Here are the latest developments in the Democratic primary for Cook County board president:

Yesterday, WFLD's Fox Chicago Sunday conducted a brief chat with Metropolian Water Reclamation District (MWRD) chairman Terrence O'Brien. A big chunk of their discussion focused on allegations, first reported by WFLD itself, that MWRD has repeatedly handed out $13-an-hour summer jobs to the sons and daughters of politicians and district employees. Right off the bat, one of the hosts asked O'Brien whether that conduct contradicts his first television ad, which claims that MWRD "hires people based on what they know, not who they know?" Not according to O'Brien, who says his ad reflects his agency's hiring of full-time employees only. Watch him wiggle around a full explanation below:

The Chicago Sunday anchors weren't the only ones with O'Brien in their sights. Following an ABC 7 debate last Thursday, Toni Preckwinkle criticized his record on the environment. The Sun-Times has the quote:

"Terry O'Brien makes $80,000 a year being chairman of the water reclamation board, but he makes $100,000 a year, plus his share of the profits for the firm he owns with other partners called K-plus. K-plus represents some of the biggest polluters in the state," she said after Thursday's debate. "This is just disgraceful."

Preckwinkle is set to receive a high-profile endorsement this afternoon from Rep. Jan Schakowsky, according to a campaign release. We should have video from the event later today.

Meanwhile, nobody in the field should expect an endorsement from Mayor Daley. Over the weekend, the Tribune reported that Daley would not openly support anyone running in the Democratic Feb. 2 primary contests:

"If I do endorse, you'll say 'Boss Daley does this,' you guys will spin that," Daley told reporters after a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the renovated CTA Brown Line station on Fullerton Avenue in Lincoln Park. "In this day and age it's completely different, it's a completely different environment in politics, I'll be very frank. Endorsements don't mean as much as they used to mean in the past."

As we noted last week, Daley did recently attend a Preckwinkle.  But it appears that's as close to an endorsement as she is going to get before February 2.

At a WCPT forum on Saturday, incumbent Todd Stroger again complained that Daley hasn't made a public statement applauding the incumbent's leadership. "The mayor should say the county is running well," Stroger said. "The numbers don't lie." The debate also focused heavily on Stroger's penny-on-the-dollar sales tax increase, according to the Sun-Times recap. If WCPT posts audio from the forum, we will be sure to post it.