By Steve Rhodes
I still have one problem file to transfer from my old, dead laptop – it’s in a temporary home – and it’s the key file I use to keep notes for this column. So . . . you know, all the good stuff is on there. Please, Blago jury, stay out one more day!
In the meantime, let’s take a look at today’s news.
Captain Kirk
“Little more than six months since Mark Kirk was sworn in, the state’s junior U.S. senator has raised his profile and evolved into Illinois’ senior Republican,” the Tribune’s Rick Pearson reports.
“Despite being a Republican, Kirk conducted a town hall event with U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, a West Side Democrat. He has co-sponsored legislation with North Side Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley that would reinstate the honest services doctrine, a corruption-fighting provision struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. He has worked with Southwest Side Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski on transportation initiatives.”
Whether you agree with his politics, Kirk is doing a respectable job. But it’s hard to forget what a nut he became during the campaign.
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“Four Illinois elected officials have introduced a bill that would strip pension benefits from congressmen or senators convicted of felonies even if it happens after they leave federal office,” Abdon Pallasch reports for the Sun-Times.
“‘Governor Blagojevich has been convicted of public corruption crimes, yet he is still eligible to receive his taxpayer-funded congressional pension – this is unacceptable,’ said Rep. Robert Dold (R-Winnetka), who appeared with Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) Monday.
“Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago) and Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Western Springs) are co-sponsors of the bill.
“They cannot stop Blagojevich’s pension. The bill would apply to future members of Congress.”
Blue Plate Special
“Illinois is so hard up for money that it’s studying the possibility of selling ads on state license plates,” AP reports.
“The idea is to offer special corporate-sponsored plates. Drivers would get a discount on the price, and businesses would put their logos on the plates.”
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In Texas, RE/MAX was first. Mighty Fine Burgers also gave it a shot.
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“One Adam-12, see the Subaru southbound on Ashland, Illinois plate ‘G’ as in the feds, ‘R’ as in Rosty, ‘O’ as in Oprah, ‘U’ as in you dere, ‘P’ as in patsy, ‘O’ as in Oprah, ‘N’ as in an den he sez. That car’s been reported stolen.”
B and B
“Bill To Allow Bullet Trains Along Illinois Tollways Heads To Pat Quinn.”
Bullets themselves already allowed.
Revenue Plan
“Noted Chicago personal injury attorney Thomas Demetrio, who has owned many high-end residential properties over the years, has paid $5.5 million for a five-bedroom, 10,500-square-foot mansion in Lake Forest,” Bob Goldsborough reports for the Tribune.
I sense an accident coming on at that very location.
Wake-Up Call
“Ian Schrager is launching a new ‘accessible luxury; hotel brand, Public, that will target visitors seeking value and affordability in a high-quality product,” Michael C. Lowe reports for Meetings And Conventions. “Public Chicago will be the brand’s first property and will open this fall in the former 285-room Ambassador East, which was built in 1926 in the city’s Gold Coast neighborhood.
“Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, from the 2011 James Beard Best New Restaurant ABC Kitchen in New York, will head a new take on the property’s original restaurant, The Pump Room, which hosted the likes of Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart.”
But will it still be called The Pump Room?
People Are Stupid
“After more than a century of failure, you’d think by now that we wouldn’t expect much of the Cubs. But, no: Chicago’s North Siders are in fact baseball’s most overrated team,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Plea A Bargain?
Fitzgerald Defends Deal With American Terrorist In Chicago Trial.
International Treasure
Neil Young From An Art Gallery Somewhere In Chicago.
Saving Ozzie
It might be up to Sergio Santos.
The End Is (Still) Near
Are you ready?
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Rapturous.
Posted on June 14, 2011