Chicago -
By Natasha Julius
You’ll have enough to worry about watching the Bears on Sunday. Let us handle the rest of the news.
Market Update
It’s all a little beyond us, but experts suggest Progress has once again been battered due to overheating in certain market sectors. Analysts warn nervous investors may see this as a sign that international markets are a safer bet for new revenue streams.
Posted on September 20, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
“In my old neighborhood,” Bob Reed writes, “we had a saying: If you owe someone a little money, they have you. If you owe them a lot of money, you have them.
“Wall St. owes us a lot for these taxpayer-backed bailouts. Man they got us good and that’s why I’m not shedding any tears. Instead, I’m concerned that when this financial mess has passed, Wall St. is going to try and get us all over again.”
The Tamale Guy
Reviewed on Yelp.
Palin Burgers
Close, but no moose.
UPDATE 12:33 P.M.: And apparently Grizzly’s is closed! Anyone with the 411 should send me a note, but I just called the number on their website and it’s disconnected.
COMMENTS: 12:47 P.M.: “Closed for months, if not a year” . . . “newspapers on the windows” . . . “ran out of moose meat” . . . Okay, I made up that last one. But I think we’ve got this confirmed. Citizen journalism!
Posted on September 19, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
1. Typographical tour of Chicago.
2. “Players Agree: Wrigley is nice, but new is nicer.”
As long as the players pay for it . . .
*
The funny thing about players is that they come and go, but we’re here to stay. It’s our ballpark, not theirs.
Posted on September 18, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
“Like many who do not plan to vote for either major party ticket, I have a preference as to which I’d rather see win (or, more accurately, which I want to lose more). I’m not oblivious to the differences between the two, or to the fact that the candidate I plan to vote for will not win. But perversely, because our system is biased against alternative candidates, I have the luxury of being able to vote for one,” writes Peter Orvetti at The Independent Political Report.
“To be more blunt, if you live in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, or Wyoming, you can vote for whoever the heck you want to – each is leaning so heavily to either McCain or Obama that you are free to vote your conscience.”
Posted on September 17, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
“The bankruptcy filing of Lehman Bros. Inc. and the pending sale of Merrill Lynch & Co. to Bank of America Corp. threaten to hit Chicago’s battered financial sector hard,” Steven Strahler writes in Crain’s.
“Ultimately, it’s going to have a very devastating impact on the region,” a Lehman vice-president in Chicago says.
Poll Position
The Cubs’ last two games notwithstanding, Chicago could be losing its grip on its Big Moment. Take the Division Street poll and tell us which big event you’d prefer this fall – a local World Series championship, a Barack Obama presidency, or the indictment of a particular mayor or governor.
Posted on September 16, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
“Carlos Zambrano pitched the first no-hitter for the Chicago Cubs in 36 years, returning from a sore rotator cuff to shut down the Houston Astros 5-0 Sunday night in a game relocated because of Hurricane Ike,” AP reports.
“‘I guess I’m back!’ Zambrano hollered.”
Posted on September 15, 2008
By Natasha Julius
We’ll be watching the news this weekend. You just do whatever you need to do to get up for church on Sunday.
Market Update
Annoyed that bailouts of several big-name financial institutions have failed to solve America’s lending crisis, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has turned petulant. “No way am I sticking my neck out for LAME-an Brothers,” he declared. “And Wa-POO can sit and spin for all I care too.”
Posted on September 13, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
So it turns out there’s another connection between Allison Payne and the Rev. Jesse Jackson: Yusef Jackson.
“In the midst of the Rev. Jesse Jackson ‘s recent revelation he fathered a child out of wedlock, there is good news to report: The blooming of a new and totally above-board romance in the Jackson family,” Bill Zwecker reported in January 2001.
“While neither Jackson’s son Yusef Jackson nor WGN-Channel 9 news anchor Allison Payne will comment on the record, it appears the attractive duo have become a couple.
“Along with numerous sightings in such high-profile venues as Harry Caray’s restaurant, Payne was seen as being very much part of the Jackson family group (as opposed to the press pool) at the well-publicized service at Salem Baptist Church on the South Side Sunday.
“This must be a touchy time for journalist Payne , who clearly must be sensitive to the personal feelings of Yusef Jackson , while being forced to report on the details of his father’s situation.”
Posted on September 12, 2008
By J.J. Tindall
for CDR Dan F. Shanower, USN
Feb. 2, 1960-Sep. 11, 2001
Me Speed and Dan
were in the middle
of the first nine
At Springbrook Golf Course,
Naperville, Illinois, 1977.
We
Sucked. We just wanted
to be together.
Speedy and Dan were
the first new friends
I made in high school, dorks
in the Awkward Age, coming
together from differing
junior highs,
House of Saints and Sinners.
Posted on September 11, 2008
By Steve Rhodes
WGN-TV anchor Allison Payne’s friendship with newsmaker Jesse Jackson is paying off.
“Payne said she was grateful to the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, who used his influence to get her an immediate appointment at the Mayo Clinic,” Robert Feder reports. “‘If he hadn’t called, I know I would have had to wait months go get in,’ she said.”
You know, like the little people.
Posted on September 10, 2008
