Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“Special prosecutor Dan K. Webb will release a 162-page report Tuesday morning that’s expected to shed light on whether clout kept police and prosecutors from charging Richard J. ‘R.J.’ Vanecko, a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, with killing David Koschman,” the Sun-Times reports.
“Webb’s report was filed under seal five months ago as Vanecko, 39, was awaiting trial for involuntary manslaughter.
“Vanecko pleaded guilty Friday, admitting he punched Koschman in the face during a drunken confrontation outside the late-night bars along Division Street on April 25, 2004, leading to Koschman’s death 11 days later.
“Cook County Circuit Judge Michael P. Toomin – who directed Webb to produce a report on the investigation when he appointed him special prosecutor in April 2012 – signed an order Monday to make the report public now that Vanecko’s case is over.”


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All eyes in the city will be upon this, obviously.
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As for Friday’s plea bargain, well, I hate to say I told you so (again), but, well, this is what I wrote last September.
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That’s Pat!


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Or maybe Quinn just needs the extra time to get his facts straight (see No. 4).
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Oddly, Capitol Fax impresario Rich Miller recommended the AP piece that I eviscerated in the previous link as “interesting stuff. Go read it.”
The State of the State is unreported.
Our Neighborhood PTSD Crisis
“When researchers started screening for post-traumatic stress disorder at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital – which treats about 2,000 patients a year for gunshots, stabbings and other violent injuries – they assumed they would find some cases, ProPublica’s Lois Beckett writes,” the news organization notes in an e-mail promoting the examination.
“They just didn’t know how many: Fully 43 percent of the patients they examined – and more than half of gunshot-wound victims – had signs of PTSD.
“Beckett reports that just like veterans, civilians can suffer flashbacks, nightmares, paranoia, and social withdrawal. And while the military has made substantial progress in recent years – regularly screening for PTSD, working to fight the stigma associated with mental health treatment, and educating military families about potential symptoms – Americans wounded in their own neighborhoods are not getting treatment for PTSD. They’re not even getting diagnosed.
“Highlights from Beckett’s report:

  • About 8 percent of Americans suffer from PTSD at some point, studies show, but the rates appear to be much higher in communities where high rates of violent crime have persisted, like poor, largely African-American pockets of Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia.
  • Post-traumatic stress can take a toll on relationships and parenting, lead to family conflict and interfere with jobs. A national study of patients with traumatic injuries found that those who developed post-traumatic stress were less likely to have returned to work a year after their injuries.
  • ProPublica surveyed a top-level trauma center in each of the 22 cities with the nation’s highest homicide rates. Just one, the Spirit of Charity Trauma Center in New Orleans, currently screens all seriously injured patients for PTSD. At another, Detroit Receiving Hospital, psychologists talk with injured crime victims about PTSD.

Under ProPublica’s unique, awesome and innovative content-sharing program, we’ve got the story today right here on the Beachwood: The PTSD Crisis That’s Being Ignored: Americans Wounded In Their Own Neighborhoods.
Philip Seymour Hoffman Was Almost Famous
Provided the soul of the movie as Lester Bangs.
Another Way To Cover An SOTU Address
Stick to the fact-checking.
Sochi Preview: Welcome To The Russian Riviera
The most expensive Games ever are being held in a subtropical resort surrounded by conflict zones and riddled with Chicago-style corruption writ large. Get ready for 98 events in three weeks, endless jingoism and world-class athletic feats.
Bob Gates Vs. The Chicago Crowd
Plus: The Staple Singers & Big Bill Broonzy. In Local Book Notes.
28 Reasons To Hug A Black Guy
A Black History Month Special Report.
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BeachBook
* How Chicago’s Hospitals Really Make Money.
* Hyde Park Residents Puzzled By Mysterious Noises, Vibrations.
* Obamacare Can’t Handle Appeals Of Enrollment Mistakes.
* Pentagon Math: 10,000 = 0.
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BeachTweet


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The Beachwood Tip Line: In America, tip line find you.

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Posted on February 4, 2014