Chicago -
By Steve Rhodes
“More than 250 Cook County corrections officers called in sick Friday morning in a wave of illness jail officials suspect has more to do with the foot of snow covering the Chicago area than an outbreak,” the Sun-Times reports.
All I can say is here we go again.
Posted on February 10, 2018
By Steve Rhodes
Judge Dibs is in session, from his suburban courtroom, where he has long presided.
With #Snowmageddon about to hit #Chicago, Judge Dibs returns to the bench. Prepare your Dibs markers–broken chairs & other junk–to save those parking spaces. “Dibs keeps us from descending into the Mad Max #Snowpocalypse” my column: https://t.co/U8HCh4R73R
— John Kass (@John_Kass) February 8, 2018
I would submit he has a jurisdictional problem.
Posted on February 9, 2018
By Steve Rhodes
“Senior White House officials are in a state of shock, and facing huge questions about their handling of the crisis, over the resignation of Staff Secretary Rob Porter after his two former wives went on the record to allege physical abuse,” Mike Allen writes in his (influential, sigh) Axios newsletter this morning.
Why he matters: Porter, 40 – a clean-cut Harvard and Oxford standout who was chief of staff to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) – managed (and partly controlled) the information flow to President Trump, including clippings and briefings.
Colleagues tell Axios’ Jonathan Swan they can’t reconcile the Rob Porter they know (consummate gentleman) with the Rob Porter they’re reading about, with a police report and photos of a black eye by a former wife.
Because a clean-cut (white) “Harvard and Oxford standout” isn’t the type of person who commits domestic violence?
Posted on February 8, 2018
By Steve Rhodes
“A legislative panel is likely to approve a proposed increase in check-cashing fees at its Feb. 13 meeting. Opponents say the increase will disproportionately hurt lower-income people of color . . . who have been driven out of mainstream banking by high fees and into currency exchanges,” LaRisa Lynch reports for the Chicago Reporter.
“A Chicago Reporter analysis found that currency exchanges are most common in low-income African American areas, followed by Latino communities. For instance, the 60651 ZIP code includes parts of Austin and West Humboldt Park and has a mix of black and Latino households. That ZIP code has six currency exchanges, but just one bank.
“If the rate hike is approved, for example, the cost to cash a $100 check would increase from $2.40 to $3.50. The cost to cash a $500 check will go from $11.25 to $12.50.”
Posted on February 7, 2018
By Steve Rhodes
On This Day In . . .
2012: Shills, Cruel Jokes And CPS Turnarounds.
Posted on February 6, 2018
By Steve Rhodes
“Many businesses that will be open Sunday face a seasonal staffing problem known as ‘Super Bowl Fever’ – the Cook County Jail is among them,” WBBM Radio’s Bernie Tafoya reported last week.
“Super Bowl Sunday is one of those days when huge numbers of Cook County Jail correctional officers historically have called in sick, leaving the Sheriff’s Office to force other officers to stick around for overtime.
“Last year, we had approximately 350 staff that called in sick,” Cook County Sheriff’s Chief Policy Officer Cara Smith said.
“Smith says the Sheriff’s Office knows who may have abused those privileges in the past on Super Bowl Sunday, and that they’re going to be warned ahead of time this year.”
Though Tafoya noted that “Super Bowl Fever” afflicts businesses of all kinds, I’ve often wondered – well, every year when I read this annual story – if the Cook County Jail is really all that special, or if it’s just a media go-to.
After seeing the story on Twitter, I sent this e-mail to my criminal justice expert friend Tracy Siska, of the Chicago Justice Project:
Ya know, I’m not excusing this but … my first thought was, how many other businesses get a slew of sick calls on Super Bowl Sunday? Then I realized not very many businesses are open on Sundays. But it’s not as if a professional office wouldn’t have people skipping out, right? Again, not excusing it, just sayin’ …
Tracy didn’t have time to respond to that one, among a slew of e-mails on a variety of subjects he did address for me, but I pretty much got my answer from Fox32 News on Saturday.
Posted on February 5, 2018
By Steve Rhodes
For completists, there was no column on Friday.
How To Avoid The Flu At Super Bowl Parties, via WLS-TV.
Posted on February 4, 2018
By Steve Rhodes
Lucy Parsons Labs is suing Rahm Emanuel to jar loose the city’s Amazon HQ2 bid.
Amazon Suit by freddymartinez9 on Scribd
Posted on February 1, 2018
By Steve Rhodes
For completists, there was no column on Tuesday. And there’s no “real” column today; I have a deadlines to meet. But that doesn’t mean I have nothing to offer you . . .
Posted on January 31, 2018
By Steve Rhodes
“While the FCC decided to rollback Net Neutrality protections last month, the fight isn’t quite over – Join us once again to write letters to representatives asking them to protect Net Neutrality through the Congressional Review Act. Bloodshot Records will be on hand to set the mood, and Dovetail will provide everything you need to write your rep.”
Posted on January 29, 2018
