By Steve Rhodes
You can now be punished for this.
And this.
And presumably this.
One more.
Posted on June 26, 2007
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
Rod Beck was one of the greatest, joyous characters ever to don a Cubs uniform. He captured the imagination of a city – and not only this city, by the way. The loss of such a memorable, colorful, and down-home regular guy deserved front page coverage. Instead, both papers buried the news of his death at age 38.
If our local newspaper editors want to return to their home planets now, that would be fine with me.
Posted on June 25, 2007
The Weekend Desk Report
The interns are working the field this weekend while Weekend Desk Editor Natasha Julius is on assignment.
Market Report
Regulators will consider halting trading this weekend upon vulnerabilities caused by volatile activity in Secret Governments combined with another big sell-off in Presidential Approval. Speculation of either a leveraged buy-out or hostile takeover of the market’s biggest customer has forced a special meeting to find ways to rally Democracy, even if that means propping it up using Artificial Measures.
Posted on June 23, 2007
The [Friday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“Who is the man in the powder blue suit who could be a cheese salesman from Wisconsin?”
Why, it’s Frank Calabrese Sr., reputed Outfit hit man!
Posted on June 22, 2007
The [Thursday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“[Todd Stroger] and his wife just sort of wanted to get it done, taken care of and not have to deal with the media circus,” Stroger’s doctor said Wednesday.
Mission accomplished.
Missing in Action
A lot of the pundits are missing the point about Stroger not disclosing his illness sooner. It’s not so much about not informing voters 10 months ago that he had a very treatable, non-life threatening medical problem – though that would have been nice – but that he didn’t show up for work one day and his aides would only say he would be out for the next three weeks with no explanation.
Legacy Vote
“It’s too soon to say with certainty that Todd Stroger will go down as an amateurish one-termer,” the Tribune editorial page says today.
Yes. He could be a half-termer if we can figure out how to impeach him.
Posted on June 21, 2007
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
What’s a mob trial without a fake bomb scare? Juror intimidation is next. And then maybe a little something for the judge.
Family Secrets I
“As jury selection began Tuesday in the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, Frank Calabrese Sr. sat in a powder-blue sport coat talking to [defense lawyer Joseph] Lopez. It marked the first time that the five men facing trial – Calabrese, Joey “the Clown” Lombardo, James Marcello, Paul Schiro and Anthony Doyle – have been in the same courtroom,” the Tribune reports.
“They are accused in a sweeping Outfit conspiracy blamed for 18 decades-old gangland killings.”
We’ve got the scoop on Joey “the Clown” Lombardo – known on the street as “Lumpy.” Find out why, and everything else you need to know about one of the last links to the Outfit’s glory days.
Posted on June 20, 2007
The [Tuesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
Editor’s Note: Some of you may have experienced problems accessing the site on Monday. Apologies – we had a glitch that we believe is resolved. In case you missed our fine new offerings, check out The [Monday] Papers; TV’s Virtuous Assault; Reviewing the Reviews; and The Secret Life of Joey “the Clown” Lombardo: Part 1. If you look to your right, you’ll see we’ve added a few new posts today as well. Thank you for your support.
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Secret Agent Stroger
Apparently Todd Stroger thought he could just disappear for three weeks and keep it a secret, even though he is the chief executive of the 19th largest government in the United States.
Posted on June 19, 2007
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“During his 12 years in politics, Sen. Barack Obama has received nearly three times more campaign cash from indicted businessman Tony Rezko and his associates than he has publicly acknowledged,” the Sun-Times reports.
In particular, Obama relied on a cocktail party at Rezko’s mansion in June 2003 to show he could compete in the U.S. Senate primary with fellow candidates Blair Hull and Dan Hynes.
“At the time of the party, the state was in the process of foreclosing on a low-income apartment building Rezko’s company rehabbed in Obama’s state Senate district – a rehab project on which Obama’s law firm worked on,” the Sun-Times reports. “Rezko had also abandoned many other low-income apartments, leaving numerous vacant units in need of major repairs.”
It’s all coming together.
Posted on June 18, 2007
The Weekend Desk Report
By Natasha Julius
The world keeps turning, and we spend another weekend chasing it.
Market Update
We saw the sub-prime bubble burst coming a mile away, and we figure the nation could weather the steep price increase for staple foods. But when these guys can’t make money? Now, we’re fucked. Seriously.
Posted on June 16, 2007
The [Friday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
1. How good is Jessica Hopper? This good.
2. Beachwood reader Mike O’Connor writes:
“I agree with your assessment of the Filter article [see the Neo-Gentrification item here]. Do patrons of Filter lament the loss of the Busy Bee, as many of us with a longer view of the community do? Whether they want to admit it or not, Lincoln Park created the present day Wicker Park. Artists and musician-types fled Bucktown when the economic burn from Lincoln Park spilled over. When I was at DePaul in the early 1980s, going to bars south of Armitage such as the Artful Dodger or the Get Me High Lounge was considered adventurous. Going South of North Avenue wasn’t even on the radar.
Posted on June 15, 2007