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The [Tuesday] Papers
"Chicago needs to join scores of other American cities and begin planning for the removal of toxic lead water pipes, according to a group of aldermen pushing for public hearings despite objections from Mayor Rahm Emanuel," the Tribune reports.
"Nearly 400,000 single-family homes and small apartment complexes - 80 percent of all residential buildings in Chicago - get treated Lake Michigan water from lead service lines that the city required by law until Congress banned the practice in 1986.
"Emanuel administration officials have repeatedly said there is no cause for concern. But the Tribune first reported in April that lead was found in water samples drawn from nearly 70 percent of the 2,797 homes that returned free testing kits provided by the city during the past two years."
That seems like cause for concern.
"Alarming amounts of the metal turned up in water samples collected throughout the city, a Tribune analysis of the results found. Tap water in 3 of every 10 homes sampled had lead concentrations above 5 parts per billion, the maximum allowed in bottled water by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."
I am concerned.
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"Results from the city-provided testing kits in Chicago offer the most conclusive evidence yet of widespread hazards that have remained hidden for decades. Yet as Emanuel borrows hundreds of millions of dollars to overhaul the public water system, the city is keeping lead service lines in the ground and brushing aside concerns from residents and aldermen.
"Emanuel's office has said it is up to homeowners, not the city, to decide if it is worth replacing the lead pipes at their own expense, even though the city required the use of lead plumbing for most of the last century."
Why did the city require such a thing - "long after many cities banned them?"
"The answer has a lot to do with political clout, union might, and decades of mayoral inaction," WBEZ reports:
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Back to the Trib:
"The same law firm that defends the lead industry in product liability cases represented the Emanuel administration for free in a lawsuit demanding the removal of lead service lines. Kirkland & Elllis fended off the lawsuit in April, but the Cook County judge who ruled in the city's favor also said there is strong evidence that scores of Chicagoans are drinking tap water contaminated with the brain-damaging metal."
So the city is poisoning us - and City Hall and the courts are fine with it!
"In a seven-page decision, Cook County Circuit Judge Raymond W. Mitchell said he dismissed the complaint against the city 'on the narrowest possible grounds' based on other court rulings that limit Illinois residents from seeking damages when government actions cause harm," the Trib reported in April.
"Before delving into the arcane details of case law, Mitchell noted that research has outlined how Emanuel's aggressive overhaul of the water system is increasing the chances that Chicagoans are exposed to lead in their tap water."
So Rahm is personally poisoning us.
"City actions have increased the levels of lead in the water," Mitchell wrote. "The city nevertheless pursues its projects and insists that the water is safe to drink."
This strikes me as a big deal.
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Today's Trib:
"City officials advise that residents can protect themselves by flushing household plumbing for three to five minutes when water hasn't been used for several hours. But in 1 of 5 Chicago homes tested since January 2016, the Tribune analysis found, samples contained high levels of lead after water had been running for three minutes.
"Even after water had been running for five minutes, 9 percent of the homes tested had high lead levels.
"Lead is unsafe at any level, according the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
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New on the Beachwood today . . .
Revealed: The DOJ's Secret Rules For Targeting Journalists With FISA Court Orders
"The fact that these were kept secret during the Obama administration is cause for great concern. Now, President Trump has repeatedly stated his hatred for the media, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has already tripled the amount of leak investigations since the Obama era (when they were already at an all-time high). Has the Trump administration used FISA court orders to target journalists with surveillance? If so, when?"
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Writers Under Surveillance
FBI files revealed.
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Amazon & The Way Of The World
"Governments can't make them pay taxes, that's how powerful they are! And they're powerful because they're rich. If you can buy power, that's not a democracy!"
It's true; the richer you are, the more exempt you are from taxes. That's backwards.
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Chicago's World Dumpling Fest
Mmm, dumplings . . .
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SportsTuesday: Bears Fun Again
Even if the quarterback is frustrating.
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The Political Odds
Continuing to update to reflect recent developments.
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The Weekend In Chicago Rock
Really behind on this feature; trying to catch up. (This is Gary Numan joining Beck for "Cars" at Riot Fest.)
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ChicagoReddit
Found some interesting mail while remodeling my garage from r/chicago
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ChicagoGram
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ChicagoTube
UCAN Aérospatiale Dauphin [N365UC] Being Pushed Into the Vertiport Chicago Hangar [06.28.2017]
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BeachBook
Chicago Museum Free Days.
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TweetWood
A sampling.
Chicago Sun Times Columnist Advises Man Against Giving Kids 'Indian' Names https://t.co/CSrphBvlte
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) September 18, 2018
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Fraud. Conspiracy to commit fraud. I'll think of some others later. https://t.co/KaIPLhNdOs
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) September 17, 2018
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I just read the Hockenberry piece and it's one of the absolute worst things I've ever read; the lack of self-awareness is monumental. https://t.co/Ikeh4t2Awx via @slate
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) September 18, 2018
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Ask Anna: How do I make my boyfriend's penis bigger? https://t.co/VO3htBI26C
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) September 18, 2018
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The Beachwood Tronc Line: Beachinsky.
Posted on September 18, 2018
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