— Ya gotta have friends: The Chicago Housing Authority awarded a $23,000 P.R. contract to an outfit called North Star Communications. Hmmmmm. Isn`t it true that two of North Star`s principals are Mayor Harold Washington`s former press secretary, Grayson Mitchell, and Helene Colvin Wallace, hizzoner`s former commissioner of women`s affairs? Just asking.
— That Ald. Marion Volini (48th), a member of the mayor`s bloc, may become the woman of the glower. Will she get smart, refuse to join either side in the Chicago City Council and become a floater wielding tie-breaking power? Or will she join a new coalition: The Richard Daley bloc? Stay tuned.
— Scratch a published report that it`s against the law for Ald. Gerald McLaughlin (45th), a police officer on a leave of absence, to get his sergeant`s promotion until he returns full time. Former Ald. Ivan Rittenberg, who was a police lieutenant, was promoted to captain while on the city council. So there. McLaughlin claims acting Corporation Counsel Judson Miner made him an offer he`s gonna refuse: his sergeant`s stripes for switching to the mayor`s bloc. Naughty. Naughty.
THE VRDOLYAK MATTER . . .
— Pick a plan. Any plan. INC. hears a top Dem leader (helloooooo, U.S. Rep. Bill Lipinski) is summoning Dem committeemen to a Saturday summit to seek Cook County Dem chairman Ed Vrdolyak`s resignation. ”Bill feels the only way to win the mayoral election is to get Eddie out and forge a united front to get everybody behind one candidate,” said a top Dem source. The candidate?
Simple. Either Jane Byrne or Rich Daley. Oh, wowowowow!!!! Ald. Dick Mell
(33d) is hustling for Byrne, and he tells pals he`s got Lipinski, a Daley ally, in his corner! Stay tuned.
— INC. is told Mayor Washington may be chortling over Vrdolyak`s demise, but he is also praying that Eddie maintains the top Dem spot. Hizzoner needs a lightning rod, folks. And Vrdolyak is it.
— Contrary to published reports, Ald. Bill Banks (36th) is not defecting to the Washington camp. ”I never said at any time that I would break with Vrdolyak or defect from the majority camp,” Banks told INC. ”I totally support the policies and principles of the former majority. I am diametrically opposed to Washington and his principles. I know this sounds strong and heavy- handed. If the mayor supported an issue that was germane to the 36th Ward, I would vote along with him. But that`s nothing new. I`ve done that before.”
SCHOOL DAZE . . .
Rumors that Roosevelt University is thisclose to signing a deal to buy shuttered George Williams College in Downers Grove are ”totally unfounded,” according to Roosevelt President Rolf A. Weil. Philip Harper, the acting president of George Williams, says, ”We have been negotiating with several institutions for some time, but it could be quite a while before any decision is made.”
STAR TRACKS . . .
Pick a story, any story: Poplar Creek says Dolly Parton canceled her July 25 show there. Dolly`s manager, Jim Morey, tells INC. that contracts were never signed, so there never was a show. . . . INC. hears Bill (”Dynasty”)
Campbell and Virginia (”Mussolini”) Madsen have split. . . . ”Saturday Night Live” host for May 10 will be Morgan Fairchild; ”musical guest host” is Paul Simon. Zzzzzzz. . . . Because INC. hasn`t exactly been the headquarters of the Mr. T Fan Club, it seems only fair to report a nice story about the guy. At the U.S. marshal`s auction this week, he offered $20,000 to buy Muhammad Ali`s World Boxing Association championship rings from a suburban furniture dealer who had purchased them for $8,000. Ali sold the rings when times were tough, and `T` wanted to get them back for him. But the furniture guy, an Ali fan from way back, wouldn`t sell–even to Mr. T. Now that`s a fan. THAT`S ENTERTAINMENT . . .
Those-Dennises-Are-So-Hard-To-Tell-Apart Department: Dennis Franz is in
”Hill Street Blues” and will be in Tribune TV commercials, as INC. reported Thursday. But it`s Dennis Farina, not Franz, who stars in Michael Mann`s ”Crime Story,” now filming here. Sorry, Dennis. Sorry, Dennis. . . . Dennis MacIntyre (amazing how INC. groups items together, eh?) missed the opening of his ”Split Second” at Victory Gardens in March because he was working on the screenplay. But he`ll finally get into town to see the play Saturday–the day before it closes.
INC.LINGS . . .
That Amnesty International concert featuring U2 and Sting at the Rosemont Horizon has been confirmed for June 13. . . . One-day-late birthday greetings to Donna ”The Fox” Boggs, 39. Friday birthdays: Dr. Benjamin Spock, 83;
Theodore Bikel, 62; Guy Chipparoni, 28. . . . Saturday birthdays: Engelbert Humperdinck, 50; Pete Seeger, 67; Sugar Ray Robinson, 66. . . . Saturday`s CAST (Chicagoland Advocates for Signed Theater) Workshop at De Paul University will be filmed for ”Deaf Mosaic,” which is aired here on WTTW-TV. . . . NBC- TV correspondent Linda Ellerbee will be keynote speaker at the Midwest Women`s Center`s 10th anniversary dinner in the Chicago Hilton and Towers June 16. . . . The manager of a Downers Grove fast-food store reported to police that someone slipped the store a bogus $20 bill that carried Jesse Jackson`s picture instead of Andrew Jackson`s. Crimestopper Tip Of The Month: Jesse`s the one with the mustache.
