By Steve Rhodes
1. City council members are seeking a $20,000 raise over the next four years because, as Ald. Bernie Stone puts it, “we deserve it.”
Stone can be reached at bstone@cityofchicago.org. His ward phone number is (773) 764-5050; his City Hall phone number is (312) 744-6855.
2. “In a newly unsealed court document,” the Tribune reports, “Scott Fawell says former Gov. George Ryan and he had a simple approach to the business of government: ‘Looking out for friends and contributors was the overriding factor in handing out contracts and favors.'”
3. Same goes for the Daley Administration.
4. And this is as powerful a pleading as you may find as to why it matters.
5. Jackie Heard thinks she works for the mayor, but we pay her salary.
6. Jay Levine thinks he had an interview with the mayor. And he did – if he’s looking for a job in the Daley Administration.
7. The Tribune Company is full of great media managers. Take this nugget deep in a Cubs commentary by Tribune Cubs beat reporter Paul Sullivan – recently dressed down by team president Andy MacPhail – on the weirdness surrounding a recent incident in which a fan threw a baseball at Cubs outfielder Jacques Jones, apparently without consequence:
“The Cubs did a masterful job of stonewalling reporters on that incident. No one except manager Dusty Baker was available to discuss it, even though a security official addressed the team the next day in a closed-door meeting.
“Cubs security officials were ordered to keep quiet, and to this day no one knows why a fan was able to throw a baseball at a player and not be held accountable for her action. Baker’s explanation that the fan was simply drunk and oblivious – unable to distinguish the difference between throwing back an opponent’s home run ball and throwing a ball at a Cubs player – was particularly weak.”
8. (5 ILCS 460/20) (from Ch. 1, par. 2901-20). Sec. 20. Official language. The official language of the State of Illinois is English. (Source: PA 87-273.)
– via Rich Miller, The Capitol Fax Blog
9. Meribeth Mermall of the South Loop writes to the Sun-Times today: “Your May 15 editorial providing women with the ‘fashion tip’ to ‘tuck that flab in‘ was insulting. I ask myself why would a major newspaper in a major city waste space, time and energy in an editorial column, no less, to let all of us know that your editorial board agrees that women should tuck in their flab? This isn’t Stepford, but it sounds like your editorial board wishes it was. Grow up, and start addressing issues that really matter. Good grief!” (Second item in the link.)
10. “Couples Waiting A Little Longer To Marry,” the Sun-Times reports. Key word: Little. According to the chart provided and sourced to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age of a male’s first marriage was 26.1 in 1890, compared to 27.1 in 2005. For women, the median marrying age was 22 in 1890, compared to 25.8 in 2005.
11. The mayor thinks the condition of Cook County Board President John Stroger is none of our business.
12. “The only countries I know that punish desecration of flags are China, Iran and Cuba.”
– Nat Hentoff, in today’s Sun-Times
13. Large McDonald’s Chocolate Triple Thick Shake (32 oz): 1,160 calories.
Large Burger King Vanilla Shake (32 oz): 820 calories.
7-Eleven Super Big Gulp of Coke, (44 oz, including ice): 410 calories.
Starbucks Coffee Frappucinno, venti (24 oz): 350 calories. Add 100 calories if you get the whipped cream.
Starbucks coffee venti (20 oz.): 500 milligrams of caffeine.
An 8 oz. Red Bull: 80 milligrams of caffeine.
– The June issue of the Nutrition Action Healthletter, published by the Center For Science In The Public Interest.
14. “Appeals Judge J. Michael Luttig, a Supreme Court contender and longtime fixture of the conservative legal landscape, made a sudden announcement Wednesday that he was leaving the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals immediately for the job of senior vice president and general counsel of the Boeing Co. . . .
“Luttig readily acknowledged that the low salary of federal judges was a factor in his decision. Luttig has two children approaching college age, and family obligations weighed heavily in his decision.
“After 15 years on the appeals bench, Luttig was paid $175,100 a year.”
– Legal Times
15. Fantasy air traffic controllers.
16. Jennifer Hunter, the wife of Sun-Times publisher John Cruickshank, is against young people getting jobs through connections.
17. “This is a city that never recovered from deindustrialization. Paradoxically, there has been a huge influx of yuppies who want to live in a city and have a taste for cute Belgian bistros.”
– Philadephia Inquirer reporter quoted in The New York Times.
You mean it’s happened in cities without mayors named Daley too?
18. The Tribune is running RedEye stories about dirty poles in El cars and the Sun-Times is running Gary Post-Tribune stories about a woman turning in a wallet with $1,200 in it. Is the news getting smaller, or just the people behind it?
19. The Voice of America pulled out of Baghdad six months ago. So the lack of good news out of Iraq is their fault.
20. Corn Cob Bob.
21.taylorhickssucks.com is coming soon. Not from us, quite unfortunately, but it’s coming. And in case you were wondering, soulpatrol.com is taken.
Note From Beachwood HQ
Apologies for not posting a Wednesday Papers column yesterday afternoon as promised. I was distracted by various projects in the works to better serve you, the reader. Projects, by the way, which stand a better chance of coming to fruition if you donate to The Beachwood Reporter. Our advertising program is also almost set, and editorial improvements are on the way. If you’d like to join our cause – in tech, ad sales, various business issues, as well as editorial – drop me a note. Watch this space tomorrow for The Weekend Desk Report. The Papers will return on Tuesday.
The Beachwood Tip Line: And by tips, we mean tips.
Posted on May 25, 2006