Chicago - A message from the station manager

The Weekend Desk Report

“After withstanding a verbal beating from some Chicago aldermen about homogeneous leadership, the developer planning the Lincoln Yards megaproject is taking a formal step to change,” Crain’s reports.
“Sterling Bay, which recently won City Council approval for its $6 billion North Side mixed-use campus, today announced it has hired veteran communications pro Keiana Barrett as its first director of diversity and strategic development.
“Barrett, who previously served in public affairs roles with Chicago Public Schools and the DuSable Museum of African American History and was chief of staff for former 7th Ward Ald. Sandi Jackson, will be tasked with developing and implementing ‘strategic programs that forge a diverse, inclusive community, culture and climate within the company’ at Sterling Bay, the developer said in a statement.
“The hire comes after some city officials criticized Sterling Bay for a lack of executive diversity as the developer vied for up to $1.3 billion in tax-increment financing to help facilitate the development of Lincoln Yards.”
Keiana Barrett has appeared just once in the Beachwood, though I’m reasonably sure she deserves to have appeared more. See: Sandi Jackson’s Disdainful Goodbye.


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When Rahm Emanuel, Sterling Bay didn’t feel the need to employ a diversity director. Just sayin’.
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Also, diversity is something that should be embedded in your company’s DNA. If you have to hire someone to do that for you, you are a poor leader and terrible human being. Also, it won’t work.
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Dank Bank
“The branch bank of the future is coming, and your friendly neighborhood teller may be history,” the Tribune reports.
“With transactions migrating online, customer traffic down and once-bustling branches closing their doors, major banks including Fifth Third, Chase and Capital One are racing to create cozier, millennial-friendly spaces in the Chicago area offering financial advice, technical support and in some cases, cappuccino.”
But no tellers. All transactions will be done via ATM. How confusing for bank robbers. Will no one think of the bank robbers? How will they ply their trade without tellers to hand notes to? What are they doing to do now, approach the barista and demand the tip jar?
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Oh, also: Lame. Only the worst kind of people want to hang out at a Capitol One cafe.
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Bank Wank
The headline sold me, so I clicked through: “First Midwest Exit Ignites Unlikely Banking War In Tiny Leland, Ill.”
Subhead: “Most small towns are out of luck when they lose their last bank these days. This one 70 miles west of Chicago now has more banks than it knows what do with.”
That, it turns out, is an exaggeration, but that’s not why I got so disgusted upon reading the story. No, I got disgusted because every voice in the story – three – comes from an e-mail or press release. PICK UP THE PHONE AND INTERVIEW SOMEONE.
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I’ve said it a zillion times before, I’ll say it a zillion times again: Do not accept e-mailed statements. They are the equivalent of press releases. They cannot be interrogated. It is pure laziness. You might as well ask your news subjects to write your stories for you, because that’s what you are doing.
If I was the editor of a news organization – as I should be! – I would ban e-mailed statements. Especially from spokespeople. That’s a double-doink, folks.
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New on the Beachwood . . .
The World Cube Association Was Here, And Brought Their Twisty Puzzles With Them
Highlights.
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For Many NBA Players, Finding A Better High School Was Critical To Success
“All of the athletes in my study spoke about how beneficial it was when they left their troubled neighborhood schools in order to join teams or participate in athletic programs at better-resourced and safer schools in more affluent areas.”
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The Beachwood Radio Sports Hour #257: Bulls Luck Out, Get Their Teen Man
Or should that be Man Teen?
Anyway . . .
Pace and space – too late. Plus: Cy Alzolay; Confounding Contreras And His Balls; Cubs Lineup Limits; Who Hurt Hendricks?: Don’t Sleep On The Reds; Questioning Cardinals; Here Comes Kimbrel; White Sox Pledge Nets; The Bears Did Have A Bad Offseason, and USWNT Manages Not To Embarrass Us This Week.
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Weekend ChicagoReddit

CTA employees counting fare intake by hand 1977 from r/chicago


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Weekend ChicagoGram


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Weekend ChicagoTube
Hey look, the Rolling Stones playing a song some say is the most racist in all of rock and no one seems to care.

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Weekend BeachBook
For Generations, Illinois’ Child Welfare Agency Has Failed To Adequately Serve Spanish-Speaking Families With Children In Its Care.

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Years Ago, The Border Patrol’s Discipline System Was Denounced as “Broken.” It’s Still Not Fixed.

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When The University Of Wisconsin Persecuted Gay Students.

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The Sameness Of Cass Sunstein.

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Black Superstars Pitch Adidas Shoes. Its Black Workers Say They’re Sidelined.

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Chester Cheetah And The Chicago Popcorn Drought.

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FujiFilm Unveils Instant Camera That Prints Audio On Photos So You Can Hear Your Pics.

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TweetWood
A sampling.


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The Weekend Desk McRibTipLine: Check it.

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Posted on June 23, 2019