Chicago Metra Train Updates via Twitter

Since we have so many Chicago readers, I wanted to pass along a free service that provides Metra train updates via Twitter.

You can read all about it and sign up at Tony Zale's site.

Anybody who has ever worked downtown in Chicago and waited for a Metra train will love this service which provides updates on train delays directly to your mobile phone.

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Brother of Mob Boss to Testify Against U.S. Marshal

For months, Michael Marcello passed along key information about a top mob snitch during his 2003 prison visits to his half-brother, James "Little Jimmy" Marcello -- the Chicago Outfit's top boss.

The details about the key witness, mob killer Nicholas Calabrese, were allegedly coming from the man assigned to protect Calabrese from the mobsters who wanted him dead -- deputy U.S. Marshal John Ambrose.

Now, in a stunning reversal, Michael Marcello, once his imprisoned half-brother's eyes and ears on the street, will testify against Ambrose next month, a prosecution filing shows.

Ambrose is charged with leaking important information about Nick Calabrese to the Outfit. Marcello could provide key testimony about how the information allegedly made its way from Ambrose to Ambrose's friend with Outfit connections to reputed mobster John "Pudgy" Matassa to Michael Marcello to James Marcello. Matassa has not been charged in the case.

Michael Marcello pleaded guilty in the Family Secrets case in June 2007, admitting he ran an illegal video-poker business. He didn't agree to cooperate then and got 8½ years in prison.

It's unclear what prompted the turnaround. Prosecutors would not comment, and an attorney for Marcello did not return a message. Such cooperation often results in less prison time.

Prosecutors secretly recorded Michael Marcello's conversations when he visited James Marcello in prison.

The Marcellos were intent on finding out what Nick Calabrese had revealed about James Marcello's involvement in the 1986 killings of mobsters Anthony and Michael Spilotro.

James Marcello drove the Spilotros to a Bensenville area home, where the two men believed they were going to get promotions in the mob, according to testimony in the Family Secrets case. Instead, several mobsters, including Nick Calabrese, pounced on them and beat them to death.

Thanks to Steve Warmbir

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Chicago Glitterati to Host Fund-Raiser for Former Union Boss with Reputed Mob Ties

Sneed of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Former union boss Bill Hogan is going to get some help paying staggering legal bills from a federal legal battle.

• To wit: A host of Chicago glitterati are planning a fund-raiser March 24 at O'Brien's restaurant, which will be headlined by actor James Belushi and former Chicago Bear Richard Dent and be hosted by -- amongst others -- William Marovitz, Jimmy Piersall, Lucy Salenger, Jerry Roper, Arny Granat, Marvin Zonis, Steve Lombardo, Phil Stefani, Grant DePorter, Teddy Ratner, Father John Smyth, Christie Hefner and retired union leader Tom Fitzgibbon.
• Background: Hogan, who was expelled in 2002 and banned from associating with Teamsters, is battling contempt charges for continuing to speak to Teamster members. He claims his freedom of speech has been violated

That's an impressive list of Chicago establishment types coming to the aid of a someone who has ties to the Chicago Mob. Here's more from the Chicago Sun-Times of January 10, 2005:

• the reputed mob associates who have belonged to Local 714, such as Hogan pal Nick Boscarino, Bill Hogan Jr. attended a 2001 private party in Las Vegas held by Rick Rizzolo, a Las Vegas strip club owner who may have ties to organized crime figures, and Rocco Lombardo, whom the FBI identifies as a Chicago gangster, documents show.
• In an interview this past fall, Hogan acknowledged visiting that restaurant but not for a private party with those men, whom he said he doesn't know.
• The Teamsters' investigative squad urged a government-sanctioned group called the Independent Review Board to investigate further and decide if another "trusteeship" is warranted.

Would you want to hand Card Check to these guys?

Thanks to Steve Bartin

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