. . . And Longwinded Liz. Liz Hollander, who heads the city`s Department of Planning, must spend long hours in her city car planning this and that and whatever considering the $5,199 in car phone bills she`s stuck the taxpayers with since 1986. If Hollander had used that cash sticking quarters in a pay phone, she would have made 20,796 different calls. Of course, she would have had to leave the comfort of her city car, and we wouldn`t want that, would we? SECRET AGENDAS? . . .
So what`s behind Lu Palmer`s Black Independent Precinct Organization`s plan to run Illinois Appellate Court Justice R. Eugene ”Hang `Em” Pincham as an independent for Cook County state`s attorney? It`s no secret that Palmer doesn`t like State`s Atty. Rich Daley, or Mayor Harold Washington for that matter. And Palmer knows that even if Pincham grabs every black vote in the county, he can`t win because he`s unlikely to win wide support among whites given his controversial remarks in the last mayoral election. But Pincham could lure black votes away from Daley, and that would help the Republican candidate. And if that candidate were Ed Vrdolyak, not only would Daley be unhappy, but Washington would be growling, too. Simple, right?
MONEY BAGS . . .
State Republicans, who`ve been nearly flat broke, are tickled that Secretary of State Jim Edgar has saved them $25,000. Edgar lent the state party $50,000 last year-which it forked over to Bernie Carey, who lost his bid for Illinois attorney general. The party boys already paid Edgar back $15,000, with another $10,000 soon to be in the mail. This week, Edgar, in a burst of generosity, forgave the remaining $25,000 debt. And only a cynic would suggest it has anything to do with his political ambitions for the 1990 gubernatorial (or U.S. Senate) race.
DIGGING DEEP . . .
Gov. Jim Thompson should have invited Edgar to the Midwest Governors`
Conference in Galena this week. Conference attendees were charged $150 for three nights of socializing, and during Sunday`s event some bold fellows bullied Thompson into buying a round of drinks. Thompson obliged but turned a bit red when he learned what other party-goers had discovered hours earlier:
the $150 fee didn`t cover drinks. Thompson`s pockets were as empty as the state treasury on some days, so he summoned an aide to cover the tab.
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN` . . .
There was a big bonus last weekend for patrons at L.A.`s Comedy Store, where Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and Robin Williams all showed up to try out new material on the same night. . . . The papal commode: A 99-pound ”gas-combustible toilet” (which sounds extremely painful) arrived this week in California. The appliance, valued at $1,000 and flown in from Denmark, was to be delivered to the Carmel Mission to await Pope John Paul II`s arrival.
TELE-VISIONS . . .
Since Victoria Principal announced her departure from ”Dallas” about six months ago and her Pam character was bumped off in last season`s cliffhanger, Principal has been considering other TV projects. The first will be a five-hour minieries titled ”Cynthia.” . . . On Tuesday, WBBM Channel 2 ended its live coverage of Senate hearings on Robert Bork`s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court at 4 p.m., leaving the network before the hearing ended so that ”People`s Court” could start on time.
REEL NEWS . . .
The laws in Borneo regarding guns are a little on the strict side: Get caught with a gun and say hello to the death penalty. That`s why the producers of Nick Nolte`s ”Farewell to the King” had to cut through a lot of government red tape to bring in the hundreds of guns and explosives for filming of the World War II adventure, which is being shot in the Borneo jungles. But the cast and crew aren`t exactly roughing it; a call from a staffer on the set was made from a mobile phone, and everybody retires at the end of the day to the four-star Ku-Ching Holiday Inn, which has renamed its bar in honor of Nolte`s character. . . . Madonna`s ”Who`s That Girl,” which some people think was even more awful than ”Shanghai Surprise” (if that`s possible), will be released in a home video version just three months after its theatrical release-a new big-screen-to-small-screen record-which just incidentally is trying to make hay of Miss Madonna`s current tour.
INC.LINGS . . .
Democratic National Committee press secretary Terry Michael is leaving to head up communications for the presidential campaign of his old boss, Sen. Paul Simon (D., Ill.). . . . Thursday birthdays: WLUP`s Bobby Skafish, 34;
Anne Bancroft, 56. . . . The Hubbard Street Dance Company will appear on F Street in Washington, D.C., during the 1989 season; the company has been signed for an appearance at the Kennedy Center. . . . Tickets go on sale Friday for a second Los Lobos October show-on the 16th-at the Riviera. . . . Andre Dawson will succeed Michael Jordan and Ryne Sandberg as TV spokesman for the Chicagoland Chevrolet Dealers.
