Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Monday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“A daughter of Mr. Rauner attended Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, one of Chicago’s most coveted selective-enrollment public high schools, though the family had access to a top suburban public high school,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Rauner later donated $250,000 to a Payton-related foundation. The contribution came a year and a half after Mr. Rauner’s daughter was admitted, a campaign aide noted, and the Rauners have a long history of giving to the Chicago Public Schools, among other organizations.”
What an odd story by the Times; the contribution was suspicious but the main point of controversy in this episode was Rauner picking up the phone and calling then-CPS CEO Arne Duncan, now the U.S. Secretary of Education, to clout his daughter in.


If the Times feels the matter is unsettled, as opposed to the inference it makes about Rauner’s donation to the school, it could at least reference his mind-boggling series of changing explanations to explain the call to Duncan.
Also, it could place its own call to Duncan.
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The Times also describes Rauner as “No decades-long veteran of insular Statehouse politics.” Right.
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“But much can shift, experts cautioned, given a wide and well-known field that includes Mr. Brady (in his third attempt to be governor); Dan Rutherford, the state treasurer whose campaign appears to have slid in recent weeks after a former state employee filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment; and Kirk Dillard, a state senator who gained support from public sector unions after he recently voted against a measure aimed at shoring up the state’s deeply troubled pension system and that unions say amounts to a reduction in retiree benefits.”
I’d like to know which experts are cautioning that much can shift enough to put Brady or Rutherford in the running.
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“In a way, resolution of [the pension] issue – the Legislature last year approved changes intended to overcome Illinois’s reputation as having one of the most underfunded pension systems in the nation – was one more crucial example of Mr. Quinn’s remarkable political fortune. No longer could Republicans easily use the pension crisis against him.”
Huh?
First, the pension changes weren’t addressed to overcome the state’s reputation, but to overcome the problem.
Second, the issue is hardly resolved; five lawsuits have been filed (four already consolidated) against the legislation, which is likely unconstitutional.
Third, the idea that Republicans can no longer easily use the pension crisis against Quinn in the campaign is laughable; Rauner is the candidate most vociferously ripping the bill Quinn signed, and Dillard voted against it.
Poison Pill
“Illinois was the first state to get a poison center about 60 years ago. In a few months, it could be the only state without poison control services,” the Tribune reports.
“The Illinois Poison Center answers thousands of calls from hospital professionals and concerned family members every year, trains hundreds of toxicology experts, and creates educational material on poison prevention and treatment.
“State lawmakers are now pressed to increase the center’s funding or watch its services disappear in late June.”
That’s okay; just let the market sort it out.
Water World
“Crack open a beer and what ripples out is 95% water,” the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.
“Water quality determines taste. Water is why beer ads tend to mythologize springs, glaciers and aquifers. It’s why the MillerCoors brewery in Milwaukee ranks as the biggest user of water in the metro region.
“Yet the vast preponderance of water that creates a cold one isn’t added at the brewery. Rather, it irrigates the fields that produce beer’s next most critical ingredient: barley.
“Today, MillerCoors, along with others in the water-intensive brewing industry, is confirming what scientists and environmentalists already figured out: The golden age of cheap, seemingly limitless supplies of fresh water is at an end, even in the world’s most developed nations.
“‘No water, no beer,’ says Kim Marotta, who oversees water policies at MillerCoors.”
D’oh!
(h/t: Crain’s)
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Let The Sunshine In
Audit the city’s website and help fix FOIA.
What’s Rahm’s Favorite Chicago Poem?
We’re about to find out.
Cracking The Chicagoland Code: Episode 2
You’re either a gangbanger or a Blackhawks fan.
SportsMonday: Keeping Hossa Healthy
Break point.
Windy City Plane Spotting
Gutsy gusty landings.
The Weekend In Chicago Rock
A pretty rich one: Snow Tha Product, Dex Romweber, The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Augstines, UFUX, Los Temerarios, Slightly Stoopid, Whitey Morgan & the 78s, Russian Circles, and John Prine.
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BeachBook
* On Election Night, The Drinks Aren’t On Rauner.
* Chicago Town TV Ad Queried By Domino’s.
* Obama Denying More FOIAs Than Ever.
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TweetWood


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The Beachwood Tip Line: The antidote.

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Posted on March 17, 2014