By Steve Rhodes

1. In its coverage this morning of the city’s budget crisis, the Sun-Times notes that Chicago has suffered a $4.5 million decrease in cigarette tax revenues this year as well as a $1.9 million decrease in gas tax revenue.
In other news, the mayor announced a new pro-smoking, anti-biking campaign.
2. A Buffalo Grove whistleblower has been awarded $56 million for his efforts.
In other news, the mayor was spotted in the vicinity of Patrick Fitzgerald’s office this morning.

Read More

Posted on August 15, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

Follow the bouncing budget ball.
1. “Last week, union leaders said they would hold off on matching the unpaid furlough days and canceled pay raises impacting the city’s nonunion employees until Daley comes clean about the deficit and spells out how many union jobs are at stake and how many might be saved with each unpaid day off,” Fran Spielman reported on Wednesday
“On Tuesday, a Daley adviser did just that.”
No, on Tuesday a Daley adviser anonymously threatened the unions through a compliant reporter, almost assuredly after a meeting of the mayor’s communications strategy.
“The source pegged the 2009 deficit at somewhere between $400 million and $450 million – exceeding the figure previously disclosed by the Sun-Times.”
How convenient.

Read More

Posted on August 14, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

This reporter is attending to business this morning. The Beachwood will return on Thursday.
The [Tuesday] Papers
“A 7-year-old Chinese girl was not good-looking enough for the Olympics opening ceremony, so another little girl with a pixie smile lip-synched ‘Ode to the Motherland,’ a ceremony official said – the latest example of the lengths Beijing took for a perfect start to the Summer Games,” AP reports.
“A member of China’s Politburo asked for the last-minute change to match one girl’s face with another’s voice, the ceremony’s chief music director, Chen Qigang, said in an interview with Beijing Radio.
“‘The audience will understand that it’s in the national interest,’ Chen said in a video of the interview posted online Sunday night.”
This would never happen in America!

Read More

Posted on August 13, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

“A 7-year-old Chinese girl was not good-looking enough for the Olympics opening ceremony, so another little girl with a pixie smile lip-synched ‘Ode to the Motherland,’ a ceremony official said – the latest example of the lengths Beijing took for a perfect start to the Summer Games,” AP reports.
“A member of China’s Politburo asked for the last-minute change to match one girl’s face with another’s voice, the ceremony’s chief music director, Chen Qigang, said in an interview with Beijing Radio.
“‘The audience will understand that it’s in the national interest,’ Chen said in a video of the interview posted online Sunday night.”
This would never happen in America!

Read More

Posted on August 12, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

I truthfully never paid any attention to Bernie Mac, and in fact I assumed he wasn’t very funny at all because he struck me as just another mediocre TV sitcom comic, but when he first got sick I asked a friend whose judgement I respect and she told me that, no, he was actually really good.
I can’t speak to that and I won’t pretend I was a fan. But reading through the tributes and obits, I wish now I had paid closer attention.

Read More

Posted on August 11, 2008

By Natasha Julius

While you enjoy a summer of hot mollusk love in St. Tropez, we’ll be keeping an eye on the news.
Market Update
Don’t look now, but former blue chipper Civil Liberties just got delisted.

Read More

Posted on August 9, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

“When musician, producer and Invisible Records label owner Martin Atkins visited Beijing in the fall of 2006, he had no idea what to expect,” Bloodshot Records writes of its Invisible China project. “What he found was a thriving underground culture of rock bands that reminded him of his time in London in the late 70’s, and of the downtown scene in NYC in late 70’s and early 80’s. Punk, avant-guard experimentation, Brit-pop, new wave, scratch DJs and more. He signed several bands while he was there, shot 80 hours of video footage, and rented out High End Sound Studios, where he recorded tracks from well over a dozen bands. He recorded live shows at the D-22 club – a venue that embodies the spirit that CBGBs had when Martin arrived in NYC over 25 years ago.

Read More

Posted on August 8, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

At first I was angry about the governor’s proposal to raise revenue by putting speed cameras on interstates. Then I remembered that the governor’s proposals tend to have a shelf life of one news cycle, so I don’t think we have too much to worry about.
Camera Shy
Sure enough . . .
“The idea is in its infancy with no budget and no timetable.”

Read More

Posted on August 7, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

I told you that storm was a doozy. The Tribune reports on its front page today – thank you very much – that northern Illinois saw 90,000 lightning strikes on Monday night. It usually takes six months for that many strikes to accumulate.
“There was no precedent for this,” Tom Skilling told the Trib. “In every way imaginable, that storm last night was in its own league.”
Of course, by “last night” he meant Monday night. Your daily newspaper: Yesterday’s news tomorrow.

Read More

Posted on August 6, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

Wow, one of the rare days when I look for weather news in the papers and there’s barely anything there. The sirens went off! C’mon!
I was also a bit surprised at how the local news shops didn’t cut into regular programming last night. The sirens went off! C’mon!
Seriously, I was wondering if the Sox had just clinched the pennant or if I should head for shelter.

Read More

Posted on August 5, 2008