Division Street

If you mess with the bull, you get the horns.

Especially if the bull is U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Carol Marin will lead a panel on today’s bombshell - and we’re still absorbing yesterday’s bombshell! - from the Tony Rezko trial on Chicago Tonight tonight.

“Oak Lawn trustees voted Tuesday night to employ the services of a lobbyist firm to help seek federal funding for village projects,” according to the suburban Reporter.

Why should you care if you don’t live in Oak Lawn?

Because this is also a story about U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, the controversial lllinois congressman from the Southwest Side. Or more to the point, Lipinski’s chief of staff. “Jerry Hurckes is his name,” Carol Marin wrote recently. “Chicago-style politics is his game.”

And, as Marin explained, Hurckes - an aspiring mayoral candidate - likes to be thought of as Oak Lawn’s go-to guy. Which explains the rest of the story:

“Trustees voted 5 to 1 to follow the recommendation of Oak Lawn village manager Larry Deetjen to hire Arlington, Va.-based Alcalde and Fay to represent the village in Washington, D.C. Trustee Jerry Hurckes (District 1) cast the lone dissenting vote.

“Hurckes insisted that U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-3, Western Springs) is working hard to bring Oak Lawn federal funds. Lobbyists are a waste of money when the village is already looking at a possible $600,000 deficit in this year’s budget, he added.”

Which may be true. But you shouldn’t just take Hurckes’ word for it.

She’s the bane of old-school alderman who say she “doesn’t have a clue” and the mayor calls her most recent actions “silly.” Is she an idiot, or is she fearlessly taking on the Machine? Find out tonight when federal hiring monitor Noelle Brennan is interviewed by Carol Marin on Chicago Tonight, 7 p.m., WTTW.

And after Brennan, a look at the top ten most endangered places in the state according to Landmark Illinois.

Chicago Tonight: They’re in my head!