Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Wednesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner spent his first full day in office Tuesday vowing to overturn a series of moves Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn made on his way out the door, accusing his predecessor of engaging in ‘inappropriate’ political hiring and appointments,” the Tribune reports.
Link mine.


Obama Library Follies
Let me get this straight: The University of Chicago’s bid for the Obama presidential library includes using land it does not own?
Is there still time for me to put in my own bid? I propose building it on University of Chicago land. Where the economics department currently resides.
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It’s not just public parkland that the U of C wants to confiscate.
“Though the museum is expected to occupy only a fraction of the land, the parcels outside of Washington Park are controlled by a combination of owners, including the U. of C., the city of Chicago, the Chicago Transit Authority and private individuals and companies,” the Tribune reports.
No wonder they kept their plans secret for so long.
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Will the head of the library selection committee get the parking contract?
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Too bad Nesbitt doesn’t own any trauma centers.
Here’s an idea: The Barack Obama Presidential Library and ER.
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“Hundreds packed a South Side auditorium Tuesday night for a raucous meeting in which a University of Chicago plan to use public parkland for the construction of the Barack Obama Presidential Library was both celebrated and jeered,” the Sun-Times reports.
“Before the public input meeting began, convened by the Chicago Park District at Hyde Park Academy High School, charter buses deposited attendees . . . the meeting was stacked mostly with people in favor of the proposal.”
I thought some of those people looked familiar.
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“Derek Douglas, the university’s vice president of civic engagement, told the crowd that parkland was needed because the university did not own a big enough solid block of land to build upon.”
Sucks to be you!
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“‘There is not a 20 to 30 acres parcel of contiguous land to house the campus without displacing people,’ Douglas said.
“But architect John Vinci said the university’s claims were a ‘sham.’
“‘What are they going to do when they say they are going to build hotels and stores?’ Vinci asked. The end result will still likely lead to neighborhood residents displaced through eminent domain, he said: ‘They are going to condemn your buildings.'”
Sucks to be us!
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“Hearings on using Washington or Jackson parks for the Obama Presidential library and museum take place Tuesday and Wednesday, and if it seems dealing with this important public policy matter is rushed – well, it did not have to be this way,” Lynn Sweet wrote for the Sun-Times on Monday.
Let’s be clear: It happened this way because the University of Chicago – surely with Rahm’s knowledge – tried to keep its plans from reaching the public until its selection was a done deal.
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“The U. of C. should have disclosed its proposals to site the Obama presidential library and museum on Chicago Park District lands around Sept. 15, when the Obama Foundation named the school a finalist for the project. But the school didn’t even let the public know it needed park land when the bid was filed on Dec. 11.
“And the complacent park district board declined to take the lead back in November – when Park District President Bryan Traubert (the husband of Commerce Sec. Penny Pritzker), who was obviously briefed on the sites, recused himself from the process. A video of end of that November meeting – posted on the park district’s website – shows Traubert and his vice president Avis LaVelle both say ‘hot potato.'”
I sure wish the Sun-Times would’ve provided that video, because I can’t find it. Maybe Traubert and LaVelle were talking about getting a hot potato food court contract at the library.
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“So the Chicago Park District knew months ago this could be controversial. City Hall knew. The Chicago based Obama Foundation knew.”
Told ya so.
“And last month, a source close to the foundation – whose board members and consultants are not political dummies – said the U. of C. bid was in jeopardy because there was no process in place to acquire building rights to the public park land.”
Huh, I seem to remember a process . . .
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When they came for the lakefront land, I remained silent because I was not a lakefront.
When they came for the parkland, I remained silent because I was not a parkland . . .
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Just sayin’.
Prog Rock
“Despite contributing tens of thousands of dollars to Republicans before running for office, Fioretti has attempted in this campaign to position himself as a progressive, left-of-center alternative to the corporate-friendly mayor,” Dan Mihalopoulos writes for the Sun-Times.
Um, Fioretti has been the loudest voice of the council’s Progressive Caucus for eight years; he’s hardly attempting to position himself anew just for the campaign.
Today’s Worst Person In Chicago
“You know it’s election season if Mayor Rahm Emanuel is inviting me to coffee,” Shia Kapos writes for Crain’s in a column titled “My Coffee With The Mayor.”
Uh-oh. You know you’re a patsy if the mayor is calling you during election season to invite you to coffee. Let’s see if Kapos plays along.
“He wanted to talk about his favorite coffee joints around town, so I said sure.”
Sure! Why not? I’ll play along! I’m a tool!
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“For a mayor who’s drawn criticism for not being attentive to neighborhoods, his list of coffee houses seems to prove otherwise. It includes Cafe Jumping Bean in Pilsen, Dark Matter Coffee in Humboldt Park and Kusanya Cafe in Englewood, where he recently met with Chicago Police Chief Garry McCarthy.”
Really? Criticism withdrawn! Rahm really is attentive to the neighborhoods! He can name coffee houses in several of them!
Shia Kapos, you are Today’s Worst Person In Chicago. And so are your editors.
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I wonder if Rahm can name every school he closed – as well as their neighborhoods!
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“‘I hear about places and if I’m in the neighborhood, I’ll try it,’ he told me during our coffee meeting at Star Lounge in Humboldt Park.”
Whatta guy.
“Emanuel likes his java ‘straight black, always black.'”
The cynical racial appeal never ends!
“I like to try the house blend wherever I go because that’s what they put their name on,” he said. “(Coffee houses) have a character in the neighborhood. Each one has their own thing. It’s like a brewmaster,” he says, referring to beer joints. (He likes those, too.)”
Rahm likes beer joints too!
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“The mayor likes dark roast and pour-over coffee versus drip. At home, he and wife Amy Rule use a filter and single cups. He sometimes delivers a cup to her in bed.”
And then rubs her feet and fixes her hair.
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“The trick for making just the right cup, he says, is constant stirring so the grounds circulate.”
I don’t know if I can do this anymore. I don’t mean this column. I mean this job. Really. I give up.
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“He sometimes has business meetings over coffee.”
Welcome to the club called Everyone.
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“Emanuel still laughs about a meeting last year in his office with Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.
“The discussion was about getting state funding to build schools. Madigan liked the idea and the mayor gave him a bag of coffee as a thank you. ‘It was a nice deal,’ he says. ‘We’re building schools and he gets some coffee.'”
Stop it. I’m bursting at the seams.
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Do I need to spell it out? Rahm called you for a campaign ad, Shia. The only way you should have accepted is if you went and asked him the questions from real reporters he refuses to answer. You had a rare one-on-one shot with him and talked coffee. (And even that was so rudimentary that I doubt he even drinks the stuff. Really? That’s what he wanted to express to you? That every coffeehouse has its own blend? And the secret is stirring the grounds?) And what editor/s approved this dreck? They deserve a hot scalding coffee in their lap. Now go home and think about what you’ve done. And don’t come back.
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Uber Uber Alles
Extending the model. (Rated F for Funny.)
Punking Garth Brooks
In Local Music Notebook. Plus: Gary Records, St. Vincent’s Bowie, The City Plays Chicken With The Congress, Liberace’s Big Song Book, and All About That Chicago Bass.
Killer Poet Up For Parole
In Local Book Notes. Plus: Read It And Eat, Booksploitation, The C-1 Squad, and Peters’ Palestinian Plight.
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BeachBook
* Wind Speed In Chicago Determines This Hotel’s Discount.
* Charlie Hebdo Attack Condemned But World Leaders Silent On Their Own Press Violations.
* Richard Branson Pitches Chicago Hotel As Female-Friendly.
* How Rauner Blew It With His Inaugural Bash.
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TweetWood
A sampling.


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Your time is gonna come.

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Posted on January 14, 2015