Sinatra to Get His Own Stamp

Ol' Blue Eyes will get his own postage stamp next spring.

The stamp commemorating Frank Sinatra was announced Wednesday by Postmaster General John Potter, who called the crooner "an extraordinary entertainer whose life and work left an indelible impression on American culture."

"His recordings, concert performances and film work place him among America's top artists, and his legendary gift for transforming popular song into art is a rare feat that few have been able to replicate," Potter said.

The stamp image will be unveiled next Wednesday — Sinatra's birthday — at a ceremony in Beverly Hills, Calif.

While the stamp will be for first-class mail, the rate has not been announced. Currently the letter rate is 41 cents but the postal governing board is thought likely to raise the price next year.

Under new rules a hike in the letter rate would be limited to the rate of inflation, probably to 42 cents if it does go up in the spring.

During his career Sinatra won an Oscar, several Grammy awards and was recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983. President Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985.

He was born in Hoboken, N.J. in 1915 and died in 1998. The Hoboken Post Office was renamed in his honor in 2002.

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La Cosa Nostra Not Playing Well in the South

Mike Huckabee pulled close to Rudy Giuliani in the national GOP presidential polls Sunday. He regales crowds with very funny Hillary jokes and Jesus jokes. Rudy has plenty of great material too, but Mafia jokes have a limited appeal in South Carolina

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Secret Golf Dome Tapes

A businessman, contending he got muscled out of his suburban golf dome and lost millions of dollars, secretly recorded the mayor of Bridgeview once and the mayor's right-hand man several times, and has testified before a federal grand jury as part of an FBI investigation into the allegations.

Fresh details of the FBI investigation into Bridgeview Mayor Steven Landek and the circumstances surrounding businessman John LaFlamboy losing his golf dome are revealed in a recent court filing that's part of a civil lawsuit LaFlamboy brought in federal court.

The filing reveals LaFlamboy secretly recorded Landek once for the FBI in July 2000 and recorded the mayor's assistant, Steven Reynolds, about six times in 2003 or 2004. The hulking Reynolds died in March in Phoenix, Ariz., after mixing alcohol with prescription medication.

LaFlamboy also revealed in a deposition he gave in October that he testified before a federal grand jury investigating his allegations. No one has been charged in the investigation.

LaFlamboy sued Landek, Reynolds and others in federal court in 2005, contending he was harassed and threatened into selling his share of the World Golf Dome. Village officials wanted to use the site to lure a professional soccer team to town.

LaFlamboy contends he lost millions of dollars and says one of the men threatening him was former Chicago Police Officer Fred Pascente, who was banned from Las Vegas casinos in 1999 for alleged connections to the Chicago mob.

Now, the defendants in the lawsuit want the judge to order the FBI to turn over a copy of the secret recordings LaFlamboy made, so they can hear what's on the tapes. The FBI has opposed releasing the recordings.

"We motioned for the tapes held by the government, because we are confident they will help further vindicate our clients in this case," said Ed Burke, an attorney for the Village of Bridgeview. "We are not afraid of the truth."

Landek did not return phone messages requesting comment.

LaFlamboy's lawyer, Michael Ettinger, said he, too, is eager for the tapes to be released and is confident in his client's case. LaFlamboy says in his deposition the mayor acknowledges on tape that he received money characterized as a bribe in the lawsuit, according to a source familiar with his deposition.

"We welcome the release of the tapes," said Ettinger.

Thanks to Steve Warmbir

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