Chicago -
By Steve Rhodes
1. Fishing in the cooling lake of a nuclear reactor just seems wrong, but apparently it’s safe and the bass are biting.
2. You’ve gotta give state Republican Party leadership credit: They’ve consistently shown a sense of humor and cleverness in the last year or so that is absent from so many of their own elected officials – and from the state Democratic Party, chairman Michael Madigan. The GOP’s latest is IllinoisMadness.com.
Posted on March 16, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
I have to say The Chicago Code is actually getting good. Shawn Ryan’s plot lines are developing in a nice, complex way – and so, finally, are the characters. The cheesy dialogue so prevalent at first is disappearing. The show is hitting its stride.
But the best moment of last night’s episode was one Ryan should have reconsidered: We finally learned the name of the mayor and it’s McGuinness. As in Mayor McGuinness.
Now, for all I know, it’s McGinnis. But I’m gonna stick with McGuinness. (A commenter here says the name comes from one of Ryan’s childhood friends.)
Posted on March 15, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
“In 2006, Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he would give poor teens eight-week summer jobs on community service and highway beautification projects,” AP reports. “Thousands of youths, he said, got the state-subsidized posts over the next three years.
“But ever since, state officials have refused to say who those young people were, so there’s no way to verify the government claims. State officials can’t account for all of the participants. And they say they have no documents for the program before 2008.
“Now federal prosecutors also are asking questions about Blagojevich’s ‘Summer Youth Works’ initiative.”
Posted on March 14, 2011
By Natasha Julius
The devastating earthquake and tsunami has made us ponder some of the fundamental questions of our existence. While our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this natural disaster, we offer a few moments of reflection on the week’s other big stories.
Would You Rather . . . ?
* Be stranded at Disneyland or at a CPS high school?
Posted on March 12, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
1. Illinois’ (alleged) packaged ice conspiracy.
*
“The scam worked, the state suggested, because ice is the ultimate commodity – frozen water – sold in practically identical 7- and 22-pounds bags for such a low price that no one cared about brand names or noticed the lack of real competition. Uniformity, the state said, made it easy to swap customers and monitor pricing.”
Posted on March 11, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
1. Village To Stick With Current Skunk Policy.
2. Funny, I don’t see Barack Obama’s name on here.
Maybe that’s because he supports the death penalty despite this bit of cutesiness. Sometimes even without a trial.
Posted on March 10, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
1. Is Rod Blagojevich saying a poor person – even a poor celebrity – can’t get a fair trial?
*
And haven’t Sam Adam Sr. and Jr. already said that despite their ostensible fervent belief in their former client’s innocence – and their own personal wealth – that they aren’t willing to see through their commitment to justice if they aren’t gonna get paid?
Posted on March 9, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
The Beachwood will return on Wednesday in all its friggin’ glory.
Posted on March 8, 2011
By Steve Rhodes
“Chicago Public Schools chief Terry Mazany will complete his 100th day in office this week, a milestone that has him reflecting on the school district’s troubles and promoting a new vision to help fix what he considers the chaotic and fractious reign of his predecessor, Ron Huberman,” the Tribune reports.
“‘The system was in free fall,’ Mazany said of the district after Huberman’s departure in November. “There was plunging morale. Vacancies in key leadership positions. A balkanized organization structure where each unit was doing their own thing. And there was a loss in a unifying vision for education.'”
Posted on March 7, 2011
By Natasha Julius
Now that Terry Hillard has assumed the role of John Stamos to Jody Weis’s Charlie Sheen, the Weekend Desk can at last reveal the outrageous Weis story lines we never got to use.
Posted on March 5, 2011
