Does Sen. Paul Simon (D., Ill.) plan to give it a go for the presidency?
Is that why he flew to Africa and Russia over the 4th of July weekend while the senior senator from Illinois, Alan Dixon, also a Democrat, flew home?
Looks as though Simon high-tailed it abroad to study the refugee problem and drought areas in Senegal and Mauritania because he`s making some fast tracks. The Big Race will be here before you know it.
Who`s paying the bills?
Who will pay the Vrdolyak bloc`s legal bills if its members continue to fight the city`s remapping of the 15th, 25th, 26th, 31st and 37th Wards? Now that a federal court has decreed that the city corporation counsel is the lawyer for the Chicago City Council, the 29 aldermen aligned with Ald. Ed Vrdolyak (10th) can no longer expect the city to pay for attorney William Harte to represent them. Thus far, Harte has been paid with city funds, and INC. hears that his fees, together with ”expert witness” fees, might total $1 million. There is also legal precedent supporting the position that if the 29 aldermen lose in court again–they`ve already lost three times–they could be responsible for the legal fees of the minorities asking for the remap. And that could be another million bucks! All five aldermen affected by the remap are members of the Vrdolyak majority. A resolution to designate Harte as the legal representative for the Vrdolyak group has been tabled until August.
Cityscrapes . . .
Scratch rumors that Ald. Richard Mell (33d), the vice mayor, was changing the locks at City Hall while Mayor Harold Washington was flying to Israel Tuesday. Ernest Barefield, the mayor`s chief of staff, was very definitely in charge. . . . Among a raft of mayoral appointments Tuesday, Washington slipped in the name of Slim Coleman for reappointment to a two-year term on the advisory panel of the Chicago Health Systems Agency. Remember Slim? Remember his tantrum when Ald. Ed Vrdolyak (10th) blasted him at a city council meeting last month? . . . The forces against lights at Wrigley Field got a big boost and Washington may have tipped his hand when he named Nancy Kaszak, an attorney and big gun in CUBS (Chicagoans United for Baseball in Sunshine), to the Chicago Commission on Historical and Architectural Landmarks. Does that mean Wrigley Field will be named a landmark? . . . INC. hears a special emergency session of the Chicago Public Library Board will be held Thursday morning to discuss selection of the new library commissioner.
Nudity notes . . .
Dueling Bozos: The race was on Wednesday between Penthouse`s Bob Guccione and Playboy`s Hugh Hefner to see which publisher would be first to prove that Madonna is not a natural blonde. Even though the August issues of both magazines had been on the stands just over a week, greed ruled over common sense and the September issues reached Chas. Levy Circulating Co., the Chicago distributor, Wednesday morning and hit the streets in the afternoon. INC. tip: If you`re looking for outrageousness, save yourself the $7.50 it`ll cost to buy both magazines. The black-and-white solo shots are kindergarten stuff compared with Vanessa Williams`. . . . The North Avenue Beach irregulars will be on hand Saturday to see whether the gorgeous blond who has done her sunbathing topless the last two weekends shows up again. So far, nobody has complained, especially the guys with cameras.
Small-screen trade . . .
Even heroes have heroes. It was hard to tell who was happier to meet whom when two former hostages, Trans World Airlines Capt. John Testrake and First Officer Philip Maresca, met Joe Namath outside the ”Good Morning America”
set Wednesday. Namath had gone around to the side entrance to meet them, and they jumped out of their limo when they saw him. . . . Talk about typecasting: George Hamilton will play a continuing role this season on ”Dynasty.”
. . . Barbara Walters is in Monaco interviewing Princess Caroline for her Sept. 10 special. . . . The ”New Coke vs. Old Coke” segment scheduled for Thursday`s ”20/20” on ABC-TV, including results of national taste tests, suffered a severe case of bad timing Wednesday when Coca-Cola announced that the company is bringing back ”classic” Coke. . . . Peter Strong and Carmen Thomas, newlyweds Bob and Hillary of ABC-TV`s ”All My Children,” will appear Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. at Carson Pirie Scott & Co.`s new Level Six shop. Hostage postscripts . . .
You look marvelous: When the hostages arrived in West Germany from Lebanon, hostage spokesman Allyn Conwell was the only one who got off the plane wearing shined shoes. . . . Rev. Bill McDonnell of Algonquin delivered the prayer at Monday`s U.S. Senate session, even though he`d left his notes in a car at the airport. The notes were retrieved and dictated to someone in Sen. Alan Dixon`s office. Rev. McDonnell`s message included a prayer for ”another group of hostages”: his former captors in Lebanon.
INC.lings . . .
Tickets go on sale Friday for Paul Young`s Aug. 28 show at Poplar Creek, and tickets for Aug. 23 show by Wham! at Poplar Creek should go pretty fast when they go on sale Monday. . . . ”Cheeseburgers: The Best of Bob Greene,” to be published this fall by Atheneum, has just been selected by the Book-of- the-Month Club. . . . A special showing of ”Streetwise,” the acclaimed film about homeless children in Seattle, will be shown Thursday night at the Fine Arts Theatre to honor the work of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. . . . Thursday birthdays: Tab Hunter, 54, and Yul Brynner, 65. . . . Trading places: Bill Morris, who worked for Waukegan`s WKRS and WXLC radio stations in the late `60s before becoming a state senator, the two-term mayor of Waukegan and then the ex-mayor of Waukegan, is returning to the station as host of the daily ”Talkback” show. He`ll replace David Kohn, who`s leaving to become press secretary to U.S. Rep. John Porter (R., Ill.). . . . It got so hot in the big glass State of Illinois Center Wednesday that the State Board of Education closed its offices ”due to the intense heat in the building, leading to potential health risks.”
