By Steve Rhodes
1. “[Anheuser-Busch] recently informed federal railroad regulators that it wants to shut down Manufacturers Railway Company, the rail company that has been part of A-B since 1887, when A-B co-founder Adolphus Busch turned to trains to supply his growing brewery,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
“The company is a shortline railroad, operating 13.5 miles of track and providing service only between the brewery and other railroads just over the river in Illinois.”
Huh. Maybe high-speed rail would be a reality around the Midwest by now if it ferried beer. Just a thought, A-B.
2. Once again, we’re not Detroit.
3. Michelle Monaghan of the action thriller Source Code, which takes place on a Chicago commuter train, spent three years at Columbia College here studying journalism.
“News and newspapers were always at the forefront of my household growing up,” she told the Tribune’s Michael Phillips.
4. Perhaps it was their sense of entitlement.
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“After punching Koschman, Vanecko ran off with a friend, Craig Denham. Two other Vanecko friends who were there – Kevin McCarthy and his wife, Bridget Higgins McCarthy – initially told the police they didn’t know the two guys who ran away. They didn’t admit they did know them until May 13, 2004, Yawger says – 18 days after Koschman got punched and seven days after he died in a hospital from brain injuries suffered when the back of his head hit the street. Till then, the police hadn’t been able to identify Vanecko or Denham as being involved, according to [Ronald Yawger, the lead detective on the case].”
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The detectives who just re-opened and re-closed the case never talked to Yawger, by the way. Go read the whole story.
5. Chicago Food Critic Finally Gets Stolen ChicagoRestaurant.com Domain Name Back.
6. Villa Taj Owner: “It Was Not Meant to Insult Anybody’s Taste”.
7. Chicago UFO Mystery Solved.
8. Lupe Fiasco Used To Eat His Wages.
Also on the Crappy Fast Food Job and Attempts At Clever Headline Writing Watch:
* Would You Like A Job With That?
* Are Investors Lovin’ It?
* McDonald’s Will Hire 50,000 of America’s 24.3 Million Unemployed.
And also from the Crappy Food Economic Index front:
* Papa John’s, Domino’s Hit 52-Week Highs.
9. “It seems only last week that a teacher of young minds was threatened with legal action for mocking one of her class on Facebook,” Chris Matyszczyk writes at CNET.com.
“Because it was only last week. Yes, this Chicago elementary school educator was upbraided for allegedly laughing at a little girl’s Jolly Rancher hair.
“But now there is news that another teacher – this time in Paterson, N.J. – has been suspended for allegedly calling her first-grade class ‘future criminals’ on Facebook.”
10. “If this is winning hockey, the rest of the NHL can have it,” our very own Jim Coffman writes in SportsMonday: Hawks Trapped.
11. “Lest our enthusiasm become too contagious, we must hearken back to some other less impressive openers,” our very own Roger Wallenstein writes in The White Sox Report: Who Needs Hope?
Roger is one of two new White Sox writers this season. You’ll meet the second tomorrow.
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If you want to join our team, I’m looking for someone to revive our Minor League Report this season and I’m open to correspondents interested in covering soccer, roller derby or anything else your heart desires. Drop me a line.
Of course, we’re open to new contributors (and editors) in our other sections as well, and as always we need help with tech, design and business development.
12. Chicago Street Racing: Summer’s here and the time is right.
13. In our Political Odds, we update the aldermanic runoffs.
14. Repo Chicago: Episode Two. Wherein Big Ant teaches Jax how to break into a car.
15. The Weekend in Chicago Rock: They played at a venue near you.
Programming Note
I think Chicago Code is a repeat tonight, but that just means an extra hour of jukebox time at the Beachwood Inn tonight. I’ll be your host behind the bar slinging cold Old Styles, free pizza and witty barbs. Stop in and tell me I sent you. 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: We have a dream.
Posted on April 4, 2011