Chicago mom dominating the internet

In just the last week, I swear I've seen this woman on more web pages than I count. TPM, NYTimes, 538, and the Chicago Reader, just off the top of my head. Only this morning did I spot the local angle: she's from Chicago! She does look pretty good now.

Weekend on the links: A slow 48

Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus, originally Billy Ocasio's (26th) pick to replace him as alderman, bites the dust, after his homosexual rhetoric in church picked up some MSM juice. Ocasio's wife is in instead.

Chicago seems to be ground zero for national media companies' beta "local" blogs. If only Huffington Post Chicago had the local equivalent of a Sam Stein or a Nico Pitney.

I can safely say that this Austin Weekly News editorial about the Burr Oak grave robbers is the most strongly worded piece I've read in a long, long time.

Sloopin catches a copper napping on the job. SCC bait!

Hittin' the links: Where the bodies are buried

Well, Burris can die with that "U.S. Senator" inscription on his gravestone at least.

Until it gets ripped up and dumped in the corner of a cemetary, of course.

Inspector General Hoffman is getting a lot of pushback from within City Hall and the Council. It'll be interesting to see where all this goes.

If you read this article closely, it sounds suspiciously like the city never needed to rent Vanecko's garage to begin with, doesn't it? As with any good Chicago news article, you've got to read between the lines.

Speaking of which, a lot of smart writers seem to think there's a lot more than meets the eye in the relatively straightforward announcement that John Harris, Blago's last chief of staff, is cooperating with the Feds.

Arresting Tales is like SCC but smarter and less vitriolic. Today's post has some fascinating links that attempt to explain why so many suspects seem to get shot in the back by police.

I know I've been harping on this, but today ABC-7 repeats Chicago2016's assertion that they'll be visiting "50 wards in 50 days," which is not, in fact, true.

Chicago 2016 to Brooks: 'keep your phony goldbrickin ass out of my beachside community meeting'

I'd been reading all about the ways Chicago 2016 has been reaching out to real Chicago citizens and I guess I got a little carried away and decided I'd go to one of their community meetings. This one, billed as a Robert Taylor Working Group Meeting on the Chicago2016.org "Community Meetings Calendar" webpage, seemed like it could be particularly interesting.

I mean, look how fun they make these meetings sound!

Chicago 2016 is committed to reaching out and providing a forum for dialogue to all Chicagoland communities. The bid strives to actively engage in participation and conversation with all neighborhoods and communities.

Well, I shouldn't have gotten so carried away. After CTAin' it all the way down to 40th and Indiana and then hoofing through a trash-strewn side street to S. State, I finally arrived at the Hansberry Square Community Center, the appointed venue.

There, a pleasant receptionist laughed and then told me that the meeting was not open to the public at all; it was only for the development group. It was also apparent I was not the first person she'd had to tell.

I guess "community meeting" could be misinterpreted...after all, there are lots of "community meetings" that aren't open to the public. What is a board meeting but a meeting between members of a community of like-minded professionals all working for the same company? What is a police interrogation but a meeting between members of the community of men?

Next time I'll call.

All 50 Wards...

A minor quibble, perhaps, but it's worth pointing out that the Tribune has been peddling one bit of Daley administration propaganda that is essentially untrue.

It appears again today in the 3rd graf of an article that explores a turf-pissing battle over TV rights between the IOC and the USOC:

This week, Chicago's 2016 Olympic boosters unveiled a plan to meet with residents of all 50 wards in an effort to rebuild support in the wake of a controversy sparked last month...

It also appeared in yesterday's Tribune, in the form of an AP article announcing the meetings:

Amid recent criticism of the city's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics, local organizers are going out to talk to Chicago residents.

Organizers said they are working with aldermen to plan public meetings to talk with residents from all of the city's 50 wards.

It may in fact be the city's intent to meet with residents from all 50 wards (just as it may be my intent to fly like a bird), but, in fact, it looks like they will be hosting no more than 10 or 15 meetings, grouping several wards together at a time.

It's kind of like if a presidential candidate announced they were going to be holding meetings with people from all 50 states, but then expected you to drive to South Bend for a combined Illinois-Indiana-Michigan confab. As if.

The full list of meetings that have been announced so far appears here, on the official (and quite plush) Chicago 2016 website.

Hittin' the links: Madigan Madness

The Madigan announcement will have all sort of cascading effects, even down to the ward level.

Back in Daleyworld, another one bites the dust.

From Gaper's Block, we learn, among other things, that Daley is an "Anthony Mason-Charles Oakely-Shaq intimidator."

Daley's 2016 crew takes their show on the road.

Ald. Pope (10th) in a world of parking meter pain.

A TIF is conceived, in a not-so-blighted area. I can almost hear the keys tapping on Joravsky's typewriter.

Another day, another rat.

Hittin' the links: Crapsplosion!

Daley throws cold water on rumors of a pending Preckwinkle-for-Prez endorsement.

The skeletal outlines of a (slightly) more powerful anti-Daley caucus? Schulter (47th) and Mell (33rd), who have their own ward-level political reasons for being on this list, probably don't count.

The Reader and the Trib offer their takes on yesterday's parking meter hearing. Kass has his own quixotic offering.

The AFL-CIO puts in its lot (and, more importantly, its money) with Daley's Olympic Village.

And, while catching up on old Straight Dope columns, I came across this fascinating comparison of crime in various "revitalizing" neighborhoods.

More recently, the Dope drills down on all this crappy weather we've been having.

Talk about crappy. Ha.

Hittin' the links: Nug

After two hours of teeth gnashing and argument, the city council approves the mayor's furlough days plan.

Afterwards, Mick gets into it with the mayor.

The biggest topic of discussion at the Council meeting? How much it costs to carry a dead body.

Hinz (via a fresh Civic Committee report) dings Daley on one of his signature issues: education.

Chicago gets a bit bigger.

Some minor portfolio-swapping in the Daley administration.

Plans to build an Olympic Village roll on, which has Crain's worried.

Having signed away the parking spaces they did have jurisdiction over, Richard Mell (33rd) and Tom Allen (38th) make some noise over some they don't.

Lastly, there seems to be a rash of pot users and sellers going to the cops when their deals go awry. Interesting.

Weekend on the links: Saber rattling

This rally, in front of the office of John Pope's (10th) ward office, is a good example of why the parking meter story matters: aldermen don't like it when citywide business comes home to roost.

Daley's overseas adventures seem to have really rankled some of the City Council's more independent aldermen, who are rattling their sabers a bit.

Moore (49th), fresh off a spirited shouting match with Cardenas (12th) over Daley's Swiss guarantee, apparently loses it at an IVI-IPO awards ceremony. Sounds ugly.

Hinz sees some glimmers of hope for Stroger 2009. Clout City? Not so much.

And Burris, eternally hopeful, is mulling that 2010 run.

Hittin' the links: Obama Miyagi

After initially refusing to fully guarantee the 2016 games, Daley is all in today in Switzerland.

Tom Tresser and the No Games Chicago crew are there too, trying to crash the party.

We'll see how all this plays domestically.

Suarez (31st) and Moore (49th) make some noise on the Vanecko lease.

Munoz (22nd) takes calls from his ex-con, ex-alderman friends, and gets some unwelcome press.

Wal-Mart Wars II may be on the way, and that could mean a good chance to take stock of Daley's street cred.

My guess is Fran Spielman won't be getting a Christmas card from the mayor's office this December.

Some nice slice-of-life multi-media at the Chi Town.

And, apparently, Obama's good at everything.

Hittin' the links: "Do you like your tarantula?"

The wonders of the internet.

Obama asks the astronauts to check if his Kenwood lawn is getting mowed. He could've just asked me.

Vallas rules out a run for Cook County Board President, but won't categorically deny mayoral ambitions in 2011.

The 'ayes' on the parking meter deal are slowly being winnowed into two camps: those who feel guilty about their vote, and those who don't. Micah Maidenberg, at ChiJo, is doing a good job of keeping tabs.

Cicero...on the move!

Hittin' the links: Underground

CPD says crime is down 11%, but SCC is...skeptical.

Daley, and K-West, give a strange presser at the Hotel Sax.

A bit of a spat breaks out between Daley and POTUS.

And a big one rages between Daley and the unions.

A classic left-hand-not-knowing-what-the-right-hand-is-doing story: funding is lined up for a new West Side CSU campus, but the South Side CSU folks are in the dark.

The Park District has picked an inconvenient time to start charging for parking in its own lots.

Cellphones go underground!

Hittin' the links: Bzzzzzzzz

Budget problems lurk in pretty much every story in the ChiMSM this morning: layoffs, layoffs, and more layoffs.

The looming cuts, and building dyspepsia over TIFs, has brought together some strange bedfellows.

This Chi Town article (about, what else, layoffs) offers some clues as to who's hitched their wagons to the fastest rising star in the Daley universe.

Small businessmen say they feel the squeeze from revenue-hungry city inspectors.

The Marshfield Tattler puts a human face to the rise in crime that accompanies summer's rise in temperature.

Vanecko calls it quits.

And the ChiJo adds another constituency to the long list of parking meter discontents and vandals: Bees!

Hittin' the links: 'Triple-shot espresso'

ChiPo can spy again! (but it sounds like they'd already ramped up the political monitoring ops)

The Trib smells a rat in the new charter school legislation hitting Quinn's desk.

Ike's attorney hints he might be willing to plead guilty. Somewhere out there, a Carothers associate shakes in his boots.

That's gonna be one awkward Daley family July 4th barbecue.

Hinz says GOPers in Springfield might be willing to pass tax hike in exchange for a nice gerrymandering. Tax hawks go ape.

And somehow how I missed this interesting profile of Hoffman, which dropped in Sunday's Trib. Stone gets in a few of his obligatory low blows.

Weekend on the links: Piranhas!

Telander's mind explodes.

Spielman feels a shift in the city's political winds.

Bad timing for party regular Ald. Danny Solis (25th), who may face a special election. How did he vote on the parking meters thing, again?

Dorothy Brown promises to stop accepting cash from her underlings, but doesn't get what the big deal is.

Could STAR become the new TIF? Some smart folks are worried (WARNING!: Huge sea change masquerading as boring process story!)

Daley's nephew under the klieg lights (this one's starting to look really bad).

Blago's wife under the canopy, and getting a bit verklemped.

And piranhas, of the non-human, non-politician variety, show up in Chicago.

Hittin' the links: "I'm a Mets Fan"

NPR reports on the startling rise of youth homicide in Chicago. Russo says the MSM still needs to dig deeper.

No comment on any of this from Police and Fire Committee chairman. Oh, right.

The Fitzgerald press release on Carother's indictment is a pretty good read.

Mick makes the connections.

A perfect time to cut back on aldermanic corruption monitoring, right? So say the aldermen, at least.

Daley, as always, provides a fresh perspective on the city's problems: "How many computer glitches do you have in your company? So it happens..."

He also comes down against the war on drugs, and punts the whole enforcement issue...to the IRS.

And media heavies plot how to shut down 'hittin' the links', while us kids plot how to take them down!

Hittin' the links: 'Bail out stuff'

If nothing else, the new Burris-RobBlago transcript provides a nice view into the sordid world of spineless, simpering politicos (scroll to page 12 for the good stuff).

An all-around bad day for Burris: even his Good Samaritan story appears to be unraveling.

And for Daley, who has to read about parking meters in the news again.

A new poll (albeit underwritten by the SEIU) has his approval rating slipping.

MJ jumps into the 2016 fray.

2nd Ward Alderman Bob Fioretti hasn't mastered the art of spinning the parking meter deal.

And Sticky Rice, which was my favorite Thai place in the city, apparently has problems with the mice. Yeeks.