By Steve Rhodes

1. “A top aide to Cook County Board President Todd Stroger arrested Monday and accused of steering hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts to her own public relations firm and associates who might not have done any work is scheduled to appear in bond court later today,” the Tribune reports.
“(Deputy chief of staff Carla) Oglesby was arrested on a warrant as she pulled her vehicle out of a downtown parking garage shortly before 4 p.m. Monday, said Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. Oglesby is expected in court Tuesday morning for a bond hearing.”
Hardcore!
“(Oglesby) left work early, and she was seen entering her car,” Daly said. “Our investigators moved in, and as she was exiting the garage, they blocked her car and she was arrested without incident.”

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Posted on October 5, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

I know you all have your favorite piece of Chicagoetry.
Now you finally have a chance to read it out loud – in front of people!
Please pick your favorite and join us on Thursday, October 14 for a very special Beachwood event: J.J. Tindall will read selections from his Chicagoetry collection, Ballots From The Dead, and then Beachwood contributors and readers will be invited to read as well. Or write one up special.
Books will be available for sale and some sort of post-event with adult beverages will likely materialize. We would love to have your support. Send questions my way.

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Posted on October 4, 2010

By Natasha Julius

We regret to inform you the Weekend Desk tip line is experiencing technical difficulties. But we’ll still cover the news that counts.
Market Update
Shares in uber-florist FTD were expected to skyrocket this week because, let’s face it – it’s gonna take a shitload of poppies to make up for this.

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Posted on October 2, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

1. Rahm bingo.
My favorite is: “Give me my fucking house back.”
2. Why can’t we get Howard Dean instead? (See second item.)
3. “‘Now is not the time to quit,’ Obama tells young voters.”
Do as I say, not as Rahm does.

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Posted on October 1, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

“The first major debate in the Illinois governor’s race was a brutal verbal battle that at times sounded as though the candidates were trying out for a Wizard of Oz revival as they jousted over who’s best to fix the state’s shambolic finances,” Ray Long writes for the Tribune.
“Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn accused Republican challenger Bill Brady of not having ‘a heart’ for suggested widespread budget cuts. And Brady implied that Quinn doesn’t have a brain for following a road of ‘tax, spend and borrow.’

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Posted on September 30, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

I’m tied up all day so the Papers will return on Thursday.
Our sports section continues to move right along, though. Today:
* The Blue & Orange Kool-Aid Report, wherein Carl Mohrbacher asks:
If a train leaves Chicago bound for New York on Tuesday with 53 players in first place, each with their confidence flying at 30,000 feet and a city’s expectations running a million miles per hour, how many wins will this 3-0 franchise have in 6 days?
Find the answer here.

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Posted on September 29, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

“There is one undefeated team left in the NFC and it is the Chicago Bears. No, seriously,” writes the USA Today blog Game On! in a post titled “Eye-Opener: Is This Chicago Bears Team For Real?”
I, for one, will refuse to believe right up to the Super Bowl.
*
“I mean, it would take an extreme killjoy to point out that despite the great start, if the Bears lose to the Giants this coming Sunday evening in New Jersey, they will have the exact same record at the end of the first quarter of this season as they did last,” our very own Jim “Coach” Coffman writes in SportsTuesday.
*
The Blue & Orange Kool-Aid Report will appear on Wednesday after our boys have fully absorbed every angle – and wrung the beer out of their cells.
*
Meanwhile, our very own Matt Farmer – who is a lawyer by day – brings us a true story today called I Tried To Break Into George Blanda’s Car.
Now, on to the news.

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Posted on September 28, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

I need to return to the Jesse Jackson Jr. story today to clarify an item I wrote on Friday, but first I want to direct readers to a fine story by the Tribune over the weekend about Michael Madigan’s interests in the town of Justice that was so good I couldn’t pick out just one part to highlight: “In Justice, All Roads Lead To Madigan.”
I don’t just like the story because of what it reveals about Madigan’s modus operandi but because it seems to be so well-reported.
If only Madigan would deign to answer reporters’ questions instead of hiding behind disingenuous mouthpiece Steve Brown. As I’ve suggested before, I’d like to see news organizations refuse to speak to Brown on stories of this kind of import and instead just note Madigan’s refusal to answer questions about affairs the people of Illinois deserve to know more about.

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Posted on September 27, 2010

By Natasha Julius

“The United States Olympic Committee has not ruled out a bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics and the timing of the process makes it likely 2016 loser Chicago would be its most viable candidate,” the Tribune reports.
Oh goodie, the Olympic bid returns just in time to become an issue in the mayoral race. Other issues to be debated instead of how to repair the broken piggy bank Richard M. Daley is leaving behind:
* Should we reverse the Chicago River?
* White Sox or Cubs?
* Are the children our future?

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Posted on September 25, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

1. No More Elephants In Chicago Zoos.
2. “America’s traditional 180-day school year is more myth than reality in Illinois, as a jumble of state laws, rules and waivers allow districts to chip away instruction time, shorten school hours and cut the number of days students come to school,” the Tribune reports.
“While Illinois requires 176 days of ‘actual pupil attendance’ already fewer than most states the vast majority of public school districts dip below that by one or two days and sometimes more, a Tribune analysis has found.”

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Posted on September 24, 2010