Politics
Friday, May 25, 2012
$$$ Politics News Should Tamms be saved for the jobs?
Posted by Steve Bogira on 05.25.12 at 02:24 PM
- katerha
- The decision on Tamms, the Illinois supermax, is imminent
This is the unspoken argument of legislators who want to save Tamms, the supermax at the southern tip of Illinois. Governor Pat Quinn has proposed closing Tamms—not for humanitarian reasons, but to save the state money. Most of the Tamms inmates would be moved to maximum-security prisons, where housing them would be cheaper. There's been legislative opposition to Quinn's proposal, however, because guards would lose their jobs. The verdict is imminent.
Representative Brandon Phelps, a downstate Democrat, this week proposed converting Tamms to a regular prison in order to keep it open. As the Southern Illinoisan reported Wednesday, this plan would "appease" those who believe the prison should be closed because the long-term isolation that inmates are subjected to "purportedly causes mental illness." Phelps has made clear he's more concerned about the jobs than the mental illness: "My main deal right now is to keep Tamms open, whether it's just a super-max or regular facility, because southern Illinois cannot afford to lose those jobs or that revenue." Phelps's proposal is unlikely to fly because of the retooling costs.
Vacation Week Politics News A rare visit to my hometown, Moline
Posted by Kate Schmidt on 05.25.12 at 07:57 AM
Behind Our Scenes Media Politics Clout City News Working for the Sun-Times—just like Mike Royko!
Posted by Ben Joravsky on 05.25.12 at 06:54 AM
- Asher Klein
- The view from the new break room
Yes, yes—copyboy. The girls of that trade were called "copygirls." As you can see, the 70s were not a particularly politically correct time.
My job mainly consisted of hanging around the newsroom, waiting for an editor to bellow out: "Copy!"
At which point, I'd run over and do as instructed. Like: "Get me a corned beef on rye at Al's deli!" Or: "Shut the fuck up and stand here while I figure out what I want you to do!"
Ah, the glory days of journalism.
Sad to say, the job—as fun as it was—didn't last forever.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
$$$ Film Politics Dear Battleship,
Posted by Ben Sachs on 05.23.12 at 12:38 PM
I’m writing because I wanted to tell you about a man I met recently. In fact, I met him just a few hours before the preview screening of Battleship I attended. He was a disabled military veteran. I thought you might like to hear about him because you seem sympathetic to veterans. One of your most endearing characters is a soldier who lost his legs in combat. You make a point of showing that he’s still capable of defending his country after a remarkably short recovery period.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Shameless SEO Politics News Protest and performance at NATO
Posted by Marc Monaghan on 05.22.12 at 11:35 AM
- Marc Monaghan
- Follow the tweets
Slideshow after the jump.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Politics News Dear NATO visitors: there is another Chicago
Posted by Steve Bogira on 05.21.12 at 11:04 AM
- juggernautco
- Mayor Emanuel says he wants to help visitors understand Chicago
The ten-minute film features a series of business leaders and other civic boosters blustering on about our town: "I love the attitude here, it's just a positive attitude, a good vibe—anything's possible." "It's vibrant, at the same time it's very serene." "Michigan Avenue is so attractive from beginning to end." "We have some of the best chefs in the world . . . many Michelin-rated restaurants." "We've got great people, great talent . . . a business culture, and people with a great can-do attitude." "It is a great place to find the kind of people that fit into a corporate culture." "You can walk down the street in Chicago and ask anybody for directions, and they're happy to give it to you with a smile on their face." "There's opportunity here, somewhere, all the time."
Our Windy City title is not in jeopardy.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Mudville Media Politics News Joe Ricketts and the freest speech money can buy
Posted by Michael Miner on 05.18.12 at 03:19 PM
Writes reporter Seth Cline:
"Ending Spending Action Fund, the Super PAC funded entirely by Ricketts, has spent more than $1.3 million since 2010 influencing elections, all of it benefitting Republican candidates, according to federal election filings. Like a closer in baseball brought on in the ninth inning to seal a victory, the group's moves have come just days before voters head to the polls, and only once has it failed to ensure victory."
One Democratic victim was Congressman John Spratt of South Carolina, chairman of the House budget committee. "By Election Day," Cline tells us, "Ricketts would dump $187,000 into the race—a game-changing sum in a rural district with no major television markets or newspapers. Spratt lost the race to Republican Mick Mulvaney by 10 points. 'It was like a tidal wave,' Spratt says. 'Suddenly constituents were calling saying they were getting five pieces of mail a day towards the end, on all kinds of topics.'"
The Democrat who won despite Ricketts's money was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, "who spent $26 million on his re-election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a sum not available to most candidates."
Politics News NATO by the numbers
Posted by Rebecca Cohen on 05.18.12 at 02:37 PM
- Crosslers
- Weapons of mass destruction?
761 mph is the speed it takes to break the sound barrier at sea level. If you hear a sonic boom today, it's probably the NORAD jets that have been assigned to patrol the city.
Politics Clout City Mayor Rahm's not so new idea: TIFs for the rich
Posted by Ben Joravsky on 05.18.12 at 07:24 AM
Not really. The sun did rise in the east, but the mayor didn't try to take credit for it. At least, not yet.
He did, however, take credit for the $29.5 million River Point TIF handout that for better or worse had actually been cooked up by his predecessor—the mayor who will not be named—and dutifully adopted by the Chicago City Council in the fall of 2008.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Politics Clout City News Spared the knife
Posted by Mick Dumke on 05.17.12 at 10:10 AM
- Tonika Johnson
- Under Mayor Emanuel, Chicago has fewer cops and other front-line workers
City officials are busy trying to reassure Chicago residents that their neighborhoods are still going to have police protection over the next week, even though hundreds of officers have been sent downtown for the NATO summit.
“You’ll have the same cops on the same beats in the same neighborhoods,” police superintendent Garry McCarthy told reporters.
It’s good to hear. Unfortunately, it isn’t what most of us would think of as true, since, as police tell me, all of the city’s tactical officers—the plainclothes guys who specialize in stuff like drug busts and robbery investigations in the neighborhoods—will be on NATO-related duty.
