By Steve Rhodes
“A three-month investigation of the CTA found that 41 percent of the handicap-accessible train stations could not be fully used by customers in wheelchairs, calling into question whether the nation’s second-largest mass transit system is doing what it should for hundreds of thousands of disabled Chicagoans,” Kaitlyn McAvoy reports in just one of a nine-story package.
From one of the others:
“Five of the CTA’s 10 busiest train stations cannot accommodate a customer in a wheelchair, and that’s perfectly legal under the nearly 20-year-old Americans with Disabilities Act,” Eli Kaberon reports. “Just four of the 10 elevated stations in and around the Loop – the CTA’s hub that hundreds of thousands of people pass through each day – are equipped with elevators, while the other six Loop stations, including Quincy and Adams & Wabash, two of the city’s 15 busiest stations, are not accessible.
Todd’s Tax Trouble
Actually the part that really caught my eye in this story about Todd Stroger’s unpaid tax bill was this:
“Jeanine Stroger made $56,700 as Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s equal-employment opportunity officer.”
A) So there’s an employment expert in the household after all!
B) And I’m sure she got that job after after competing equally against all others given the opportunity
Tribune’s Tax Trouble
Maybe Todd will run into Sam Zell in tax court.
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While preparing the Trib tax story I came across the Hartford Courant Alumni Association and Refugee Camp.
Funny how it takes getting laid off for some newspaper folk to learn how to blog. If they brought this kind of passion and creativity to their old jobs maybe they’d still have them.
AIG vs. Trib
“Tribune Co. can pay more than $13 million in bonuses to almost 700 employees for their work last year, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled Tuesday,” AP reports.
“But the judge denied authorization for the company to pay more than $2 million in severance to more than 60 employees laid off shortly before the Chicago-based company filed for bankruptcy protection.”
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Now, to be fair, the judge said he was constrained by the law when it came to the severance payments. So here’s an idea: the executives getting the bonuses should show some class and donate $2 million of their $13 million to the laid off workers to make amends.
Then they should give the other $11 million back to the (bankrupt) company.
Softball Sorrow
“With the recession straining budgets and causing widespread layoffs, company softball teams have felt an impact. Some have seen players pony up fees instead of business owners. Some have scratched to fill their rosters. Some have vanished altogether,” the Daily Reflector of Greenville, North Carolina reports.
Zen Arcade
“Any one who has ever been to a lounge, pub or arcade has probably seen or even played the popular video games Golden Tee Golf, Silver Strike Bowling, and Target Toss Pro (Bags and Lawn Darts),” John Brokopp writes.
“What you may not have observed is that all of those titles were created by a Midwest-based company, Incredible Technologies, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago.”
Iowa Express
“A feasibility study by the national passenger rail service Amtrak concluded that service is viable between Chicago and Iowa City via the Quad Cities, and between Chicago and Dubuque. Illinois is moving forward, and the Iowa Legislature last month appropriated $3 million as a state match for a federal grant to pay for needed track upgrades and equipment for the service,” the Des Moines Register writes.
Twitter Flitter
“What Twitter Can Do to Avoid the Next Swine-Flu Panic.”
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The CDC’s emergency Twitter stream.
Today’s Must-Read
The legendary Zodak Yonan.
Ward Works
“The history of the 44th Ward is almost as interesting as the history of Zodak,” John Kass writes in the must-read I just cited. “For years it was run by old John Merlo, affiliated with a Chicago Outfit-backed credit union. Then, Ald. Bernie Hansen took over the ward. Hansen was legendary, too, since he was widely considered to live not in Chicago but Arizona. And Hansen worked for legendary fire insurance adjuster and political influence peddler Larry Warner, who will soon leave federal prison.”
Only in Chicago.
Olympiana
“City Seeks To Cultivate Track Stars.”
Paging Ben Joravsky!
Chicago Blog Review
“When the first two words I see on a blog are ‘publicity news,’ my first inclination is to Abort Mission Internet faster than you can say Missed Connection,” our very own Katie Buitrago writes in her review of The Chicago Blog. “But the University of Chicago Press has the good fortune of trying to sell you stuff that’s pretty damn good.”
Chris Kennedy Who?
Inexplicably, the Merchandise Mart magnate seems to have a name ID problem.
The Sears Tower Is Safe!
Ridiculous prosecution of Liberty 6 finally nets convictions.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Liberate yourself.
Posted on May 13, 2009