Chicago -
By Steve Rhodes
“Never give up on the White Sox!” Richard M. Daley said last night at The Cell in a pregame ceremony honoring his mayoralty. “Have faith in the White Sox!”
*
“I just told the coaching staff Mayor Daley never will forget his day here, it was very special,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “He left in the third inning. Wow.”
Posted on August 4, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
“Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration will shut down its overnight emergency services shift for the homeless and lay off 24 employees in the city’s Department of Family and Support Services,” the Chicago News Cooperative reports.
The city lost some state funding and just doesn’t have the money itself to keep its services intact.
Or does it?
Posted on August 3, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
Due to the new austerity in America, the Beachwood is required to take a furlough day today, though I may tempt fate and post later on. Also, American dollars will no longer be accepted as tips at the bar; we now prefer gold bullions. Other little-known clauses in the debt ceiling bill:
* Chicken McNuggets will now only come in the six-piece size.
* McRib won’t be back until 2013; and even then, only if the Super Congress trips the right trigger.
* All light beers will become even lighter.
* The NHL and NBA will no longer have a regular season, though the playoffs will now last about six months.
Posted on August 2, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
“Right after he became the second closer in Marlins history to record 30 saves in two different seasons, Leo Nunez was summoned into the office of manager Jack McKeon and told he was traded,” Clark Spencer writes for the Miami Herald.
“‘Good luck,’ McKeon told him. ‘You’re going to Chicago.’
“‘The Cubs?’ Nunez asked, his face turning pale.
“At that point, McKeon and Nunez’s teammates could hide the joke no longer and broke out in laughter.”
Posted on August 1, 2011
By Natasha Julius
Special Market Update: Oh Hell No
So apparently there’s not going to be a market come Tuesday unless someone comes up with a better idea than Cut, Cap and Balance. No sweat. We’ve got plenty.
1. Move the production of boring entitlement debt out of state so we can focus on fancy boutique debt.
Posted on July 30, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
I was a bit taken aback yesterday when Gov. Pat Quinn, appearing on the Chicago Tribune Live sports panel show, called the USC the University of Spoiled Children. Quinn went to Georgetown for his undergraduate degree and Northwestern for law school.
And guess what?
Just 10 percent of Georgetown students qualify for federal Pell grants for low-income families and just 14 percent of Northwestern students qualify. Meanwhile, 22 percent of USC students qualify.
Don’t you love facts?
Posted on July 29, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
“Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn today gave a highly paid position to the daughter of a powerful Chicago alderman who was a major campaign donor,” the Tribune reports.
“Attorney Jennifer Burke, 41, was named to the Illinois Pollution Control Board, a post that pays $117,043, Quinn’s office said.”
I know what the cynics are thinking, but Jennifer is eminently qualified for the job. As a member of the Burke family, she has a lot of experience with smokescreens.
Posted on July 28, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
“Police Supt. Garry McCarthy on Tuesday begged for help from Chicagoans to end the conflicts that result in cops shooting suspects – one day after officers wounded a 13-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man,” the Sun-Times reports.
Once again, the Sun-Times frames an issue to its liking (see the item More Horrible Crime Reporting from Monday’s column) even after acknowledging that its reporters don’t know why police-involved shootings are up this year.
And the framing is also to McCarthy’s liking.
Too bad the facts don’t back either of them.
Posted on July 27, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
“In the latest twist in the high-profile homicide case involving a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned that the Chicago Police Department’s original files from the case were missing for months – possibly years.
“It’s the second time that law-enforcement records turned up missing regarding the violent death of 21-year-old David Koschman of Mount Prospect, who succumbed to brain injuries days after getting punched in the face by Daley nephew Richard J. ‘R.J.’ Vanecko during a drunken confrontation in the Rush Street area in April 2004.”
Posted on July 25, 2011
