– Turning up the heat: Black legislators in Springfield, led by State Sen. Howard Brookins (D., Chicago), will blast U.S. Sen. Paul Simon (D., Ill.) Thursday for insisting on following the wish of Illinois voters-rather than bowing to political pressure-by keeping his presidential delegates rather than tossing them to their candidate, Jesse Jackson. Brookins chairs Jackson`s Illinois campaign.
– And let the games begin on Simon`s campaign for re-election to the U.S. Senate, too. Chicago business executive Leon Davis, an old chum of Jackson`s from his Operation Breadbasket and early Operation PUSH days, will challenge Simon in the Democratic primary. Davis tells INC. that black community leaders are rallying around his candidacy because they feel Simon is ”obstructing justice” by hanging on to his delegates. Davis says he`ll ”walk the state,” a la former Gov. Dan Walker, to garner Downstate support. He`ll need to: He twice lost bids to become a congressman from the 2d District.
CITY HALL LOWDOWN . . .
– Vanity, thy name is Orr? Ald. David Orr (49th) pestered Mayor Gene Sawyer until the mayor, faced with Orr`s constant whining, gave in. So, very soon, the portrait of former Interim Mayor David Orr-or the Weeklong Mayor-will be hung in the gallery of all Chicago mayors on City Hall`s 5th floor walls. Orr`s mug will be nestled twixt the pix of Mayor Harold Washington and Sawyer.
– Aldermanic gadfly Robert Shaw of the 9th Ward has kicked up another brouhaha with a proposal to make Washington`s April 15 birthday a city holiday. Already, city workers get 13 holidays, 12 sick days and 10 days of vacation after two years. ”If we give them a day off in memory of every mayor in the history of Chicago, they won`t have to show up at City Hall except to pick up their paychecks,” said Ald. Edward Burke (14th). But Ald. Roman Pucinski (41st), father of Aurelia, who won the Democratic primary for Circuit Court clerk with major help from the black community, is already predicting the measure will pass the council`s Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, which he chairs, as early as Thursday. Meanwhile, Ald. Fred Roti (1st) is threatening to amend Shaw`s measure to make the late Mayor Richard Daley`s b- day a holiday, too. And-surprise-Ald. Pucinski thinks that it`s fine to court voters` favor that way, too.
STAR TRACKS . . .
Following a poolside lunch at L.A.`s Sunset Marquis Hotel, heavy metal rocker (and Daddy to three toddlers) Ozzy Osbourne headed back to his room, followed by his wife and what appeared to be Grandma, carrying a giant-sized package of Huggies diapers. . . . Broadcaster-turned-builder Art Linkletter, 75, now heads up Linkletter Construction, which builds the darndest things:
those self-storage facilities.
THE GANG`S ALL HERE . . .
LOS ANGELES-Several members of the Guardian Angels were arrested outside the offices of Orion Pictures Tuesday when they demonstrated against the movie ”Colors,” using the same signs and props they`d used the night before in a similar demonstration at the Academy Awards. The movie, starring Sean Penn and Robert Duvall as Los Angeles police officers in an area of heavy gang activity, will be released Friday. . . . A Los Angeles Police Department detective picking up some off-duty work as a black-tie security officer at Monday`s Academy Awards told INC. that ”sweeps of gang-infested areas,” in which hundreds of suspected gang members are hauled off the streets, are just one aspect of the department`s new policy to ”eliminate gangs at any cost.” HITTING TOWN . . .
– Education Secretary William Bennett will hit Springfield April 27 to address a joint session of the General Assembly. Bennett, you`ll recall, is not that fond of Chicago schools, and his remarks will likely influence Republican and Downstate legislators on the issue of school reform.
– White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker hits Chicago Thursday afternoon for a private tete-a-tete with Republican state party leaders Al Jourdan and James Wolfe. The subject: the state`s role in campaign funding for the upcoming presidential race.
INC.LINGS . . .
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Some dough for those forking it over to Uncle Sam: The first 500 of the last-minute federal income tax filers will get a free loaf of Gonnella bread when they drop off their tax returns at the Main Post Office, 433 W. Van Buren St., on Friday between 9:30 p.m. and midnight. . . . Thursday birthdays: Noah Jackson, 37; Loretta Lynn, 53; Bradford Dillman, 58; Julie Christie, 47; Rod Steiger, 63. . . . Mayor Eugene Sawyer and Harry Caray will combine their singing talents for a duet of ”Take Me Out to the Ball Game” Friday at Harry Caray`s Restaurant after the Cubs` opener. . . . WGCI`s LaDonna Tittle will be playing the lead in ”Ma Rainey`s Black Bottom” on Sundays at the Truman College Theatre.