The [Wednesday] Papers

1. How A Reporter Opened A Closed Meeting.

"In the middle of a budget stalemate in the middle of the country, Associated Press correspondent John Hanna passes a closed conference room en route to his basement office in the Kansas Statehouse.

"Glancing through a door window, Hanna sees Gov. Sam Brownback's budget director addressing 27 Republican lawmakers.

That's interesting, Hanna tells himself - the caucus was not publicly scheduled, as would be the custom in Kansas, and the state legislature is struggling to fix an $800 million deficit mostly caused by Brownback's 2012-2013 tax cuts. A long-awaited debate on the House floor was just canceled. Why are they meeting in secret? Hanna opens the door, walks in, and stands against a wall."

Click through to see what happened next.

2. How Little Obama's Team Meant It.

"People who leave high government positions have all sorts of career opportunities and options because of the political influence they wield, and their choices about how to use that influence speak volumes - about Washington and about themselves.

"As Julia Carrie Wong put it today in a series of tweets: "It's hard to think of a political identity with *less* actual meaning than being a Democrat these days. As a proud Democrat, Gibbs will devote his time to fighting wage increases, harming the environment, and preying on poor communities. His brother in arms Plouffe will focus on the core Democratic values of deregulation and obviating the National Labor Relations Act."

The Obama revolving door has worked in the other way, too: so many early appointees came from Goldman Sachs that it was hard to keep track of them all. And, of course, the greatest enrichment of American political officials is reserved for those who are president or otherwise achieve full political celebrity. But the remarkably homogeneous post-White House career path of Obama's top tier of aides and advisers is notable in all sorts of ways.

Click through to see the deets on the most cynical crew to ever occupy the White House.

3. Steal Panther.

"Newly released FBI records reveal that Richard Masato Aoki, widely revered as a radical hero in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s, was deeply involved as a political informant for the FBI, informing on his fellow Asian activists and on Black Panther Party leaders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale.

"Going beyond previously disclosed FBI records, the documents show that while acting as a militant leader, Aoki covertly filed more than 500 reports with the FBI between 1961 and 1971 on a wide range of activists and political groups in the Bay Area."

Click through to read about how Aoki armed the Panthers, raising questions about whether the FBI fomented violence to discredit the group.

4. Fair Warning.

"A former school superintendent who paid for lavish hotels, booze and far-flung travel with public money was charged with crimes on Monday related to his jet-setting.

"The Franklin County prosecutor filed charges of dereliction of duty and obstruction of official business against Bart G. Anderson, who led the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio until he resigned in 2013. Both charges are misdemeanors and bring a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $750 fine.

"Anderson is scheduled to appear in Franklin County Municipal Court on Thursday and is expected to plead guilty. The misdemeanor charges, rather than felony theft charges, are the result of a negotiated deal.

"Anderson cooperated with the state auditor and prosecutor in unrelated cases."

Why should you care? Because Anderson lives in Chicago now and CPS can't be trusted to vet him should he apply for a job there.

5. Keeping Score.

On Monday, Score host Dan Bernstein lambasted a caller for wondering what impact Javy Baez's injury would have on the Cubs' plans going forward - particularly on the trade front. On Tuesday, Bernstein asked Cubs play-by-play announcer Len Kasper what impact Javy Baez's injury would have on the Cubs' plans going forward . . .

Bernstein also inexplicably agrees with the NBC sports exec who wants hockey players to shave their playoff beards so their mugs can be better marketed.

The exec is doing players a favor by offering them a path to more endorsements, Bernstein says. But not everyone wants to be marketed. And beards are the source of power for hockey players in playoffs.

6. Poetry In Motion.

As many of you probably know, the architectural boat tour is fantastic - and it's even better when our very own poet-in-residence J.J. Tindall is your tour guide. Just don't forget the sunscreen, like me and my parents did last weekend.

7. Friends In High Places.

"Senators, generals, ambassadors, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the owner of The Atlantic were in the roster of powerful voices who wrote to a federal judge to ask him to go easy on former CIA director and retired general David Petraeus, who admitted to giving classified information to his mistress and biographer."

Click through to read more about how our two-tiered justice system works.

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And:

Petraeus/Panetta/high-officials v. Snowden/Manning/Drake, etc. https://t.co/6LtRBCeoFi

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 10, 2015

8. The Wall.

Check out this community mural project organized in part by my roommate.

9. Class, Race & Public Mental Health Services.

"Seven of the 10 police districts with the most mental health-related 911 calls were in predominantly African-American or Latino neighborhoods on the South and West Sides."

Click through for more.

10. The Cute Lightning.

"So how is a hockey team in the Sunshine State - in the nation's 13th largest television market - helping attract record U.S. viewers to a sport born up north and played on ice?"

Maybe by playing Chicago!

Click through to see what Tampa thinks of itself, though.

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BeachBook
* Brookfield Zoo Acts To 'Remedy Situation' Surrounding Online Racial Slur.

I dunno, I bet those were rude-ass white people.

* Ill-Annoy: What The Hastert Scandal Reveals About Congress's Broken Rules.

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TweetWood
A sampling.

.@FLOTUS How about the Obama Library and Trauma Center, if you love the South Side so much ...

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 10, 2015

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Robert Gibbs says Guantanamo Bay McDonald's will be closed by 2018.

— Matt Farmer (@mifarmer) June 9, 2015

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CPD reports .3% (3 out of every 1000) of 2014 arrestees had a lawyer in any CPD facility at any point of their detention. In 2013, only .2%

— First Defense (@FirstDefense606) June 9, 2015

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Feds Seized Chicago Man's Computers in Celeb Nude Leak Investigation http://t.co/ibziUbg9bZ

— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) June 9, 2015

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