By Steve Rhodes
“More than 40 people have applied to become Chicago’s next top cop, officials said Tuesday,” the Sun-Times reports.
“The Chicago Police Board will interview the candidates for Chicago police superintendent and present three finalists to Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel, who takes office May 16.”
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And then Emanuel will choose the candidate he wanted all along, even if he or she is not among the police board’s finalists, just like Richard M. Daley did before him. And that’s how we got Jody Weis.
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Chicago Police Board, you are Today’s Biggest Joke in Chicago.
Hooked on Hookahs
Right on schedule, the annual hookah lounge story.
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Tribune, June 24, 2003: “Despite notorious links to the drug culture, the hookah is enjoying a whiff of mainstream popularity as college students flock to new cafes, where it’s become trendy to spend the evening puffing on the exotic water pipes.”
Tribune, March 13, 2005: “The hookah craze is picking up steam again.”
Tribune, May 12, 2005: “In case you haven’t noticed, hookah joints are opening all around town, bars where patrons can puff flavored tobacco from hookahs–bubble pipes that might remind some people of a similar device from their college days.
“The hookah – once limited to Turkish restaurants and coffeehouses in certain Chicago ethnic neighborhoods–has become the thing to do for the 18-25 hipster crowd. It’s also becoming trendy enough that weekly hookah gatherings Thursdays at the W Hotel on Lake Shore Drive have been picking up steam with the Gold Coast business set.”
Sun-Times, July 22, 2005: “On any given evening, the air is thick with fruit-flavored tobacco smoke like apple and strawberry permeating the darkly lit hookah restaurants and lounges around town. At some water pipe havens, you’ll even find a bevy of belly dancers mesmerizing the smokers reclined on comfy couches, often amid heavy drapery and lush in deep red hues.
“Today, the vintage water pipe has been reborn with a new generation of fans – 20- and 30-somethings who are lighting up the entertainment landscapes at hookah havens ranging from Guess Hookah , a tobacco shop and lounge on the Near West Side, to the Tizi Melloul Mediterranean Restaurant and Lounge in River North and the exotic Samah restaurant in Lakeview.”
Tribune, September 1, 2006: “On a recent Friday night it happened again. Dozens of Chicagoans gathered in a new North Side cafe (this one called Ugly Hookah) to celebrate the grand opening of yet another spot where customers can freely eat, drink and smoke in every corner of the room . . . The popularity of hookahs with this underserved demographic is apparent on weekend evenings, when such places are almost universally jammed with young patrons.”
Sun-Times, November 8, 2006: “While Chicago’s been working to rid its restaurants of smoke, two neighborhood smoking lounges have found a successful, and perfectly legal, niche in hookah .
“Flavorful tobacco, comfy couches and easy atmosphere are hookah ‘s appeal in Wicker Park and East Village – and being part of the growing scene takes a little planning.”
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And so on.
And that doesn’t even count the dozen or so stories from RedEye or those related to anti-smoking legislation or the health effects of hookahs.
The Boss’s Script
“The CEO of Gurnee-based BrightStar Care will be featured on Sunday’s episode of Undercover Boss, a reality TV show at 8 p.m. on CBS,” the Sun-Times reports.
Here’s my prediction: She’ll be really bad at frontline jobs that she didn’t know even know existed in her own company; she’ll see some bad behavior that she’ll demand be fixed because that’s not how her company operates; she’ll be touched by how hard some of her employees work and give some them a relative pittance to help them out of their difficult circumstances; she’ll charm her employees in the end when they see a video of how clueless she is.
Blackhawks Bad Bet
“Las Vegas oddsmakers: Canucks have highest odds of winning championship.”
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“Vancouver (54-19-9) closed out the season with back-to-back wins despite having first place locked up,” Sportsbooks Odds reports. “The Canucks have a fair amount of momentum heading into the postseason, as they’ve won seven of their past 10 games. As a result, they have 3/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup.”
Besides From Heaven, That Is
“Where Does My Beer Come From? And Why Is Illinois Re-Examining The Process?”
Partners In Reform
Emanuel Seeks Donations up to $50K for Inaugural.
Really?
Is this necessary?
Can’t Satan just swear him in and be done with it?
Fifth Column
Illinois Legislators Hate Freedom.
Kiting Waukegan
On a beautiful day.
When The Real Thin Lizzy Played Chicago
Bootleg audio from their 1976 and 1977 shows here.
Sisters of Chrome
Those hot chicks are really just “auto product specialists.”
* The Channel 5 version.
* The Channel 7 version.
Here Comes Willie Bloomquist
And Starlin and Paulie.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Smokin’.
Posted on April 13, 2011