By Steve Rhodes
1. I’ve got 14 of my Sweet 16 still alive in my brackets, yet I’m in fifth place (out of seven) in one pool; haven’t heard yet where I am in my other pool. It’s that kind of year. The key for me is Villanova going to the Final Four and North Carolina winning it all. Check out the Beachwood Brackets; they’re suspiciously just like mine.
2. “[A]ided by increased cross-platform marketing, CBSSports.com has already broken last year’s streaming media totals for its March Madness on Demand video player. paidContent has obtained the numbers for the first three days.”
In short, the numbers are huge.
3. “Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich once bragged of his ‘testicular virility’ for standing-up to his father-in-law, Chicago Ald. Dick Mell, over a landfill deal,” the SouthtownStar editorial page says today.
“We think Quinn, by introducing an income tax increase, earns that distinction.”
4. “Asked about the protests,” the Tribune reports, “Daley said the opposition [to the Olympics] might be premature because Chicago has not yet been selected.”
5. Even more maddening than the mayor’s fuzzy-headed logic – and the Trib’s apparent failure to ask the obvious follow-up question – is this:
“[Chicago officials] say support remains strong, with 77 percent of Chicago residents backing the Games in a survey they commissioned in October.”
Why?
Because just last month the Tribune reported that its own poll “showed less support than previous polls sponsored by Olympics backers” and that “When the Tribune asked about using taxes to cover any Olympics deficits, 75 percent were opposed and 23 percent were in favor. Most of those surveyed – 54 percent – also did not believe that private money would cover all the costs.”
Why publish propaganda instead of your own reporting?
6. Chicago bid now in last place.
Our advice for getting the bid back on track.
7. “The community knows where the drug deals are,” Daley said. “The community knows where the gang-bangers are.”
Yes, apparently in charge of the Hired Truck program.
8. From the Investigative Reporters & Editors listerv:
The following Government Conference on Openness and Transparency is CLOSED to members of the public and the press:
Upcoming Conference Providing Guidance on President Obama’s and Attorney General Holder’s Memoranda on the Freedom of Information Act
On March 26, 2009, the Office of Information Policy (OIP), Department of Justice, will host a government-wide training conference to discuss President Obama’s and Attorney General Holder’s Memoranda which establish a new era of open government.
When: March 26, 2009
Where: Department of Commerce’s Auditorium
Time: 10:00 – 12:00 noon
Who should attend: Agency Chief FOIA Officers, Agency Principal FOIA Contacts and FOIA Public Liaisons
No pre-registration is required. However, you must present your Government ID to attend the training.
9. Green Chicago Gets A Black Eye.
10. The Mayor’s Missing Gifts.
11. When the Empress casino in Joliet burst into flames last week, the Sun-Times put it on the front page under the headline “Hot Slots.” Over the weekend, the paper followed up with a story headlined “It’s Roll Of The Dice When Joliet Casino Will Reopen.”
Please stop.
*
Trib story on Sunday: “Fire Does Little To Casino.”
12. “Gov. Pat Quinn’s decision to cut his annual salary and hand it back to taxpayers means he will make less money than Mayor Daley’s press secretary,” Sneed reports.
Quinn is giving $25,000 of his salary “back into government and nonprofit organizations.”
Here’s an idea: Maybe Jody Weis can show some support for his officers by giving back part of his salary to make up for theirs.
13. “The city knows nothing about parking meters, and that’s why it was important to get out of it,” Daley said over the weekend.
Well, tell me Mr. Mayor, what does the city know about traffic, public health, finance or hiring police chiefs? I mean, really. If the city knows anything, it knows parking meters. That’s what cities do.
14. World’s Largest Model Train Set.
15. Feel the fire!
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Fireproof.
Posted on March 23, 2009