A Chicago Blog

Harold Henderson is no longer writing for the Chicago Reader. I am not sure what happened, but I’m sure it has something to do with the recent management change. At any rate, you can still read Harold at http://harolddaily.blogspot.com/. Good luck H.

From the Clout Street blog:
Blagojevich also appeared to try to put some pressure back on Mayor Richard M. Daley, saying he planned to discuss with Daley the idea of tapping into the city’s cash reserves from selling the Skyway as a way to stave off the Jan. 20 CTA cuts.
“Perhaps the mayor and I could [...]

Drat!!! Last night I couldn’t help thinking, it’s about time someone start one of those “FireSo-in-so” sites for Bears’ Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner. Offensive is definitely the key word. He has a nasty habit of using all the pieces at the most inappropriate times. Like last night, he ran Garrett Wolfe–170 pound Garrett Wolfe–right up [...]

Big surprise. The Illinois Policy Institute has finally documented what most of us thought was common sense. 4 out of 5 registered voters would NOT send their kids to public school if they had other options (i.e. private schools, charter schools, etc).
Also check out the State Journal Register’s coverage.

I thought Grossman played pretty darned good last night. He overthrew Berrian a few times, but Berrian also dropped a couple of passes. The Bears are not mathematically eliminated, but the playoffs a now little more than a pipe dream. I’m hoping the Bears manage to sign Grossman to a short term contract, but if [...]

According to the Sun-Times:
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger can’t get his budget passed “because he’s black,” his floor leader angrily charged Tuesday.
Commissioner William Beavers said “if Todd was a white man, he wouldn’t have half these problems,” further alleging “this is a remake of the Harold Washington days” at City Hall, where racially [...]

The Illinois Policy Institute just released a devastating analysis of CTA productivity calling into question whether the transit “fix” is really a matter of getting better bang for the buck. Among the highlights:

Rail ridership is up 25%, from 152 million to 190 million since 1979.
Bus ridership has plummeted by 45%, from 552 million to 304 [...]

The Tribune is report that the General Assembly is close to a CTA bailout. The legislation would take about $385 million in gas-tax dollars and put it toward CTA’s bottomless pit:
But RTA Executive Director Steve Schlickman said it was too soon to tell if Madigan’s move is a breakthrough. And some lawmakers in both parties [...]

This guy is having way too much fun being a murder suspect. It’s starting to creep me out.

A big thank you to the Tribune for publishing the roll call from Tuesday’s budget vote. I republish it here just for future reference:

Vote on overall budget
Yes (37) — Dowell (3rd), Hairston (5th), Lyle (6th), Harris (8th), Beale (9th), Pope (10th), Balcer (11th), Cardenas (12th), Olivo (13th), Burke (14th), Thompson (16th), Thomas (17th), Lane (18th), [...]