My Senate Prez Predictions
ArchPundit
Harmon or Clayborne.
No real justification or endorsement, it’s just when I look at how it breaks down, they seem like the least likely to offend the most people.
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Hysterical Story of the Day
Aldermen banned from city council’s office supply closet
Because the council uses about $100 worth of supplies per year, it’s easy to tell when things disappear, Davis said, and nothing has gone missing since the lock to the supply closet was recently changed. Previously, Davis, an office assistant, aldermen and security officers had keys to the closet that also worked to open the office door. Now, Davis said, just he and the assistant have access to the supply closet.
Without naming names, Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards suggested the prime suspect is an alderman.
Prime suspect? Jeesh…it’s less than $100.
Kass’s Feelings Were Hurt
Kass wasn’t happy to hear suggestions of non-white Legman
Prince alludes to an encounter in the newsroom the day before Quintanilla was fired but doesn’t name the columnist Quintanilla says he encountered — John Kass. Quintanilla heard that Kass had just hired another white legman so he e-mailed him to let him know there were minority reporters at the Tribune who could do the job too. Next thing he knew, Quintanilla tells me, “Kass is standing right on top of me. I can see all of the wrinkles in his shirt, kind of a tan shirt, he was that close to me. His shirt was practically touching me. He said, ‘You’re calling me a racist’ — something to that effect, I said, ‘No, I’m not.’ I said I admire his work. And he was screaming again, I had to hang up the phone and at that point I had to stand up. He was physically intimidating.” Quintanilla says Kass challenged him to step outside. Kass hasn’t gotten back to me with his side of the story.
Quintanilla says he couldn’t sleep that night. The next day he was fired and he couldn’t sleep that night either.
It’s hard to be a white man in America today.
Manier’s Even-Handed Piece
Is quite good on Obama’s vote in the Illinois Senate. Again, the local reporters do a better job.
Praise When They Do Something Right
Josh Hoyt has a good piece up on Chicago HuffPo so take a look as does John Fritchey.
Growing Up In Glenview
About as interesting as growing up in Normal–only it doesn’t sound funny.
Other fine moments include a truly awful column on the Cubs extolling Murphy’s Bleachers. WTF? Maybe we can talk about Excalibur next.
Big credit for getting Dan Johnson-Weinberger and Alexander Russo, but so far, HuffPo Chicago sucks.
Really, stories about under $200,000 condos in Oak Park? The best pancakes at a north side hip high end pastry shop, a guy saying how fucking cool his Sommelier, and a highlighted story on the Brown Line? That’s Chicago? What’s next–a discussion of the how cool Treasure Island Foods?
Inspired by Austin Mayor
I wonder if they know there is an Austin in Chicago? It’s the place you go through with your doors locked and windows rolled up to get to those under $200,000 condos in Oak Park!
Looks Like I’m Going To Springfield on Saturday…
Obama is having an event and it will probably be with the VP pick. Fortunately, it will be warmer than the last time.
Daily Dolt: Jill Stanek
Ben Smith points out one I missed–she’s raised money for anti-condom ads in Africa.
I mean, look at what just Say No did for meth…..
The Dumbing Down of America
Our discourse is stupid for many reasons, but one thing you might notice is that most of my criticism of the press is directed towards the national press. I don’t think the Illinois press is perfect, but it is excellent on average. There is less he said – she said reporting and a surprising openness I’ve found to readers and even us bloggers. They also are the sharpest critics of what I often write pointing out when I’ve blown it and I truly appreciate that.
First, the Trib had Steve Franklin and Maurice Possley (who both resigned). Then the Trib layed off a whole host of great reporters who are too numerous to name here, but the Miner has the list over there. Franklin is one of the few good labor beat reporters in the country and one of the few reporters for whom I sought out his articles that weren’t just on Illinois. Possley is one of the best investigative reporters in the country and led the fantastic work the Tribune did on the Death Penalty and Prosecutorial abuse.
The news last night that I didn’t see until today is truly shocking. The Rockford Register Star shut down its Statehouse Bureau and laid off several people including Aaron Chambers who I consider one of the best statehouse reporters in Illinois. This is truly awful news even if Aaron gets picked up by another paper–it means less coverage and even if he gets picked up, someone else won’t fill that slot. The fewer Aaron Chambers, the fewer checks there are on state government and the excesses of Springfield leaders. No one will report when the State Senate President keeps making fun of Rockford by asking where it is–no one will be talking to Chuck Jefferson and Dave Syverson getting their angle on state stories–Jefferson being at the center of the Amendatory Veto controversy lately.
Fewer people will have institutional memory of past decisions and how they affect Rockford and the entire state. And even if Aaron is picked up, that’s one fewer slots for someone to learn along the way and become the new Aaron.
Anyone who Google Alerts Aaron’s stories recognize he was covering more non-political stories over the last year or so with regular dispatches on the Alan Beaman court proceedings and other downstate news. Beaman was from Rockford so it had a local angle even.
The problem is that newspapers are gutting the very thing that keeps readers. Writers like Chambers and others are who build a relationship with readers and that keeps the paper going. The notion of cutting costs and going after some of the most experienced journalists is self-defeating to long term readership and profits.
The public companies who own most newspapers now are worried about quarterly profits which is sending long term business down the drain. Newspapers aren’t losing money for the most part–they are just not earning as much as shareholders would like.
When Eric Zorn started blogging at the Tribune I pointed out that it was this kind of effort that would help newspapers transition to a dual existence on-line and in the paper. The blog creates a greater conversation with readers and that relationship is central to the long term interests of the newspapers. However, all of them are destroying that relationship by laying off the reporters with the most experience and the best relationship with their readers.
The long term way to stay in news now appears to be held privately and create a joint on-line/off-line operation that interacts with readers/viewers/etc, but few are pursuing the strategy. The worst part of this is that the beat reporting and experience from being on the job is lost.
Instead, what we are likely to see are more efforts like Progress Illinois (and this is no criticism of it–I love the site)–that are funded by interests or parties or unions which is similar to the news models of the 19th century when papers were extensions of political parties. I think bloggers, Progress Illinois, and others are great additions, but the basic reporting has to be done as well and that aspect of news is crumbling.
So if you want to start a new news organization, just drop me a whole lot of cash and my first hire would be Aaron Chambers.
News To Ibendahl: Kjellander The Least Gay GOP Member Ever
Somehow, Kjellander and McKenna are responsible for a pub crawl to gay bars supporting McCain:
I didn’t go this year. Like most Republicans, I saw all I needed to see at our State GOP Convention two months ago in Decatur. It’s clear that our Illinois GOP is going nowhere until we clean house of the likes of State Party Chairman Andy McKenna, Jr. and Chairman of the County Chairmen’s Association Randy Pollard.
You simply can’t run a rigged-up mess like that Decatur disaster in June and then honestly ever expect decent Republicans to follow you in the future. That’s just not how it works. We need new leaders, competent leaders who understand even the simplest basics of Management 101.
Let’s face it, if any Republican really felt the need to get sodomized (politically speaking) once again, they might just as well join that other McKenna backed organization on a Chicago gay-bar-hopping tour.
Please, please tell us about the integrity of marriage Doug. That is after you explain why you are not married, but living in sin.
Look, I would agree that McCain needs every vote he can get, and we as Republicans can’t reject the votes of gay folks or anyone else. But is it credible that anyone is going to have a serious discussion about McCain’s qualifications over the throbbing blare of dance music in some gay pick-up bar? (That’s exactly what most of the bars on the itinerary above are, and anyone who lives in Chicago knows it.) This just looks to the casual observer like an excuse to go drinking in some gay hot spots.
Because if the Family Taxpayers clan are about anything, they are about serious discussions…