Chicago -
By Steve Rhodes
The mayor is playing a sly game when it comes to the CTA funding crisis. Where, for example, is the Daley Plan?
There isn’t one.
It’s all the state’s fault.
Last time I looked, it wasn’t called the Illinois Transit Authority.
Posted on November 15, 2007
By Steve Rhodes
Maybe we should tax the mayor every time he giggles, smirks or otherwise acts like a petulant child. We’d have a surplus in no time.
As heard on the video shown on Chicago Tonight last night of Ald. Ike Carothers’ stirring speech about how much hard work it took to defy constituents and vote in favor of the mayor’s property tax hike, Mayor Giggles hee-hee’d his way through a 29-21 vote in his favor.
Just before he banged his gavel to make it official, he crowed “The weightlifters win.”
Posted on November 14, 2007
By Steve Rhodes
Editor’s Note: Once I again I must turn my attention to the business side of The Beachwood Media Company. The Papers will return on Wednesday. In the meantime, we have a terrific new piece bringing you up to speed on the new season of The Real Housewives of Orange County and a bunch of other great offerings from Monday (and earlier) that deserve your attention. See you tomorrow.
Posted on November 13, 2007
By Steve Rhodes
1. The Bears cheated on their winning play.
2. “I keep saying to myself, ‘Death is a celebration.'”
–The first line of dialogue of the only feature film directed by Norman Mailer
3. I’ll be at the fifth anniversary birthday bash of the PH improv group tonight at the Lakeshore Theater (3175 North Broadway). Stop by if you get a chance, I’ll be handing out some Beachwood door prizes. The event is free, by the way. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Posted on November 12, 2007
By Natasha Julius
Who needs to import stories about drug-addled thugs winding up in the pokey from across the pond? We’ve got our own sloppy, drunken mess right here at home!
Market Update
Amid reports of homelessness, delinquency and rampaging oilcolohism, America’s chief spin doctor Ben Bernanke finally suggested this week that his client may be a little depressed.
Posted on November 10, 2007
By Steve Rhodes
Is the Sun-Times’s front-page banner headline “Are We Being Poisoned?” a scream for help from its staff?
Better, the paper should have said “Are You Being Deceived?” because the story isn’t what you think it is.
Sneak Attack
“Barack Obama’s presidential campaign ‘scored a significant hit’ against chief rival Hillary Rodham Clinton ‘by helping to place’ a story about tainted Democratic donor Norman Hsu, according to an article about Obama in the December issue of The Atlantic,” Lynn Sweet reports.
Posted on November 9, 2007
By Steve Rhodes
You can’t say the Sun-Times, which features a photo of Drew Peterson on its front page today above the headline “He Can’t Hide Anymore,” is violating the age-old principle of not reporting on suspects before they are actually charged, because it turns out Peterson is not, at least officially, a suspect at all.
“Illinois State Police investigating the disappearance of 23-year-old Stacy Peterson have repeatedly said that her husband is not a suspect and declined to say whether they think she was a victim of foul play,” the paper reports.
I’m not going to bat for the guy, but the trial of falsely accused Kevin Fox began on Wednesday. Given the irresponsible nature of the media and its misplaced priorities, it’s inevitable that another slimed suspect will turn out to be innocent. Didn’t Richard Jewell teach these people anything?
Posted on November 8, 2007
By Steve Rhodes
“What a horse’s behind,” Mark Brown writes this morning about former Gov. George Ryan, who reports to federal prison in Oxford, Wisconsin today.
Far from apologizing, Ryan still insists he has done no wrong, despite not only his conviction by jury but two federal appeals court rulings that found the evidence against him “overwhelming,” and announced his intention to prove his innocence.
He’s going to conduct his own search for the real killer?
Posted on November 7, 2007
By Steve Rhodes
Great, just what we need more of on Chicago radio: John Mayer, Kelly Clarkson, Rob Thomas, Daughtry, Maroon 5 and Gwen Stefani.
Welcome to Fresh 105.9!
Although most people who know me – including myself – are surprised to find I actually like Kelly Clarkson.
But the point is . . . Steve Dahl and Daughtry can ride broadcast radio into oblivion.
Posted on November 6, 2007
By Steve Rhodes
1. To steal a line from Zay Smith, author of the fabulous Quick Takes, add Doomsday to the list of things that aren’t what they used to be.
2. “Helium is the talk of the party balloon industry these days, and it is not a discussion being carried out in high-pitched giggles,” the Tribune reports this morning.
“The second most plentiful element in the universe is suddenly in short supply on this planet, and that means soaring prices for a lot of things, balloons included.”
Yep, we have a helium shortage. Who knew?
Posted on November 5, 2007
