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| Anita Alvarez |
AN OPEN LETTER: FROM COOK COUNTY STATE’S ATTORNEY
ANITA ALVAREZ:
“DearFriend:
I hope this e-mail finds you and your family well and enjoying the holiday
season!MANY of you have watched or read about the 60 Minutes story entitled “Chicago: The False Confession Capital”, which aired on December 9th. I have received a significant amount of negative feedback regarding my participation in that segment and the position those clips portray me as taking on the issue.
GIVEN the manner in which 60 Minutes chose to edit my interview, I am not surprised by the negative feedback. However, I want to address these gross misconceptions head-on and have submitted a letter to the president of CBS News to correct the record and to express my deep dissatisfaction with their segment.
CBS provided an inexcusably limited narrative of the case and excluded my most pertinent comments regarding the important and troubling topic of wrongful convictions in an apparent effort to provide their story with an antagonist. Their misrepresentation of the facts and my hour-long interview with them did a disservice to their audience and their journalistic credibility.
MAKE no mistake, I recognize that Cook County has a troubling history of false confessions and wrongful convictions and I will continue to implement solutions to ensure that they do not happen in the future.
ONLY four months ago, the Chicago Sun Times praised my office’s handling of wrongful conviction cases as "a model for justice" for the rest of the country. My commitment to using my office’s resources to seek justice in such cases remains steadfast. I invite you to verify what I have outlined in the letter yourself and to share the accurate facts with others.
Wishes and Happy Holidays”, /s/Anita Alvarez
For more information log on to www.AnitaAlvarez.com
A LETDOWN: I always believed Chicago was a city with a heart and a city that cared about its middle class. Today, I am disappointed with our great city—Chicago—as being heartless. Heartless because our City laid-off 300 city employees at O’Hare Airport, before Christmas! This is a sad situation for these are hard working middle class people with families and children during this holiday season.
CITY UNION WORKERS and their families don’t deserve
to be treated so badly. Our great city has created an unnecessary hardship for
them and without just cause, their livelihood and their Christmas spirit has
been taken from them.
FOR YEARS the Union workers, members of SEIU Local 1 who
include janitors and window washers, have been doing a great job keeping O’Hare airport clean. Most of the
workers are Latino, African-American and Polish with many years of service. Their
work at O’Hare airport has been exceptional. SEIU President Tom Balanoff said:
“It’s one of the cleanest airports in America.”
WHY
are these workers being laid off? The City is awarding the maintenance contract
to United Maintenance Company. Secretary Treasurer, Laura Garza, of SEIU Local
1, in her speech to members said: “They [United Maintenance] will slash the wages
and benefits of their workers.”
SEIU
WORKERS are urging Mayor Rahm Emanuel to reconsider his decision and rebid the
contract. Chicago has always been a city who cares about its middle class.
Let’s hope our Mayor keeps it that way.
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| Leonardo Gonzalez [Juan Diego], Lordes Covarrubias [Guadalupe], Johanna Godinez [servant], Christopher Negrete [Bishop], Laura Ramos [servant] |
CHRISTMAS
SHOW: St. Agnes of Bohemia Catholic
Church, 2643 S. Central Park Ave., celebrated Mass for Little Village senior citizens
at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012. During the Mass a reenactment of the apparition
Our Lady of Guadalupe was performed beautifully
by the young students of St. Agnes Elementary School. The seniors along with
fellow parishioners clapped with enjoyment after the performance.
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| Citlaly Ruiz [Mary] and Christopher Negrete [Joseph] |
AFTERWARD, 150 seniors were served brunch by the school children in the
school lunchroom. A free raffle and gifts were given to the seniors. Following
breakfast, parents, seniors and guests were invited to the school gym to see a
performance of the story of the Nativity scene and to hear the school children sing.
Along with “Silent Night” the little
children sang “Mamacita Yo Quiero Santa Claus” and the performance ended with
everyone in the room, students, parents, seniors and guests singing “Feliz Navidad, I want to wish you a
Merry Christmas.” It was a great event.
ALL OF the
423 school children from St. Agnes of Bohemia Elementary participated in the
Christmas play and performance. Kathleen Duffy, Principal of St. Agnes of
Bohemia Catholic School, has been the principal for the past two years. Ms
Duffy was a Middle School math teacher for four years before becoming the
principal at St. Agnes.
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| Kathleen Duffy |
ST. AGNES of Bohemia Elementary school is a Pre-K to 8th grade school. “It’s a Catholic school which we make affordable in order for all families to send their children here,” said Principal Duffy. Gabriella Fiscal, Development Director of St. Agnes, said, “The St. Agnes community values the sacrifice our parents make by sending their children to a Catholic school and we feel a tremendous pride in the elderly of our community. Our parents and elderly are why we are here, and this is a way to say ‘Thank you.’” Kudos to all the teachers, staff, parents and students for a spectacular holiday event.
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| Christmas Star Elizabeth Ortiz, Magi: Nicholas Camacho, Standing: [L] Emanuel Carrera & Everado Rodriguez |
METEOR:
Sophomore Juliana Tamayo [Little
Village] was named Meteor of the Month at De La Salle’s Lourdes Hall Campus for
Young Women, 3434 W. Michigan Ave., Chicago for the Month of November 2012.
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| Juliana Tamayo |
TAMAYO
EXCELS in her classroom at De La Salle, by sustaining a 4.636 GPA (grade-point
average) and ranking No. 5 in the 110-member Class of 2015 at the Lourdes Hall
Campus.
ADDITIONALLY,
to Tamayo academic excellence, she is involved in the Mock Trail program, REACH
Club, Science Club, Spanish Club and Book Club.
METEORS are nominated by faculty and staff highlighting students who are motivated and enthusiastic about the school’s Lasallian mission inside and outside of the classroom. They are students who stand out amongst their peers by having demonstrated one or more of the Lasallian Principles of Faith, Community, Service, Social Justice and/or Association.
DE
LA SALLE Institute is an independent Catholic secondary school rooted in the
tradition of Christian Education established by St. John Baptist de La Salle in
1889. Its mission has been to foster a desire for excellence in education. De
La Salle Lourdes Hall Campus principal is Diane Brown, De La Salle President is
Father Paul Novak, OSM. We congratulate Juliana on all of her accomplishments.
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| Ray Lopez & Patricia Brekke |
15th WARD: Raymond Lopez,15th Ward Democratic Committeeman, attended a Chicago
Public School [CPS] community meeting on Friday, December 13, 2012, to discuss
the newly-named Back of the Yards High School. The new high school will
serve Daley, Lara, Chavez, Hedges, Hamline and Seward elementary schools.
COMMITTEEMAN Lopez looks forward to
working with Principal Patricia Brekke and CPS in increasing neighborhood
awareness for the school.
MERRY CHRISTMAS