Sneed: Reccord tapes protesters burning a small American flag

Sly as a Foxx . . .

For the Reccord: Lamon Reccord — known on social media as the “Staredown Protester” at downtown rallies against State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez and Mayor Rahm Emanuel — is a campaign worker for Alvarez challenger Kim Foxx.

• Click! Click! Reccord, who has become known for his face-to-face encounters with cops during downtown protests, has worked for the Foxx campaign since September 2015.

• Burn! Burn! In his most recent public display on Tuesday, Reccord was part of a group that crashed an Apple Store rally on Michigan Avenue in order to hijack some news coverage for their Laquan McDonald shooting tirade — and he was spotted videotaping a group of police protesters burning a small American flag.

Breathe.

In or out?

Sneed hears rumbles that the City Corporation Counsel’s Office may be in for a major shake-up.

Is Stephen Patton, a highly respected lawyer, still sitting on a land mine since being given a tenuous vote of confidence by Rahm Emanuel after Senior Corporation Counsel Jordan Marsh resigned due to evidence concealed in a police shooting trial?

Is Emanuel now listening to outside counsel?

Is everyone walking on eggshells?

Ka-ching . . .

No “yes” or “nyet” yet — from Donald Trump.

But Ted Cruz has signaled he is cruisin’ to the annual Illinois Governor’s Dinner on March 11 at the Palmer House.

• $$$ Ai! The big shot two-table ticket for the big bopper gubernatorial grub-fest costs $40,000 smackers.

Death, Inc. . . .

Homicides aren’t rising only in the city this year. They are also going up in suburban Cook County.

• To wit: Sneed has learned that the Cook County Medical Examiner Office’s new 2016 homicide stats through Feb. 23 show there were 115 total homicides in the city and suburbs. By the same time last year, there were 62 homicides.

• Breakdown: In 2016, there were 95 homicides in Chicago from Jan. 1 to Feb. 23, and 20 in suburban Cook County.

• Breakdown: In 2015, there were 47 homicides in Chicago from Jan. 1 to Feb. 23, and 15 in suburban Cook County.

• Bang! Bang! “In 2015, gun-related deaths were tabbed at 52; in 2016, gun related deaths were 96 . . . nearly double from the year before,” said a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office.

Peete’s place . . .

Watch for actress Holly “Chicago Fire” Peete to hit town next Monday to promote her new OWN network TV series “For Peete’s Sake” — as well as pitch a new book authored by Peete, who is married to former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete — and her twin sons, Ryan and RJ. The book, titled “Same But Different,” which is being released by Scholastic next month, highlights shared experiences by the twin teens who live with autism.

The DePaul stall . . .

Pssst! Sneed is told that Gov. Bruce Rauner has requested a private meeting Tuesday with DePaul University’s president, the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, who stunningly found a way to override Rauner’s veto of a bill funding tuition grants for financially strapped students.

• To wit: DePaul is paying the $20 million tuition costs for 4,500 students out of its own pocket.

“It’s too bad the kids became the chips in this poker game,” Holtschneider tells Sneed.

“We are using the money we had hoped to reinvest at the end of the year, but it is the students who must always come first,” he added.

“I’d been unsuccessfully trying to meet with the governor about this matter, but now he wants to meet. I just hope he understands this is only a temporary fix — and that 80 percent of our students stay in Chicago; build lives here; and become an important piece of the map of Chicago.”

I spy . . .

Actress Kate Hudson, in town promoting her book “Pretty Happy,” spotted dining at Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse on Rush last Sunday night and requesting her favorite Chicago waiter, Muhammed Sekhani. . . . “Empire” star Grace Gealey seen at Gibsons last Thursday afternoon for lunch.

Sneedlings . . .

Congratulations to Colin and Amanda Hall on the birth of their son Miles Warren Hall, born in London last Sunday. His fabulous grandmother, Joan Hall, is beyond adjectives. . . . Watch for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White to honor broadcast legend Harry “Someone You Should Know” Porterfield on Thursday at the James R. Thompson Center. . . . Kudos to Greg Baise, a Sneed fave, celebrating 25 years as president of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. . . . Today’s birthdays: Joakim Noah, 31; Carrot Top, 51, and Chelsea Handler, 41. . . . And a special birthday shoutout to P.J. O’Dea, 90!!!