By Steve Rhodes
BREAKING 12:32 P.M.: We’re very pleased to report that a joint investigation by Chicago Talks and The Beachwood Reporter has won the Society of Professional Journalism’s 2008 national award for online investigative reporting by an independent media outlet. The investigation found that the committees of Chicago’s City Council routinely acted on measures without a quorum, without a record of testimony by those appearing before the committees, and even without records of attendance by city councilmen themselves. This project could not have been possible without the generous assistance of Jay Stewart and the Better Government Association. I’ll have a little bit more tomorrow.
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The [Monday] Papers
Is every major Chicago team playoff-bound?
Is everything we thought we knew about the Cubs wrong?
Are the White Sox good, bad or ugly?
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And have we already seen the play of the year?
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New Game In Town
It’s not quite Beachwood Sports, but ESPNChicago.com debuted today.
Beat Sweetener
“Politico.com reports that AOL’s new site PoliticsDaily.com will include lots of veteran journalists and will feature education coverage from Linda Kulman, who has done work for NPR and wrote for US News & World Report” Alexander Russo reports.
Lynn Sweet will also write for PoliticsDaily in addition to her Sun-Times gig.
The Future Is Now
Our Man In Chicago announces the Chicago Media Future Conference.
Duncan Fever
Russo added:
“Crossed fingers that Kulman will dodge the ‘Duncan fever’ that seems to have affected much of the education beat, and see through the various education types who will – starting now – try to praise and manipulate her to get the coverage they want.”
Junior G-Man
The Jesse Jackson Junior saga may ultimately teach us the difference between quid pro quo and pro.
Paying For Propaganda
The CHA has hired Marilyn Katz for $1.1 million to “expand the public understanding” of the failing Plan for Transformation. By “expand” they mean “use the public’s own money to persuade them the plan isn’t a failure.”
I wonder if Katz would argue the other side for $1.2 million.
Olympic Shuffle
* The Olympic TIF that’s not an Olympic TIF.
* Michael Reese demolition.
Dream State
Was that Amy Sedaris riding a bike through Humboldt Park?
Turkey Dinner
I wonder if Dennis Hastert would lobby for Armenia for a dollar more than Turkey is paying him.
Prairie Parkway
Funny how the Hastert Highway doesn’t seem to be needed anymore.
16.2%
That’s the graduation rate at Chicago State University (D-Emil Jones).
Not Like Mike
The editorial boards made a big deal out of the fact that Mike Quigley was not the bosses choice to replace Rahm Emanuel in Congress, but the bosses got their way replacing Quigley on the Cook County board.
The real question is: will the editorial boards and pundits ever endorse toppling the bosses? After all, that means Richard M. Daley first and foremost.
Tax Talk
Experiments show that folks who sign their name at the top of their tax forms and then proceed to fill them out cheat less than when they fill them out and then sign at the bottom, according to an author I saw interviewed over the weekend.
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“As it turns out, the most recent Internal Revenue statistics estimate that about 86 percent of taxes owed are collected,” the New York Times reports.
Dead Date
Apparently the consensus is that the Dead peaked on May 8, 1977.
Service Fee
The Tribune editorial page again this weekend argued that privatizing parking meters and Midway Airport represented “sounds ways for City Hall to raise money and focus on essential government services.”
I’m still confused about what constitutes essential government services. How is managing an airport governed by city, state and federal laws not an essential government service? How is regulating the public roadways not an essential government service? And compared to what, inspecting porches and hosting the Olympics? Subsidizing stadiums and wealthy corporations? Someone please help me here.
The Peoples Social Secretary
Desiree Rogers rules!
I mean, when she was making $1.8 million in the first half of 2008 alone as CEO of Peoples Gas, my gas came almost every day!
She probably got that job after majoring in natural gas delivery! I’m sure she was a total energy expert!
Plus, fashionista much?
She’s even worn trendy black nail polish to White House events! How rad is that?
Maybe she’ll run ComEd next.
Mac World
Apple chooses Clybourn Corridor for new site.
Mob Mole
U.S. Marshal John Ambrose goes on trial today.
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Don’t blame me for the ridiculous auto-generated links.
Gus Van Sant
“Paranoid Park and Milk, his two most recent films, appear disparate in cinematic narrative method but are linked through their subtle sense of danger and transcendence,” our very own Roderick Heath writes at Ferdy On Films.
Frozen Four
Is there any sporting event as consistently exciting as the NCAA hockey championship? Boston University was down 3-1 with a minute left in regulation time.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Burn after reading.
Posted on April 13, 2009