By Steve Rhodes

“It is where the government has hidden the most secret information: plans to relocate Congress if Washington were attacked, dossiers on double agents, case files about high-profile mob figures and their politician friends, and a disturbing number of reports about the possible smuggling of atomic bombs into the United States,” reports the Boston Globe.
“It is the FBI’s ‘special file room,” where for decades sensitive material has been stored separately from the bureau’s central filing system to restrict access severely and, in more sinister instances, some experts assert, prevent the Congress and the public from getting their hands on it . . .
“The special filing location was even used to protect information about politicians believed to be involved with criminals.
“‘The information is of a very sensitive nature in that it contains frequent reference to highly placed persons in Chicago law enforcement as well as city, county, and state political figures and their relations with the hoodlum element,’ one 1960 memo stated, requesting a file be routed to the special room. ‘References are also made to prominent businessmen and occasionally newspaper reporters.’

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Posted on March 29, 2010

By Natasha Julius

You think your bracket’s a mess? We had Anne State in the Final Four.
Market Update
You know it’s bad when your local Jewel starts accepting payment in organs.

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Posted on March 27, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

“Sheila Simon, daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, is Gov. Quinn’s choice for a running mate, a top source told the Sun-Times.”
A more accurate report would go something like this:
“In an effort to bend the state party’s central committee to its will, the Quinn administration began telling reporters on Thursday that its top choice for lieutenant governor was Shiela Simon. The media strategy illustrates the tricky political problem of a sitting governor who does not have control over the selection of his running mate. With compliant reporters executing their portion of the machinations, party leaders – namely House Speaker Michael Madigan – now risk embarrassing Quinn (and themselves) by overruling his choice for the ticket.”

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Posted on March 26, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

The CPS clout list scandal just keeps giving. Hey, I go where the material takes me.
“A VIP list maintained by Chicago Public Schools included admissions requests by Patrick Daley Thompson, Mayor Richard Daley’s nephew, on behalf of a longtime supporter of the family’s political organization, the Tribune has confirmed.”
And the familiar narrative arc of every Chicago Way episode once again takes shape. Same names, different scandal.

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Posted on March 25, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

“Mayor Richard Daley denied Tuesday that his office had any role in an underground process to lobby on behalf of students applying to the city’s best public schools, even though secret logs indicate several admissions requests came from his administration,” the Tribune reports.
“No role, in the sense that, no role,” Daley told reports.
Excuse me, I speak Daley. Allow me to translate:

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Posted on March 24, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

Why do they write these things down?
That’s the exasperated refrain I always hear from one particular friend when the latest clout list goes public.
But the answer is clear: Because there are so many public officials to satisfy – and all their friends and family – that no one except the late Mayor Richard J. Daley could keep it all in their head. These days it takes a spreadsheet.
And so it goes with Chicago’s very own Education Secretary, who couldn’t possibly have been expected to memorize all those requests to squeeze the kids of the connected into the city’s elite (public) schools.

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Posted on March 23, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

“If you think you’ve seen the real Grease, think again,” the Sun-Times reports this morning. “The familiar film and stage version millions fell in love with is the cleaned-up version of the musical written by Chicagoans Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.
“That earlier R-rated version, which debuted at the old Kingston Mines in 1971, was set on Chicago’s Northwest Side (Rydell High is a stand-in for Taft High School) and dealt more realistically with the teenagers’ working-class and ethnic backgrounds.”
Maybe it’s because I’m not from here – I moved to Chicago in 1992 – but I did not know that. And I find it very interesting.

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Posted on March 22, 2010

By Natasha Julius

* Sunday Updates below.
Forecasters predict Spring 2010 will see a sudden, sharp correction. Because, let’s face it, we were all getting a little overheated.
Market Update
The bad economic news continues to trickle out as reports indicate retail sales in Chicagoland slumped to a 25-year low in 2009. Analysts skeptical of recovery are quick to point out it’ll take more than fancy seasonal promotions to get consumers to buy the same old crap.

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Posted on March 20, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

1. I guess this is what a casino in Des Plaines looks like. Ugh.
2. Calvin Boender is outta here.
3. Meet ObamaCare.

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Posted on March 19, 2010

By Steve Rhodes

1. AP Fact Check: Obama is lying about health care. (Remember when Obama told Lamar Alexander at the health care summit that he was sure he was right about his claim that premiums would go down for everyone? Guess again!)
It’s also not true that everyone will be able to keep their current plan if they want to. I’m not particularly bothered by that, but I’m bothered by the false claim. There are incentives in the plan for some employers to drop coverage and send their workers into the exchanges that would be created. You may have to find your own plan. Which, again, is fine by me. But another false claim by a self-righteous president isn’t.

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Posted on March 18, 2010