By Steve Rhodes
Here’s what I went through this morning.
Posted on July 12, 2018
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“The man who shot and injured three law enforcement officers from the stairwell of a South Elgin condo building last week was beset by health and money problems and driven to desperation by a final phone call of bad financial news, his family said,” the Elgin Courier-News reports.
“Frank Dripps, 52, was shot and killed by police on the Fourth of July, ending an hours-long standoff during which Dripps hunkered down with a shotgun and a rifle and fired at officers multiple times.”
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“On July 3, hours before his death, Dripps learned his Social Security benefit was being eliminated, said his wife, Paula Dripps. A letter to Frank Dripps dated May 28 said his $750 monthly Supplemental Security Income would be reduced to $167.50 due to a change in his family’s income. Paula Dripps called that an error by the Social Security Administration in calculating her income.
“Then in a phone call last week, Frank Dripps was told his benefit would be cut to zero and he had been overpaid for several months and would owe a repayment of $6,000 to $7,000, his wife said. Dripps had been receiving benefits after he was diagnosed with two diseases that affected his spine and made it difficult to move and impossible to work, his family said.
“They said he was owed nothing and that we owed them,” Paula Dripps said. “He was mad at the government.”
“The July 3 phone call – on top of his spinal problems that had sidelined his career as a home construction contractor, depression, and feeling ‘less’ for not being able to care for his wife – was the last straw, [his wife] Paula Dripps said.”
Posted on July 11, 2018
The [Tuesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“[V]eteran NBC News Justice Correspondent Pete Williams broke the news that President Trump would nominate Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, roughly eight minutes before the much-hyped TV rollout,” Politico’s Morning Media newsletter reports.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: A scoop isn’t reporting something that is going to be announced minutes or hours before it happens, it’s reporting something we otherwise would not know if not for the reporter’s work. Williams essentially got the scoop on a press release going out to the world by having a “source” throw him a bone he could chew on in public for eight minutes.
Posted on July 10, 2018
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
Rich Miller has a roundup of Dan Ryan Shutdown coverage here, including the Twitter tussle between the mayor and the governor.
Which reminds me of this interview from 2016 I just came across by accident last week (unless I just forgot about it) with Bruce Rauner describing the first time he met Rahm Emanuel. The part I wanted to excerpt is just too long to re-post here, so click on the link and see for yourself.
Posted on July 9, 2018
The [4th Of July Falls On A Wednesday This Year] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
* New York Times: In A Fox-Inspired Tweetstorm, Trump Offers A Medley Of Falsehoods And Misstatements.
* Washington Post: One-Third Of The World’s Population Lives In A Declining Democracy. That Includes The United States.
* Jezebel: Trump Is Getting Rid of Guidelines That Encouraged Racial Diversity In College Admissions.
Posted on July 4, 2018
The [Tuesday] Papers
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
For completists, there was no Weekend Desk Report.
Beachwood HQ will be at half-mast this week to mark the tenuous nature of our pseudo-democracy.
Posted on July 2, 2018
The [Friday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“Can you please talk to us about the dead reporters in Annapolis?”
“Do you have any words of condolence for the families, Mr. President?”
“Why are you walking away?”
Pres. Trump does not comment when asked about the deadly Maryland newsroom shooting.https://t.co/5ZcmEVQW9z pic.twitter.com/heIzI7S4Ck
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 28, 2018
Posted on June 29, 2018
The [Thursday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“A federal judge in Chicago on Thursday ordered the immediate release from detention of a 9-year-old Brazilian boy who was separated from his mother at the U.S.-Mexico border,” AP reports.
“Judge Manish Shah said Lidia Karine Souza can have custody of her son, Diogo, who has spent four weeks at a government-contracted shelter in Chicago. The mother, who has applied for asylum, was released from an immigrant detention facility in Texas June 9.”
See also: The [Wednesday] Papers.
Posted on June 28, 2018
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“A Brazilian mother separated from her 9-year-old son at the Mexican border late last month while seeking asylum arrived in Chicago Tuesday morning, hoping they could be reunited,” the Sun-Times reports.
“But one final hurdle remains before Lidia K. Souza can regain custody of her son, Diogo, from the Chicago-based non-profit organization that’s looking after him. The Office of Refugee Resettlement must sign off on his release.
Posted on June 27, 2018