By Steve Rhodes
The Beachwood will return on Wednesday. And it will kick ass. As usual.
The [Monday] Papers
“Stuart Haverty was a down-to-earth 23-year-old who loved watching the Bears so much that he set up ‘stadium seating’ in his living room,” the Sun-Times reports.
“But when he got up to go to the bathroom Sunday at halftime at Soldier Field, his friends never saw him again.
“Haverty, of far northwest suburban Woodstock, fell 35 feet to his death from a balcony on the west side of the stadium.
“A skilled climber who enjoyed scaling up the side of buildings and trees, he may have even hopped over a railing to enjoy a cigarette behind one of Soldier Field’s famous columns before he fell, friends said.”
Jay’s Way
“I have often said of Cub great turned broadcaster Ron Santo that he’s a fifth-grader (virtually no preparation for broadcasts, childish, emotional reactions to on-field happenings), but he’s our fifth-grader,” our very own Jim Coffman writes in A Petulant Quarterback In Full. “I suppose Cutler is more of a seventh-grader, convinced authority is out to get him unfairly and prone to acting out. But he’s definitely our seventh-grader.”
Plus: The View From Philly: Fuming.
My Fare Daley
“Chicago’s taxicab king, Russian businessman Symon Garber, is facing millions of dollars in fines for illegally putting old wrecks back on the street as cabs,” the Sun-Times reports.
“Garber and his business partners together face $9 million in fines for operating 180 wrecked cop cars as cabs, a Chicago Sun-Times review of hundreds of complaints filed by City Hall shows.”
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This is the good part:
“Garber operated cabs in Moscow and New York when he befriended Mayor Daley’s son Patrick nine years ago in Russia. In just a few years, Garber became the predominant force in Chicago’s taxi business, an industry regulated by City Hall.”
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But it gets even better!
“Garber has hired the law firm of mayoral candidate Gery Chico.”
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That would be Chico & Nunes.
“Chico & Nunes P.C. is an exceptional Chicago law firm committed to responsiveness, innovative approaches to resolving conflicts and finding solutions that add value for our clients.”
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“Our practice areas encompass a range of government regulatory and real estate services, spanning land use, TIF/financing and other entitlements, education law, construction law, procurement, public utility law, litigation and general business counseling.”
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Perhaps Garber’s attorney there is Caroline Domagalski, a former assistant corporation counsel for the City of Chicago in the Commercial and Policy Litigation Division.
Or maybe it’s Kate Tragesser, a former City of Chicago prosecutor.
Or maybe it’s Marcos Nunes himself, seeing as how he is a former assistant to Richard M. Daley.
Either way, it’s surely not Chico – even if the checks Garber writes have his name on them.
Chico and the Man
Paul Vallas’s endorsement of Chico was warm and fuzzy, but look who is in the shadows:
“Mr. Emanuel received help from scores of campaign workers loyal to longtime Democratic ward bosses on the North and Northwest Sides. He had a conspicuous lack of such help from what have historically been the most powerful ward groups from the Southwest Side,” the Chicago News Cooperative reports.
“Campaign foot soldiers for Alderman Edward Burke, from the 14th Ward on the Southwest Side, instead helped Gery Chico, whose mayoral campaign gathered about 50,000 signatures. Mr. Burke, the longest-serving alderman and chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee, had not previously declared his preference for mayor. He told the Chicago News Cooperative this week that he directed the 14th Ward Democratic workers whose names appeared as circulators on petitions for Mr. Chico, a native of the Southwest Side.”
20 Years Of Corruption And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt
A perfect gift for the family member whom nobody sent. On sale now!
Riding While Dead
They not only vote, but they take the CTA to the polls.
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This I did not know:
“In reality, however, this is chump change when compared to things like the seniors income tax exemption,” Rich Miller of Capitol Fax writes. “They pay no state taxes on retirement income, no matter how high those incomes are. They also get some property tax relief.”
Mark Kirk To Be Sworn In Today
Does that mean he’s now under oath?
Media Pretends It Doesn’t Exist
“Chicago Mayoral Contenders Fight For Attention.”
Attention from who? Us! The media!
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Note the passive voice:
“A number of contenders – including former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, state Sen. James Meeks and former school board president Gery Chico – are betting their positions on the issues and familiarity with the city will help them overcome perceptions that former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is the candidate to beat, based on his previous stash of campaign money, early television ads and name recognition.”
Missing: Perceptions hardened into the public mind by the media’s incessant repetition of that very perception!
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“But intensive efforts to challenge Emanuel’s right to run pose a double-edged sword for his competition. While 15 petitions have been filed to knock him off the ballot, based on his not having lived in the city over the last year, the issue also threatens to overshadow the debate they seek on other issues.”
Missing: Overshadow the debate, that is, if that’s what the media focuses most of its attention on!
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The media never thinks it’s part of the story – except when they tell everybody how important they are to telling the story.
Leslie Nielsen For Medicare
His best performances ever?
The Weekend in Chicago Rock
They played at a venue near you.
The Circus Came To Town
Tigers, Tall Dancers and a Superhero Clown Car.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: The Greatest Tip Line on Earth.
Posted on November 30, 2010