By Steve Rhodes

Is there any other kind?
But he got the headline he wanted.
More in today’s Teachers Strike Notebook.
Secret Prisons
“First, Gov. Pat Quinn rejected reporters’ requests to tour Illinois prisons as he plans a major shakeup in the state’s corrections system,” AP reports.
“Now his administration is refusing to reveal precisely who has been allowed to see inside state penitentiaries during his three years in office.”
Later he’ll deny the prisons even exist.

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Posted on September 10, 2012

By Natasha Julius

The Weekend Desk: Committed to getting it right. You know, the second or third time around.
Market Update
The value of Human Life slumped this week as analysts indicate at least 12 people find Human Life really fucking boring.

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Posted on September 8, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

Dem Convention Notebook 4 will appear later today. If you missed it, here’s Dem Convention Notebook 3: Rahm Rockne, SuperPAC Man. And now, the rest of the day’s news . . .
1. Judge Judy doesn’t even allow hearsay evidence, and it’s more than a little disconcerting that the General Assembly passed “Drew’s Law” specifically for this case (which proved to be crucial).
UPDATE 6:44 P.M.: It appears that the vast amount of reporting attributing the hearsay evidence to Drew’s Law is wrong. I stand corrected. (Does everyone else? Geez! At least I can say I really didn’t follow this damn thing!)
*
In fact, nobody acquitted themselves well – Drew Peterson is a royal jackass and likely a multiple murderer who the media saw fit to exploit for profit and “the people” behaved like bloodthirsty children at a beheading.

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Posted on September 7, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

Today’s Dem Convention Notebook will appear later today. If you missed yesterday’s, here it is. And now, on to the rest of the day’s news . . .
1. ‘There’s Nothing Left’ Of Old Rush Street As Two Bars Near End.
Except the old part.
2. Cubs On A Mission To Avoid 100 Losses.
But if they don’t make it, there’s always next year.

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Posted on September 6, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

Today’s Dem Convention Notebook will appear later this afternoon. Now, the rest of the news:
1. Does this mean that Ozzie Guillen found a way to get paid to spout off ignorantly?
2. CTA Holds De-Crowding Hearing In Overcrowded Room.

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Posted on September 5, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“For decades, the state’s child welfare agency has kept tens of thousands of families of abused and neglected children together while helping struggling parents cope with problems ranging from alcoholism and substance abuse to explosive anger,” the Tribune reports.
“Without that assistance, called intact family services, the state’s only alternative often was to place those at-risk kids in foster care – a traumatic, life-changing moment for most children and a significant expense to the state. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services in recent years has done all it can to avoid that step, but a steep budget cut has forced the agency to slash such assistance.
“In the coming year, at least 1,500 fewer families will receive intact family care, the Tribune has learned, a 33 percent reduction so radical the agency’s director predicts it will force more Illinois children into foster homes and increase state costs tied to paying for their care.”
Brought to you by Pat Quinn, Democrat.

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Posted on September 4, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

The Beachwood will be closed for Labor Day but we do have a few quick items.
1. The White Sox Report: Beat Detroit Or Go Home. The Sox get another chance with a four-game set at the Cell.
2. “Earlier this month, when thousands of union members gathered in Philadelphia for the AFL-CIO’s ‘Workers Stand for America’ rally, labor leaders tried to pull off a difficult balancing act: firing up a weary, embattled labor movement while presenting an endorsement of Barack Obama as the lesser of two evils,” Mike Elk writes for In These Times.
Obama 2008: The Messiah. Obama 2012: The Devil You Know.

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Posted on September 3, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“It’s been a week of celebration in Gary for what would have been Michael Jackson’s 54th birthday,” WBEZ reports. “Fans from near and far have descended on MJ’s boyhood hometown.
“Just a couple of years ago, former Gary Mayor Rudy Clay announced plans for a $300 million museum and performance arts center to honor Jackson’s legacy and memory.
“But two years after that announcement before media lights and cameras, the plan is dead. Chelsea L. Whittington, spokeswoman for current Gary Mayor Karen Freeman Wilson, says without a funding plan, the museum cannot be built.”
Which is a tribute to Neverland of its own.

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Posted on September 1, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“Education and business leaders have told Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard that he’ll be blamed by the mayor for the city ending up on the brink of a teachers strike and he may be on his way out, a high-ranking education source told the Tribune,” the paper reports.
“Several sources said Mayor Rahm Emanuel is frustrated with Brizard and could let him go – potentially as soon as a contract agreement with teachers is reached.”
I started hearing from sources last spring that Brizard wouldn’t last the year. To put it bluntly, he’s been a disaster – though his boss the mayor deserves a fair share of the blame.

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Posted on August 31, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“A new report released [Wednesday] found little tracking or enforcement of taxpayer subsidized private development projects that had promised job creation,” the Illinois Public Interest Research Group says.
“The analysis by the watchdog group Illinois PIRG comes one year after Mayor Emanuel’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Reform Panel released recommendations for how to fix the wasteful economic development program and underscores the need to implement reform to protect taxpayers.

The findings show that among projects that promised to create the most jobs, there are unacceptably low levels of tracking and enforcement:
* Between 2000 and 2010, the City of Chicago spent more than $380 million dollars to create 32,396 jobs through Tax Increment Financing projects, but only 16,948 of those jobs were accounted for;
* 15 out of 21 projects with jobs covenants did not report meeting their jobs goals on an annual basis;
* 6 of those projects, on which the City spent over $129 million dollars, have no record of periodic monitoring or job creation at all.

“Illinois PIRG is calling on the Mayor to implement his Reform Panel’s recommendations that would create a standard set of metrics to track the progress and measure success of TIF projects and review performance regularly.
“Mayor Emanuel has showed us a year ago that he is committed to TIF reform by creating this Panel, and their proposed reforms would move the city in the right direction,” said Hailey Witt, Field Director for Illinois PIRG. “But it’s not enough to have these ideas on paper. The City Council should step up and pass an ordinance that the Task Force recommendations must be put in place.”

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Posted on August 30, 2012