9/18/03 SUN-TIMES . . .

DISEASE CONTROL . . . Page 3: "Heartier" germs develop from overuse of anti-biotics, says headline. No. Hardier, i.e. more hardy = more likely to withstand nullification by medication. Heads are done by copy desk, I assume; copy deskers are supposed to know better. Tsk, tsk.

CORRUPTION CONTROL . . . Page 9:

1. Connected city employe holds two city jobs, Chicago-style. He is brother-in-law of late Ald. Fred Roti, who did federal time.

2. Cicero ex-cop sues ex-mayor, now doing Fed time, and ex-police supt. for trashing his reputation for cooperating with FBI re: attempt to frame opposition mayoral candidate. Ex-Chi Ald. Ed Vrdolyak, acting as lawyer for ex-mayor et al., who years ago with current Chi Ald. Ed Burke led war vs. Mayor Harold Washington, played key role in ex-cop's troubles, getting very angry with him about helping FBI, says suit.

3. Gov. Blago may close troubled-minor home Maryville off to wards of state, this the day after a Fed. investigation into Maryville is reported. Investig. has to do with falsifying records of lead-up to a ward's suicide.

Fran Spielman in on the first story, of course. She monitors Daley and his people very well. John Kass of Chi Trib also does this, and Chi Trib columnist Denny Byrne too. Should this sort of coverage not be a preoccupation of city desks?

REST OF STORY? . . . Meanwhile, the boyish and irrepressible Richard Roeper discusses the disappearing dog whose loss well nigh broke the heart of the owner couple. This is Roeper's contribution to covering corruption in the city and suburbs.

Left unexplained is how this apparently yuppie couple (white, at that?) has come to live in East Garfield Park. Nothing about how that happens. What's going on there?

DETAILS OF THE CASE . . . Page 13 has Chi cop testifying in wrongful-death suit, admitting he was out of line when he smashed rear driver's side window with a tire iron after he and other cops finally curbed the car after a chase on the Dan Ryan some time back. (He also poked inside with his gun, shooting the driver dead, without meaning to do it, he says.)

But the windows were tinted, which meant he could not see inside; so smashing them makes sense. Also: the driver had arrogantly sped away from a traffic stop. He was NU BMOC footballer and decided he did not have to obey the law. He did not deserve death but deserved something, it would seem.

MORE DETAILS: CITY IS FULL OF SAME . . . Page 18 has 18-year-old found guilty in 2001 cop killing in alley in Pilsen. Defense said he misstook the cop for a rival gangster. But other gangsters said a white (non-Hispanic) man in their neighborhood wearing a bullet-proof vest and a badge on his belt was obviously not one of them, Plus, the kid, then 16, kept plugging him as he lay there.

This Ambrose vs. La Raza. Defendant faces life in prison, having proven himself as a gangster. But in prison he will be one less threat to life on the street.

GET 'EM, ED, DOROTHY, DICK . . . 9/2, Sun-Times, Ald. Burke, Ald. Tillman, Mayor Daley hit reparations trail, another case of good govt. being good politics. See justice-seekers, govt. types ready to sock it to businesses for sake of votes.