By Steve Rhodes

Am I missing something or is the lead buried here?
“A little-known Cook County commissioner said Monday he’s preparing to run for Chicago mayor, hoping to tap into the support of ‘disaffected Chicagoans’ who feel Mayor Rahm Emanuel hasn’t lived up to his promises and doesn’t take their concerns seriously,” the Tribune reports.
“Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia, 58, is a former Southwest Side alderman and state senator who lost a bitter 1998 contest to Tony Munoz, a candidate backed by the Hispanic Democratic Organization allied with then-Mayor Richard M. Daley. Four years ago, Garcia made a political comeback and won election to the County Board.”
Okay. Pretty rote, and I could quibble with a couple things, but let’s zoom right to the very last sentence.

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Posted on October 28, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

* The Beachwood Radio Hour #29: The Sun-Times Is An Even Hotter Mess And Endorsements Are Even Bullshittier.
Nothing clangs when they walk. Plus: Slowing Rauner’s Endorsement Roll, Anatomy Of A Tribune Editorial, RahmNation, and CPD Swabbies On The CTA.
* Anatomy Of A Tribune Editorial.
Yes, an editorial is an opinion, but it’s supposed to be an honest one, arrived at through factual argument, not sleight of hand
* SportsMonday: Bye-Bye Bears.
Hey Phil Emery, you’re compiling a list of potential replacements as we speak, right?

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Posted on October 27, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

“The newest Chicago Police counterterrorism effort will involve assigning officers to high-traffic CTA train stations to randomly check riders’ bags for explosives,” the Sun-Times reports.
“Starting the week of Nov. 3, officers will ask ‘randomly selected’ individuals if they are willing to have their bags screened before they pay to enter a station, police said in a statement Friday. If someone declines the screening, they will not be allowed to ride the train.”
First, by “randomly selected,” officials mean profiled. After all, officers will be deciding on their own who looks “suspicious” and pulling them aside, right? Selection will be anything but random.
Second, if you refuse to “willingly” allow such a screening, you won’t be allowed to ride the train. So now allowing such screenings, which might otherwise be described as “searches,” are a condition of using public transportation.

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Posted on October 25, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

A Papers column per se will not appear today, though I am working on some posts related to recent events that may appear at some point today or through the weekend.
Meanwhile:
* The Beachwood Radio Sports Hour #23: It’s All Cutler’s Fault.
You can’t keep going back to him thinking he’s gonna change, honey. And no, you can’t fix him. It’s time to move on.
Plus: Dennis Rodman Was Drunk All The Time; Worst World Series Ever; Joakim Knee-Ah; Taking The Blackhawks For Granted; Little Big Ten; and Cubs Prepare To Block Their Own Views.
* Beachwood Photo Booth: Skully Bungalow.
Skully Bungalow is also the name of the femme fatale in my new goth Chicago noir play, The Belt That Screamed Murder.
* In production: The Beachwood Radio Hour #29.
* The College Football Report will not appear today but will return on Monday.
* The Week In Chicago Rock.
Featuring: Eddie and the Hot Rods, B-Real, King Diamond, Sha’Miracle, Gone Hawking, The White Buffalo, Anberlin, and Makaya McCraven.

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Posted on October 24, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

I was out all day Wednesday and when I got home I learned that Dave McKinney had resigned.
You can find my running commentary, again, on Twitter.
I’ve been collecting the most interesting and salient reporting and commentary along the way and will have more at some point – not sure if it will be today. Trynta make a living.
I will say that both here and on Twitter I’ve been pushing my last podcast a little hard, but there’s a reason for that. While I know most of you would rather read about this than listen to me yak about it, I really think in all un-Minnesotan self-promotion that my podcast is the best distillation of the whole chain of events that’s out there. For one thing, I sample from all of the coverage of the last couple of weeks in chronological order to try to simplify and explain the saga and its twists and turns. For another, I show how the Sun-Times shifted its rationale for returning to the endorsement game several times in what I believe is a pretty damning way. Also, I show how the endorsement itself was the height of silliness; if you’re gonna pull a stunt like this, at least do it cogently. Finally, I call out the weasels, which is always enjoyable.

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Posted on October 23, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

Last night the Tribune held another of its “Trib Nation” events with Rahm Emanuel. I hate these things, and here’s why: Rahm would never participate if he’d be facing a real reporter ready to grill him on all the questions he’s dodged in between appearances. He knows, instead, that he’ll get a brand-burnishing schmoozefest with his pal, Bruce Dold, the paper’s editorial page editor (and also the person who will write the Tribune’s inevitable re-election endorsement in February). Once again, it’s the editorial page undermining the reporting staff – as I’ve talked about in our last two podcasts.
Check out our Twitter TL and/or the hashtag #tribnation to see what questions I submitted as an example of why I concluded this was, indeed, a wank.
(Also included: retweets from the Tribune’s top two editors that bolster my case.)

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Posted on October 22, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

Still awaiting the next installment of the Sun-Times saga involving its hinky endorsement process and unanswered allegations that owner Michael Ferro pressured editors over their coverage of Bruce Rauner; that installment, teased by his Crain’s colleague Greg Hinz, is expected from Rich Miller of the Capitol Fax Blog.
In the meantime, you can catch up with my analysis that irrefutably shows the Sun-Times is not being straight with you – and quite frankly, isn’t very bright – on The Beachwood Radio Hour #28: The Sun-Times Is A Hot Mess.
Among the highlights: The Sun-Times’s shifting and conflicting explanations of why they got back in the endorsement business; the paper’s broken promise to readers about their process; and the weaselly shiftiness of publisher/editor Jim Kirk and editorial page editor Tom McNamee.

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Posted on October 21, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

I’ll talk about the Sun-Times endorsement controversy as well as the bizarre specter of a reporter hiring a former U.S. attorney to investigate a campaign’s alleged threat to his employment on The Beachwood Radio Hour #28, which is still in production due to circumstances this weekend beyond my control. Hope to get that posted this afternoon. You can also check out @BeachwoodReport for some running commentary on each situation.
–
UPDATE 7:50 P.M.: It’s up.
The Beachwood Radio Hour #28: The Sun-Times Is A Hot Mess.

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Posted on October 20, 2014

By Natasha Julius

Nature at work. Nurture at work. Nature wins.
Market Update
Is this the kind of public-private partnership the mayor had in mind?

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Posted on October 18, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

1. The Colors Of Bowmanville.
Red, gold and green.
2. Democalypse 2014: Funding Or Die.
Oh God, the e-mails . . .

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Posted on October 17, 2014