By The Weekend Desk B Team
Natasha Julius has been pulled from duty this weekend and sent to a more intimate setting in the woods out East.
One Ping Only
“To assure NATO summit security, the U.S. Coast Guard is taking steps to shut down all boat traffic on much of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan near downtown Chicago between May 16 and May 24,” Crain’s reports.
“This latest directive goes far beyond a statement by the Secret Service last month that boats would not be allowed to dock at Burnham Harbor, which is adjacent to McCormick Place where the summit will be held on May 20 and 21.”
Did Al-Qaeda get a boat or something?
“According to a notice in the Federal Register this week, the Coast Guard wants to keep all boats – and people – more than a mile away from waters surrounding Burnham Harbor and the nearby shoreline of Lake Michigan.”
Huh. Lori Healey just said “We want people downtown.” Isn’t that by the water?
“The Coast Guard also wants to shut down traffic on a four-mile stretch of the Chicago River, from the Chicago Tribune Wharf to the Loomis Street coal storage terminal slip. The river would also be shut down from the point where the north and south branches connect to the Chicago Controlling Works Lock at the mouth of the Chicago River near Navy Pier.
“Another circular area of Lake Michigan within a 2,000-yard radius of the Chicago Lock would be off limits to boat traffic.”
Yup.
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“Healey says she expects 99 percent of protesters to follow the rules set out by their city permits. She said the unofficial goal is to have fewer arrests than the 150 in Pittsburgh when that city essentially shut down for the 2008 G8 summit.
“Pittsburgh shut down the city, boarded up buildings and created a war zone atmosphere,” said Gary Schenkel, director of the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications.”
Hey, tell it to Rahm.
Family Guy
“Sneed hears former Mayor Richard Daley is taking no chances on his nephew losing an election.
“To wit: Sneed hears Daley is putting on the full court press to ensure the election of the NEXT Daley generation – specifically, Patrick D. (Daley) Thompson, his nephew – and son of his sister, Patricia Martino.
“Polls are showing Thompson’s bid for Metropolitan Water Reclamation commissioner is not in the bag.”
Polls?! For the sewage board?
“In an effort to ensure the continuation of the Daley legacy in Chicago, a huge ‘Patrick D. Thompson’ billboard has been erected next to the Kennedy Expressway.”
Oh. My. God. So it’s gonna be this Patrick not that Patrick who inherits the Fifth Floor when Rahm leaves. (He’ll get elected by pledging reform and spend the first six months of his tenure explaining to us how he inherited a mess and how we have to change the way city government does business.)
Uncle Richie is enlisting the help of old war horses like former state legislator Bobby Molaro.
From Wikipedia, citing local news reports:
Illinois lawmakers’ benefits are based on 85 percent of their final pay on the last day of service. On Dec. 4, 2008, Illinois State Representative Molaro resigned from the state legislature after serving about 15 years in the House and the Senate, making him eligible to receive a public pension of about $64,000 based on his roughly $75,000 salary. One month later, Molaro nearly doubled his pension by spending one month as an aide to Chicago Alderman Edward M. Burke. Burke paid Molaro $12,000 to write a 19-page white paper about Chicago’s ailing pension funds. That paycheck sent his pension soaring. When Molaro officially retired on Jan. 1, 2009, his pensionable salary was calculated at $144,000 – the amount he would have earned had he worked for Burke for a full year.
So associating with all the right people.
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“Thompson, a lawyer, was spotted in deep conversation with popular gay rights activist Rick Garcia Tuesday morning, which, Sneed is told, was organized by his uncle.”
Hey, his uncle just opens the doors. Pat has to walk through them!
“It doesn’t hurt that Uncle Richie is this/close to current Water Reclamation commissioner Frank Avila,” Sneed avers.
“It doesn’t hurt that Thompson, who now lives in the Daley’s legendary Bridgeport bungalow, is a very likeable fellow and hockey enthusiast who plays on a team that includes U.S. Congressman Mike Quigley, a former Cook County commissioner.”
And it doesn’t hurt that Thompson has a history of dealing with sludge.
“He moved from the firm of Ungaretti & Harris to DLA Piper to Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella,” the Sun-Times reported in a profile last November. “He represents clients before various city boards; helped with the sale of more than $400 million in general obligation bonds for the water reclamation district; and is registered as a lobbyist with the city for six companies.”
Billy’s Buds
“Some of Bill Daley’s closest friends gathered at the Racquet Club of Chicago the other day for a ‘welcome home’ party,” Shia Kapos reports for Crain’s.
“I hear there was plenty of laughter, cocktails and food – steak, whitefish or pasta – for the guys-only event.”
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That link is mine, not Shia’s. But hey, maybe no women are among Billy’s top 40 friends.
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Among those who did make the cut: Michael Ferro, the new owner of the Sun-Times. So, you know, there’s that.
Reader Redux
Media maven Jim Romenesko talks to Reader editor Mara Shalhoup about why their redesigned website looks just like New York magazine’s website.
I don’t like the new Reader design in part because there’s nothing about it that gives the Reader an identity. Call it branding, if you must. What is the Reader anymore? It certainly isn’t New York magazine, nor should it be. So it just looks like generic stuff out of a box to me. More suited to Time Out Chicago.
“It used to be scrappy,” a design friend tells me. “Now they’re trying for slick.”
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“I also suspect we’ll see a lot more photo booth head shots supplanting awkward journalist mugs. I’m betting we were the first to come up with that one,” Shalhoup tells Romenesko.
Um, not exactly.
“Metromix did photo booth mugs back in the nineties!” my friend says.
And that just about says it all.
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The Weekend Desk Tip Line: Ducky.
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The Sound Opinions Weekend Report: “Remember Davy Jones and tune in for Jim and Greg’s look at the musical and marketing phenomenon that was The Monkees. Later they review the new album by Andrew Bird, and Kid Cudi’s foray into rock with WZRD.”
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The CAN TV Weekend Report: CAN TV brings you local, relevant issues from Chicago’s neighborhoods and communities. See what’s happening around the city in education, the arts, government, cultural events, social services and community activities.
Perspectivas Latinas: Enlace Chicago
Katya Nuques of Enlace Chicago describes how it fosters a physically safe and healthy environment in the Little Village Community through education and economic development.
Saturday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m. on CAN TV21
30 min
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Teaching Artists and the Future of Education
Nick Rabkin of the Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago explains a new national study on the educational impact of engaging artists as teachers in public schools.
Saturday, March 10 at 8 p.m. on CAN TV21
2 hr 30 min
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Winning the Testing Battle: Overhauling ESEA/NCLB
Associate Professor David Stovall of the University of Illinois-Chicago joins Monty Neill, executive director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, to discuss testing policies and strategies for improving elementary and secondary education.
Sunday, March 11 at 9 a.m. on CAN TV21
2 hr
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Rick Braun Sings with Strings
Jazz trumpeter Rick Braun performs with the Lincoln Park High School Symphony Orchestra.
Sunday, March 11 at 11 a.m. on CAN TV21
2 hr 30 min
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6th Ward Forum for State Legislators and Ward Committeemen
Officials from different levels of government share their visions for the 6th Ward and take questions from residents and representatives of local community organizations.
Sunday, March 11 at 1:30 p.m. on CAN TV21
3 hr
Posted on March 10, 2012