By Steve Rhodes

“The Merchandise Mart has emerged as the likely destination of Google Inc., which is in talks for a lease that could exceed 500,000 square feet and would allow the technology behemoth to put a new stamp on the 82-year-old structure,” Crain’s reports.
“If it completes a deal, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company would become the largest tenant in the largest office building in Chicago.
“At Google’s request, [Vornado Realty] would add a roof deck on the 4.2-million-square-foot Merchandise Mart, giving Google employees spectacular views along the Chicago River.”
Also among Google’s demands: Ping pong tables, a gym and your privacy.

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Posted on June 20, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“Illinois lawmakers have found a way to whittle $1.3 billion from state government’s massive backlog of unpaid bills, but it comes too late for The Counseling Center of Lake View,” AP reports.
“The Chicago nonprofit, a mental health services provider, shut down at the end of April, waiting on about $200,000 in state money.
“Anticipating an annual summer stall in the already-slow payments and eroded by years of cuts in state funding, Executive Director Sharon Kayser said the agency opted to close and find new places for 400 clients rather than continue to slowly fade away.”

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Posted on June 19, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“A Chicago police officer cracked Greg Larkins’ head open with a baton back in 2006, requiring him to be stitched up at a hospital,” the Tribune reported over the weekend.
“Within a few days, several relatives of Larkins who said they witnessed the allegedly unprovoked attack gave statements to an investigator for the city. His mother also handed over photos of his injuries.
“Yet more than five years passed before the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates allegations of wrongdoing against police, filed charges of excessive force against Officer Bruce Askew and called for his firing.”
And guess what?
“[T]he long delay proved costly. Late last month, the Chicago Police Board, which decides the most serious disciplinary cases, dismissed the charge not based on the evidence, but because by state law, the disciplinary action had to be filed before a five-year statute of limitations ran out.”
And those delays don’t do the cops any favors either.
“IPRA is under fire for investigations that have lingered for years, jeopardizing in at least a few cases the firings of police officers that the superintendent had deemed unfit to serve. But the officers’ lawyers say the delays are just as damaging to officers trying to defend themselves against charges they deny.”

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Posted on June 18, 2012

By Natasha Julius

Shit, we’re lucky if we get a kick in the head when we oversleep.
Market Update
With the cost of raw materials skyrocketing, the value of Human Dignity is once again plummeting.

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Posted on June 16, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

A walk through the day’s news.
1. Well, it’s not exactly decriminalization; Rahm’s proposal has him collecting $150 to $500 from every schnook caught with 15 grams or less. Costly pot prosecutions become profitable ticket-writing. Next: Get nabbed twice and they boot your bong.

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Posted on June 15, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“Gov. Pat Quinn signed a package of bills into law Thursday that will slash health care coverage for the poor and hike cigarette taxes by $1-a-pack to help pay for the struggling Medicaid program,” the Tribune reports.
Gov. Pat Quinn signed a package of bills into law Thursday that will slash health care coverage for the poor.

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Posted on June 14, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“Documents filed by the Attorney General’s office indicate new evidence has been uncovered against several former Penn State officials, including Graham Spanier and Gary Schultz,” KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh reports.
“In documents obtained by KDKA-TV investigators, the Attorney General’s Office indicates former vice president Schultz kept a secret file with allegations regarding Sandusky and sex abuse. This comes after an NBC report alleges Spanier did not report alleged abuse because it would be humane to Sandusky to not report the matter.”
Spanier grew up on Chicago’s South Side, though his biography somehow leaves out a migration to the North Shore (see the item Graham Cracker in this column).

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Posted on June 13, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

Illinois’ “top doc” wants men (and presumably women) to take their health seriously, even as the state is eliminating health coverage for 25,000 families.

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Posted on June 12, 2012

By Steve Rhodes

“Before most Chicago Public School seniors even hit the graduation stage, CPS officials Saturday were projecting the highest five-year graduation rate in 14 years,” the Sun-Times reported over the weekend.
“A CPS news release touted the projected rate of 60.6 percent as “the highest graduation rate ‘on record.’
“However, the release did not explain that CPS has only been calculating five-year rates, based on how many freshmen graduate within five years, for 14 years.”
So by “on record” we don’t mean, like, the fossil record.
And a five-year rate is nice, but high school is generally a four-year affair, to wit:
“The state requires public schools to calculate a four-year rate for official counts sent home to parents.”
But that’s not the biggest problem with CPS’s claim – which was also touted by Rahm Emanuel, if not directed by him.

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Posted on June 11, 2012

The Weekend B Team

Natasha Julius is on a mission of national import. She either shows up in a hostage video or returns next week.
The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations
With Chicago police chief Garry McCarthy just one step away from knighthood for bravely staring down a bunch of unarmed, ragtag dead-enders with the help of a militarized brigade better equipped than any U.S. army unit in Afghanistan, even the perpetually aggrieved Archie Bunkers at the true-blue Second City Cop have had enough. “OK, Knock It Off Already,” sayeth our finest.
But this week’s best examples of the ridiculously low bar set for measuring the accomplishments of our local leaders – the mayor actually consulted with aldermen! – comes courtesy of Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle’s “The Week in Review” newsletter, featuring these highlights:

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Posted on June 9, 2012