Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Friday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

1. Lead of the Day.
“For restaurants opening in downtown Chicago, 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly is the maitre d’ showing them to their business license. For bars, he is the bouncer, showing them to the curb,” Steven Dahlman writes at his Marina City Online.
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From the article:
“Since January 1, 2012, 453 retail food establishment licenses were issued in the 42nd Ward. During that time, only 12 tavern licenses were issued and Reilly arguably thinks that is 12 too many.
“‘I haven’t approved a tavern liquor license or given a letter of support for one for several years,’ he said on Tuesday. ‘We want to see restaurant licenses issued. They do provide good, well-paying jobs and they provide a benefit and amenity for the neighbors. What we don’t need are more taverns that cater to the suburban 20-year-olds that use our neighborhood like a toilet bowl.'”


2. The Defender’s Year.
“The history of the iconic Chicago Defender newspaper is displayed in an extensive new exhibition at Chicago Public Library,” N’DIGO notes in its e-mail newsletter.
“‘Journey to Empowerment’ reveals the Defender’s 110-year history as a pioneering and premier hub of African American journalism and communications. ‘Journey to Empowerment’ is currently on display in the Special Collection Exhibit Hall, 9th Floor, at the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St. ‘Journey to Empowerment’ was curated by Candace Hunter, Chicago Defender’s arts and culture reporter. The exhibit runs through June 28, 2015, and can be seen daily during regular library hours.
“The exhibition includes photographs, original art renderings and historical front pages which are perfect for students, history buffs, journalists and anyone interested in learning about the Chicago Defender.
“Some of the unique historical references spotlighted in this exhibit include the newspaper’s founder Robert Sengstacke Abbott, the Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic, Emmett Till, and the elections of Mayor Harold Washington and President Barack Obama.
“Visitors are also encouraged to check out the Chicago Defender archive on the Library’s website – articles, editorials and advertisements are all searchable (1910-1975 and 1999+).”
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Better yet: Ethan Michaeli’s book about the Defender is coming …
3. This guy has my hair – and no one should tell him to get it cut.
4. Richard M. Daley Unable To Utter More Than A Few Words, Has Someone Send E-Mail To Shia Kapos.
5. Esteemed Sports Economist vs. Highly Paid Mediocre Sports Columnist.
6. Rahm’s “Bs” Are B.S.
“Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to give ‘B’ students free scholarships to attend City Colleges of Chicago is a campaign promise he repeatedly cites in re-election talking points,” the Sun-Times reports.
“While it’s widely viewed as a free tuition program for those students, a look at the fine print shows it won’t be a cakewalk for graduating Chicago public school seniors.
“An additional testing score required to win the Star Scholarship would rule out more than half of the pool of Chicago Public Schools students who graduated last year with a B average, a Chicago Sun-Times review of the numbers shows.”
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Is anything this guy says true? Why hasn’t that been a campaign issue?
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“Emanuel has touted the scholarship to the two-year colleges as a way for deserving students who otherwise can’t afford college to eventually move on to earn a bachelor’s degrees.
“But there are skeptics, including those who say the qualifications are such that minority students who meet them would likely attend a four-year school anyway.”
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And:
“[A] recent study by the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research raised questions about the long-term effects of steering CPS students to a two-year college. The study shows only 7 percent of CPS students who enroll in a two-year college end up with a degree.
“‘UChicago CCSR research shows that students with the same qualifications upon leaving high school are much more likely to graduate if they attend a college with a high institutional graduation rate,’ the report states. ‘When students attend a college where less than a quarter of all students graduate, chances are they will not graduate either – even if they have strong qualifications.'”
7. Public Relations vs. Journalism.
“Sneed is told that Michael Sacks, the Rahmster’s best buddy, dispatched an e-mail Tuesday to all his friends urging them to ring doorbells in the toniest addresses on the Gold Coast to get out the vote for Mayor Rahm Emanuel.”
vs.
“Heading into the final days of campaigning for re-election, incumbent Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has faced intensifying criticism for being too close to the city’s financial elite. Precisely how close, though, remains a matter of conjecture – and most likely will remain so until after the Tuesday runoff vote. That’s because Emanuel’s administration has for weeks blocked the release of correspondence between his administration and one of the Democratic mayor’s top donors, Michael Sacks. The administration has also refused to release details about tens of millions of dollars in shadowy no-bid city payments to some of Emanuel’s largest campaign contributors.”
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I wonder if it would be awkward for Sun-Times reporters to follow up on this given that Sacks sits on their company’s board of directors.
But I digress.
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“Sacks did not respond to an International Business Times request for him to personally release the e-mails. Emanuel’s office declined IBTimes’ request for comment about why the city blocked the release of the records. Emanuel had publicly promised ‘to have the most open, accountable and transparent government that the City of Chicago has ever seen.'”
That’s such a low bar to meet, and yet …
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“The CEO of the Chicago private equity firm Grosvenor, Sacks has been described as Emanuel’s closest ally in the private sector, and has been called Emanuel’s ‘go-to guy‘ and his ‘top troubleshooter.’ He and his wife have donated over $1.6 million to Emanuel’s campaign and affiliated PACs and, according to the Chicago Tribune, he has lavished the mayor with gifts.
“When Emanuel won election in 2011, he promptly appointed Sacks to serve as vice chairman of World Business Chicago, a quasi-public agency that oversees the city’s outreach to the business community. Sacks later took a lead role in negotiating the city’s controversial contract with the private firm that operates Chicago’s parking meters. Sacks’ firm also has financial ties to one of Chicago’s largest pension funds through a so-called fund of funds, and the firm does business with the Illinois Teachers Retirement System.
“Illinois’ open records law mandates that communications to and from public officials like Emanuel be made available for public inspection. But as Emanuel’s runoff campaign headed into its final days – with the mayor owning a big lead over his rival, Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia – the mayor’s administration denied IBTimes’ March 6 open records request for all emails between Sacks, the mayor and the mayor’s chief of staff.”
Maybe that’s because in Rahm’s unique legal intepretation, e-mails are phone calls – and we don’t get to listen in.
See also: Emanuel Denies Public Records Requests; Much Of What Mayor Does Remains Secret.
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“Pressed by a reporter about that decision a week before the election, the administration abruptly changed its response, saying it will now consider providing the records after a redaction process.”
Which will take at least until the day after the election, coincidentally.
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“The city has disclosed only that there are more than 1,500 messages between Emanuel, his chief of staff and the Grosvenor CEO.”
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Beachwood Sports Radio: The Kris Bryant Pundit Trap
If what the geniuses who make up our sports commentariat are saying is right, then Theo Epstein is lying to their faces – and they’re letting him get away with it.
Plus: The Easier, Cheaper, Better White Sox; Deja Derrick Rose; Patrick Kane Is Derrick Rose In An Alternate Universe; Sports Economics For Dummies; We Thank Roberto Garza For His Service; Go Sparty! Fuck ‘Em Bucky!; and Chicago Fire Averaging A Goal A Week!
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Beachwood Photo Booth: J Date
Expert direction.
TrackNotes: Dubai Diary
“As Bugsy asked, “Did you think I wouldn’t see that? Do you think I wouldn’t notice?”
The Trews: Am I Mad Enough To Crash A Plane Into A Mountain?
How media narratives fail to explain human behavior.
The Week In Chicago Rock
Featuring: The Mob, Jesse Thomas, When Night Falls, Incognito, and Esta.
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TweetWood
A sampling.


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The Beachwood Tip Line: What color is it?

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Posted on April 3, 2015