Running with Rauner . . .
Sneed is told that Tuesday was a busy day in the governor’s office complex at the state Capitol.
It was being swept for bugs.
Not the type that crawl or scurry in a hurry.
OPINION
It’s apparently standard operating procedure — if the enemy was in there the day before.
Aren’t politics grand?
Running with Rauner II . . .
Duct tape & bailing wire: Sneed has learned that Gov. Bruce Rauner and his wife, Diana, who moved into the ancient pile known as the executive mansion earlier this week — will work with the Illinois Executive Mansion Association, chaired by former GOP Gov. Jim Thompson — in redoing the dilapidated governor’s digs, which includes installing a new roof and an elevator that works.
The Rauners’ decor preference is typically sleek and modern.
Sneed bets Thompson, who is a collector of everything Abraham Lincoln and loves antiques — and who was unable to attend Rauner’s inauguration because of a bad back — will lend a wee bit of advice on restoring the dark and dilapidated Lincoln bedroom.
Word is Dave Bourland, who was hired as the mansion’s curator when Thompson was governor and has had little funds to work with since then, is moving on.
Running with Rauner III . . .
Pot pssst! The convivial meeting of Rauner, decked out in khaki slacks and no tie — and the formally dressed “four tops” (House Speaker Michael Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin and Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno) earlier this week — did result in one dramatic request: Cullerton pitched a shot for the urgent production of medical marijuana.
In & out . . .
Whodathunk? While former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. continues to await his September release from federal prison in Montgomery, Alabama, his successor, Rep. Robin Kelly, has just been tapped to serve on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which deals with terrorism.
The police blotter . . .
Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, who got married on New Year’s Eve to Chicago attorney Kristin Barnette, just returned from his honeymoon in Mexico on Tuesday night.
The police blotter II . . .
Top cop McCarthy returned in time to bid farewell to a guy considered a “rock star cop,” former Englewood Police Cmdr. Leo Schmitz, who will soon become the state’s new top cop, replacing Hiram Grau — a Sneed scoop last week.
• Backstory: Sneed is told that Schmitz is the only person in CPD history who ran a police district while working as a deputy police superintendent — a promotion delayed for a while when McCarthy dispatched him to head the troubled Englewood police district.
“Schmitz, a cop for nearly 30 years, is a guy who leads from the front,” said a police brass source. “He didn’t just wait for reports, he was out there at 2 a.m. in the morning answering radio calls. Gov. Rauner made a great pick.”
The police blotter III . . .
Watch for Ald. Michael Zalewski (23rd) to be the first out of the paddock to buy a 2015 “Horse of Honor,” which benefits the Chicago Police Memorial Fund.
• The tab: $3,500.
A history lesson . . .
Please note: CNN titan Wolf Blitzer, whose documentary, “Voices of Auschwitz,” airs Jan. 27 on the 70th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation, has a special connection to the camp.
• Translation: His paternal grandparents died there.
I spy . . .
Actor Kevin Costner, in town promoting the movie “Black or White,” dined at Gibsons Steakhouse on Rush last weekend . . . Ditto actor, producer and director Mario Van Peebles, in town directing Fox’s new show, “Empire.” Mario’s famous father, Melvin Van Peebles, was born in Chicago.
Sneedlings . . .
Thursday’s birthdays: Pitbull, 34; James Nesbitt, 50, and Rachel Roy, 41.
