Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Monday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“Folks in Bridgeport have been looking to the skies in recent weeks, wondering why they are suddenly hearing hundreds of planes some days headed into Midway Airport about 7 miles away,” the Sun-Times reports.

“In 30 years, I’ve not heard noise like we are hearing now,” said Kathy Krugler, 64, of Bridgeport. “It’s unbelievable.”

“Turns out, since Feb. 6, a new flight path into Midway’s Runway 22L has been sending a barrage of planes over a new swath of South Side and Southwest Side neighborhoods.”
So it’s not just the North Side suffering from new noise patterns.
It’s the sort of thing you think Daley wouldn’t have allowed but that Rahm probably isn’t even aware of.


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“That includes portions of the Bridgeport, Armour Square and Douglas neighborhoods and perhaps parts of McKinley Park, according to estimates pieced together by the Chicago Sun-Times from Federal Aviation Administration maps.
“Of all the wards, the 11th – home to once clout-heavy Bridgeport – has the largest land mass affected by the flight changes, maps indicate.”
There’s never an egg timer around when you need one.
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Like with most everything in the Rahm administration, residents were given no advance warning, much less a semblance of a say in the changes. At least Daley could anticipate trouble spots and co-opt potential opposition (or simply buy silence).
“A spokeswoman at the Chicago Department of Aviation was unable to answer questions last week about Midway. But Krugler and Weyer say they didn’t know about the changes until they were hit in the face with them. That’s becoming a familiar pattern, said Jac Charlier of the Fair Allocation in Runways Coalition, which is pushing for more even usage of O’Hare runways.
“Some Northwest Side and suburban residents were taken by surprise by two O’Hare flight pattern changes since October of 2013, Charlier said.”
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“Following I-55 and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, the route flies over fewer residences and a smaller area, saving fuel and time for airlines and travelers, [FAA spokesman Tony] Molinaro said. New flight technology made it possible, he said.”
That might very well be true – and just by looking at the map the change seems to make sense – but I don’t understand it. How does “new technology” allow for the new route? Old technology couldn’t follow I-55 and the sanitary canal?
(Molinaro’s e-mail account was apparently unavailable for questions.)
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“Ald. James Balcer (11th) said he couldn’t remember if he was invited to the public meetings about the Runway 22L flight path changes.”
Maybe he couldn’t hear the phone ring when the FAA tried to notify him.
But if there were public meetings, why was anyone surprised?
Also, if Balcer can’t remember if he was invited to the public meetings, that means he surely didn’t attend the public meetings.
Maybe he was too busy at the heliport meetings.
Watch your flank, alderman.
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The Beachwood Radio Hour: Rahm On The Ropes!
Now with Show Notes.
Beachwood International with The Angry Aussie
The Hippest Trip Around The Globe.
SportsMonday: Johnny Hockey
Can anyone tell me, specifically, what it is that Jonathan Toews does so well?
The White Sox Report: Escalators & Troughs
Some choices are easier than others.
The Cub Factor
Will appear on Tuesday.
The Weekend In Chicago Rock
Featuring: Electric Citizen, Slint, Powerman 5000, Television, Reignwolf, Flamin’ Groovies, OFF!, Gladys Knight, Within the Hollow, Timber Timbre, Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra, Pretentious Moi, Adventures, Seahaven, Foxing, and Dance Gavin Dance.
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BeachBook
* O.J. Simpson Media Grateful For Double-Murder.
* Illinois School District Quits National School Lunch Program.
* Under Emanuel, Principals Have No Voice.
Join the club.
* Chicago Heights Is The Fastest-Growing Town In Illinois.
* Responses To ‘Under Emanuel, Principals Have No Voice.’
Proposed title for Rahm’s biography: No One Left To Alienate.
* Former NSA Director: ‘We Kill People Based On Metadata.’
* Muralist’s Last Surviving Painting Destroyed In South Shore.
* EEOC Sues AutoZone Again.
AutoZone, Inc. violated federal law when it implemented a nationwide attendance policy that failed to accommodate certain disability-related absences, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in its fourth disability lawsuit in recent years against the giant auto parts retailer.
According to the EEOC’s complaint, from 2009 till at least 2011, AutoZone assessed employees nationwide “points” for absences, without permitting any general exception for disability-related absences. Twelve points resulted in an employee’s termination.
As a result, qualified employees with disabilities with even modest numbers of disability-related absences were fired, the complaint alleges. This included, for example, an Ottawa, Ill. employee with Type 2 diabetes who had to leave work early occasionally because of insulin reactions and who was fired because of the resulting attendance points.
* Hydrox Cookies Making A Comeback.
Leaf Brands will make the official announcement later this month at the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago on May 20.
* Blogger Wins Bikini Battle.
Brooke Birmingham, a 28-year-old blogger from Illinois in Chicago set the Internet alight last week when she claimed that her bikini-clad ‘after’ shot following her 77 kilogram weight loss was rejected from Shape magazine for their ‘success stories’ section on their website.
* Can’t We All Agree That Criminal Defendants Should Have The Chance To See Secret Evidence?
In the 36-year existence of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the government has never disclosed classified FISA materials – the specific applications for surveillance and the factual affidavits that support the surveillance request – to a criminal defendant.
That all changed in January 2014 when a federal judge in Chicago ordered the government to turn over surveillance applications and affidavits to the attorneys representing Adel Daoud, a 19 year-old accused of attempting to blow up a bar in Chicago.
As the government appeals that decision to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, we’ve signed onto an amicus brief written by the ACLU and the ACLU of Illinois filed today that explains why Judge Sharon Coleman was right to order disclosure.
* Lawfully Present, Lawfully Excluded: DACA & Obamacare.
* Telecom Giants Paid Millions To ‘Honor’ Minority Lawmakers Before Merger.
* Summertime With WGN.
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TweetWood


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The Beachwood Tip Line: We’ll kill for your metatips.

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Posted on May 12, 2014