By Steve Rhodes
For completists, there was no column on Friday.
Weekend ChicagoGram
Posted on January 27, 2018
The [Thursday] Papers
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“Cook County Board members have missed hundreds of meetings in the past five years, an investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times and ABC7 Chicago’s I-Team has found – with four county commissioners absent at least a quarter of the time,” the paper reports.
“Commissioner Bridget Gainer had the worst attendance record, records show. The North Side Democrat missed 162 of 504 meetings of the board and its committees – nearly a third of the official meetings she was supposed to attend in the past five years.”
Well, Bridget Gainer seems like one of the more enlightened of the bunch over there, and she’s often mentioned as a possible mayoral candidate, so I’m sure she has a good excuse.
Posted on January 24, 2018
The [Tuesday] Papers
The [Friday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
The Papers will appear next on Tuesday.
From the inbox.
1. From Common Cause Illinois:
“On Saturday January 20th, leaders and organizers from Common Cause Illinois (CCIL) will host a breakfast rally for volunteers and members before they march together at the 2nd Annual Women’s March, The March to the Polls.
“Last year, Common Cause Illinois members joined more than 250,000 women and allies from across the state for the first-ever Women’s March Chicago. This year, CCIL is excited to partner with them again for the Women’s March to the Polls.
“Attendees will enjoy breakfast, hear from some of the top CCIL advocates from across the state, and meet other activists before walking to the march together at 10:30 a.m.”
Where: Columbia College, 624 S. Michigan Ave. (only a block from the start location!)
When: Saturday, January 20th at 9 a.m.
Posted on January 19, 2018
The [Thursday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
Today in the Paradise Papers: ‘A Fair Tax System Will Be Lost Without Public Pressure.’
Dear Steve,
Today we have an interview with the European Commissioner for tax Pierre Moscovici. He’s been trying to fight for a European response to many of the tax scandals exposed by ICIJ projects, including the Paradise Papers.
Moscovici talks candidly about the “shyness” of Europe’s new tax haven blacklist and the impact of a new president in the United States. But he also highlights the role individuals have to play and argues we need more public pressure if a fair tax system is to be achieved.
We also have the second in our three-part series on how to explore the mammoth Offshore Leaks Database. You can explore more than 680,000 entities using our tips on how to understand these complex networks.
ICIJ’s community of supporters is also growing, and today we’re welcoming two new funders, the Swedish Postcode Foundation and the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation.
And, just in case you missed it, last week the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced a $1 million grant to ICIJ at the Golden Globes ceremony.
As a nonprofit organization, ICIJ relies on donations – both big and small – to fund our journalism. If you’d like to join other individuals and organizations in taking a stand to support investigative journalism and ICIJ’s mission to safeguard the truth, you can learn more about donating to us here.
Until next week!
Amy Wilson-Chapman
ICIJ’s community engagement editor
Posted on January 18, 2018
The [Wednesday] Papers
“Woodlawn resident and community organizer Haroon Garel notes that ‘the Obama Foundation has been very responsive when concerns were raised by wealthier white neighbors, such as condo associations and preservationists, in agreeing to make millions of dollars of infrastructure changes by moving the parking lot underground. However, when low-income working Black families demand a Community Benefits Agreement and guarantees against displacement we are ignored.'”
– Community Benefit Agreement Coalition
Posted on January 17, 2018
The [Tuesday] Papers
On Martin Luther King Day, appearing on WVON radio, Gov. Bruce Rauner refused to call David Duke a racist – and punted on President Trump. Nice goin’.
Posted on January 16, 2018
The [MLK Birthday 2018] Weekend Desk Report
1. From Chicago Votes:
Dozens of volunteers will gather at Cook County Jail to register Cook County residents currently incarcerated to vote on Sunday as part of a civic engagement program facilitated by Chicago Votes, a non-partisan organization dedicated to building a more inclusive democracy by putting political power in the hands of young Chicagoans.
For the last several months Chicago Votes has led massive voter registration drives in the Cook County Jail. After this weekend, they will have registered almost a thousand new voters.
This effort, being called the Cook County Jail Votes program, has been supported by a coalition of community groups including: The League of Women Voters, Chasing 23, Social Works, Indivisible South Side, Sargent Shriver Center on Poverty Law, University of Chicago Democracy Initiative, Cook County Sheriff’s Department and over 30 volunteer deputy registrars.
“In the spirit of Dr. King, Chicago Votes is working to enfranchise thousands of new eligible voters whose voices have the right to be heard in our democratic process,” said Chicago Votes Executive Director Stevie Valles. “Every time Chicago Votes volunteers have entered the jail, we’ve been greeted with incredible gratitude and enthusiasm from the people we’ve met there, who are eager to get engaged and participate positively in civic life in our city.”
Posted on January 14, 2018
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
The next Papers column will appear over the weekend.
To follow up, sort of, on part of yesterday’s column, there is a third person in the race for Cook County Assessor: Andrea Raila.
Raila seems like a worthy candidate except for the fact that she got in the race relatively late – after Fritz Kaegi – as noted by the Beachwood Bookmaking Bureau. The Bureau sees things like this:
Joe Berrios gets the Dem nomination for Cook County Assessor: 50 percent. He shouldn’t, of course, but he is the Machine.
Fritz Kaegi gets the Dem nomination: 30 percent. Got started early, though hasn’t picked up much traction. Still.
Andrea Raila gets the Dem nomination: 20 percent. Her second shot at Berrios; could become the better alternative.
Raila ran against Berrios in 2009. Here’s a blog post I wrote about her then, noting, among other things, kind words about her from Ben Joravsky and Studs Terkel.
Posted on January 10, 2018