By Steve Rhodes
One year ago today, by me: Deconstructing Rahm Emanuel’s Mea Culpa – https://t.co/u2EguRCf1b via @crainschicago
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) December 7, 2016
Posted on December 7, 2016
The [Tuesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“After a four-year court battle, a Chicago food truck owner on Monday failed in her effort to overturn what she calls ‘burdensome’ and ‘damaging’ rules governing mobile vendors in the city. The judgment likely will have a significant and lasting impact on Chicago’s food truck industry, which has struggled to grow, in contrast to other U.S. cities,” the Tribune reports.
“Food truck owners say the regulations, first passed in 2012, have hurt sales and caused many trucks to go out of business altogether. Those who remain say they’re locked in hypercompetitive fights for parking at the most popular serving locations in the Loop, and are forced to adopt extreme strategies, like sending out cars to hold lunch spots in the early morning hours, or opting to serve in more food truck-friendly areas outside downtown.”
I’m with the food truck owners on this one. I sense everyone but City Hall and the brick-and-mortar restaurants the city is protecting from competition are too. But alas:
Posted on December 6, 2016
The Weekend Desk Report
By Steve Rhodes
My old friend, mentor and journalism professor David S. Allen posted this recently in a media ethics Facebook group:
Posted on December 4, 2016
The [Friday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
I had a stomach issue yesterday. I’m on the mend, but it meant that I only slept for about an hour Wednesday night. Then on Thursday morning, I joined a friend at a cafe for work and tea. But it wasn’t long until I got the most irresistible urge ever to go back to bed buried under as many blankets as I could muster. Who invented blankets? I mused. Whoever it was is one of the greatest people to have ever existed. So I looked it up. And that’s how the image on Thursday’s (non-)column came to be.
Posted on December 2, 2016
The [Thursday] Papers
Posted on December 1, 2016
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit can go forward accusing former Mayor Richard Daley of ignoring evidence that white Chicago police detectives working under disgraced former police Cmdr. Jon Burge tortured dozens of black suspects into murder confessions,” the Tribune reports.
“U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve’s ruling sets the stage once again for Daley to potentially be forced to give sworn testimony about what he knew of the painful legacy of police torture that first came to light when Daley was Cook County state’s attorney and later exploded during his more than two decades as mayor.
Posted on November 30, 2016
The [Tuesday] Papers
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
Let’s catch up from a long weekend.
In An Ugly Election Result, Hate Surges Online
The election of an American president, that is.
Every single Trump voter owns this.
Posted on November 28, 2016
The [Thanksgiving 2016] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“Need an alternative to the usual parade and sports TV-binging on Thanksgiving day? Let us at Ars suggest six hours of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which anybody can tune into today thanks to a free YouTube stream,” Ars Technica suggests.
“The six-episode stream-a-thon begins at noon Eastern / 9 a.m. Pacific on the show’s official YouTube channel, and it stands out for a few reasons. While MST3K’s YouTube channel has a ton of classic episodes and clips, this marathon features the six episodes voted by series fans as bests, so it should be a good source of Thanksgiving vegetation. (The first film of the marathon, Pumaman, is a good tone-setter of what to expect today.)”
Posted on November 24, 2016
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“The city of Chicago’s Law Department will pay $1.6 million to a team led by former U.S. Attorney Dan K. Webb for its review of the department’s federal civil rights division, which handles lawsuits involving alleged police misconduct,” the Sun-Times reports.
“Webb, nine other attorneys and a paralegal spent a total of more than 5,463 hours on their review and subsequent report, according to an invoice submitted to the Law Department on Monday from Webb’s firm, Winston & Strawn. The work would have cost more than $3.5 million at the firm’s normal billing rate, but Webb and Law Department officials had agreed to a discount.”
Somehow I’m not grateful. “We’re only billing you $640 an hour, so this one-minute phone call is only costing taxpayers 10 bucks!”
Posted on November 23, 2016