By The Beachwood Awards Bureau
Inspired unknowingly by Mick Dumke, conceived by Steve Rhodes, shaped by Jay Stewart, supervised and edited by Suzanne McBride, reported by Erica Christoffer and Becky Schlikerman, and awarded by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Congratulations to everyone who helped put together “Out of Order: City Council Committees Evade The Law” and “Off The Record: City Council Committees Evade The Law.”
McBride, Christoffer and Schlikerman were just in Indianapolis accepting the award from SPJ for producing the nation’s best independent media online investigation of 2008.

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Posted on August 31, 2009

MEDIA ADVISORY
For more information contact:
Sean Howard @ 708-935-1483
For Immediate Release
COOK COUNTY BOARD PRESIDENT TODD H. STROGER INJURES RIGHT EYE DURING PICK UP BASKETBALL GAME AT CHICAGO’S EAST BANK CLUB
PRESIDENT TREATED BY STROGER HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM DOCTOR AND NURSES
PRESIDENT STROGER RELEASED AFTER RECEIVING EIGHT STITCHES ABOVE RIGHT EYE, THEN CONTINUES MEETING SCHEDULE THROUGHOUT THE EVENING
Todd H. Stroger- President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners- received eight stitches above his right eye after being injured during a pickup basketball game at Chicago’s East Bank Club on yesterday (8/26/09). The President was playing on the court with a group when he injured the eye by accidental contact. The President noticed swelling above his right eye and immediately exited the facility. He then requested his driver to transport him to John H. Stroger Cook County Hospital.

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Posted on August 28, 2009

By The Beachwood Procurement Affairs Desk
Found at BidContract.com: A Sample List of Government Contracts and Government Bids in Illinois
1. Sealed Bid – Cosmetology Supplies for Truman College.
2. The construction of the proposed Parking Lot Improvements.
3. Various Copy Papers.
4. Refuse Packer Truck.
5. Safe Driver Renewal Sticker/Safety Citation form.

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Posted on August 27, 2009

By Steve Rhodes
The Democrats fight amongst themselves while blaming everyone else. Edited for clarity and sanity.
August 18: From Dennis Kucinich:
HEALTH CARE WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
The masquerade is over! The “public option” is . . . dead.
Health care reform is now a private option: WHICH FOR PROFIT INSURANCE COMPANY DO YOU WANT? You have to choose. And you have to pay. If you have a low income, under HR3200 government will subsidize the private insurance companies and you will still have to pay premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
The Administration plan requires that everyone must have health insurance, so it is delivering tens of millions of new “customers” to the insurance companies. Health care? Not really. Insurance care! Absolutely. Cost controls? No chance.
You will next hear talk about “co-ops.” The truth is that insurance company campaign contributions have co-opted the public interest.

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Posted on August 25, 2009

By Christopher Flavelle/Courtesy of ProPublica
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act celebrated its six-month anniversary this week, and supporters and detractors alike lined up to offer their verdicts. “The Recovery Act is already paying dividends for workers, families, and small businesses,” said Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “By any objective standard, the Democrats’ trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ isn’t working,” countered House Republican Leader John Boehner.
Well, which is it – resounding success or colossal failure? It’s too soon to tell, of course. Unemployment could keep falling, or climb again. Growth, if it comes, could be tepid. And as more money starts to flow in the fall and spring, inflation could spike – or not. Moreover, we’ll never know for sure what would have happened without the stimulus – or with a different mix of spending and tax cuts.
But there is much we do know. ProPublica looks back at six months of stimulus coverage and finds a mixed record on three key aspects of the package: how wisely the money has been spent; how many jobs have been created (and whether we’ll ever know for certain); and how well the government has met its own pledge of transparency.

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Posted on August 21, 2009

By Matt Farmer
Dear Alderman Flores:
I’m not a resident of the First Ward; I live in Alderman Stone’s ward. As a concerned Chicago taxpayer, I’ve done my best to follow the ongoing debate concerning Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics. I watched with interest when you proposed an ordinance capping taxpayer risk at $500 million. I was disheartened to learn that you no longer support such a cap, and I do understand your stated reason for that decision. I do not write today to ask you to revisit that decision. I write to encourage you to seek maximum transparency for all of the Chicago 2016 team’s activities, should our city be awarded the Summer Games.

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Posted on August 17, 2009

By Christopher Flavelle/ProPublica
Back in July, a software company named Smartronix landed an $18 million contract to build a Web site where taxpayers could easily track billions in federal stimulus money. It was just another part of the Obama administration’s ongoing effort to bring transparency to stimulus spending, we were told.
But it seems the drive for transparency doesn’t cover the contract itself.
After weeks of prodding by ProPublica and other organizations, the General Services Administration released copies of the contract and related documents that are so heavily blacked out they are virtually worthless.

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Posted on August 14, 2009

By Clean Power Now and TheClean.org
A WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT’S GUIDE TO CAPE WIND/MARTHA’S VINEYARD
In addition to being the site of President Obama’s August 2009 vacation, Martha’s Vineyard is in the immediate vicinity of Cape Wind, which would be the United States’ first offshore wind park. The project involves 130 wind turbine towers in Horseshoe Shoals, a shallow area in the federal waters of Nantucket Sound, and would produce enough clean power for 75 percent of the Cape & Islands energy needs.
If you are doing stories about what is going on where the First Family will be taking its summer break, Cape Wind should be at the top of your list of things to cover. This “White House Correspondent’s Guide to Cape Wind” from Clean Power Now and TheClean.org sets out all of the background you will need to tell your story. In addition, we can supply you with (1) expert interviews on site in the Cape & Islands, (2) local community perspective on Cape Wind, (3) a tour of the Cape Wind site and (4) related cover video/simulations.

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Posted on August 13, 2009

By Marcus Stern and Jake Bernstein/ProPublica
To supporters, the “cash for clunkers” program miraculously jolted the moribund car market back to life, engendering hopes that it might help revive the broader U.S. economy.
Skeptics saw it differently: The automotive industry had hijacked an environmental bill and turned it into a bailout for itself with the help of the Obama administration and a Congress besotted with wishful thinking and a hair-trigger for stimulus spending.
Both views may turn out to be correct. But one thing is certain. The sight of car buyers back in showrooms these past two weeks has raised hopes that U.S. consumers are ready, primed by government stimulus, to spend again. Those hopes gained momentum by the release Friday of employment data showing a reduced pace of job losses in the overall economy.

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Posted on August 11, 2009

By Erica Christoffer
Carrotmob is a nationwide consumer activism group with local chapters that reward independently-owned businesses committed to making energy-efficient upgrades.
To help make those improvements a reality, Carrotmob stages what they call “reverse boycotts.” In one-day events, Carrotmob participants descend on a business of choice to purchase stuff. Although there is no contract, the business verbally commits to dedicating a portion of the money made during the “mobbing” toward energy upgrades.
Carrotmob Chicago is scheduled to descend on the Fox & Obel Market at 401 E. Illinois, near Navy Pier, this Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. The store has committed to set aside 50 percent of the business the mob brings in for efficiency upgrades. The Greater Chicago Food Depository will also be accepting donations from mobbers throughout the afternoon.
Laura Flanigan, co-vice president of action projects for the Net Impact’s Chicago Professional Chapter, is one of this Carrotmob event’s lead organizers. She answered a few questions about mobbing, consumer activism and what’s going on this Sunday.

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Posted on August 5, 2009