Topspin Ald. Brendan Reilly is trying to revive his moribund effort to further restrict downtown street musicians by helping with a letter-writing campaign directed at Mayor Rahm Emanuel. After one condo owner who opposes quieting the musicians gave the Tribune a letter template the alderman's office handed out, Reilly confirmed that he is acting on behalf of the people who live and work in his downtown ward. "We were initially ASKED (not by just residential buildings, but also commercial building owners, their business tenants and employees) to send out a template letter that people could customize," Reilly, 42nd, wrote in a lengthy response to a reporter's inquiry. "Once the initial group of buildings received their template letter and city contact information, we received requests for the template letter from more and more buildings," he added. "This is how this came to be." The complaints, he said, are focused on "performers who play loud concussive instruments (drums and buckets) for literally hours at a time in the same location ... and/or loud amplified music on sidewalks," he said. A year ago, a plan by Reilly to virtually silence street musicians along two of Chicago's two prime downtown commercial corridors stalled amid pushback from musicians who ply their trade on Michigan Avenue and State Street and a prominent civil rights organization. A month or so later, he and Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, proposed a compromise. It would have limited amplified and percussive music in much of downtown to lunchtime and the evening rush hour. In exchange, Reilly also hoped to identify train platforms and park spaces as alternative locations where street music would be allowed. But Reilly said he "ran into a wall" when he sought to get commitments from the Emanuel-controlled CTA and Park District. Meanwhile, his proposed compromise ordinance remains stuck in the License Committee, where it has yet to receive a hearing. Reilly's letter template requests that the mayor allow a hearing and City Council vote on the issue and asks Emanuel to "help allocate the CTA train stops and park locations promised to the street performers in exchange for the stricter noise regulations and time limitations that are in the new ordinance." In response to questions about the issue Emanuel spokesman Matt McGrath said: "We continue to work with the aldermen on this issue." Meanwhile, in his response to the Tribune, Reilly said that he appreciates what street performers add to urban centers. "Street performers are, indeed, an important part of the urban fabric of big cities like Chicago — and nobody wants to see them go," he wrote. "However, many cities, especially New York City, have found ways to impose reasonable limitations, while preserving artistic expression." (Hal Dardick) What's on tap *Mayor Emanuel's public schedule wasn't available. *Gov. Bruce Rauner has no public events scheduled. *Rauner challenger state Rep. Jeanne Ives of Wheaton will start the week with a speech to the City Club of Chicago, just about 12 hours after announcing late Sunday that her campaign recieved a $2 million contribution from Lake Forest businessman Richard Uihlein. Last week ended in controversy for Ives, after she released a TV ad critics deemed as "racist," "sexist" and "homophobic." Criticism from top Republicans continued over the weekend, and her City Club speech puts her in position to face crowd and reporter questions while the controversy is fresh. *Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker will continue a bus tour with stops in Rockford, St. Charles, Aurora, Elmhurst and Naperville. State Comptroller Susana Mendoza will join him. *The Democratic attorney general candidates will appear at an Illinois Democratic County Chairs' Association forum in Springfield. *The week ahead: On Tuesday, state lawmakers are back at the Capitol. On Wednesday, the Cook County Board meets. On Thursday, early voting is scheduled to start statewide, but there might be some delays because of ongoing challenges to some candidates. From the notebook *Emanuel to go to Puerto Rico: Mayor Emanuel revealed this weekend that he'll make a trip to Puerto Rico in March with Democratic U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez. Gutierrez has made trips to the island since Hurricane Maria caused major damage there last year, and he cited his work there when announcing last year he wouldn't run for re-election. Emanuel had Gutierrez on his "Chicago Stories" podcast that was released over the weekend, and they talked about next month's trip. "You're going to be able to hear personally from people," Gutierrez said on the podcast. "I could not believe that the richest, most powerful, most technologically advanced nation in the world, the United States of America, would have such a poor response." *Fioretti works to link Preckwinkle to Berrios: As part of his effort to topple Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, former Ald. Bob Fioretti is accusing her of delaying the results of a property tax assessment study until after the March 20 election. Fioretti said she's doing it to protect the status quo and cover for her friend and ally, Assessor Joe Berrios. "They want to keep this system the way it is," Fioretti said. "They want to get past this election." Preckwinkle spokesman Frank Shuftan said "it serves no purpose to release incomplete information that can easily be misinterpreted or misrepresented . . . and any suggestion this is being slow-walked is utter nonsense." Fioretti's comments came a day after the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois published a story noting that the first findings may not be delivered until the end of February. By then, early voting will already be underway. Fioretti's linkage of Preckwinkle, Berrios and the assessment system — probed in a series of stories by the Tribune and ProPublica that concluded the system punishes lower-income homeowners — is in keeping with an emerging tactic in Fioretti's campaign. In a recent internet ad, he displays side-by-side photos of Preckwinkle and Berrios, respectively vice chairman and chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, and states that they "rig a property tax system to rake in millions in campaign cash." That was a reference to the fact that both Berrios and Preckwinkle have accepted campaign contributions from attorneys who filed assessment appeals to lower property taxes. Berrios was recently fined by the county Board of Ethics for allegedly accepting more money than allowed from some of those firms, but he's filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the county's limits. (Hal Dardick) *More union help for Newman, Raoul: The Illinois Federation of Teachers announced it's endorsing Democratic political newcomer Marie Newman's primary bid against U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski. Newman, of LaGrange, picked up the backing of Illinois chapter of the Service Employees International Union and EMILY's List late last week. Lipinski, meanwhile, has been endorsed by 30 suburban mayors and the state's pre-eminent labor organization, the AFL-CIO. Meanwhile, the IFT also backed Democratic attorney general candidate Kwame Raoul in that crowded primary field, which includes former Gov. Pat Quinn. *Two Dems top the "money primary" in IL-14: Two candidates in a Democratic primary race for the chance to challenge GOP U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren of far west suburban Plano each raised more than $100,000 in campaign cash by the end of last year. Lauren Underwood of Naperville took in $126,000 altogether and began the year with almost $68,000, a Federal Election Commission report showed. Underwood, 31, is a registered nurse with NextLevel Health, a Medicaid-managed health care plan. Earlier she was a senior advisor at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. Matt Brolley of Montgomery raised almost $116,000 altogether and had about $37,000 in campaign dollars when 2018 opened. Brolley, 36, is a civil engineer for V3 Companies in Woodridge and has been village president of Montgomery since 2013. Three other Democrats had poorer showings: Victor Swanson, a high school teacher from Batavia, took in about $69,000 altogether and had less than $14,000 left; George Weber, a chemical engineer from Lakewood, picked up about $15,000 (including $14,325 he loaned his bid) and had about $7,000 left; and Jim Walz of Gurnee, who raised about $14,000, had less than $800 left and $2,000 in unpaid loans. Walz unsuccessfully ran against Hultgren in 2016. The Democrats are competing in the state's Republican-leaning 14th congressional district, which takes in parts of DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties. A four-term incumbent, Hultgren is unopposed in the primary and commands a relatively fat war chest, reporting about $465,000 in the bank at the start of 2018 and receipts of nearly $692,000 since the last election. (Katherine Skiba) *On the "Sunday Spin": Chicago Tribune political reporter Rick Pearson's guests were Northwestern University School of Law senior lecturer Jason DeSanto, WTTW-TV political correspondent Amanda Vinicky, and Democratic attorney general candidate state Rep. Scott Drury. "The Sunday Spin" airs from 7 to 9 a.m. on WGN-720 AM. Listen to the full show here. What we're writing *Rep. Scott Drury: Speaker Madigan once thought I was wearing a wire. *Rep. Jeanne Ives' anti-Rauner ad ripped as "racist, sexist, homophobic," as both Republicans and Democrats call for it to be pulled down. *Holocaust denier likely to appear on ballot for GOP for Chicago-area congressional seat. *Emanuel's developer upcharge fee for neighborhood development raking in cash faster than expected. *Emanuel strikes back, calls potential challenger Paul Vallas "architect of kicking the can down the road." *One Emanuel administration lawyer resigns, two others suspended, in a crackdown over withholding of evidence. *U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski's Democratic primary challenger Marie Newman gets SEIU, EMILY's List backing. *Judge rules attorney general hopeful Drury kicked off primary ballot; he will appeal. And election officials say Sen. Ira Silverstein should stay on. *Under Rauner, penalties sought against Illinois polluters have plummeted. *Democratic Rep. Quigley says Republican memo release "will come at the great expense of our national security." *Brother of former Republican candidate for Illinois House does better on ballot, is elected to football Hall of Fame. What we're reading *Former lawmaker from Peoria, George Shadid, dies. *Delete your account: Sun-Times says Roeper will delete Twitter account, lose news column after buying followers. *More newspapers are departing their landmark homes. Here's why that matters. Follow the money *Raoul reported more than $43,000 in contributions. *Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here. Beyond Chicago *FBI says release of the memo is damaging. *Priebus says Trump didn't try to fire Mueller. *What a national election wave might mean for statehouses. *Tax plan means more divorces? | 
