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The [Wednesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“Additional gambling revenue is not the answer to Illinois’ fiscal problems,” the Northwest Herald writes. “It only will create more addicts, bankrupt more families, and open the state up to more organized crime.”
It’s really that simple. It’s a really sad state of affairs when government turns to a business that preys on the most vulnerable among us and depends on duping the customer into playing games they can’t win in order to raise revenue for services that will will never flow back to the most vulnerable among us, no matter what the rhetoric. There are only a few winners in this configuration, and we all know who they are. And that’s why they want it so bad.
Unfortunately, it’s not clear that Pat Quinn’s spine is really in it. Now that he’s made a show of calling for stricter regulation, he can cave when Rahm Emanuel & Co. come back next time. Then he can claim he stood up for the people of Illinois against moneyed interests when he vetoed a gambling bill – no self-respecting journalist should use the word “gaming” – at the same time he reaps the rewards of passing a gambling bill (or live not at all uncomfortably with a legislative override of his veto.)

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Posted on August 29, 2012

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

Actually, I can believe there isn’t a single document in existence about the Emanuel administration’s decision to turn Clemente High School into a wall-to-wall International Baccalaureate program.
My impression was that after a study released in March found the city’s IB programs to be unusually successful, the mayor went off willy-nilly, as he is wont to do, and shouted something like “Why the fuck haven’t we turned all our schools into IB schools then?! Let’s fucking make them all IB schools! Fuck!”

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Posted on August 28, 2012

The [Monday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

Perusing the news.
1. “The University of Illinois says a record number of prospective freshmen applied this year for admission to its three campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield,” AP reports.
Because applying to your legislator no longer works.
2. I dunno, what’s Swahili for Will The Defendant Please Rise?
3. The Republican National Convention opens today at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, a monument to the newspaper industry’s penchant for bungling the branding of its few quality products.
*
The St. Petersburg Times used to mean something, as did The Des Moines Register and, even, the Chicago Tribune. In each case the brand diminishment was the direct result of corporate decision-making – such as refocusing resources covering snoozy but affluent bedroom suburbs – that had nothing to do with the Internet.

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Posted on August 27, 2012

The [Friday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“Mayor Rahm Emanuel has spending authority over millions of dollars in private donations left from the NATO summit, giving him a powerful new tool to reward projects and causes he supports, the Tribune has learned,” the paper reports.
“The private donations were raised by Emanuel allies to help cover the city’s share of hosting the May gathering of world leaders in Chicago, and officials have only said that any remaining money – currently as much as $14.9 million – would be spent on undefined NATO ‘legacy’ projects.
“But this week, the mayor’s office and officials at World Business Chicago, the city’s economic-development arm, confirmed that Emanuel will decide how to dole out the money.”
I have a few ideas:

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Posted on August 24, 2012

The [Thursday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“The mosquito responsible for the West Nile virus flourished during the summer’s record heat and drought. Now, officials are concerned about emerging signs that a widespread outbreak may be on the horizon in Illinois,” the Tribune reports.
“Updated figures from the state Department of Public Health show extremely high numbers of the Culex pipiens species have tested positive for the disease – 71 percent in DuPage County and nearly 60 percent in Cook, the health department reported.
“Although the 27 cases of West Nile virus in Illinois don’t represent a particularly high number, experts start to get anxious when just 10 percent of samples of virus-carrying mosquitoes test positive.”

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Posted on August 23, 2012

The [Wednesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Tuesday said former President Ronald Reagan deserves ‘a special place in hell’ for his role in the war on drugs, but later she regretted what she called her ‘inflammatory’ remark,” the Tribune reports.
“The comment from Preckwinkle, known more for a reserved, straight-ahead political style, came at a conference led by former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar, who’s now at the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs.
“Preckwinkle was defending the recent move by the city of Chicago to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana by allowing police to write tickets, saying out-of-whack drug laws unfairly lead to more minorities behind bars.”

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Posted on August 22, 2012

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

The drought of 2012 is already legend, its destruction of corn, soybeans and most crops well-documented,” the Sun-Times reports.
“But there is one cash crop in Northern Illinois that has fared OK during the drought, albeit a small one – grapes.
“It turns out drought is not as hard on grapes used in making wine as it is on corn, soybeans or even the bluegrass in people’s lawns.”
And that’s good news for the state’s winemakers. Click through for the rest.

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Posted on August 21, 2012

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