By Steve Rhodes
Pat Quinn’s lead is growing, not shrinking. Four more years of Governor Gumby.
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In other odds and ends, check out our ElectionNotes 2010. Exclusively in the Beachwood.
Judge Fudge
“Cook County voters Tuesday narrowly retained four Circuit Court judges who had been deemed unqualified to continue on the bench by several legal groups,” the Tribune reports.
“Jim Ryan and Susan McDunn each garnered about 63 percent of the vote, just above the required 60 percent to be retained; Dorothy Jones pulled in 64 percent; and William O’Neal recorded 66 percent.
“‘The bar groups who spend many hours interviewing and vetting these judges are disappointed,’ said Jeannine Cordero, chair of the Chicago Bar Association judicial evaluation committee.”
Yes, every election we’re disappointed that bad judges get retained; certainly the media could be louder about who to vote against. But isn’t the real story how these judges got on the bench in the first place and who keeps them there, rather than who fails to remove them? After all, aren’t they the beneficiaries of political organizations that for some reason are rewarding them or want them to be judges?
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Joe Birkett named to replace Jack O’Malley on appellate court.
Captain Ron
“Chicago Public Schools Chief To Leave Office At End Of November,” the Tribune reports.
“Huberman had said he would not serve next mayor.”
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So his loyalty was to Richard M. Daley, not the children of Chicago. Nice.
Cop Chop Shop
“The Chicago Police Department is striking a compromise after running into opposition over a plan to raise its minimum application age to 25,” the Sun-Times reports.
“Instead of forcing aspiring police officers to wait until their 25th birthday to take the police entrance exam on Dec. 11, the revised policy allows them to take the test when they turn 21. But they still can’t enter the police academy until they’re 25.”
How in the world does any of this make sense?
First, I understand Jody Weis’s desire for a more mature police force, but maturity doesn’t necessarily correlate to age. If you’re qualified and you have the right temperament, you’re qualified and you have the right temperament. And vice versa.
Second, the compromise sounds like a joke to me. Take the test now and we’ll admit you in four years! A lot can happen between now and then. People become angry, fat, disillusioned, or uninterested. It’s no way to recruit police officers.
Burke’s Law
“Non-profit organizations that solicit charitable contributions on Chicago streets would pay $10-a-day for the privilege – and their solicitors would be required to wear reflective vests – under an ordinance proposed Wednesday by the City Council’s most powerful alderman,” the Sun-Times reports.
“Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th) wants Chicago to join Boston, Skokie, Glenview and Cicero in charging a ‘modest administrative fee’ to non-profits that obtain city permits to seek donations on the public way.”
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I’ve got a better idea: Let’s charge Ed Burke $10 a day for every $1,000 in his campaign fund. That would bring in a million bucks a week.
Variety Show
America’s Got Talent Holding Auditions In Chicago.
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Pat Quinn will pretend to balance a budget while Mark Kirk juggles tea cups.
How To Make Animal Balloons
Chicago-style.
The Czar of the Playbook
And his Bears-Bills preview.
The Chicago Code
See the trailer.
The 98th Worst Cub Ever
Claude Hendrix.
Mike Fontenot’s Ring
And other Cubs and Sox tidbits from our very own Dan O’Shea.
Nuclear Tree Service
These guys do not fool around.
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The Billy Goat Bogus Beer Summit
And then I said to Jaws, oh, what the hell, you’re good for the money, right?!
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See, you pay interest at this rate and lend it out at this rate.
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The media, performing its Constitutional duty, will later complain that the public doesn’t want substance.
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COMMENTS
1. From Michael O’Connor:
If Kirk had picked up his Miller Lite bottle, he would have found the words UNION MADE on the label, as it is on every Miller product. Of course, if he read that he might have spat out the beer into Alexi’s face.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: With interest.
Posted on November 4, 2010