By Steve Rhodes
“You now have a government owning an operation whose sole purpose is to make people losers,” the Rev. Tom Grey, a longtime gambling opponent, tells the Tribune. “When government accepts the role that it will use an addictive product on its own citizens, it becomes a predator.”
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“Speculation has been swirling about potential locations, ranging from such Loop sites as the struggling Block 37 mall and the Congress Plaza Hotel to prominent properties such as the old main post office, riverfront property near the Merchandise Mart, the former Michael Reese hospital acreage, the U.S. Steel South Works site and a 62-acre parcel at Roosevelt Road and Clark Street.
“The underused East Building at McCormick Place has resurfaced as well, but as a potential temporary site while a permanent casino was under construction.
“A temporary casino could be up and running there in three to six months, said Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd.
“Convention officials have bristled at the idea of a permanent casino at the convention center, saying trade shows do not want a distraction so close.”
Indeed. From my October 2004 article on McCormick Place for Chicago magazine:
“The specter of Las Vegas (and, for that matter, theme-parked Orlando) looms so large that the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau uses the slogan ‘Attractions Not Distractions’ on its marketing literature. (As lame as that sounds, [the] Supercomm [tech show] rejected Las Vegas in part because the atmosphere wasn’t sufficiently businesslike.)”
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See also: New potential locations added to Welcome To The New Chicago Casino!.
Dead Man Parking
Chicago Issues Parking Tickets To Dead Man.
A) Dead Man to contest through mail.
B) Dead Man to contest after voting.
C) Area Dead Man?
D) Dead Men still liable after Rapture
Patsy Quinn
Preckwinkle Points Finger at Quinn for Oak Forest Hospital Mess.
Also blames Area Dead Man.
Why North Avenue Beach Was Closed
The real reasons.
What The Kurgan Said
In Carl’s Cubs Mailbag.
Is That A Felony?
Blagojevich Accused Of ‘Smuggling’ Testimony Into Trial.
That’s LAZ!
“In the stairwells of the parking garages under Millennium and Grant parks, wires dangle from the red metal boxes that house emergency telephones,” the Tribune reports.
“The phones, located on all levels, have been out of commission since mid-May because of a project to upgrade the system and won’t be reconnected until July. That has left some garage users, forced to rely on spotty cellphone service, a bit nervous . . .
“Morgan Stanley, which leases the garages, is not required to provide emergency phone service but chose to invest in a system upgrade, leading to the temporary outage, according to a spokeswoman for LAZ Parking, which operates the facilities.
“‘Because of the fact that you can use your cellphone, you don’t really need to worry about the emergency phones,’ said LAZ spokeswoman Avis LaVelle.”
Then why invest in them?
“The system is being upgraded . . . to improve the quality of response.”
To a higher quality than cell phones?
“[T]o reach the office in case they need help in a hurry.”
Can’t they just use their cell phones?
“The emergency phones are connected to the garage office, where attendants can dispatch a security guard or get help for a motorist whose car has a dead battery or other problem.”
So not really for emergencies? Get it together, LAZ.
Retro Corruption
Licenses-for-bribes is so 90s.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Neo-retro.
Posted on June 2, 2011