Chicago -
By Natasha Julius
Turns out there’s a great way to spice up Super Bore Sunday: squeeze some balls.
Market Update
If your business is flagging, try a rebrand. Lying has been killing it since it changed its name to Innovation.
Posted on January 24, 2015
By Steve Rhodes
The Beachwood Radio Hour is in pre-production.
The Beachwood Radio Sports Hour #35: Feeling Deflated is up!
Tom Brady’s balls. Plus: Bears Dream Team; Bulls’ Weird-Ass Week; and Blue Demons Try To Justify New Arena.
Posted on January 23, 2015
By Steve Rhodes
Rahm Emanuel “taught” a civics class this morning at Brown Elementary.
Teaching a civics class at William H. Brown Elementary School this morning. pic.twitter.com/4kCn8ntANZ
— ChicagosMayor (@ChicagosMayor) January 22, 2015
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I wonder if he taught them about this.
Posted on January 21, 2015
By Steve Rhodes
“Former Bears Coach Mike Ditka put his endorsement behind mayoral candidate Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) even though he admits the two are politically polar opposites,” the Sun-Times reports.
When asked what he thought about Fioretti’s work with the City Council’s progressive caucus, Ditka appeared taken aback by the word “progressive.”
“It means inclusive, it means inclusive,” Fioretti interjected, smiling.
1. Ditka apparently has no idea that Fioretti is a member of the council’s Progressive Caucus.
2. Fioretti just renounced being progressive.
Posted on January 21, 2015
By Steve Rhodes
“Of five Chicago hospitals on the South Side, the University of Chicago Medical Center is currently the best equipped to handle adult trauma patients who need emergency care, according to a recently released study,” the Tribune reports.
Oh good. That’s really needed.
“But while officials with the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital say they plan to soon start treating juveniles as old as 17 in its trauma center, they have expressed no interest in building a level-one center to treat adults, according to the study, which was released by the Illinois Department of Public Health.”
Oh. Even if we give you some parkland?
Posted on January 20, 2015
By Natasha Julius
OK.
Market Update
The answer, as always, is not bad enough.
Posted on January 17, 2015
By Steve Rhodes
Our very own Natasha Julius wrote this to me during an e-mail exchange this morning about the Obama library. I thought it was worthy of sharing:
What’s that old adage? Follow the what now?
Anyway, my understanding is that the UIC bid included two sites (originally three, but they nixed one – to my surprise – at Illinois Medical Center): one on the main campus to house the archives and a second in North Lawndale that would house a community development center. if I’m not mistaken, the RFP from the foundation heavily stressed community involvement, jobs incubation, having a long-term vision to transform the city, etc.
UIC is a land-grant institution; it serves, on the whole, a much less advantaged population than the private U of C. It has the space to house the archives on campus and there would be a direct transit link between the first site and the second via the Blue Line. The third site, if memory serves, was to house a research center. Not sure whether that was blended into the campus site or the North Lawndale site, but the bid had a comprehensive view of how to execute the foundation’s stated vision on the ground in two neighborhoods that are still lagging relative to Hyde Park and even Woodlawn. It’s pretty simple: If the Obamas want to do what their foundation says, they’ll choose UIC. If they want to assist a private institution in its bid to take over more public land and expand its elitist footprint, they’ll choose U of C.
I’ve been fortunate through friends and through work to get to know a little about both communities in question. No question both places could use more investment, so now it’s a question of what sort of investment. Do you want to plop down a privately-run institution that removes land from public control and maybe offers a few construction and security jobs or do you want to partner with a public institution on a long-range effort to transform a struggling neighborhood?
Sold.
Posted on January 16, 2015
By Steve Rhodes
“The second forum in as many days on using Chicago parkland for a Barack Obama presidential library again drew hundreds of people Wednesday, with arguments that boil down to the proposal either eroding valuable outdoor space or being an economic boost to the city’s South Side,” the Tribune reports.
“Park officials listened to comments in a gym and overflow rooms at the Washington Park field house for almost three hours, but it’s unclear when the matter will come before the Park District Board of Commissioners for a vote on how to move forward with the land, Avis LaVelle, vice president of the board, said after Wednesday’s public hearing.”
Let us pause now to consider: Who is Avis LaVelle?
Posted on January 15, 2015
By Steve Rhodes
“Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner spent his first full day in office Tuesday vowing to overturn a series of moves Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn made on his way out the door, accusing his predecessor of engaging in ‘inappropriate’ political hiring and appointments,” the Tribune reports.
Link mine.
Posted on January 14, 2015
By Steve Rhodes
“Bruce Rauner took over as Illinois governor Monday and asked for shared sacrifice to help him restore a state he described as in decline, beset by financial, moral and ethical crises,” the Tribune reports.
Let me fix that.
“Bruce Rauner took over as Illinois governor Monday and asked for shared sacrifice to help him restore a state he described as in decline, beset by financial, moral and ethical crises.”
Posted on January 13, 2015