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January 31, 2008

The [Thursday] Papers

There will be no Papers today, but please avail yourself of fine material elsewhere on the site, including Eric Emery's tips for hosting a Super Bowl party. See you in this space on Friday.

The [Wednesday] Papers
"As much as you tear down the Sun-Times, this extreme downsizing hurts journalism in Chicago," an e-mailer wrote to me recently. Another correspondent imagined I was feeling "glee" over the plight of the Sun-Times.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The thinning of the Sun-Times is not only depressing to those of us who have loved newspapers, but is a disservice to the city by a mercenary management group that doesn't understand its own newspaper, much less the market it operates in.

The Sun-Times still retains a certain kind of goodwill in this city it has yet to learn how to deploy: A deep desire for a feisty, upstart underdog to the Tribune. The desire is so deep many folks imagine, in an exercise of wish-fulfillment, that the paper already fulfills this role. On the whole, no. You don't tap into this yearning by bragging on your front page that you are still only 50 cents, or with sophomoric self-promotion that only reinforces the notion that you are a bumbling young sibling constantly trying to get mom and dad's attention by standing on your head. You get there by practicing a fundamentally different kind of journalism that endears you to whatever print audience is still out there, and using the Internet to grow new audiences.

That means, for example, reporters in the neighborhoods instead of a neighborhoods reporter. Beat reporters allowed the freedom to write the truth in a snappy way, instead of rewriting press releases about how great our mayor is and how cool the Olympics will be. Turning the page on the Sneeds and Stellas of the world. Just for starters.

The paper has many assets, and maybe my praise gets lost in my criticism. Columnist Laura Washington, for example, wrote in a New Year's resolution column that I "should resolve to lay off the vitriolic, personal cheap shots and give our Fourth Estate a little love. We do some things right."

I have a lot of respect for Laura Washington, and I certainly don't take offense. I have showered a lot of praise on a lot of people at the Sun-Times, though, over the years, both here on the Beachwood and in my old "Press Box" column at Chicago magazine. I'll do so here again.

* Carol Marin. I'm obviously a fan. Best political columnist in town is an understatement given the multiple roles she fills.

* Tim Novak & Steve Warmbir. Reporter's reporters, serving our city to the fullest of their considerable abilities.

* Abdon Pallasch. Easily one the city's best and most knowledegable reporters.

* Jim DeRogatis. We're blessed with two of the finest, if not the best, daily rock critics in the biz with DeRo and the Trib's Greg Kot.

* Greg Couch. The city's best sports columnist, particularly when it comes to the Cubs.

* Paige Wiser. A sharp cultural observer who is funny as hell and can write.

* Roger Ebert. Obviously.

* Quick Takes (Zay Smith) and Quick Hits (Elliott Harris). Bite-size musings that often contains more truth than anything else in a given day's paper. (Minus Harris's cheesecake.)

* Lynn Sweet. A one-woman Washington bureau who is also the only local reporter routinely reporting, in limited space, on the differences between Barack Obama's rhetoric and his reality.

* Teresa Budasi. The new books editor whose section has been shrunk but whose column has been a breath of smart and witty fresh air.

* And by the way, I know she's not local, but in case you're wondering, I'm not joking about "Ask Ellie." I love her. She's really good. She's actually a real therapist, as opposed to some other advice columnists we know.

And there are others. As I've written before, Tom McNamee's now-dead Controversy section could have been a model for remaking the whole paper for the digital age. And the paper was so caught up in battling RedEye that it never knew what it had in Red Streak.

Maybe more than making me sad, though, the Sun-Times's problems make me angry. Angry because those folks who knew David Radler was up to no good sat still and quiet. Angry because of the resignation with which folks there seem to sit back and take it. Angry because of the ineffectiveness of the union to proactively and creatively engage. And frustrated at the shamefully low standards the paper so often has. There are stars in that newsroom, and there are embarrassments. It's a wide gulf, and the bench isn't deep.

-

Judging the recent job losses according to the quality of work each lost individual produced is the wrong way to look at it. Those aren't just people whose departure we might applaud (Jennifer Hunter) who have been cut, those are positions lost.

Still, I think the loss of Esther Cepeda hurts the paper the most. True, every time I was on the verge of becoming, to use her parlance, a Cepeda fanatico, she wrote something that drove me nuts. But Cepeda carved out a space for herself that happened to also bring deserved attention to Hispanic life and viewpoints in Chicago. She was also tres productive, writing all over the paper in a variety of areas.

And you have to feel bad for someone like Doug Elfman, whom I only read occasionally but was actually recruited to come here.

It's a brutal, dysfunctional business. So much of what's in a newspaper is journalists instructing everyone else how to conduct their business, from politicians to sports teams to corporations, but journalists can't seem to conduct their own. Either they don't read their own work or their sage consulting is worthless.

*

Many of us have been waiting for years for a savior to scoop up the Sun-Times. Is there no civic figure or foundation in this great city ready to step up to the plate? The Sun-Times is more important to the city than Millennium Park or the Olympics. This is about our civic life and, at least occasionally, about our democracy. Or do we just want to take the Tribune's word for it every day?

*

Other changes coming soon to the Sun-Times, according to a Beachwood Labs investigation:

* Will only cover horoscopes for six of the astrological signs.
* All comic strips reduced to one box featuring Jeffy.
* Neil Steinberg and Michael Sneed will share a column called Sneedberg.
* City Hall stories will be written directly by the mayor's office.
* Newspaper will be renamed Some-Times and only come out occasionally.
* Company will eliminate newsroom to focus on revenue-generating divisions such as Bears medallions.
* In sports, only home games will be covered. If they're on TV.
* Home delivery now in hands of Dominos.
* Citizen journalists will now generate all content for free from their cell phones.

The Beachwood Tip Line: Anger management.

Posted by Lou at 08:28 AM | Permalink

Mass Australian Hypnosis Touted

The following press release announcing the work of a leading clinical hypnotherapist who's assistance has aided drought-afflicted farmers in Australia, may be of interest to your audience. Any editorial comment or mention that you may give this press release would be greatly appreciated.

- - -

LEADING CLINICAL HYPNOTHERAPIST ASSISTS NSW'S DROUGHT-AFFLICTED FARMERS

Dateline: Perth, Western Australia
Email: clinicalhypno@optusnet.com.au
Web Address: www.mindmotivations.com/

PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA - January 31, 2008 - Farmers in New South Wales may have received welcome rain over the past month, but the effects of the drought that has plagued the state are far from over.

"The psychological effects of the drought continue to devastate farming families in New South Wales," said Rick Collingwood, a world-renowned hypnotherapist and the founder of Mind Motivations and the Australian Academy of Hypnosis. "We are seeing signs of trauma, depression, and even suicidal thought throughout the region."

Although a little over half of New South Wales is currently drought declared, a year ago the figure was over 90 percent. "The long-term effects of the drought won't be washed away with a few rainstorms," said Collingwood. "These farming families have faced very bleak times, and are often without hope for a brighter future."

Collingwood has been working with the Drought Relief Committee in Lockhart, which is situated in Eastern Riverina, New South Wales, and has made a commitment to help the farming community in any way he can.

According to John Lordi, producer of Collingwood's IRIE radio program in the U.S., "Rick had been sending complimentary self-hypnosis CDs to depressed farmers in New South Wales, and the CDs had helped so much that an organizer phoned and asked whether or not Rick would be willing to come out and help if the organization could get government funding. His immediate response was to forget the government grant -that he would go to the Lockhart region for three days beginning February 21."

While in Lockhart, Collingwood will conduct two group hypnosis sessions. "My intent is to put an end to feelings of hopelessness and depression, and give farming families the tools they need to begin to turn their lives around," Collingwood said. "I want to turn on the healing forces that reside within each person."

Collingwood's breakthrough techniques in hypnotherapy have resulted in his helping terminal cancer patients, service members returning from Iraq, and young people who are in rehabilitation, to name a few. His latest efforts have been in the fields of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), where non-hypnosis interventions have had promising results.

Collingwood's dedication to the plight of farmers in drought-stricken New South Wales is certain to make a difference. "Rick is relentless in his efforts to help those in need, and will do whatever it takes to help families better cope with the long-lasting impact of the drought," concluded Lordi.

-

Rick Collingwood is one of the world's most skilled therapeutic hypnotists and hypnosis trainer. He founded Mind Motivations and the Australian Academy of Hypnosis, and is also on the committee of The Council of Clinical Hypnotherapists. He has accredited training in hypnosis, counseling, and mental health issues. He has also earned a gold ARIA Award for his Lose Weight Now! Hypnosis CD.

Posted by Lou at 07:14 AM | Permalink

Over/Under

For the third consecutive year, the Emery household shall host a Super Bowl party. I haven't handed out questionnaires after each party, but I'm confident that the first two were major successes. And that's not just because of the results of the games (Steelers won, Bears lost). I take great effort to provide a full interactive experience for my guests. It's more than having a good TV and ample beer supply. It's the little things that help make the party successful. Here are my keys to a successful Super Bowl party.

1. Divide the room according to allegiance. Give duties and gifts to each side:

* New York fans required to make 9/11 comments at every possible opportunity. New England fans required to recall various occasions meeting the Kennedys.
* New England fans get help pawking their caws. New York fans get help stealing those cars.
* New York fans receive pre-game phone call from Phil Simms. New England fans receives pre-game phone call from Steve Grogan.
* After each touchdown, the scored-upon side must remind their rivals that their hockey, basketball, baseball, WNBA, and soccer teams still suck.

2. Gambling is an integral part of the Super Bowl. Square pools are the thing of the past. Guests should be given the opportunity to bet on the following:

* The aggregate length of the Star Spangled Banner performance, plus the host's time in the bathroom after "breaking the seal."
* Number of times announcers say "Tom Brady might be the best quarterback in football history."
* Number of times announcers say "Tom Brady might be the hunkiest quarterack in football history."
* Time at which a guest states "The Patriots are crushing the Giants. Anybody wanna play a game of Madden?"

3. During the Super Bowl, some viewers tune in solely for the commercials. Print and distribute the following guidelines to enhance the experience for all.

* Unlike every other day of the year, keep conversation to a minimum during commercials.
* Depending on your persuasion, don't use the bathroom until you've seen the latest "Go Daddy" commercial.
* Be a patriot and buy one of everything that is advertised. Our economy needs you.
* Call every 800 number advertised and tell whoever answers the phone "I really liked your commercial. Your product stinks, but for some reason, the commercial still compelled me to call."

-

Super Bowl XVII: Giants at Patriots

Storyline: Tom, Tom, Eli, Tom, Eli, Peyton, Archie, Tom, boot, Tom, hot model girlfriend, Eli, choke, playing better, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom.

Reality: In baseball, it's wise to pick the team with the hottest pitchers. In hockey, teams ride a "hot" goalie. In football, hot, yet marginal quarterbacks on fragile teams usually crap themselves in the spotlight of the Super Bowl. Paging Neil O'Donnell!

Pick: New England Minus 12, Over 53.5 Points Scored.

-

For more Emery, see the Kool-Aid archive, and the Over/Under archive. Emery accepts comments from Bears fans reluctantly and everyone else tolerably.

Posted by Lou at 03:56 AM | Permalink

January 30, 2008

The [Wednesday] Papers

"As much as you tear down the Sun-Times, this extreme downsizing hurts journalism in Chicago," an e-mailer wrote to me recently. Another correspondent imagined I was feeling "glee" over the plight of the Sun-Times.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The thinning of the Sun-Times is not only depressing to those of us who have loved newspapers, but is a disservice to the city by a mercenary management group that doesn't understand its own newspaper, much less the market it operates in.

The Sun-Times still retains a certain kind of goodwill in this city it has yet to learn how to deploy: A deep desire for a feisty, upstart underdog to the Tribune. The desire is so deep many folks imagine, in an exercise of wish-fulfillment, that the paper already fulfills this role. On the whole, no. You don't tap into this yearning by bragging on your front page that you are still only 50 cents, or with sophomoric self-promotion that only reinforces the notion that you are a bumbling young sibling constantly trying to get mom and dad's attention by standing on your head. You get there by practicing a fundamentally different kind of journalism that endears you to whatever print audience is still out there, and using the Internet to grow new audiences.

That means, for example, reporters in the neighborhoods instead of a neighborhoods reporter. Beat reporters allowed the freedom to write the truth in a snappy way, instead of rewriting press releases about how great our mayor is and how cool the Olympics will be. Turning the page on the Sneeds and Stellas of the world. Just for starters.

The paper has many assets, and maybe my praise gets lost in my criticism. Columnist Laura Washington, for example, wrote in a New Year's resolution column that I "should resolve to lay off the vitriolic, personal cheap shots and give our Fourth Estate a little love. We do some things right."

I have a lot of respect for Laura Washington, and I certainly don't take offense. I have showered a lot of praise on a lot of people at the Sun-Times, though, over the years, both here on the Beachwood and in my old "Press Box" column at Chicago magazine. I'll do so here again.

* Carol Marin. I'm obviously a fan. Best political columnist in town is an understatement given the multiple roles she fills.

* Tim Novak & Steve Warmbir. Reporter's reporters, serving our city to the fullest of their considerable abilities.

* Abdon Pallasch. Easily one the city's best and most knowledegable reporters.

* Jim DeRogatis. We're blessed with two of the finest, if not the best, daily rock critics in the biz with DeRo and the Trib's Greg Kot.

* Greg Couch. The city's best sports columnist, particularly when it comes to the Cubs.

* Paige Wiser. A sharp cultural observer who is funny as hell and can write.

* Roger Ebert. Obviously.

* Quick Takes (Zay Smith) and Quick Hits (Elliott Harris). Bite-size musings that often contains more truth than anything else in a given day's paper. (Minus Harris's cheesecake.)

* Lynn Sweet. A one-woman Washington bureau who is also the only local reporter routinely reporting, in limited space, on the differences between Barack Obama's rhetoric and his reality.

* Teresa Budasi. The new books editor whose section has been shrunk but whose column has been a breath of smart and witty fresh air.

* And by the way, I know she's not local, but in case you're wondering, I'm not joking about "Ask Ellie." I love her. She's really good. She's actually a real therapist, as opposed to some other advice columnists we know.

And there are others. As I've written before, Tom McNamee's now-dead Controversy section could have been a model for remaking the whole paper for the digital age. And the paper was so caught up in battling RedEye that it never knew what it had in Red Streak.

Maybe more than making me sad, though, the Sun-Times's problems make me angry. Angry because those folks who knew David Radler was up to no good sat still and quiet. Angry because of the resignation with which folks there seem to sit back and take it. Angry because of the ineffectiveness of the union to proactively and creatively engage. And frustrated at the shamefully low standards the paper so often has. There are stars in that newsroom, and there are embarrassments. It's a wide gulf, and the bench isn't deep.

-

Judging the recent job losses according to the quality of work each lost individual produced is the wrong way to look at it. Those aren't just people whose departure we might applaud (Jennifer Hunter) who have been cut, those are positions lost.

Still, I think the loss of Esther Cepeda hurts the paper the most. True, every time I was on the verge of becoming, to use her parlance, a Cepeda fanatico, she wrote something that drove me nuts. But Cepeda carved out a space for herself that happened to also bring deserved attention to Hispanic life and viewpoints in Chicago. She was also tres productive, writing all over the paper in a variety of areas.

And you have to feel bad for someone like Doug Elfman, whom I only read occasionally but was actually recruited to come here.

It's a brutal, dysfunctional business. So much of what's in a newspaper is journalists instructing everyone else how to conduct their business, from politicians to sports teams to corporations, but journalists can't seem to conduct their own. Either they don't read their own work or their sage consulting is worthless.

*

Many of us have been waiting for years for a savior to scoop up the Sun-Times. Is there no civic figure or foundation in this great city ready to step up to the plate? The Sun-Times is more important to the city than Millennium Park or the Olympics. This is about our civic life and, at least occasionally, about our democracy. Or do we just want to take the Tribune's word for it every day?

*

Other changes coming soon to the Sun-Times, according to a Beachwood Labs investigation:

* Will only cover horoscopes for six of the astrological signs.
* All comic strips reduced to one box featuring Jeffy.
* Neil Steinberg and Michael Sneed will share a column called Sneedberg.
* City Hall stories will be written directly by the mayor's office.
* Newspaper will be renamed Some-Times and only come out occasionally.
* Company will eliminate newsroom to focus on revenue-generating divisions such as Bears medallions.
* In sports, only home games will be covered. If they're on TV.
* Home delivery now in hands of Dominos.
* Citizen journalists will now generate all content for free from their cell phones.

The Beachwood Tip Line: Anger management.

Posted by Lou at 07:59 AM | Permalink

Chicagoetry: Living In A Little Catholic Cemetery

LIVING IN A LITTLE CATHOLIC CEMETERY

Finally, the whole earth
gushed out of me.
I was left alone, empty, living in a little

Catholic cemetery. Musta been
the southwest side: gangsters, black
athletes, immigrant labor leaders.

It was
quiet: white dragons, eons of
quietude, short blades of green grass perfectly

kept. One small Madonna, six black
mausoleums. The air was white as
rain.

I was alone but I kept trying
to look like I was
working, always trying

to look like I'm working.
The Madonna was a young girl
with a baby, too young

to be a mother. The girl
was simply much too
young.

The air was bare.
I was warm, but alone.
The dragon was really
an elegant Japanese

lion.

-

J. J. Tindall is the Beachwood's poet-in-residence. He can reached at jjtindall@yahoo.com. Chicagoetry is an exclusive Beachwood collection-in-progress.

Posted by Lou at 03:50 AM | Permalink

The Periodical Table

A weekly look at the magazines laying around Beachwood HQ.

Franklin Mint
"This year marks two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of The Way To Wealth, among the most famous pieces of American writing ever, and one of the most willfully misunderstood," The New Yorker reports.

"A lay sermon about how industry begets riches ("No Gains, without Pains"), The Way To Wealth has been taken for Benjamin Franklin's - and even America's - creed, and there's a line or two of truth in that, but not a whole page. The Way To Wealth is also a parody, stitched and bound between the covers of a sham."

Crow Magnon
"I'm sad that people feel like music should be free, that the work we do is not valued," Sheryl Crow says in The New York Times Sunday Magazine. "When music comes free by way of friends burning CDs, there's not the understanding of the work that goes into the making of an album."

Or maybe there's not an understanding on your part that your fans can't afford to prop up your lavish lifestyle. Besides, your albums stink.

From Franklin To Crow
Can the press get anything right?

Last spring, you were held up as a parody of environmental correctness when you proposed restricting the use of toilet paper to one square per bathroom visit. What was that about? I think it's a fantastic and eye-opening example of how the media is operated by political figures, of how Karl Rove was humiliated in the media and how, within 24 hours, he was able to humiliate me and take any sort of credibility away from me.

What are you saying? You think Karl Rove leaked the toilet-paper story to the press after you and Laurie David sparred with him about global warming at the White House correspondents' dinner? I cannot tie him directly to that leak, but within 24 hours of our exchange, as we were leaving D.C., it was on the CNN ticker tape: "Sheryl Crow has proposed that we legislate toilet paper to one square."

It was always a joke. It was part of a shtick. It was part of a comedy routine that Laurie and I were doing on the "Stop Global Warming College Tour."

Beachwood Is Best
The Beachwood is named three times - I think more than any other site - in Chicago magazine's February cover story, "171 Best Chicago Web Sites." I find it hard to believe there are even 71 Chicago websites worth such kudos, let alone 171, but there ya go. Our props:

* Our entry in the News-Opinion/Analysis category calls us "a vibrant and playful e-zine."
* Political consultant Dave Lundy says he visits the Beachwood for its "withering" media and political criticism. He also likes our sportswriting.
* Rock critic Jim DeRogatis looks to us (as well as Chicagoist and Chitown Daily News) for local music coverage.

Eclipse of Mr. Sunshine
A little more than four years ago, Carol Felsenthal penned a fabulous profile of Gov. Rod Blagojevich for Chicago magazine called "Governor Sunshine."

This month, Chicago's David Bernstein revisits the governor in a piece called "Mr. Un-Popularity" (which goes so far as to question the governor's mental condition).

Combined, Chicago has done a service in offering a striking portrait I haven't seen matched elsewhere.

International Image
"Most commuters are miserable, but Chicago's may be the most beleagured," The Economist wrote earlier this month.

"The city's average commute is not quite America's longest (that honor goes to New York), but in one respect Chicago is unrivalled: the bitterness and passion of the argument surrounding its public-transport systems."

Media Madness
"Bill Adair, Washington bureau chief for the St. Petersburg Times and editor of PolitiFact, has covered two presidential campaigns during his approximately 10 years in D.C.," American Journalism Review notes.

"He says that while in the trail in 2000 and 2004, he would sometimes quote a candidate and find himself thinking, 'That's not true.'"

Aaaaargh!

"After the 2006 senatorial and gubernatorial races, Adair says, he realized something had to change; he thought journalists simply weren't doing enough fact-checking. 'I felt we needed to not just put [statements] out there, but we needed to tell people if they were true."

Aaaaargh!

Meet your media. They aren't very bright, and apparently most of them missed their entire first year of journalism school.

Book Sense
"Though a good paper devotes resources to court reporting, it never attempts to dispense with it because it doesn't attract advertisers. So it should be with book reviews," David Cohen of Perth, West Australia writes to the Columbia Journalism Review.

Posted by Lou at 03:32 AM | Permalink

Battling Berny's Fighting 50th

It sure is beginning to look like an old fashioned, backyard cockfight between Alderman Bernard "Berny" Stone and state Senator Ira Silverstein in the race for 50th Ward Democratic Committeeman. We're talking two roosters, one old skool and one hip hop, with Sweeney Todd-sharp claws ready to fight and tear at each other's feathers for a non-paying political post on the city's Far North Side. Figuratively speaking, mind you. I'm sure neither would like to be compared to fighting roosters.

But this time it's personal, its about power and control, and its about what the future holds for Berny Stone.

*

Stone, who is 80 and still kicking (and thank God for that), has had the committeeman post since 1998 and is one of the council's graybeards with more than 30 years as an alderman. Only Ed Burke's tenure has been longer.

His political days, however, may be numbered. Last spring, Naisy Dolar took him to a runoff, which he barely survived.

"After the last aldermanic election, I went to the alderman and told him that things have to change," says Silverstein, who had supported the alderman and was even, by some accounts, a protege of sorts. "It is a ward that is very evenly divided and he only won by 661 votes. And he said that this is not a time for change, and I said there should be change, so that's why I'm running."

But Stone says Silverstein has other motives. "I think it is stemming from certain aspirations for power. For certain deals he's made with other people who aspire for power, the congresswoman, Ms. Dolar, who sought to unseat me and wasn't successful."

And now it's a cockfight.

STONE: "If Silverstein had come to me and been active in the Democratic organization and come to me and ask me for the job and if he had shown an interest in it, then maybe I would have sent it over to him. But he went behind my back and tried to steal it instead of coming like a man and that's why I'm not turning it over to him."

SILVERSTEIN: "I spoke with alderman Stone before, and I announced and that's what I did. If he thinks that I should have gone earlier then that's in his mind, but I did talk to him before announcing the candidacy."

STONE: "Yeah, after trying to steal my precinct captains, and after he told everyone else, then he came to me. I helped this kid from the very first day that he came into politics and this is the way
he repays me?"

SILVERSTEIN: "He was never my political sponsor and he never got me involved in politics. Late Judge Herman Knell did."

STONE: "Herman Knell was my close friend, and him and I were the ones who really supported him in his first run. Herman Knell was the one who convinced me to help Ira Silverstein get started and we did and this is how we got repaid? Herman's gotta be twirling in his grave when he sees Ira turning on me."

*

Hurt egos aside, there is still the question of what each plans to do with the job.

Silverstein says his priorities are voter registration and turnout. "My job is to build a political base and to get people involved, which, I think, hasn't been done for a while. I think the organization has been kind of stagnant for a while and I tried to improve it for a while but nobody wants to listen, so that's why I'm doing it."

(There are 23,571 registered voters in the 50th ward, according to Chicago Board of Elections. Stone won his seat last time around with 5,965 votes, to Dolar's 5,304, for a total of 11,269 votes cast.)

"We've registered a tremendous amount of new citizens and we tried to bring in new people to the ward organization," Stone says. "There is no such thing as patronage anymore, so I don't know how he intends to do better than I, but he certainly had an opportunity to do so when he was a part of our organization."

Stone says it's Silverstein whose outreach is lacking.

"During the time he was in our ward headquarters, he never had regular hours," he charges. "He doesn't have regular hours now for the senatorial seat. I don't know if he understands that you have to see the people. He puts out literature that he cares and listens, but if you really listen, then you have to have hours in order to see the people."

Stone told me that if I dialed the phone number for Silverstein's Chicago office right then and there, the phone would ring in Springfield and I'd get a voice mail message. He was right. But Silverstein says that he does, in fact, keep office hours.

*

Silverstein isn't the only one who's turned on Stone. Mayor Daley himself, who rallied his troops on Stone's behalf in the last election, is backing Silverstein, apparently as punishment for the alderman's opposition to the mayor's budget.

That would seem to seal the deal for Silverstein, but maybe Stone has one more win left in him. "[Dolar] was unsuccessful and he will be unsuccessful. Maybe they will follow her into oblivion."

Posted by Lou at 12:56 AM | Permalink

January 29, 2008

The [Tuesday] Papers

Did Barack Obama ever do any favors for Tony Rezko?

Obama says No. The New York Times says Yes.

"In one instance, when he was running for the Senate, Mr. Obama stopped by to shake hands while Mr. Rezko, an immigrant from Syria, was entertaining Middle Eastern bankers considering an investment in one of his projects," the Times has reported.

"Former Rezko associates said that Governor Blagojevich attended one of the dinners, and that at Mr. Rezko's request, Mr. Obama dropped in at one for Middle Eastern bankers in early 2004, just as he was starting to pull ahead in the Senate primary. The visits, Mr. Rezko's partners said, helped impress foreign guests.

"'I remember that he had been on the campaign trail, and he was completely wiped out and exhausted,' said Anthony Licata, a lawyer who represented Mr. Rezko on real estate deals. 'My recollection is that he drank ice tea, and he talked about how he was really making progress, and we were all excited to see him.'"

Obama refused to talk to the Times for the story.

In fact, Obama - who on the campaign trail pledges a presidency of transparency - has refused all media requests to talk about Rezko.

"Senator Obama hasn't answered any of our questions about Rezko," Sun-Times reporter Tim Novak said last night on Chicago Tonight.

The Sun-Times has also reported that Obama did a favor for Rezko.

"As a state senator, Barack Obama wrote letters to city and state officials supporting his political patron Tony Rezko's successful bid to get more than $14 million from taxpayers to build apartments for senior citizens," the paper found.

"For five weeks, the Sun-Times sought to interview Obama about Rezko and the housing deals," Novak wrote at the time. "His staff wanted written questions. It responded Sunday but left many questions unanswered. Other answers didn't directly address the question."

The ties between Obama and Rezko "are obviously long and deep," the Tribune's John Chase said last night - contrary to recent assertions by Obama and his surrogates.

Baloneyvich Sandwich
"[F]ive of the six Democratic statewide officers from lieutenant governor to treasurer appeared Monday at a news conference urging voters to turn out for Obama in the Feb. 5 primary. Blagojevich's absence was notable," the Tribune reports.

"Both the Obama and Blagojevich camps, however, insisted the governor's absence was unrelated to Rezko's legal travails.

"Instead, they said Blagojevich was asked to call Democratic governors who've yet to endorse a presidential candidate and lobby them to back Obama."

Get those phone records!

"Blagojevich got that assignment because it's something only he can do among the statewide officers, governor spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said."

With a straight face.

"All of our endorsers are playing a different role - it's impossible to get them all in the room at once," Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt told the Tribune in an e-mail.

With one of those smiley emoticons tacked on the end.

The Trib reporter replied with "LOL."

The Daley Show
"Giving Americans a $600 tax rebate is not the right way to stimulate the economy on the brink of recession, Mayor Daley said Monday, aruging instead for a modern-day version of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal," the Sun-Times reports.

"Daley has long contended that, when the private sector economy slows down, it's time for the public sector to speed up - by initiating massive public works programs that generate jobs and contracts."

Choose from the following keywords to create your own punch line: SORICH, O'HARE, GHOSTS, DUFFS, HIRED TRUCKS, PATRICK, and MILLENNIUM PARK.

Lost Chicago
On the same day that the Tribune published the first part of its "Neighborhoods For Sale" investigation, Blair Kamin wrote this elsewhere in the paper:

"There is the ideal Chicago, the showcase city glimpsed on the Chicago River boat tour that glides past the Wrigley Building and other glorious skycrapers. And then there is the real Chicago, a Dickensian construction zone where it is simultaneously the best and the worst of times."

The story is called "A Gallery of Rogues." The subhead says "For every gem produced by the long-running building boom, there are even more clunkers."

*

For more on the Trib series, see "Unzoning Chicago" in Beachwood Politics.

Jungle Warfare
"Six Ways Stores Trick You Into Spending More."

Inside The Beachwood
* "The Blackhawks: Degrading American Indians Since 1926." In Committing To The Indian.

* "You might as well send a truck to my house, as I'll need to stock up." In Leinie's Listens!.

* "Perhaps if the critics had known what was to come for McCartney and Wings, they would have been a bit more forgiving." In Wings: Back To The Egg.

* "You have gone too far with your fancy-dan graphics and ridiculous new puzzle topics - not to mention your lewd sponsorship stroking. The only thing worse than Pat Sajak deliberately fondling the cute female contestants is the constant fondling of product placers." In A Wheel-Watcher's Lament.

* "I'm not saying everyone has to grow a mullet, but in the name of Oscar Gamble, let's have at least a few guys who let it all hang out." In case you missed it in SportsMonday.

* "The most interesting thing in this week's Tribune book review is the news that John Gray is still around - and still pimping his well-worn one-trick pony in a new title called Why Mars and Venus Collide. Gray is appearing on Tuesday at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, which is such an excellent opportunity for heckling that it just might be worth the trip." In Reviewing the Reviews.

* "Consumption of local food may not save the Earth after all. It may, however, relieve our shame of thinking we are the world's worst sinners by eating such imported foods as Petrosian caviar from Russia or drinking a nice Pinot Gris from New Zealand." In Locavore Lore.

The Beachwood Tip Line: Fear nor favor.

Posted by Lou at 07:58 AM | Permalink

Leinie's Listens!

LEINENKUGEL'S RESPONDS TO FANS; BRINGS NORTHWOODS LAGER BACK FOR A LIMITED TIME

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (January 28, 2008) - A legendary cold one returns with a timely dose of Northwoods flavor to lure taste buds out of hibernation. Specialty craft beer fans are in for a nice surprise with the return of Leinenkugel's Northwoods Lager this February. The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company will reintroduce Northwoods Lager to Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and select distributors in Michigan and Illinois beginning February 4th for a limited time. After a two-year hiatus, the award-winning brew will re-join the Leinenkugel's family of premium craft brews on retailer shelves.

The return of the classic Northwoods brew is due to a committed fan base of Leinie loyalists who have been enthusiastically requesting its return.

"We are always looking for ways to surprise and delight our loyalists and this time, it meant the return of Leinenkugel's award-winning Northwoods Lager," says Dick Leinenkugel, vice president of sales and marketing and fifth generation brewer. "Consumer requests to bring Northwoods Lager have been overwhelming since the flavor headed into hibernation. Its limited return is a special thank you to our Leinie loyalists who have waited patiently to get another taste of the brew."

Northwoods Lager, which was first introduced in 1986 as a fall seasonal and quickly became a year-round favorite in 1990, is a handcrafted blend of select barley malts and aromatic, bittering hops. Brewed in small, high-quality batches at Leinenkugel's brewery in Chippewa Falls, Wis, Leinenkugel's Northwoods Lager features a deep golden color and a smooth, robust flavor, which earned the brew a gold medal in 1993 and a silver medal in 1991 at the Great American Beer Festival in the Premium Lager category.

Leinenkugel's Northwoods Lager contains 4.94 percent alcohol by volume (ABV). Northwoods Lager will be available beginning February 4, 2008 while supplies last in select accounts in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan and Illinois where craft beer is sold in 6-packs of long-neck bottles. It will retail for approximately $6.99 - $7.99 a 6-pack.

After an e-newsletter announced the news to the more than 200,000 Leinie Lodge members, fans responded with comments such as:

"Northwoods was my favorite, I definitely will get my glass ready. Hats off to you hope the limited time will be a long time."

"Thanks Leinie's, you've just made my day! The horrible day when I first discovered that my beloved Northwoods had ceased to be has now been offset (albeit temporarily). You might as well send a truck to my house, as I'll need to stock up."

"Thank you very much for bringing this back. You have made a long-time customer even happier."

Leinenkugel's year-round offerings include Original, Light, Honey Weiss, Berry Weiss, Leinie's Red, Creamy Dark and Sunset Wheat. In addition, Leinenkugel's offers four limited-release beers including Big Butt Doppelbock, Oktoberfest, Apple Spice and summertime refresher Summer Shandy. The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, brewing since 1867, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Miller Brewing Company.

For more information on the rich history of Leinenkugel's, visit www.leinie.com or review the Leinie's electronic press kit at www.leiniecraftbeer.com.

*

For more information, contact:
Rebecca Skinner
Leum PR Group
414-302-9357

Posted by Lou at 03:20 AM | Permalink

Committing To The Indian

"Blackhawks weigh new slogan: 'Commit to the Indian.'"
- Tribune web report

Other ideas under consideration:

The Blackhawks: Degrading American Indians Since 1926
The Blackhawks: Commit To Killing The White Man!
The Blackhawks: Redbloods Rising
The Blackhawks: Loosest Slots!
The Blackhawks: Less Offensive Than Chief Wahoo

*

The Blackhawks: No Time For Tears
The Blackhawks: Leave Your Small Pox Blankets At Home
The Blackhawks: Reservations Not Necessary!
The Blackhawks: At Least We Don't Do That Stupid Tomahawk Chop
The Blackhawks: This Is Our Land, Not Your Land

*

The Blackhawks: As Long As A Major Professional Team Is Still Called The Redskins, We're Paragons Of Virtue
The Blackhawks: We'll Poke-Your-Hont-Ass!
The Blackhawks: Using All Of The Buffalo Sabres
The Blackhawks: Commit To The Only Indian You've Ever Met
The Blackhawks: Commit To Racial Tension

*

The Blackhawks: Dividing The United Center
The Blackhawks: Change You Can Believe In
The Blackhawks: Politically Incorrect And Loving It!
The Blackhawks: Firewater And Ice
The Blackhawks: Fighting Back For Our Land One Rink At A Time

*

- Eric Emery, Jim Coffman, Marty Gangler, Rick Kaempfer, Tim Willette, Steve Rhodes

Posted by Lou at 03:13 AM | Permalink

Wings: Back to the Egg

Back to the Egg was Wings' swan song and, to me, always a criminally underrated record. But because it followed a true stinker, 1978's soft-boiled London Town, the then-all-powerful handful of music critics of the day were predisposed to hate it, and to use it as an example of how the icons of '60s rock were going corporate in an era when punk was redefining tastes.

And to be sure, there are a few fine examples of Paul McCartney's soon-to-come descent into Michael Jackson-esque wankery here (such as "Baby's Request" and the syrupy "Arrow Through Me"). But for my money, Back to the Egg is Macca's final burst of unbridled rock energy, a fascinating coda to the part of his songwriting oeuvre that produced some of the late-period Beatles' hardest-edged songs, like "Helter Skelter," "Birthday" and "Back In the USSR."

Perhaps if the critics had known what was to come for McCartney and Wings, they would have been a bit more forgiving. But as it was, they savaged Egg. Rolling Stone, for example, called it "a veritable slide slow of dead-end flights of fancy and yesterday's dross," "a slipshod demo by an aimless band," and blasted McCartney for "gross indulgence" and "shameless indolence."

Yes, but did you like it? Holy crap. I get the feeling that the Wings of 1979 were the recipients of all the emotional disillusionment of the Baby Boom generation's dawning realization that their lives were never going to be as cool as they once were. And yes, Wings deserved some of that criticism. After all, McCartney's tenure leading the band reflected both the good and annoying sides of the '70s: the happy-face vacuousness as well as the still-echoing traumas of the turbulent days of rage. But all that baggage, I think, prevented folks at the time from appreciating just how well Paul, Linda and Denny Laine really did in their stated goal of making an album that, well, rocked old school. They were about three-quarters successful with Back to the Egg, which, given the context, is like batting 1.000 to me.

There were a lot of high expectations for Back to the Egg - it was McCartney's first album after ending his legendary association with Capitol Records in the wake of London Town's flop, and Columbia Records had signed him to a big, well-publicized contract, highlighting how rock 'n' roll had become a huge corporate industry and alienating purists. But I didn't know any of that in 1979. I loved Back to the Egg, because it mostly rocked. To me, it was a ray of hope that the ex-Beatles' connections to their roots weren't totally severed.

Of course, the biggest and best song on Egg is "Rockestra Theme," an all-star studio assemblage of '70s rock greats such as Pete Townshend of the Who, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, John Paul Jones and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, and about a dozen guys on horns and timpanies, along with the then-current Wings line-up of the McCartneys, Laine, Laurence Juber on guitar and Steve Holly on drums. It's an unfettered instrumental explosion of seminal beats and primal urges, with the only vocals being Macca's wrenched "noww, noww, nowws" at the end. Awesome.

(The Rockestra was recreated later in 1979 live onstage at the four-night benefit Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, swelling to 25 performers, including the soon-to-be-dead James Honeyman Scott of the Pretenders, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant and Dave Edmunds. Also, those Rockestra performances were the last times a grossly overweight John Bonham was seen before his death - and just to be doubly-drummer strange, Keith Moon was to have joined Bonham for the gig but himself died just a month earlier; his place was taken in Rockestra, as in The Who, by Kenny Jones.)

The rocking continues on "Old Siam, Sir." God, I love this song. McCartney has been criticized by everyone from John Lennon to Joe the Mailman for writing puerile lyrics, and to a certain extent that's true. But what gets overlooked so often is his flair for humor and subtle social commentary. His perspective is not angry, which has always frustrated those who wish he'd wield his power for a specific cause. Instead, it's human and emotional - sometimes emotions are sappy, sometimes not. His writing reflects that entire range. The lyrics of "Old Siam, Sir" were fascinating to me because they gave voice to something I was only dimly aware of - the experience of Asian immigrants in England.

In a village in Old Siam, sir,
There's a lady who's lost her way
In an effort to find a man, sir,
She found herself in the old UK.

In a village in old East End, sir,
She met fellow who made her real.
Took her rushes to show, this man, sir,
He met her dad at the wedding meal.

You know, you can call him silly, but there weren't many mainstream rock stars in 1979 who were singing about multiculturalism. This was ahead of its time. Another thing highlighted in this song is McCartney's scream-singing style, a unique power that infused so many of the hardest-rocking Beatles tunes and which virtually disappeared after Back to the Egg. Now that I look back on it, I think it was that more than anything else which marked the end of McCartney as someone who had any real musical relevance to me going forward.

Another gem on this album comes from Laine, a fabulous singer, guitarist and songwriter who's never, in my estimation, gotten his proper due. His "Again and Again and Again" is one of his best-ever compositions for Wings, featuring soaring folk-rock vocals and snappy drumming from Holly all built around a catchy, uplifting song structure. These three songs alone make Back to the Egg one of the best Wings albums, to my mind. But we're not done.

"Getting Closer" was probably the closest thing to a hit song the album had, and it's also a memorable tune. McCartney was given crap for the lyric, "Say you don't love him, my salamander." But why? So what? The lyrics in this song are, I think, enjoyably obtuse and absurdist. Their lack of a literal (read: political) meaning is not a big deal to me, because the song rocks out. Especially the last third where it breaks into a hypnotic, minor-key instrumental repeating pattern, turning the song from a well-crafted pop tune into a darkish rocker.

And then there's "Spin It On." This is nothing short of a breakneck, balls-out punk rock song, like Maaca's answer to the changing times. It amazed me that someone who was supposedly so "out of it" could not only do a punk song, but do it better than anyone else if he so chose. But of course, for the most part, he didn't so choose, which I agree is a shame. "Spin It On" is a barely-under-control slab of rock 'n' roll energy, again with some very amusing Dada-esque lyrics:

Went off to the field with a missionary's zeal
For the life of a wife of a farmer.
Her cousin couldn't get on down to the village hall,
Her cousin had to spend the night on a pinball table, memories.

Spin it on, don't stop,
Take it back to the top,
'Cause I've got another lot of love for you.
That's why I wanna spin it on.

Again, what's not to love?

And finally, one more truly rocking song off Back to the Egg is "So Glad To See You Here." This number is also performed by the all-star Rockestra, and features possibly the last "screaming" vocal by McCartney anywhere. Never again would he couple that beautiful, bluesy screech with a hard rock song. It was indeed the end.

I think Back to the Egg was meant to be a significant career shift for Wings, a move to the roots-rock side of the road in response to the Doc Marten-ed kick of punk rock. But all that changed when, just as he was launching a tour to back the album, McCartney got busted for pot in Japan. That incident pretty much ended Wings, as Denny Laine decided he'd had enough and finally bailed. This only cemented Back to the Egg's place as an overlooked album.

*

See what else is in the Beachwood Bins. Bin Dive explores rock's secret history through the bargain bins and your old stack of records. Comments - and submissions - welcome. You must include a real name to be considered for publication.

Posted by Don at 12:12 AM | Permalink

Unzoning Chicago

"Neighbors call it 'the French Embassy,'" the Tribune reported in the opening to its groundbreaking series on the scam of neighborhood development.

"The new, 8,200-square-foot mansion is by far the biggest house on the 1800 block of North Wood Street, leaving Fred Ehle's four-bedroom home next door in its shadow.

"'I don't mind gentrification and development - I live in Bucktown - but it has gone out of control,' Ehle said. 'It's crazy. It's so obviously different than what the neighborhood was and still is.'

"Zoning rules had prohibited such a behemoth from going up on the block. But that was before the developer got a break from then-Ald. Ted Matlak (32nd). Two weeks after the developer applied for a lucrative 'upzoning' so he could build a much bigger house, one of the developer's companies gave the alderman a $2,000 campaign contribution.

"The real zoning code in Chicago is unwritten, but developers know it well: Changes in zoning go hand in hand with contributions to aldermanic campaigns."

This may have something of a Duh Factor to it, but there is something invaluable to meticulously documenting what we think we already know and letting the story tell itself in a way that can leave rational readers nothing but outraged. I have other problems with the project that have everything to do with the Tribune's general approach to news and nothing to do with the amazing work done by individual reporters and editors, but we'll get to that later. For now, let's take a look at the paper's findings.

*

"In an unprecedented investigation of city development, the Tribune examined 5,700 zoning changes approved by the City Council over the last decade and recorded on sheets of paper clipped into binders in a City Hall office. The newspaper converted the paper records into an electronic database to perform an analysis of development beyond the scope of anything previously possible, even for city planners.

"The investigation found that Chicago is a city where a building boom greased by millions of dollars in political donations to aldermen has remade the face of neighborhoods, changing the feel of the streets where people live and work.

"It's a city where aldermen have become dependent on the political contributions they rake in from developers, while routinely ignoring city planners who oppose out-of-scale development.

"It's a city where the council rubber stamps aldermen's wishes - rejecting just 15 requested zoning changes in a decade - and where almost half the zoning changes were concentrated in 10 of the city's 50 wards that are exploding with growth.

"And it's a city where advisory groups that review zoning proposals are sometimes stacked with developers and real estate agents who will profit from the projects."

This is the largely untold story of how Chicago's neighborhoods have changed under the Daley Administration - to the benefit of wealthy developers and their aldermen lackeys, and to the detriment of longtime residents, the working- and middle-classes, and good taste.

*

"Anyone driving around town has seen how the face of Chicago has been transformed: Three- and four-story condo buildings dwarf century-old workman's cottages on quiet side streets. Mini-mansions cover entire lots, their facades sticking out like crooked teeth in an otherwise uniform line of homes. Blocks of condos rise on Fullerton, Belmont, Damen and Harlem Avenues, overlooking arteries choked by traffic gridlock," the Tribune notes. "Lot by lot, each of these changes has received an alderman's blessing."

Development - and gentrification - is not natural, inevitable, or unstoppable. It is spurred, managed, incentivized, and perpetrated.

*

"The result is a patchwork approach to development, where the fate of any zoning change is decided long before it is ever discussed publicly by the council's Zoning Committee

"The decisions made in ward offices and rubber stamped in City Hall are driving the transformation of Chicago, making neighborhoods unrecognizable to people who have tended their homes and yards there for decades."

*

Here's how it works.

"For almost 60 years, Walter Sopala's family has owned a two-story home in the 2900 block of Sacramento Avenue. Until recently, only new single-family homes and two-flats were allowed on this block in the Logan Square neighborhood.

"That changed after a developer started eyeing the properties on the Sopalas' block.

"On July 26, 2006, Ald. Rey Colon (35th) introduced an ordinance to change the zoning on a property adjacent to the Sopalas'. The next day, developer Cornel Moldoveanu of South Barrington donated $250 to 'Neighbors for Rey Colon.'

"Despite objections from city planning staff, the upzoning was later approved by the council, allowing the developer to erect a building 8 feet taller and with 33 percent more living space than zoning rules permitted for the rest of the block.

"The new condo now towers above the Sopalas' lot, casting shadows over the yard where the retired couple had grown tomatoes and green peppers.

"But that's not the only lot on the block that the developer had in his sights.

"At the developer's request, Colon also proposed upzoning the lot on the other side of the Sopalas' home. Two months later, Moldoveanu made another $250 contribution to Colon's fund. Then, two days after the council approved the change, the builder made another $300 donation to Colon."

The Sopalas, like so many others, are no longer welcome in Chicago.

*

"Colon said the donations had nothing to do with his decision and that he deferred to an advisory group whose members he appointed to review development proposals. 'I don't care whether there are condos there or not,' Colon said. 'I just went with what my community group told me.'"

But as the Tribune goes on to show, community groups are a scam too.

*

"Although she's no city planner, Alice Sopala poses the same question planners ask. 'Why bother zoning an area if you will totally disregard it whenever the alderman says it's OK?' she said."

*

Is Chicago different than any other city? Emphatically yes.

"Chicago's City Hall is far more permissive toward developers than are New York, Boston, San Francisco and other major cities, said Brent Ryan, an urban planning expert who recently moved to Harvard University from the University of Illinois-Chicago. Unlike in those cities, he said, individual decision-making by aldermen takes the place of planning.

"'Zoning in Chicago is driven by real estate developers,' said Ryan, a former New York city planner. 'There really isn't any plan in Chicago. You have very few neighborhoods that are safe from overdevelopment . . . If you tried to tear down an old wood house in Boston and replace it with a five-story condo, they would act like you're kidnapping their children."

*

"In the 1st Ward, the fast-developing sections of Bucktown and Wicker Park are typical of Chicago's hot neighborhoods. Displayed in front of homes on many blocks are flags of Mexico and Puerto Rico as well as Ohio State University and other Big 10 schools.

"The real estate hotbed also has been a gold mine for Manuel Flores, the ward's alderman who dreams of moving up to Congress. In his rookie term on the council from 2003 to 2007, Flores approved more upzoning legislation than any other alderman except Matlak, the Tribune's analysis found.

"State and federal campaign-finance records show that the developers and zoning lawyers involved in many of the projects in Flores' ward have helped fill his campaign funds.

"Almost $370,000 of the roughly $1.2 million raised by Flores during his first council term came from developers and other real estate interests, according to an internal Flores campaign analysis obtained by the Tribune.

"Many of the same donors who supported Flores' aldermanic fundraising again came through last year when he formed a congressional campaign committee, which also relied on developers for more than one-fourth of its donations. When incumbent U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) changed his mind and announced he would seek another term next year, Flores dropped out of the race. By that point, he had raised more money than any other contender.

"Flores said the donations had no impact on his decisions."

Upon hearing that, Flores's contributors decided to stop giving the alderman money because they weren't getting anything in return. Right?

*

"At the end of a recent interview, Matlak asked a reporter to remind readers that he is now working as a real estate broker. The firm that employs him had contributed to his political funds. And his new boss had won zoning changes in the 32nd Ward from Matlak when he was alderman."

Unbelievably perfect.

"Matlak also received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Jakub Kosiba, the developer of the 'French Embassy' mansion on Wood, and his real estate agent wife, Christine Kosiba. In an e-mail response to questions, Christine Kosiba said she and her husband went through 'all necessary legal steps' and were unaware of any neighbor's opposition to the zoning change."

*

The Trib makes the correlation:

Number of zoning changes in the last four-year council term, which ended in May

Ted Matlak: 144

Manuel Flores: 115

Walter Burnett: 81

William J.P. Banks: 72

Billy Ocasio: 56

Amount of campaign donations from development-related interests since December 2002

Ted Matlak: $472,585

Manuel Flores: $369,648

Walter Burnett: $343,950

William J.P. Banks: $343,950

Billy Ocasio: $204,230

*

"Chicago aldermen wield near-absolute power over development in their wards, but most insist they get neighborhood input from community groups or handpicked advisory panels before approving or rejecting projects.

"What they don't say is that those groups often are stacked with real estate agents, developers and campaign donors with vested interests in the zoning decisions made by the aldermen.

"One alderman backed zoning changes that let a developer tear down several modest homes on the Near West Side and replace them with three-story condos, projects that were OKd by a community group.

"The group was familiar with the developer - he's a longtime leader of the organization.

"Another alderman got the backing of his own advisory panel before he approved the zoning change for a redevelopment project in Logan Square, a neighborhood in the midst of the city's gentrification wave. The owner of the land happened to sit on the panel. He sold the property, with its valuable zoning change, for nearly $1 million more than he had paid less than two years earlier."

*

"When Ald. Rey Colon (35th) was elected to the City Council in 2003, he promised to form an advisory panel to give residents a greater voice in the development of the rapidly gentrifying Logan Square area.

"In 2006, Colon sponsored a zoning change for 30 new condos with first-floor storefronts at Armitage Avenue and Whipple Street after his handpicked panel gave its blessing.

"Among the panel members was Mark Fishman - a major campaign contributor to Colon.

"The developer for the project? That was Fishman too."

*

Daley was virtually absent from the Tribune's investigation, which is unfortunate. But he was asked about the findings on Monday.

"Mayor Richard Daley on Monday defended the Chicago tradition that allows aldermen to dictate the fate of development in their wards, backing a status quo in which the City Council routinely ignores the recommendations of planners," the Tribune reports.

"And Daley made it clear he has no intention of trying to prohibit contributions from developers to aldermanic campaign funds or making other changes in a system critics contend is ripe for abuse.

"Zoning is their prerogative,' Daley said of the aldermen. 'They are elected by local . . . residents in regards to the quality of life' they provide in each ward."

Chicago government is exactly backwards. The city council has ceded many of its powers to the mayor in return for powers it has no business having itself.

*

As usual, the mayor's chief concern was the headlines any response by him would generate.

"You yell at me one day, you'll criticize me one day - 'Mayor Daley has too much power' - and then you call all the aldermen derogatory names. . . . Now you want me to control everything."

*

"Daley later was asked at a South Side news conference about the appearance of a conflict of interest."

The appearance? Didn't the paper just find it was actual conflict of interest?

"'Well, you've known this for 20 years. You've never printed it,' barked Daley, who has been mayor since 1989. 'Don't tell me about it. Now all of a sudden you wake up on Jan. 28 and you talk about it.'

On this, the mayor is right. Which leads us to what's wrong with the Tribune series.

*

On the day of the series, my friend Tracy Jake Siska, of the Chicago Justice Project, sent me this e-mail:

"It seems that the Tribune likes to do their best journalism when it matters the least. The timing of this article seems a lot like the death penalty series. Like the Tribune begrudgingly was forced to cover an issue that should have been written about years ago.

"The picture on the front page shows an older version of a house that probably got zoning help to be built and probably was not a big hit of the neighborhood when it was built. They are bitching about someone with more money building a house tooooo big for the neighborhood.

"Wow, do you think they cared what the neighborhood thought when they were building their house? The picture basically depicts the economic divide of Chicago: average Joe - makes good money but dreams about being truly rich - and truly rich who has a higher degree of clout then the middle guy and low guy put together.

"The City is on the fourth or five generation of gentrification, gentrification that is now spread all the way to the poorest community in the City, North Lawndale."

On Monday, another friend active in neighborhood issues downtown sent me this:

"It's a great story. The question is, Why didn't they write this story ten years ago?

"Ten years ago in the 42nd Ward (umm, where the WGN is) under Natarus' reign, when great small buildings would be struck down only to be replaced with boring cast concrete towers. A stop at the Board of Elections office for Natarus' D2's would show that in many instances, the building owner, the purchaser, zoning lawyers, construction companies and any and all new business tenants would have made donations to Natarus in the immediate period proceeding the razing.

"Then Billy Banks and relatives and their zoning hearings. Real live free theater. If this had come out ten years ago, the neighborhoods would have stood a chance."

That's exactly right. What the Tribune is reporting is history. To get an idea of how refracted the paper's view is, consider this post last week by Margaret Lyons at Chicagoist:

"The accelerating recession oddly coincides with the release of Forbes magazine's list of "America's Most Lucrative Neighborhoods," which includes Wicker Park near the top of the list. With a 1,870-percent increase in median home sale price since 1990, Wicker Park's property value appreciation has been faster than just about anywhere in the country. Maybe we can finally stop attaching the word 'bohemian' to the neighborhood now."

I was struck by the Trib's opening example from Bucktown. The Greater Wicker Park Area has been under siege for 20 years, and the wars were fought particularly hard in the 1990s. Where was the Tribune then? Like most mainstream media outlets, they were writing their annual "gentrification is the price of progress if you want safe streets" articles.

Now there's a bank on just about every corner in Wicker Park - the poster child for trumped-up gentrification - including a Bank of America in the North-Milwaukee-Damen pinnacle of the Flatiron Building. It's part and parcel of the same phenomenon; the local media missed the entire story of "the changing face of Chicago neighborhoods" in real time.

In fact, former First Ward Ald. Jesse Granato eventually lost his city council seat due to uncontrolled development in the area. As I've recalled here before, Granato once unburdened his soul on me a couple years later at the Beachwood Inn. You see, he was angry. He had done the mayor's bidding all those years, he said, and what did he get in return? Stiffed. The mayor hadn't offered him a job after he lost his seat.

Granato's replacement is "reformer" Manny Flores, identified by the Tribune as one of the chief culprits of developer kissy-face. Flores lives on my street, just a couple buildings down. In one of the ugliest, outsized and ill-fitting condo monstrosities in the neighborhood.

*

So what's wrong with the Trib series?

1. It's too late.
2. It lays the blame at the feet of the aldermen but somehow avoids pinning down the role of Daley in all of this. After all, Granato says he was doing what the mayor wanted, and you can bet other aldermen are doing that too, despite the apparent (alleged) best efforts of city planners rendered useless.
3. And just like, say, the Tribune's fine biographical investigation into Barack Obama last spring, this one will come and go. The questions raised will be forgotten soon enough. Sometimes it seems like the Tribune wants to show off what it can do more than it wants to impact real life. And then it forgets what it's done and it's a blank slate for its subjects all over again.

*

Several years ago I interviewed former Tribune projects editor Bob Blau (now the managing editor of The Baltimore Sun) for a profile of editor-in-chief Ann Marie Lipinski, who had just been named to the position.

We talked about an amazing piece of journalism the paper did that took a single day of city council activities and investigated the hidden meanings and connections behind it all. It was a masterpiece, and it used the corruption charges that cost Daley city council floor leader Pat Huels his seat as its jumping off point. But it was the Sun-Times that had already broken the Huels story. The Sun-Times coverage was rough and piecemeal, like its initial Hired Truck stories, but the paper drove the story every day. The Trib series frittered into the mist.

Blau told me that was a wake-up call to the Trib - that they got caught flat-footed on Huels and had learned a lesson. I'm not so sure. Trib series' are often what should be the last piece of coverage that has already broken daily. Instead, the paper seems to often see its projects as ends in themselves. Or like autopsies instead of cures. That wins awards but it doesn't do much for anybody else.

Posted by Lou at 12:10 AM | Permalink

January 28, 2008

The [Monday] Papers

"The real zoning code in Chicago is unwritten, but developers know it well," the Tribune reported on Sunday in an investigation that proves beyond a doubt how our neighborhoods have been ravaged in the last 20 years of gentrification that was neither "natural" nor well-managed. "Changes in zoning go hand in hand with contributions to aldermanic campaigns."

That might not sound like news to you, but the portrait the Tribune paints is devastating: "[A] building boom greased by millions of dollars in political donations to aldermen has remade the face of neighborhoods, changing the feel of streets where people live and work . . . Anyone driving around town has seen how the face of Chicago has been transformed: Three- and four-story condo buildings dwarf century-old workman's cottages on quiet side streets. Mini-mansions cover entire lots, their facades sticking out like crooked teeth in an otherwise uniform line of homes."

Aldermen, the paper found, "routinely [ignore] city planners who oppose out-of-scale development . . . And it's a city where advisory groups that review zoning proposals are sometimes stacked with developers and real estate agents who will profit from the projects."

The paper's investigation continues today, and is so rich with importance that I'll deal with it more tomorrow on our Politics page - including a couple criticisms that are longstanding problems with the paper's approach.

Number One
"By now, millions of weary [O'Hare] passengers may be resigned to the idea 'better late than never,' but it's unfortunate that O'Hare International Airport is the titleholder for both late and never," Jon Hilkevitch reports in the Tribune this morning. "Once the 'world's busiest airport,' O'Hare now claims 'world's most cancellations.'"

Voting Scam
"Why Wait? Vote Early!" an ad in the Sun-Times says today.

Well, I can think of plenty of reasons to wait. You might learn in the last days of a campaign, for example, that your favored candidate is an alien, or has secret ties to Scientology. (Or is that the same thing?)

I'm against early voting on two counts. First, voters are uninformed enough as it is. Let them absorb the whole of a campaign and study their choices right up to Election Day. Second, there's a certain value to the citizenry going to the polls on the same day, seeing your neighbors at the schools and fieldhouses that serve as voting centers, a certain shared civic good. Make Election Day more festive - snacks would be nice - if attracting more folks is the point. But early voting seems like one more dilution of an informed citizenry.

That's The Ticket
Obama pushed the wrong button.

Barack W. Obama
"You've got to have Christ in your life when you are running for office all the time," Obama said to churchgoers in Macon, Georgia.

Reported in the last paragraph of a 24-paragraph story.

I'm trying to decide if I'm more offended by this or Obama's comment that he would have to see Bill Clinton dance in order to determine if he was a brother.

*

If Mike Huckabee had said that, it would have caused a ruckus. Obama's Christian campaign brochures in South Carolina were no less offensive than Huckabee's controversial televison ad featuring a cross.

Glenn Greenwald of Salon has more, including images of the brochure.

Couch Potato
The fan won.

Worst Person of the Day
Andy Fuller, press secretary for outgoing U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller.

House of Daley
"So we were stunned by [federal judge Wayne] Andersen's ruling that he'll let a City Hall office oversee . . . City Hall's corruption-plagued hiring system," the Tribune says today in an editorial titled "Why Trust City Hall?"

Fairy Tale
Faithful Beachwood reader Tim Howe had a better line to this one than I did, so let's do this item again.

"Now, everybody can look back and say, oh, well, we didn't find the weapons," Mike Huckabee said during last night's Republican candidates' debate. "It doesn't mean they weren't there. Just because you didn't find every Easter egg didn't mean that it wasn't planted."

And just because you didn't see the Easter Bunny hide the eggs doesn't mean he doesn't exist.

Kissing Cousins
I don't know how I feel about this.

Daily Howler
The invaluable Bob Somerby gets it right again. Let's take a look:

DIONNE (1/25/08): Let's grant the Clintons their claims: The press is tougher on Hillary Clinton than it is on Barack Obama; the old, irrational Clinton hatred is alive and well in certain parts of the media; Hillary Clinton gets hit harder when she criticizes Obama than Obama does when he goes after her.

Let's further stipulate that Obama's formulation - he said Reagan 'changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not' - was guaranteed to enrage the former president. In Democratic circles, associating someone with Nixon is akin to a Roman comparing an emperor with Caligula.

None of it justifies the counterproductive behavior.

"We offer a chunk of E. J.'s piece - but it's the highlighted section we ask you to ponder. As we do, we'll suggest that you note the 'Clintonian' way E. J. brings down his rough judgment.

"Finally! Ten to fifteen years later, E. J. finally notices something about 'certain parts of the media.' Omigod! Fifteen years after the Whitewater hoaxings; fifteen years after the murder charges (later rerun on Hardball, of course); eight years after the war against Clinton's vice president (the one who's now honored all over the world); after a full year of rank gender-trashing; E. J. finally notes a few facts about 'certain parts' of his cohort! Finally! 'The press is tougher on Hillary Clinton than it is on Barack Obama,' he finally tells us; 'the old, irrational Clinton hatred is alive and well in certain parts of the media.'"

"But isn't it just like a gut-bucket coward?

"Absent-mindedly, E. J. completely forgets to tell readers which 'parts of the media' he is discussing! He doesn't tell them he means Chris Matthews (on whose show he's a regular guest); he doesn't say that he means Maureen Dowd - or perhaps the sneering, simpering [Anne] Kornblut, of his very own newspaper. Like so many others before him, E. J. simply forgets to say who he's actually talking about! And many readers will therefore think this: Surely, he must mean Fox - and Rush! He must mean the 'right-wing press corps.'"

If you've been reading Somerby, you know that Dionne surely means that, but Dionne is wrong. You can substitute any number of local commentators for the Matthews and Dowds. I bring a taste of Somerby's argument to this week's Reviewing the Reviews on Frank Rich's latest cut-and-paste job.

*

"I really think the evidence-free bias against the Clintons in the media borders on mental illness," says Craig Crawford, the longtime Congressional Quarterly columnist and MSNBC pundit. "I mean, we've gotten into a situation where if you try to be fair to the Clintons, if you try to be objective, if you try to say, 'Well, where's the evidence of racism in the Clinton campaign?' you're accused of being a naive shill for the Clintons.'"

Stimulus Plan
"On Friday, the Bush administration announced a package of $150 billion in tax benefits designed to encourage spending and help stimulate an economy that appears to be slowing to a crawl - and which in some parts of the country already is displaying signs of recession," the Washington Post reported.

"C'mon, another tax cut for the moneybags won't do it," our very own Tim Willette says. "I have an answer: gift cards! Send every adult a debit card with a few hundred bucks on it. Set the card to expire in three months. That would get things rolling!"

The Beachwood Tip Line: Still free!

Posted by Lou at 08:54 AM | Permalink

SportsMonday

The best thing about living in a big sports town is when the current seasons stink, there are always the off-seasons. And if fans can't summon optimism about their teams in the off-seasons they should consider a new hobby - knitting perhaps, or crossword puzzles. It is tough in this day and age of sports radio blowhards competing daily to see who can come up with the most bitingly cynical sound-bite (and trying to convince people that the only smart sports fans are the ones who snappily put down most of the folks affiliated with their favorite teams). But the smart (and happy) Chicago sports fan finds ways to accentuate the positive, especially when his team isn't actually playing games.

And yes, I have met with Pollyanna on several occasions and consider her a close personal friend, but she does not exert undue influence on my decision-making no matter how much she may have donated to my campaign. So where was I? Oh yeah, there is no way baseball fans shouldn't be looking at the bright side in January.

Doesn't this White Sox off-season feel a little like the one that led into the 2005 march to glory? I know the bottom of the rotation is shaky, to say the least, but who knows who they may get for Joe Crede when he proves his back is 100 percent in spring training. What's that, you say? Crede's back might just as well act up again, making him impossible to trade in this, his last pre-free agency season? Yes it might. And you might be diagnosed with cancer tomorrow. Lighten up would ya? And the Cubs, well, they signed Fukudome! And Jon Lieber is back, and it seems to have occurred to them that Alfonso Soriano isn't a lead-off hitter, even if they haven't found a replacement yet.

Moving right along to notes, some related, some not so much:

* In order to fill that void, the Cubs were reportedly close to trading for Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts. When asked about Roberts having been named in the Mitchell Report, Jim Hendry said that would not cause him to rule out trading for Roberts. Really? So is Jim saying he buys Roberts' whole, OK, I'm caught and therefore I'll admit to illegal drug use, but "I only did it once," defense? That doesn't strike me as a great sign.

* One thing I would like to see the White Sox do is go ahead and embrace their South Side-ness. I love the fact they picked up Nick Swisher, who was a big part of an "anything goes" sort of clubhouse in Oakland. Swisher cut his long hair last year as part of the "Locks for Love" program that encourages people to donate the raw materials for lifelike wigs for people going through chemotherapy. He should be encouraged to bring that hair back. Of course, the current White Sox won't do that. They've even instructed players to trim long hair on several occasions in recent seasons. People, the White Sox are not the Yankees, for goodness sake. I'm not saying everyone has to grow a mullet, but in the name of Oscar Gamble, let's have at least a few guys who let it all hang out.

* On ChicagoCubs.com, the clock counting down the moments "until pitchers and catchers report" clicked under 17 days, four hours early Monday. If we can just hang in until then we'll be OK, right? Wrong. Unless we're traveling to Florida or Arizona next month, isn't the fact that spring training has begun and we're still stuck up here in frigid Chicago with a whole lot more February left in front of us all the more depressing?

Oh by the way, there are far better places to revel in the spring training experience than Mesa. I was down a couple years ago to see the Cubs and while we had fun, there were flat-out way too many people around (it was tough to get good seats, the traffic and parking situation was aggravating, etc.) Much better was a half dozen years prior, when I went with my wife to visit her grandmother in Ft. Lauderdale. One afternoon we took in a Montreal Expos exhibition game at their nearby complex and it was sweet. We purchased great seats 10 minutes before the first pitch and reveled in all sorts off good, basic baseball stuff. So, if the Expos still existed, you'd know where to go.

Clearly, that's enough baseball stuff. How about those current Chicago sports seasons . . .

* I think the main reason Denis Savard gave in to the dark side after the Hawks' 1-0 home loss to Columbus last week (he apparently ranted about certain unnamed players' lack of heart and toughness for more than six minutes, an unprecedented stream of negativity from a coach who is usually Mr. Positive) was that he has realized the squad still isn't there, still isn't a real playoff contender. Jonathan Toews' injury has certainly hurt, but hockey teams always have to do without prime contributors for long stretches. In fact, teams are often better off if key players miss significant stretches but manage to recover in time to be at their best in the playoffs. The additional rest pays off, as does the smaller number of nagging injuries when there is a significant break in the action.

* At least the Bulls played a bit better defense in their last two setbacks, against the Bobcats and Suns. First and foremost this team needs to re-establish that at least it will go hard most every night - like it did the last few seasons. Then it can worry about a few wins. But the Bulls just don't have enough firepower with Deng and Gordon on the bench with injuries.

Speaking of which, isn't it an amazing coincidence how losing teams always seem to have more players sitting out longer with injuries. Guys came back in a hurry from all manner of physical difficulties during the Bulls glory years in the 90s; heck, they did it the last few years as well. But the season starts to go south and it is so much easier to take another game or two to make absolutely sure an injury is completely healed.

* Has there been a worse basketball season in Chicago, or for that matter all of Illinois, in the last quarter century or so? It isn't enough that the Bulls are the most disappointing team in the NBA; DePaul continues to scuffle along, Loyola and Illinois-Chicago fail to inspire, and the local Big 10 teams, yikes. I watched Northwestern lose to Brown last month. Coach Bill Carmody should have resigned that evening - at least he would have been spared what has been an absolutely lifeless (and winless) Big 10 campaign. And Illinois is perhaps worst of all.

But remember, just 24 days, two hours, 15 minutes and 45 seconds until designated hitters report.

-

Jim Coffman brings you SportsMonday every . . . Monday.

Posted by Lou at 06:42 AM | Permalink

Reviewing the Reviews

A weekly look at book reviews local and not.

Sex Machine
"Writer and former stripper Stephen Elliott likes sadomasochistic sex," Mike Thomas writes in the Sun-Times. "And he doesn't care who knows it."

"In fact, he wrote about his kinkiest predilections at length in the sexual memoir My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up, and he's glad they're no longer secret.

"'It's incredibly freeing to write about sex,' says Elliott, 36. The politically active journalist, author and editor of several books - including the forthcoming collection Sex for America: Politically Inspired Erotica - Elliott grew up in Chicago, where for a time he did drugs and lived in tough group homes for lost kids."

Mars and Venus
The most interesting thing in this week's Tribune book review is the news that John Gray is still around - and still pimping his well-worn on