Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Wednesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“Amazon plans to open a three-building distribution center on the site of the former Maywood Park horse track, as part of the e-commerce giant’s ongoing race to deliver packages to customers faster,” the Tribune reports.
“It will be Amazon’s largest distribution center near Chicago, less than two miles from the city limits.”
All the more reason to keep a keen eye on conditions there – especially given that the new facility is intended to help improve Amazon’s delivery speed. Just last November, Reveal concluded that “Amazon’s internal injury records expose the true toll of its relentless drive for speed” in a deeply reported investigation.


What, if any, provisions are local governments like Melrose Park making to ensure a safe workplace? Unasked.
The Trib does note this, however:

Amazon . . . has been beefing up its network of distribution centers in the Chicago area and throughout the state to keep up with the fast-rising volume of online shopping.
Amazon has opened more than 20 warehouse facilities within the past four years, according to supply chain and logistics consulting firm MWPVL International.
The largest is a 1 million-square-foot facility in Aurora. Recently, Amazon has been adding a series of smaller warehouses near densely populated suburbs and neighborhoods, in order to deliver orders as quickly as an hour or two in some areas.
In September, Amazon confirmed that the company signed a 237,000-square-foot lease for a distribution center in Skokie. At the time, Amazon said it has more than 11,000 full-time workers in Illinois.

Not mentioned but noted by Curtis Black last month for the Chicago Reporter:
“Safety records obtained by workers at the Amazon fulfillment center in Monee in Will County show that over 10% of its workers suffered injuries last year, and 40 were injured so badly that they couldn’t return to work, often sustaining permanent disabilities, according to Warehouse Workers for Justice.”
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Similarly, the Sun-Times headlines the Melrose Park facility as aiding the company’s “need for speed” with no mention of the widely reported impact on workers.
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See also:
* The Atlantic: Ruthless Quotas At Amazon Are Maiming Employees.
* Vox: Amazon Warehouse Workers Doing “Back-Breaking” Work Walked Off The Job.
* Portland Mercury: What It’s Like To Work At Troutdale’s Notoriously Dangerous Amazon Warehouse.
* New York Post: Inside The Hellish Workday Of An Amazon Warehouse Employee.
* John Oliver:

Let’s keep our eyes on the ball, folks!
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Lipinski’s List
Via Shia Kapos’s Politico Illinois Playbook:

“This is shady,” Stickney Mayor Jeff Walik told Playbook about Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski listing him as a supporter on Tuesday.
“They called twice, and I said I was staying neutral. I did not give anyone permission to use my name” to endorse Lipinski, said the south suburban mayor who generally leans Democrat.
That’s not the only kink in Lipinski’s announcement that 28 municipal leaders were endorsing him. Despite a primary challenge on his left flank from Marie Newman, the 3rd district congressman listed eight Republicans among his endorsements and one name, Tom Heller of Forest View, who is no longer a mayor.

At least he’s not dead, as far as I can tell.

Lipinski spokeswoman Sally Daly acknowledged “minor miscommunications” in the endorsement rollout and added: “The mayors who have endorsed the congressman support him because of the tangible results that he has delivered for the district and their communities.” It’s not about politics, she said.

Endorsements are not about politics? Sally Daly, you are Today’s Worst Person In Chicago.
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How hard is it to say, “We screwed up. Sorry!”
Anyone unwilling to say that loses the benefit of the doubt and we can all presume bad intent until proven otherwise.
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New on the Beachwood today . . .
Inventors Of Sports Bra, Hard Hat & Ibuprofen Among Hall Of Fame Inductees
Also: The woman who invented the word processor and a dude who invented the (modern) parachute.
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Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens The Unsolved Murder Cases Of The Civil Right Era
“The South’s Simon Wiesenthal.”
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The Ex-Cub Factor
Darwin Barney and Starlin Castro together again! With a little Arismendy Alcantara to make us totally feel nostalgic for some godawful teams.
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ChicagoReddit

Saw a two month old thread on the “Worst Chicago apartment management” companies. Just curious, what are some of the best. from r/chicago


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ChicagoGram


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ChicagoTube
The Kinsey Report at FitzGerald’s on Tuesday night.

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BeachBook
Driverless Forklifts Are Now A Thing.

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TweetWood
A sampling of the delight and disgust you can find @BeachwoodReport.


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I mean, Peter Baker has done some really good work, and written some fantastic books, but a bumper car analogy isn’t exactly “brilliant” in my book, namely because it doesn’t really approach the truth.
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The Beachwood Rip Line: Pull the cord.

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Posted on January 8, 2020