By Steve Rhodes
For completists, there was no column on Wednesday.
1. Tony Rezko’s Son Trying To “Wedge” Hotel Onto River North Site.
Proposal calls for a 25-story tower across from The Montgomery.
Posted on September 19, 2019
The [Tuesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“High water levels on Lake Michigan this summer have been freaking people out,” WBEZ reports. “They’ve battered the Chicago shoreline, submerged walking paths and swallowed up whole beaches around the lake. They also inspired one anonymous Curious Citizen to ask: How will climate change affect Lake Michigan water levels?”
Good question – and one the media failed to answer (or even ask) in August when they noticed the Lake Michigan shoreline is shrinking.
Posted on September 17, 2019
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
Spot the groupthink narrative:
* The Athletic: Eddy Pineiro’s Emotional Game-Winner Serves As Early Validation For Their Kicking Competition.
* Adam Hoge, WGN Radio: Bears Get An Ugly, Yet Validating Win For Matt Nagy.
“Consider it another validating moment for Nagy, whose kicker competition tactics in the offseason were often questioned and criticized. Sunday, the winner of that competition saved the game, and maybe the Bears’ season.”
* Bears radio announcer Jeff Joniak: “The Bears’ kicking contest was mocked, but they got the right guy.”
Posted on September 16, 2019
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
For completists, there was no column on Tuesday, because it was Day 2 of Doing Taxes. Today is Day 3.
Posted on September 11, 2019
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
Working on (hopefully finishing) my taxes today (for various reasons, I do them in the fall, not spring), then I’ve got (another) dentist appointment. Greatest day ever!
[Embed “Today” here. No, don’t. I can’t stand that guy, and all in his ice cream truck driver uniform. But it is one of the few Smashing Pumpkins songs I like, and I always thought that note he hits first at 1:27 and many times after that was an emblematic sound of the alternative music of the day, a siren call . . . though not as great as the siren call of the Replacements. Plus, the Pumpkins were phony fake posers.]
Posted on September 9, 2019
The Weekend Desk Report
The [Thursday] Papers
The [Wednesday] Papers
The [Tuesday] Papers
The [Thursday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
Paper: What’s an interview question you never want to be asked again?
Julien of the Chicago band Whitney: “Tell me about the name Whitney . . . Are you fans of Whitney Houston?” Of course we are! On the flip side one of our favorite interviews ever was with this guy named Russell Dean Stone. He took an old Whitney Houston Rolling Stone interview from 1993 and asked us the same exact questions the journalist asked her. Obviously a lot of the questions were completely unrelated to us but it was a fun challenge to try to answer them anyway.
Posted on August 29, 2019