Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

In the first of my primary notebooks: Russell Brand, Bruce Rauner and the Trib edit board. Guess which one I like best?
Digital Delusion
“Along the banks of the Mahoning River in the struggling Ohio steel town of Youngstown sits a once-abandoned furniture warehouse that has been converted into a sleek new laboratory,” Reuters reports.
“Inside is a Silicon Valley-style workspace complete with open meeting areas and colorful stools. Several 3-D printers hum in the background, while engineers type computer codes that tell the machines how to create objects by layering materials.
“The lab, called America Makes, is the first in a series of so-called ‘manufacturing innovation hubs’ that President Barack Obama has launched with the promise that they could revitalize America’s industrial sector and spur jobs growth in downtrodden communities like Youngstown.
“Seven more hubs are planned by the end of the year, including projects in Chicago, Detroit and Raleigh, North Carolina, that will follow the Youngstown model of bringing together businesses, non-profits and universities to pursue technological breakthroughs.
“But after more than a year of operation, the Youngstown hub underscores the challenges facing Obama’s goal of ensuring ‘a steady stream of good jobs into the 21st century,’ as he put it in remarks at a White House event last month.”
That’s putting it kindly.


“Of six organizations in Youngstown and Cleveland – the nearest major city in the state – working on America Makes projects, none has made new hires for the work.”
Click through for a glimpse of the future – and as an antidote to the media hype about Chicago’s new digital lab.
Rahm’s Pool Boys
“Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago Infrastructure Trust today rolled out its second project, a retrofit and upgrade of indoor and outdoor swimming pools operated around the city by the Chicago Park District and Chicago Public Schools,” Greg Hinz reports for Crain’s.
“But in a statement released overnight, the trust released only the sketchiest of information about exactly what it has is mind, neglecting to say who, what and roughly how much. And the statement even manages to get the date wrong on which of the city’s actual requests for proposal will be available.”
Remember when Rahm’s infrastructure trust was going to be the greatest thing since . . . digital printer labs? (And remember when such an announcement would get the full Rahm rollout?)
“In the statement, the trust said that it wants someone to ‘retrofit and improve public swimming pools’ without sticking taxpayers with the tab.”
Phone calls and foot lockers? Please tell me that you have something more. Er, I mean, please tell me you aren’t pinning the city’s hopes to swimming pools and light fixtures.
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“Neither the release nor a spokeswoman for the trust had any details on exactly what will be done with the pools, though the goal is to “reduce carbon emissions” via increased energy efficiency.
“The spokeswoman said about 100 pools will be involved but said she did not know what type of energy improvements are being eyed – windmills to pump water, perhaps? – roughly how much in private capital might be needed, how much the potential savings are, when the work might take place or what other kinds of non-energy improvements might be coming to the pools.”
Can’t they just print out new swimming pools out at the new digital lab?
That’s Luis!
“Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., has spent nearly $30,000 in legal fees since last summer, hiring a lawyer who specializes in ethics and congressional investigations after USA TODAY reported the congressman had kept a Chicago lobbyist working in his congressional office for years,” the paper says.
Plus, from the Sun-Times:
“U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) is helping the re-election campaign of state Rep. Maria Antonia ‘Toni’ Berrios (D-Chicago) with a robocall in which he says Berrios is opposed by ‘those who want to silence Latino voices.'”
Finally, strike three for wimping out.
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Local Music Notebook: Chicagoland!
Obama in the house & Chief Keef on the hook.
Kevin Trudeau Could Have Been President
Plus: The Problem With Chicago PD. In Local TV Notes.
30 For 30: Brian
What if I told you he wasn’t the greatest?
Ode To The Des Plaines Oasis
Goodbye to a beacon.
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BeachBook
* The Replacements: Election Day.
* C.H.I.C.A.G.O.
* Cubs Fire Team Psychologist Who Didn’t Seem To Do Anything. Transference or projection?
* Chiquita Merges With Irish Firm.
* Jenner & Block Profits Plunge.
* DePaul Basketball Attendance Finishes Below 2,000 Per Game. TIF to pay students to attend?
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TweetWood


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Brand new bag job.

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Posted on March 18, 2014