— Scotch those rumors that had the press scurrying around last week trying to check out reports that former mayoral aide Bill Walls watched a Chicago alderman lead FBI mole Michael Burnett a.k.a. Raymond into Mayor Washington`s office at City Hall last year, thereby disproving the mayor`s contention that he doesn`t remember meeting the mole. Walls called INC.
”That`s not true. I never met the mole . . . never even heard of him until reports surfaced in the paper,” he said. ”And I never, ever saw the mayor meet with him.”
— Scratch those broadcast reports that the city ordered 100 percent of its snow removal fleet on the streets by 3:30 p.m. Sunday during the heavy snowfall. ”Not true, not true!” bellowed a city Snow Command source. ”Snow Command doesn`t know what it`s doing! They called up 50 percent of the snow fleet at 1 p.m. and another 50 percent by 5:30 p.m. when the streets were already covered with snow and ice from the earlier ice storm,” the source said. ”Those streets weren`t cleaned until about 10 or 11 p.m.”
THE CITY MAUL . . .
— U.S. District Court Judge Prentice Marshall ended up doing doorman`s duty Monday at federal court. ”I ought to get additional pay because not only was today a federal holiday, but this morning for a half-hour I was doing guard`s duty admitting jurors into the building,” said Marshall. He was referring to the jurors who resumed deliberations in the extortion trial of Circuit Court Judge Reginald Holzer. Court guards usually let jurors in and out of the building, but weren`t on duty when the jurors showed up.
— Ald. Marty Oberman`s troops may be doing a huzzah over Mayor Washington`s endorsement of the 43d Ward alderman for the attorney general`s race, but Ald. Larry Bloom (5th) is still paying for such support. ”If Marty thinks he`s gonna make any money due to the mayor`s endorsement, he should ask Bloom about the the six-figure debt he incurred from his race against Cook County State`s Atty. Richard Daley,” said an INC. source. Isn`t it true that at a fundraiser for Bloom last month sponsored by the Washington folks, only a pittance was raised? The amount was almost too embarrassing to count. An Oberman source confirmed that big-buck pledges were contingent on a Washington endorsement. Who knows? Maybe Marty will raise the dough.
DUPLICATING EFFORTS?
Pick a concert, any concert, to benefit Vietnam vets. Several are in the works, but it remains to be seen which ones will occur.
— While several celebrities like Ann-Margret and Glenn Ford have endorsed next Monday`s scheduled Concert for Vietnam Vets at the Los Angeles Forum, the lineup at last check included Jon Voight, Peter Fonda and Rita Moreno, which may explain why fewer than 3,000 tickets have been sold. No official cancellation has been issued yet, but INC. hears it`s only a matter of time. Like minutes.
— Two Kansas University students reportedly are the driving force behind an April 26 concert to benefit the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Although a university source told INC. that Craig Krueger and Reggie Estell had been given permission to use the school`s 35,000-seat stadium, nobody seemed to know what they were going to do with it. Estell`s roommate said Reggie spent the weekend in Washington, D.C., and wasn`t back yet. Hey, lots of guys started this way.
— A Los Angeles producer is hoping to consolidate everybody`s efforts with a huge July 4 Welcome Home extravaganza at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Jim Vail tells INC. that People magazine cover girl, novelist and politically well-connected actress Patti Davis is among those supporting his project and that the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion have endorsed his concept for a concert featuring 10 or 12 of the acts that were hot during the Vietnam War (or are we still calling it a conflict?). Proceeds of Vail`s event would benefit the U.S.O. and the Vietnam Veterans Aid Foundation.
NO BIZ LIKE SHOW BIZ . . .
The Capital Cities clean-up: Several WLS-TV (Channel 7) employees have been laid off over the past few weeks, and INC. hears the ABC network`s new owners have only just begun. . . . Producer Diane Silver tells INC. that Matt Dillon has been added to the cast of her ”Native Son” film adaptation of the Richard Wright novel. . . . Oprah Winfrey update: She`ll make her first
”Tonight” show appearance with Johnny Carson Friday; film her scenes for
”Native Son” in Los Angeles just after the March 25 Academy Awards; and, if a few rather important details can be worked out, host ”Saturday Night Live” on April 12.
INC.LINGS . . .
Tuesday birthdays: Jack Palance, 66; John Travolta, 32; Ossie Davis, 69;
Helen Gurley Brown, 64; Yoko Ono, 53, George Kennedy, 60. . . . Bobby Short will appear in two March 14 shows at Bill Allen`s Gold Star Sardine Bar, 666 N. Lake Shore Dr. P.S. Watch for word that Allen will open the Billy Club just down the hall from the GSSB.
SOUR GRAPES . . .
Rob Warden is clinging to the Great Spaghetti Sauce-off crown, despite charges of election fraud by jack-of-all-political-trades Brian Boyer and Don Rose, restaurant critic and political strategist. The two defeated cooks charged that Warden, editor of the Chicago Lawyer, rigged Sunday`s vote by packing the electorate with relatives. ”Most shocking of all is that Warden used lawyers, who are his personal pals, to count the ballots,” said Boyer. Next year politicians will be invited to the event so that balloting will be conducted in a climate of honesty and fairness,” added Boyer. ”Besides, Warden`s sauce is awful. He`s got dumb little meatballs in it.”
