By Steve Rhodes
Yeah, I’m gonna skip today’s NATO Notebook and just go right into the Papers. But there is more NATO coverage to come.
1. Dude. Really?
2. “Less than two months after the resignation of a Chicago Public Schools official accused of accepting improper gifts from the district’s two largest food vendors, the district on Monday said it intends to renew contracts for those vendors, Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality and Preferred Meal Systems,” the Tribune reports.
“CPS spokeswoman Marielle Sainvilus said there wasn’t enough time to put the contracts out for a competitive bid.”
There was enough time – and money – to force a longer day on schools without any notion of how that time would be spent, though.
You know what they say: Where there’s a political will, there’s a way.
3. Alternate headline: Chicago Protesters Get High Marks.
After all, the vast majority were peaceful just like the police. And just like the police, a small cadre engaged in violence.
More troublesome, though, is the idea that the city should be commended for containing free speech. It would have been a whole lot cooler – in all senses of the word – had the city created a whole week’s worth of (accessible) programs around NATO and foreign policy issues instead of trying to highlight our elite chefs.
4. And remember, death is not an option: Facebook vs. Groupon.
5. NATO summit ends; back to our regularly scheduled police beatings.
6. And what do the Chicago police do now with all their fancy new (and expensive) riot gear?
They use it!
7. Too easy.
8. “After years of bad publicity over cronyism and clout, the Illinois Legislature has voted to end a longstanding program that allowed each lawmaker to hand out taxpayer-funded college tuition waivers to students,” AP reports.
“For decades, though, waivers were shown to sometimes go to the politically connected rather than those most deserving. In the past year alone, a half-dozen lawmakers gave waivers to the relatives of lobbyists or friends, or violated the rules by awarding them to people who live outside their legislative districts. Some recipients have strangely listed addresses linked to their benefactors.”
For decades. Reminds me of this tweet from over the weekend:
MT @MegMantis: Anarchists (I think) chant sarcastically “What do we want? Slow reform! When do we want it? Eventually!”
— Occupied Chi Tribune (@OccupiedChiTrib) May 21, 2012
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See also: West Side Legislator Kept Handing Out Scholarships Even After Being Indicted.
(I know what I’m getting Derrick Smith for his birthday!)
9. I would have done this study for at least a penny less than these guys got paid.
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And I wouldn’t have forgotten to include roosters.
10. Smells Like Pre-Teen Spirit.
11. The Whole World Was Watching.
12. Timely Reminder: Chicago 10.
13. Always A Game In Town.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Town payment.
Posted on May 21, 2012