Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“A federal judge declared Monday that Chicago can finally be trusted to keep politics out of government hiring, releasing City Hall from a 42-year-old court settlement that was supposed to ban patronage – often with mixed results,” the Tribune reports.
“The end came quickly at a two-hour hearing Monday, after years of failed efforts to end the decree that began with former Mayor Richard J. Daley, whose patronage army prompted the case, and continued through his son, Richard M. Daley, who saw top aides sent to prison for running an illegal hiring scheme. And it provided a timely victory for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was praised for stepping up efforts to end political hiring.”
Sure, Rahm, pull the ladder up behind you.


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Has anyone asked David Axelrod if he thinks the city will suffer as a result of this turnabout?
Beat Up Brucey
Bruce Rauner spent more money on his watch than he did putting together his budget proposal.
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Team Rauner says this was just the executive summary; the rest is still being transcribed from the crayon it was written in on the back of a Denny’s menu.
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That’s the last time he hires Vonnegut.
Chicago In The World
* “Hundreds of people dressed in tie-dye attire took a trip back in time Sunday to an era of free love, flower children and psychedelic music,” the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.
“The sixth annual Hippiefest, held outside the Peabody Auditorium, gave some the chance to relive memories from their youth, while giving younger generations a taste of the counterculture that swept the nation in the 1960s.
“Clad like a rainbow from head to toe, Mitch Mitchell of Chicago said the festival brought back memories of his own experiences during the decade.”
* “Brian Sloan quit his job as a lawyer to start a sex toy business that generates over $1 million a year, and he did it without office space or full-time employees,” Business Insider reports.
“He and his collaborators at Very Intelligent E-Commerce, Inc. have skipped the usual distribution methods, focusing solely on internet sales. The company’s most recent product, a sex toy for men (NSFW), launched as an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. It turned heads and raised over $260,000 – far more than its $45,000 goal – in the process.”
Here’s the money shot:
“I had a few jobs in law school – one was working at the Cook County Murder Taskforce – the public defenders for people charged with murder in Chicago, and the other one was in a kind of fancy boutique firm in Chicago. Doing murder defense was super interesting but not well-compensated. The work I did at the boutique firm was better paid but uninspiring.”
* “An Amtrak passenger who climbed out or fell from a moving train was found in a wooded area of southeast Missouri with a broken leg,” AP reports.
“Iron County Sheriff Roger Medley says the unidentified woman was reported missing Saturday night on the Texas Eagle train from Chicago to San Antonio.”
* “Sports equipment maker Wilson is targeting up to 15 percent jump in annual sales in China, where tennis has grown rapidly on the back of the success of star players like Li Na,” the Shanghai Daily reports.
“Wilson last month opened its first five stringing centers in China, in partnership with Belgium’s Luxilon Industries NV, which provide high-end strings for racquet sports.
“The centers are in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Wuhan, the hometown of Li Na, ranked world No. 2 by the Women’s Tennis Association.
“Chicago-based Wilson also sees the online market as a key distribution platform in China.”
* “Peter Ruhry got what many other drug abusers never get: a second chance,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Mr. Ruhry grew up in Nassau County, in a home without drugs. He started using drugs in April 2007; two years later, in May 2009, he overdosed on heroin, said his mother, Angie Ruhry.
“He was 21 years old, taking summer classes at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania.
“At some point between his home and the hospital, first responders gave Mr. Ruhry a shot of naloxone, a medication that is an antidote to opioids found in heroin and some prescription drugs, his mother said.
“After the overdose, Mr. Ruhry worked on making himself a better person, his mother said. He went to rehab [and] started a new job at an inventory company in Chicago.”
The story, however, doesn’t have a happy ending. Click through to see what Ruhry’s mother is doing about it.
BeachBook
* Pilsen Real Estate Empire Torn Apart By Family Fight.
* L’Oreal Moving Ethnic Products Research Center Out Of Chicago.
* Injured Hair-Hanging Circus Acrobats Hire Chicago Law Firm After Failed Human Chandelier Stunt.
* Why Did NBC Pay Chelsea Clinton $600,000 A Year?
* Chicago Connections On World Cup Roster.
* The Source May Be Anonymous, But The Shame Is All Yours.
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TweetWood


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Magma Laude.

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Posted on June 17, 2014