Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“The Emanuel administration is willing to meet at least one demand of sleepless residents affected by changes in jet noise patterns at O’Hare International Airport by installing more noise monitors in Chicago and several suburbs, officials are expected to announce Tuesday,” the Tribune reports.
“The locations of eight new noise monitors have not yet been selected, but they will be deployed ‘as soon as possible’ to collect data on existing and future flight paths near the airport, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.
“Of the 32 permanent monitors in service, only two are in Chicago, officials said.
“‘We need to better understand the impact,’ Emanuel said in a written statement Monday to the Tribune.”
Did he write his statement with an ink-dipped quill and then send it over via courier, where it was unrolled outside the Tower and read by a town crier?


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“The mayor refused to be interviewed about the record number of jet noise complaints the city has received in his tenure, or the new noise monitors, so we couldn’t ask him an entire set of interesting questions, including about the revelation that the FAA faked the data in fake public hearings held before new flight paths began operating.”
Why not just say that?
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“When asked Monday about the status of holding City Council hearings that [two aldermen] requested in January, [Emanuel’s floor leader, Ald. Pat] O’Connor, vice chairman of the council’s Aviation Committee, responded: ‘We are still trying to find a long-term solution as well as short-term measures that would ease some of the burdens from the frequency of the airplanes and the noise.'”
That’s great. Now how about answering the question?
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We need to better understand the impact and try to find a long-term solution as well as short-term measures, but the last place we want to do that is in the city council!
Bruce Rutherford
“Republican governor candidate Bruce Rauner on Monday opened the door to a potential income-tax hike, an acknowledgment that the tax rate he would inherit if elected cannot financially support a cash-strapped state government in the short term,” the Tribune reports.
Look, either Rauner has a secret plan for the budget – like eliminate everything but the National Guard and the tourism bureau – or he’s making it up as he goes. I tend toward the latter, but what’s odd is how much more prepared he presumably is when he’s about to take over a company. So I reserve the former as a possibility, given that he’d strategically like to remain as vague as possible about his plans to hurt people if elected.
But to me, the real gem is at the bottom of this article:

Rauner’s remarks to reporters came after a rally featuring dozens of college-age students carrying signs supporting the first-time GOP candidate’s push for an eight-year limit on legislative service. Rauner formed the Committee for Legislative Reform and Term Limits, which has sought to place the initiative on the fall ballot. Last month, Cook County Judge Mary Mikva ruled the proposal “appears to be outside what is permissible” under the state constitution.
Last week, the Illinois Supreme Court denied a direct appeal of Mikva’s ruling and said it must go through the normal appellate court process. On Monday, the 1st District Appellate Court agreed to expedite consideration of the case, which had been brought by a lawyer with longtime ties to Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Rauner had sought an expedited appellate ruling so an ultimate appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court could be completed by an Aug. 22 deadline for certifying the ballot.
Asked by reporters if he had read the ruling by Mikva, who is a woman, Rauner replied: “I can’t really comment on his wording. I haven’t seen it. We believe very strongly that term limits should come to the voters, let them decide.”

He hasn’t read the ruling?! He launched the initiative, funded a PAC to push it, and uses it to beat Pat Quinn over the head but hasn’t read the ruling?
He may be rich, but he’s unserious.
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The Weekend In Pitchfork
They played at a Union Park near you.
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BeachBook
* Is The White House Lying Or Just Bad At Crisis Communications?
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TweetWood


And now Luis Gutierrez is co-chairing his re-election campaign.
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This White House has perfected every politically cynical act it decries – starting at the top.
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That’s okay, he’ll send out a statement.
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We’ve been saying it for years; you’re getting a distorted view that’s perverting public policy. Even this headline is backwards.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: An anti-distortion field.

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Posted on July 22, 2014