By Natasha Julius
The Weekend Desk: Getting up your nose and into your urine since 2006.
Market Update
With Friends performing like this, it might be time to invest in Enemies.
Posted on March 17, 2012
The [Friday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“After a goodbye tour that stretched from Chicago’s Ravenswood Manor neighborhood to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Rod Blagojevich turned, waved and disappeared Thursday behind a darkened doorway of a federal prison,” Annie Sweeney writes for the Tribune.
“Inside Federal Correctional Institution-Englewood, change came in an instant as Blagojevich left his media entourage and the hovering helicopters behind to start an afternoon intake that involved a strip search and mental evaluation.”
Hey, Englewood, this one’s on us.
Posted on March 16, 2012
The [Thursday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“The young Obama played the reformer, yes, but that was only a show for an adoring media,” John Kass writes this morning. “Obama would never dare challenge the alphas of Illinois. I remember being in the editorial board room at the Tribune Tower when Obama revealed this important and always overlooked aspect of his character.
“‘I think I have done a good job in rising politically in this environment without being entangled in some of the traditional problems of Chicago politics,’ Obama told me at the onset of his presidential campaign.
“‘I know there are those like John Kass who would like me to decry Chicago politics more frequently, and I’ll leave that to his editorial commentary,’ Obama said, gifting me with that jewel.
“Thanks, Mr. President. My commentary?
“Obama walked quietly along the Chicago Way and became president.
“And Blagojevich didn’t, and now he’s gone.”
Posted on March 15, 2012
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“As a parent who cares about speeders near schools, I’d like to let the governor and the mayor in on a secret,” John Kass writes this morning. “If they truly want to stop speeders, they don’t need expensive high-tech speed cameras.
“They need low-tech speed bumps. They’re cheaper than cameras. And here’s how they work: A couple guys get off the back of an asphalt truck. They pour out a few extra shovelfuls of asphalt. Presto – a speed bump.”
Imagine that – saving children’s lives by preventing accidents instead of collecting money weeks later!
Posted on March 14, 2012
The [Tuesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“The U.S. Attorney’s office will monitor next week’s primary election in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs,” AP reports.
To save time, winning candidates will be asked to select their prison now.
*
Englewood, Colorado is expected to see a drop in demand because of the risk of ending up this guy’s cellie.
*
Officials reportedly are considering removing pillows from Blago’s cell due to the good chance his cellmate will use one to smother him.
Posted on March 13, 2012
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“The judge who’s to decide whether a special prosecutor investigates the Cook County state’s attorney’s office’s handling of a homicide case involving a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley has contributed $1,450 to the re-election campaign of State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, records show,” the Sun-Times reports.
“Illinois Supreme Court rules allow such contributions. Still, they are rare. Circuit Judge Michael P. Toomin is among eight Cook County judges who have given Alvarez at least $150 – the minimum amount that’s required to be reported in campaign-finance filings. That’s 2 percent of the 410 sitting judges.”
So judges contribute to the campaign of a prosecutor whose cases they later hear in court. Why the Illinois Supreme Court allows such an obvious conflict of interest is beyond me. But then, lawyers largely fund the campaigns that put judges on the bench in the first place, so the circle is squared.
Posted on March 12, 2012
The Weekend Desk Report
By The Weekend Desk B Team
Natasha Julius has been pulled from duty this weekend and sent to a more intimate setting in the woods out East.
One Ping Only
“To assure NATO summit security, the U.S. Coast Guard is taking steps to shut down all boat traffic on much of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan near downtown Chicago between May 16 and May 24,” Crain’s reports.
“This latest directive goes far beyond a statement by the Secret Service last month that boats would not be allowed to dock at Burnham Harbor, which is adjacent to McCormick Place where the summit will be held on May 20 and 21.”
Did Al-Qaeda get a boat or something?
Posted on March 10, 2012
The [Friday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“The head of Chicago’s NATO host committee says the city lost the prestigious G8 conference, because ‘there are some very critical and serious issues in the world going on in foreign policy right now,” NBC Chicago reports.
Unlike that day in June 2011 when Chicago was announced as host of the G8 amidst headlines such as “Iran: Government Says It Rounded Up U.S. Spies,” “Congo: Cholera Spreads To A Crowded Capital,” “Russia: A Liberal Party Is Rebuffed,” “Beijing Warns U.S. About South China Seas Disputes,” and “Drawing Down, With A Vigilant Eye On Pakistan.”
Posted on March 9, 2012
The [Thursday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“Mayor Rahm Emanuel is hosting an international gathering of mayors and ministers Thursday and Friday at Chicago’s Cultural Center,” the Sun-Times reports. “The meeting is a ’roundtable’ sponsored by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), founded in 1961 with 34 member nations.
“This meeting – which was not flagged by the Emanuel administration since a press release January 24 – was highlighted Wednesday by the OECD in a release.”
Give Chicago some global press, stat!
Posted on March 8, 2012
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
First, I’ve got more on the G8 fiasco or snafu or whatever we should call it, in The [G8] Papers. Good stuff!
Second, the day’s news. There is no third.
Deposing Daley
“A federal judge has set a trial date in the case of a Burge torture victim who is suing former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, among others,” WBEZ reports. “The trial date is an indication that settlement negotiations during the last month have broken down between lawyers for the city of Chicago and attorneys for Michael Tillman, a man who says he was tortured by police working under former Commander Jon Burge, tortured until he confessed to a crime he didn’t commit.”
Good. I know Tillman’s lawyers have a duty to represent their client and that may mean accepting a settlement instead of going to trial, but that would deny the citizens of Chicago the opportunity to hear from Daley and others under oath. We deserve that.
Posted on March 7, 2012