Today’s newspaper column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Chicago’s history of heists is a rich one

The WISCH LIST

Jan. 28, 2012

From “Ocean’s Eleven” to “Inception,” “The Usual Suspects” to “The Italian Job,” and “The Sting” to, heck, “The Great Muppet Caper,” I’ve always been fascinated by a good heist story.

That’s why last week, I read with interest about the Chicago media’s recounting of the tale of reputed Windy City mobsters Joseph Scalise and Arthur Rachel, who in 1980 donned disguises to rob the legendary egg-shaped Marlborough Diamond from a London jewelry store.

After an astute passerby recorded the license plate of their rental car, Scalise and Rachel were arrested hours later when they stepped off their plane at O’Hare International Airport. For the crime, both men did 13 years in a British prison, although the 45-carat Marlborough Diamond – valued at $960,000 at the time of the theft – remains missing to this day.

Last week, Scalise and Rachel, both 73, were facing federal charges for having planned strong-armed robberies and home invasions as recently as 2010 when they were arrested outside the Bridgeport home of deceased mobster Angelo “The Hook” Pietra. Scalise accepted a deal to plead guilty, while Rachel opted to for a bench trial. On Thursday, he was found guilty by a judge.

As home to John Dillinger, Chicago of course is no stranger to high-profile heists. But its legacy of robbery goes well beyond “Public Enemy No. 1,” and today I thought I’d share a few things about Windy City thievery that you might not know about.

Chief of Thieves

One of Chicago’s most notorious robbers was William A. Hanhardt, who pleaded guilty in 2001 to charges of leading a nationwide ring of thieves that stole nearly $4.85 million worth of jewels.

The interesting thing about Hanhardt, who was just released from prison on Jan. 13, is he once headed the Chicago Police Department’s burglary unit and used police computers to track jewelry salesmen for his heists.

The banks are open

During my stint as a Chicago Tribune Metro reporter from 2005 to 2007, I spent my many a Saturday night at the Tribune Tower keeping tabs on murder and mayhem in the Windy City.

Much of that mayhem involved bank robberies, which peaked in 2006 with a whopping 284 in the Chicago area. Since then, the numbers have decreased dramatically. In 2011, there were 112 bank robberies in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will counties, down from 181 the year before.

“It’s a significant decrease, and it’s interesting to note we had over 200 a year for four or five consecutive years,” said Ross Rice, spokesman for the FBI’s Chicago office, who recently attributed the drop to a 70 percent arrest rate, heavy media coverage and technological advancements, including the FBI’s three-year-old website bandittrackerchicago.com.

What’s in a name?

Perhaps the quirkiest thing about Chicago-area robbers is the nicknames bestowed upon them by the authorities.

In recent years, there’s been the “Swine Flu Bandit” (for his surgical mask), the “Quick-Change Bandit” (for his second set of clothes) and the “Double Dip Bandit” (who would rob the same bank twice).

There’s been the “Wicker Park Bandit” (for his neighborhood of choice), the “Tire Iron Bandit” (for his weapon of choice) and the “Winnie the Pooh Bandit” (for his sweatshirt of choice), as well as the “Stick Figure Bandit” (for his slim build), the “Polite Bandit” (who apologized while robbing) and the “Wheaton Bandit” (who was never caught after stealing $100,000 from 16 suburban banks from 2002 to 2006).

One robber who wasn’t nicknamed was whomever pried open a huge steel door at a West Side beauty salon last April and, according to police, ran off with a “very valuable” amount of human hair.

But I have a suggestion: the “Head Bandit.”

This weekend’s newspaper column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Taking a few more swings at Hall of Fame voting

The WISCH LIST

Jan. 21, 2012

Last weekend in downtown Chicago, the Cubs Convention passed for the second straight year without Ron Santo in attendance. Come this summer in upstate New York, Major League Baseball’s annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will do the same.

Even though No. 10 is finally in its lineup.

Last month, I got riled up after Santo – the longtime Cubs third baseman, WGN radio announcer and Cooperstown pariah – was voted in to the Hall of Fame almost a year to the day after he had passed away at the age of 70.

If he’s good enough now, I asked, then why wasn’t he before?

Today, I’m riled up again because last week former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin was voted into the HOF Class of 2012, where his living self will join Santo’s ghost in Cooperstown this July.

The reason for my irritation is that Larkin, a player whose career numbers (.295 average, 198 home runs, 960 RBI) are no more impressive than Santo’s (.277, 342, 1,343), had to wait a mere three years to be voted in to the Hall after he became eligible. Santo, on the other hand, had to wait a lifetime to have his ticket punched.

Quite literally.

And that makes no sense.

In fact, there’s no sense to the entire Hall of Fame voting process, which in large part inducted Larkin because he was in the right place at the right time. In other words, he was eligible during a year when there were really no other worthy candidates up for vote.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that the Hall of Fame is under pressure to induct at least one recently retired player every year, whether it’s truly merited or not. After all, the show must go on.

That fact creates a bizarre inequity in HOF induction as players simply don’t become more eligible after spending multiple years on the ballot. For example, it’s not as if Santo’s statistics improved after his death. They were the same numbers he had when he first became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 1979. Nothing has changed except for his death.

As I wrote last month, I think there should be first-ballot Hall of Famers (the true elites) and then Hall of Famers, who should then be voted in during their second year of eligibility. If a player doesn’t earn the required 75 percent of the vote by his second year on the ballot, he should fall off it. If that had happened with Santo’s HOF bid, so be it. At least it’s logical, standardized and fair.

Instead, though, voters undergo this silly practice of making some borderline players (such as Andre Dawson) “bide their time” while others (such as Larkin) are voted in quickly because, well, somebody had to get in this year.

A friend of mine actually proposed the idea that players should only be eligible for Hall of Fame induction once. If they earn 75 percent of the vote in their year of eligibility, they’re inducted, he said. If they earn better than 90 percent, they’re then placed in the Hall’s “Elite Wing.”

At first, that sounded like a pretty good idea to me. That is, until I realized that undisputable “elites” such as Joe DiMaggio (89.16 percent), Mickey Mantle (88.22) and Sandy Koufax (86.87) are among those who didn’t earn 90 percent of the Hall of Fame vote, while questionable “elites” Jim Palmer (92.57), Ozzie Smith (91.74) and Roberto Alomar (90.1) are among those who did.

Like I said, Hall of Fame voting makes no sense.

In fact, I’d say it’s a bust.

From the Saturday, Jan. 14, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Chicago’s Chinatown celebrates its first century

The WISCH LIST

Jan. 14, 2012

The drive from downtown Ottawa to the corner of Cermak Road and Archer Avenue on Chicago’s South Side is a distance of only 82 miles.

But by making that trip, you’ll find yourself an entire world away.

Home to the heart of Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood, the area centered surrounding the intersections of Cermak, Archer and Wentworth Avenue is one of the oldest Chinese settlements in America.

Old enough, in fact, that Chicago’s Chinatown celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, making now as good as time as any to visit one of the most distinct areas in all of Chicago.

That’s just what I did this past Sunday, as I made my first ever trip to Chinatown Square to sample the area’s unique culture and, of course, taste its cuisine. Today, in recognition of Chinatown’s 100th birthday, I thought I’d let you know a bit about the neighborhood.

The history

In 1912, the Republic of China was formed, putting an end to China’s last dynasty – the Qing – and more than 2,000 years of imperial rule.
That same year in Chicago’s Armour Square neighborhood, Chinatown was officially founded, providing a permanent settlement for the Chinese residents who began arriving in the city in 1869 when the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed.

By the 1920s, Chicago’s Chinatown leaders decided that a Chinese-style building should be built to provide a strong visual announcement of their new presence in the area. But, with no Chinese-born architects in Chicago at the time, the community turned to a pair of Chicago-born Norse architects who studied texts on Chinese architecture.

In the spring of 1926, construction of the new On Leong Merchants Association Building was completed with the Norsemen’s final design an example of Orientalism, considered to be a Western architect’s interpretation of Chinese architectural forms.

Today, the neighborhood’s anchor and most recognizable feature is Chinatown Square, a two-level mall built in the late 1980s along Archer Avenue and consisting of restaurants, beauty salons and various business offices.

The cuisine

It was Chinatown Square that my girlfriend and I visited on Sunday for lunch at Cai (2100 S. Archer Ave.), one of the area’s newest and most popular restaurants.

After accidentally entering the dining room through a back door (note: don’t do that, use the mall entrance), we were seated and ordered an array of dim sum dishes from an American-friendly picture menu.

The entrees were bite-sized, but big ones, as the shrimp and pork dumplings, sticky rice and chicken wrapped in lotus leaves, short ribs, bean crepe-wrapped pork and seafood soup was far too much food, but still cost only $42 for two people. And we departed with leftovers – delicious ones.

The travel tips

Beyond its restaurants, of which they are many, Chinatown Square’s atmosphere simply differs a great deal from anywhere else in Chicago. It’s like taking a trip overseas in your car, and the experience of exploring Chinatown’s shops and bakeries and admiring its sculptures is certainly worth a visit.

Getting there is easy. From the southwest, simply take the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) to the Cermak Rd. exit and head west to the Chinatown Gate.
Metered street parking is plentiful during the week, but on weekends you may need to use a pay lot. One across from Three Happiness Restaurant (2130 S. Wentworth Ave.) costs only $2 for three hours with validation from participating restaurants. Another lot at Wentworth and 24th Street does not offer validation, but is still relatively inexpensive.

Chinatown can also easily be accessed via the CTA Red Line at the Cermak-Chinatown stop.

This weekend’s newspaper column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

Start the New Year off right in Chicago

The WISCH LIST

Jan. 7, 2012

The holidays are over (according to the Gregorian calendar) and the end of the world is nigh (according to the Mayan one).

But in between now and Dec. 21 – the day when the Mayan calendar runs out of, well, days – there’s still plenty going on, especially up in Chicago.

Now, I wouldn’t say I’m particularly concerned about Armageddon arriving this December – no matter what the might have crunched down in ancient Mexico – but I suppose you might still want to live it up a bit in 2012.

You know, just in case.

And if you do, here are a few fun ways to start the New Year right in the Windy City this month. You can thank me later that none include watching a John Cusack disaster flick.

Skate in the sky

This past Tuesday afternoon while walking through the Loop, I stared with amusement as a man strolled past me while carrying an ice cream cone in each hand.

It was 23 degrees at the time.

I suppose the cones didn’t melt, at least.

So far this winter, Chicago’s mild temperatures – which returned again on Wednesday – have pleased most city-dwellers, except perhaps those wanting to ice skate. On Jan. 1, however, a remedy for the warm weather arrived when the John Hancock Observatory opened its “Skating in the Sky” for a second season.

Through April 8, visitors to the Hancock Center’s 94th floor can skate on a synthetic indoor rink perched more than 1,000 feet above Michigan Avenue. Billed as the “highest skating rink in the world,” the venue offers unobstructed views of Lake Michigan and the city. A 25-minute skating session costs $5, on top Hancock’s general $15 admission for ages 12 and up and $10 for ages 3 to 11. Skate rental is available for $1. For hours and additional information, Visit jhochicago.com.

Or skate at Wrigley

For years, Carlos Zambrano skated on thin ice at Wrigley Field. Now that he’s finally gone, if you’d like to imitate him by doing the same – on thicker ice – the Rink at Wrigley Field is again open through Feb. 26. But, please, leave the water coolers in peace.

Located at Clark and Waveland, the rink costs $5 for adults and $3 for children on weekdays and $10 for adults and $6 for children on Friday, Saturdays and Sundays. Skate rental is available. For hours and additional information, visit cubs.com.

Live high-brow

At one million square feet, the Art Institute of Chicago (111 S. Michigan Ave.) is the second largest art museum in the U.S. behind only the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

And from now through Feb. 10, it’s free for all Illinois residents to explore it on weekdays. That’s a savings of up to $18 per visitor, so if your resolution was to class things up in 2012, there’s probably no better time to get started than during the next month. For more information, visit artic.edu.

Or laugh low-brow

If high art isn’t your thing, then perhaps silly humor is.

If so, Chicago has it for you this month.

The 11th annual Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival is the nation’s largest and runs Jan. 5-15 at Stage 773 at 1225 W. Belmont Ave.

The festival began in 2000 with 33 sketch groups and now features 138, selected from 250 local, national and international entrants by a panel of judges. Last year, 10,000 fans from around the globe attended the eight days of shtick in the heart of Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. To purchase tickets and get additional information, visit chicagosketchfest.com.