounded.

The shooting occurred at 6:15 a.m. in the 400 block of East 46th Street, according to Officer Robert Perez, a police spokesman. The victim, a man in his 20s, was shot several times, the officer said.

Firefighters respond to 12 trash bin fires in 4 hours on North Side

Chicago firefighters were called to the scene of a dozen separate trash bin fires in the North Center and Lakeview neighborhoods on the North Side this morning.

No injuries were reported in the fires, which occurred across the two neighborhoods between 11 p.m. Tuesday and 2:50 a.m. today, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

Several of the fires were within a block or two of one another. A Fire Department spokesman said it appeared someone had set the fires and department's Office of Fire Investigation was called in.

A police spokesman said Bomb and Arson detectives were also investigating.

THE HUNT IS ON FOR WILDEBEAST

West Side man was killed during a street robbery Tuesday night less than a mile from his home, Chicago police said today.
Charges were pending against two men arrested the same night, authorities said.

The victim was identified as Akeem J. Morris, of the 4200 block of West Jackson Boulevard, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Morris was with five other people walking in the 4000 block of West End Avenue in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, when they were approached by three men at about 6:40 p.m., said Officer Robert Perez, a police spokesman.

One of the men pulled a handgun and announced the robbery, while the two other men attempted to get cash and items from the victims, Perez said.

Police believe Morris was shot in the face when he resisted, Perez said. No other injuries were reported as the three robbers fled in a vehicle.

Morris was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, a medical examiner's spokeswoman said. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Officers arrested two men in the area of the shooting and were searching for a third. No charges had yet been filed, Perez said.