Chicago -
By Steve Rhodes
“Moderate-to-severe drought conditions now exist in all of Illinois, according to a weekly update from the U.S. Drought Monitor,” the State Journal-Register reports.
That would be the U.S. Drought Monitor
Apparently, because of the dry weather, corn didn’t get pollinated.
Posted on July 13, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
The (sparse) announcement on Wednesday that Jesse Jackson Jr. is being treated for a mood disorder only furthered the notion that the congressman’s camp is suffering from a credibility disorder.
“In keeping with the secrecy that has surrounded Jackson since his medical leave from Congress was announced, the office’s statement came from a doctor who went unnamed, citing health privacy reasons,” the Tribune reports.
Posted on July 12, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
“Budget cuts that are often cited as a reason for failures by the state agency charged with protecting children have fallen disproportionately on front-line child abuse and neglect workers, a Tribune analysis has found,” the paper reports.
“In examining staffing, spending and funding at the Department of Children and Family Services from 2006 to 2011, the Tribune found that the agency cut its investigators and caseworkers at a higher rate than administrative positions, such as accountants and human resources workers.”
Posted on July 11, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
“Lori Healey, who most recently ran Chicago’s NATO summit committee, is leaving real estate development firm The John Buck Co. to become chief executive of Tur Partners, former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s new investment firm,” the Tribune reports.
Tur is a global investment and advisory firm.
It’s also a genus of mites, so that’s about right.
Posted on July 10, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
“A majority of callers to Illinois’ child abuse hotline – a front line in protecting battered and neglected children – don’t initially get through to someone who could dispatch an investigator,” the Tribune reported over the weekend.
“Instead, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services took messages for the majority of its more than 236,000 calls logged over an 11-month period ending May 31.”
Well, at least Illinois is running government like a business – if the business is Comcast.
Posted on July 9, 2012
By Natasha Julius
The Weekend Desk is proud to say we never try to make anything look better.
Market Update
The future of the controversial Bliss Index was called into question this week when market leader Ignorance was forced to admit it had grossly overestimated its holdings.
Posted on July 7, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
“An extreme heat warning for the Chicago area had been set to expire at 6 p.m. Friday but now has been extended to 4 p.m. Saturday,” the Tribune reports. “The weather service said the heat index – how it feels – could climb to 116 on Friday and will hover at 105 on Saturday.”
Putting The Ill In The Illinois
“Illinois ranks in the bottom third of the country for health care quality, a reminder that access to care remains a hurdle in a cash-strapped state that has squeezed services for the poor and underinsured,” Crain’s reports.
Posted on July 6, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
“The hottest day recorded in Chicago is 105 degrees, and we will make a good run at that mark today,” the Tribune reports.
“The record was set on July 24, 1934. Forecasts show we could at least match that today and come close to it on Friday before temperatures settle down into the 80s over the weekend. On Wednesday, we matched the record high for the date, 102 set in 1911.”
Which, by the way, was three years into the Cubs’ rebuilding plan.
Posted on July 5, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
“Casting doubt on an ambitious state plan to move thousands of mentally ill adults out of nursing homes and into community-based programs, a federal court monitor reported this week that many of the patients don’t want to leave the facilities while others were found to be unfit for the community placements,” the Tribune reports.
Hey, nobody asked them.
Posted on July 4, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
Hinky and winky.
Eternal Life
Scientists Glimpse Evidence Of God Particle.
Hostage Negotiation
“A Will County politician sees an opportunity in U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s misfortune,” Phil Kadner writes for the SouthtownStar.
“And if there’s anything likely to bring Jackson (D-Chicago) out of his medical leave, it’s news that a Will County Board member is using his absence to grab control of the third airport project.”
Posted on July 3, 2012
