The Chicago Cubs may consider a bankruptcy filing as part of closing the sale of the team, according to sources close to the major league ball club.
Making it even flubbier, the Chicago Tribune got beat on the story about their own company by Bloomberg…
A brief Cubs bankruptcy would be a legal maneuver to clear the team from any future liability in the Tribune bankruptcy, according to two of the people familiar with the matter. Sam Zell, chief executive officer of Chicago-based Tribune, pledged the company’s interest in the Cubs as collateral when he negotiated the deal to take the publisher private in 2007, according to one of those people.
“You take it in the front door, and it’s just like you’re getting radiation,” said Michael J. Cramer, a former president of the Texas Rangers who teaches sports business at New York University. “It comes out the other door about a half minute later. It’s clean.”
And…
People familiar with the negotiations said a Cubs bankruptcy filing would be designed to allow for the fast disposition of the team’s assets. It could be accompanied by a motion to sell the team with an agreed-upon bidder. The entire process could take as little as 20 days, said Gregory A. Cross, the attorney who heads the bankruptcy practice at Washington- based Venable LLP and isn’t involved.
Not all bankruptcy sales move as fast. The National Hockey League’s Phoenix Coyotes filed a Chapter 11 case in May with plans for a quick transaction, only to have it descend into a legal fight about whether the team may be sold and moved without the league’s consent.
One also wonders, considering Zell’s history, if there’s a tax angle involved.
A moribund economy now may have a better chance of blocking the project than lawsuits by parks activists and neighborhood opponents. Fundraising has foundered while projected costs have climbed by tens of millions to $150 million or more, Crain’s has learned. Sources close to the project say odds now are 50-50 at best that the Grant Park plan will proceed.
“Chicago Children’s Museum is moving forward with the plan to relocate to Daley Bicentennial Plaza in Grant Park. There is no news to report in that regard. Greg Hinz’s piece in Crain’s Chicago Business relies only on unnamed sources, and should be viewed with extreme skepticism.”
Greg’s piece looked pretty sound to me.
* When Sen. Roland Burris announced that he wouldn’t run again, he said he didn’t want to split his time between governing and fundraising…
“In making this decision I was called to choose between spending my time raising funds or spending my time raising issues for my state”
Illinois U.S. Senator Roland Burris says he still plans on holding fundraisers, even though he’s not running for a full senate term in 2010… Burris says he’s owes $800,000 in legal fees, and he says he’ll be turning to his colleagues in the senate for help.
* And, finally, go take a look at Ramsin Canon’s excellent and finely balanced piece on why we should and shouldn’t care about the Homero Tristan resignation.
Organizers say plans for Illinois’ two state fairs are moving ahead despite the fact that their funding is in limbo because of the state’s budget crisis.
But officials say there’ll be some efforts to save some money at the fairs in the southern Illinois town of Du Quoin. Those cutbacks include not having auto racing the first weekend and a move to put other acts on hold.
Much of the money for the two state fairs doesn’t come from General Revenue sources. Still…
* The Question: Considering the fiscal crisis, should the governor cancel one or both of the two state fairs next month? Explain.
* The governor is making good on a promise today, which is sort of a first…
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has officially signed a capital improvement plan designed to give the state’s ailing economy a shot in the arm.
The plan creates a $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now! program that’s expected to create and retain more than 439,000 jobs over the next six years.
I was a bit skeptical going into today’s noon signing ceremony after reading a quote from Quinn’s spokesman in yesterday’s Tribune editorial….
We hope the governor will echo that concern for citizens’ opinions as he weighs this decision. Quinn spokesman Bob Reed said late Friday that the capital package’s gaming provisions were still being reviewed by the governor: “Right now, the plan is to outline his position on Monday at the capital bill signing.”
But, people on the scene say Quinn has announced that he’s signing all of the bills as-is. He’s apparently doing a partial veto of one bill to take out the pension bond language, however. Quinn wants a different borrowing bill now.
* Senate President John Cullerton’s response to the signing ceremony was not exactly effusive. From a press release…
“By signing our job-creating statewide construction plan, he is ending the practice of using out-of-work Illinoisans as political leverage while also removing a major roadblock to bipartisan cooperation and trust among political leaders.”
Oof.
By the way, the legislative leaders plan to meet with Quinn in Springfield this afternoon at 4 o’clock.
* As an aside, I’ve been wondering lately how long it will be before somebody does a state plane usage story on Quinn. He’s commuting to Springfield far more than Blagojevich ever did, and it’s almost always by plane. Those costs add up fast.
* Meanwhile, AFSCME members are demonstrating in front of several state legislators’ offices demanding a tax hike. From a press release…
With the Illinois budget crisis unresolved, Governor Pat Quinn threatening deep cuts to vital human services, public safety and thousands of jobs, and legislators due at the capitol for special session tomorrow, thousands of union workers, human-services providers and other advocates will take part in “Send-Off to Springfield” events at the offices of some 40 state representatives TODAY, Monday, July 13.
The events are part of a massive, coordinated effort to raise public awareness of the dangerous potential cuts to state services and jobs-and scores of community-based human-services programs-that loom as a result of the budget crisis, and to urge every state representative to return to Springfield and support House Bill 174, comprehensive tax reform that raises revenue, cuts property taxes and preserves vital services and public safety functions.
Here’s a recent report from AFSCME about how the protests are going…
40 demonstrators at event co-sponsored by AFSCME and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Report from Aurora event – 75 demonstrators at AFSCME event where Rep Chapa Lavia joined the crowd and signed a pledge to support HB 174!
In Springfield, crowd estimated at 300 marching to Stratton building now.
I’ll have a photo of one event if it ever uploads on this slow Intertubes connection.
VOTE trying to disrupt bill signing. VOTE is anti-labor. Anti-Dem. Based on westside.
33 minutes ago
*** UPDATE 2 - 2:27 pm *** More from AFSCME…
CHAPA LAVIA - Aurora
A crowd of 75 demonstrators was joined by Rep. Chapa Lavia, who signed the pledge of support for HB 174 and joined the demonstrators to wave a sign reading, “It’s time for the House to do the right thing!” See photos attached.
BRADLEY - Marion
Report from the scene: About 120 in attendance, even split between AFSCME and the Our Directions day vocational program [for individual with developmental disabilities]. Closed down the parking lot. Signs visible on both sides of IL Rt 13 during the event, horns honking in support. Our Directions had around 40 clients there, as well as foster parents. We did a line into Bradley’s office with people introducing themselves and telling his staff why new revenue is needed, gave them a poster with all our signatures on it, and left the HB 174 pledge.
BRAUER / POE - Springfield
From the scene: Estimates as to numbers vary from between 300 and 400. With a permit from the city we were able to march on the streets. The crowd was spirited and orderly. And noisy, blowing whistles. They’ll know we were there, for sure.
D’AMICO - Chicago
Three dozen demonstrators from AFSCME and neighborhood advocacy groups organized by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
* Gov. Quinn is just one governor of many currently considering early release of prisoners. The proposal has drawn some intense heat from legislators. But does early release raise the crime rate? Maybe temporarily, say experts…
“The research is completely clear: You can do this without increasing the recidivism rate or the crime rate,” Austin says. “It’s easy, it really is—it’s unbelievably easy. The politics get in the way of it. People just don’t understand the basic math here.”
Instead of razor wire and watchtowers, think of the prison system as a river, Austin says, with sentences acting as a dam. The longer the sentences, the higher the dam and the bigger the reservoir of inmates. Early release amounts to removing a chunk of the dam, which spells more work for downstream parole officers. But not for very long.
“Within three or four months, the flow is back to normal,” Austin says.
In Illinois, where the state plans to lay off more than 1,000 prison employees, there are no plans to hire extra parole officers to deal with inmates who would be freed early. However, Derek Schnapp, corrections spokesman, said the state is considering terminating parole for some current parolees to make room for inmates released early.
When temperatures reach the 90s, it makes sense that construction workers and others who work outside need to drink more water and take other safety precautions.
But state parole officers — whose jobs mostly involve driving around to check on recently released prison inmates — apparently run an even higher risk of heat-related danger.
“Due to the extreme hot temperatures and staff safety, you are expected to be in the field one week and the office the falling [sic] week,” Deputy Director of Parole Jason C. Garnett e-mailed to his employees June 24 — a day after Chicago’s temperature hit 94.
The order was reportedly rescinded after the weather cooled, but that seems odd to me.
The Chicago Sun-Times obtained copies, via a Freedom of Information Act request, of the ethics training programs that Blagojevich is certified as having taken each year between 2004 and May 30, 2008, when he last received ethics training.
There’s no record of how Blagojevich answered questions in those training courses. But the ethics regimen offers some clear tips that should have warned him of the “pay-to-play” pitfalls that brought federal charges against him and resulted in his ouster from the governor’s office.
Too bad they couldn’t get his test scores. It probably would’ve shown what a waste of time that ethics exam really is.
Former presidents and chancellors of the University of Illinois are laying much of the blame for the current admissions scandal at the feet of trustees, calling for sweeping changes on the board and the way it is appointed.
A letter from four former U. of I. leaders to the commission investigating admissions abuses falls just short of calling for the governor to fire the trustees, but says that some of them are more interested in personal gain than the well-being of the university. […]
They blamed the current situation on the patronage culture that evolved during the administrations of Govs. George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich.
* Phil Kadner’s latest column talks about conservatives and liberals who are demanding government action in the wake of the ghoulish Burr Oak Cemetery debacle…
So we want government to fix the problem.
We want government to stay out of our lives.
We want cemetery inspectors, but we don’t want to pay for them with our tax dollars.
I don’t even understand why there’s a problem in the first place.
Don’t we all know that the free market is at its best when government stays out of its business?
I’m sure the people involved in recycling graves at Burr Oak would agree with that statement.
By the way, the Cook County sheriff had more than 100 officers out at Burr Oak cemetery for crowd control Thursday and Friday.
He supplied bottled water and free shuttle rides from nearby parking lots for the hundreds of families searching for the graves of loved ones.
I thought that was government at its best.
But I also couldn’t help thinking the money for all of that may have come in part from that 1 cent county sales tax hike everyone hates so much.
* I’m also wondering why nobody appeared to notice that their relatives’ headstones had gone missing. My maternal grandparents died many years ago, for instance, yet my family still visits their graves on a regular basis. I don’t want to blame the victims for what was an unspeakable act, but they should shoulder at least some of the responsibility…
So far investigators confirm at least 300 graves have been disturbed and say the scope of their investigation may include some 100,000 plots that records show are at Burr Oak Cemetery. Now of some particular concern, an area called Babyland.
“I personally have found some babies headstones dumped in inappropriate places. In some cases there’s new headstones and others, there’s just nothing. There’s serious issues,” Cook County Sherriff Tom Dart said.
Several family with relatives buried at Burr Oak have filed lawsuits or are considering moving their loved ones to other cemeteries, but for Jennifer Gyimah, who says she has 35 relatives buried here, very little can bring her peace.
There is a possibility that the disturbed graves are so old that not many survivors are left. But some are still around.
* Related…
* Burr Oak Cemetery: Relatives of 7,000 people buried in site near Alsip seek information on grave sites
“As Party Chairman my goal has been to build Party unity. Mark Kirk and I met last evening as part of an ongoing discussion about the U. S. Senate race. I reassured Mark that if he chooses to be a candidate, I will not oppose him.”
[*** End of Update ***]
* You’ve probably heard the story by now. While I was driving to Chicago on Friday, the Washington Post broke the news that Mark Kirk wouldn’t run for US Senate. Apparently, Kirk was calling around to say he was out of the race…
[The calls] followed a meeting of the Illinois Republican congressional delegation on Thursday in which his colleagues refused to back Kirk in a primary against Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna due, in large part, to his vote in favor of President Barack Obama’s climate change bill.
* That story was only about a third true. For instance, the cap and trade claim was way overblown…
A source close to the delegation said that Members were taking the weekend to decide whom to support, with the exception of Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), who told a local newspaper Friday morning that she is behind Kirk.
“The Illinois delegation is still thinking about it,” the source said. “I don’t think anyone has made a decision to remain neutral. I think everyone’s made a decision to take the weekend to decide.”
if McKenna got out…
After much ‘Will he? Or won’t he?’ speculation this afternoon about GOP Rep. Mark Kirk’s desire to run for Senate in IL, Kirk said in an email to The Hotline that he was “still talking to Andy. We are trying to avoid a primary.”
The “Andy” he references is IL GOP Chair Andy McKenna, who has made serious signals in recent days of his intention to run. When asked if this means that he may ultimately forgo a run, Kirk replied: “I will run if Andy does not.”
This late Friday update is from the person who brought us the story in the first place…
Sources close to McKenna insist he will not blink and that he is in the race to stay. If McKenna can’t be talked out of the race, then Kirk will be out (again) — although there is not likely to be any resolution until Monday at the earliest, according to those close to the situation.
I cannot believe that McKenna stays in this thing for many, many reasons. For instance, he was made the state party chairman precisely because he had no electoral prospects after finishing a miserable fourth in a US Senate primary.
Even so, the fact that Kirk’s campaign roll-out has been so poorly managed suggests that his team and his own skill set will need a major upgrade if he does ultimately pull the trigger on a SEN race.
* Speaking of campaign skills, a conservative blogger claims that Kirk said this during a weekend town hall meeting in his district…
Kirk did insert the news flash that American obesity is the result of our gluttonous English and German heritage.
What?
* Meanwhile, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Sen. Kirk Dillard explains his “I look forward to having Lisa Madigan as attorney general when I’m the governor” quote…
Dillard said reporters started asking questions right after his speech, “with rock music blasting, people high-fiving me,” when he was asked about Madigan.
“I answered the question believing that it was if, and I underline if, Lisa Madigan were re-elected, whether I could work with her,” Dillard said.
He said he assumed the questioner knew he was for Birkett.
I’m not sure the quote matches up with the explanation, but whatever.
Broadway Bank is trying to recoup $12.9 million from two Chicago crime figures, rekindling a controversy as the bank’s former chief loan officer, state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, gears up to run for the U.S. Senate.
In recently filed foreclosure suits, the Giannoulias family-owned North Side bank alleges loan defaults by four companies whose owners include two convicted Chicago bookmakers — one also convicted of promoting a nationwide prostitution ring. The loans are on a hodgepodge of properties, including a South Beach hotel and a South Side shopping center that has lost its grocery anchor. The defendants include 1201 South Western LLC, a Berwyn-based company whose activities include making short-term real estate loans at interest rates of 1% a week, property records show.
Questions about Mr. Giannoulias’ role in the loans surfaced in 2006, when he overcame concerns about his youth and inexperience to be elected treasurer. He defended the loans as sound business decisions, a claim undermined by the foreclosures.
Now, at age 33, he could face similar questions, particularly if there are more disclosures about the relationship between the convicted felons and Broadway.
* More campaign updates…
* County chairman race gets more crowded: Sen. Dan Cronin, R-21st, is hoping to transition from his role as a state legislator to DuPage County Board chairman.
* Burris Supporter Jumping in Senate Race: Anthony Williams is pastor at the Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church in south suburban Robbins. He says he supported Burris because of his long history of public service.
* As you probably know by now, Gov. Quinn wants to put off any more talk of a tax hike until November, which would mean legislators will know by then who their primary and (most) general election opponents are. But, that still means a three-fifths majority, so don’t get ahead of yourself yet.
* Quinn will sign the capital bill package today, but good government groups want him to veto the gaming component…
The kicker, said BGA Executive Director Andy Shaw, is that the gaming board spent 10 years investigating operators of a planned Rosemont casino said to have mob ties. That deal was killed in a plan that would have added 1,200 gambling positions. Now, lawmakers have added about 40 times that number with their endorsement of video poker machines, he said.
* The Chicago Tribune editorialized against legalizing poker machines, and dissed the capital bill in its entirety…
[Legislators] do, though, envision raising $1 billion in new revenue a year — not for those vulnerable social programs they supposedly care about, but to appease their friends in construction industries and unions. The $29 billion capital spending program that Gov. Pat Quinn likely signs into law Monday would, as passed by the General Assembly, legalize video gambling. That’s a pursuit critics compare to crack cocaine because of its efficiency at separating lower-income citizens from their paychecks.
So, now the Tribune is quoting Rod Blagojevich as an expert? And it’s better to keep those machines illegal when they’re literally everywhere as it is?
“You guys are going to have to come up with a new conspiracy theory,” Attorney General Lisa Madigan told Rockford Register-Star columnist Wally Haas last week about her decision to go for re-election and forgo runs for governor or U.S. Senate.
“I had it from a pretty good source as recently as Friday that she was going to run (for governor),” state Sen. Brad Burzynski (R-Clare) told Haas about Ms. Madigan, adding, “It makes me wonder: What’s (House Speaker Michael) Madigan’s end game?”
So many people have assumed that Mike Madigan had sent this legislative session into overtime to somehow help his daughter become governor that they neglected to remember his long history as the House Speaker.
Former House GOP Leader Lee Daniels summed it up best to me not long ago: “Mike Madigan is Mike Madigan. He’s one of the brightest leaders the state has ever had, but he’s Mike Madigan. He’s always been the way he is today.”
Sure, Mike Madigan undercut Quinn this year, but that’s what he’s always done. He’s constantly been a frightening handful for governors. He probably got along “best” with former Gov. George Ryan, but Ryan was a former House Speaker. The two men could easily relate. Plus, Ryan desperately needed friends because of his extremely low popularity, so he worked extra hard to please Madigan. Success resulted.
Speaker Madigan’s “real” end game has become pretty clear to me over the past weeks and months. He believes that a tax hike would be politically disastrous.
Next year is an “off-year” election, and down-ballot Democrats tend not to do as well during those years. The hugely unpopular Cook County sales tax hike makes a state income tax hike that much more politically dangerous. And the sorry mess created by Rod Blagojevich and his Senate appointee Roland Burris won’t help the Democratic brand much, either.
So, Madigan refused to put votes on a tax increase until the Republicans did so as well. It wasn’t because he wanted bipartisanship. Madigan wanted to shield as many of his more politically vulnerable Democratic members as possible. The more Republican votes, the fewer Democrats required for passage.
And since it’s now after May 31, when the Constitution requires a three-fifths majority to pass anything, there’s almost no way the Republicans can come up with the votes Madigan wants to reach that super-majority. Word is, Madigan wants as many as 20 Republican votes. Impossible. So, he’s most likely content to wait a while for a final resolution. With Madigan, it’s always about retaining control of - and over - his majority. Always.
Last week, House Republican Leader Tom Cross told Gov. Pat Quinn during a private meeting that he’d better be prepared to wait until January - when only a simple majority will be required to pass a tax hike - for a resolution to this horrific budget mess. Cross, who told Quinn that he has just eight votes for a tax hike, looks more right than wrong. And later in the week, Quinn said he could be “open” to extending the state budget for another five months if that’s what it took to reach an agreement.
And as for this widely assumed “grand scheme” by Mike Madigan to undercut Quinn in order to help get his daughter elected governor so they could control our state’s political world … How did that work out?
If you were one of those who believed that the “chess master” was really trying to help his kid, then you now have to admit that he made a horrible mess of things and isn’t much of a genius.
Instead of helping her, Speaker Madigan further poisoned an already toxic political atmosphere - making a gubernatorial campaign incredibly difficult for Lisa in the process. After this horrific session, the father would’ve been a constant and deadly anvil around his progeny’s political neck.
But, the tinfoil hat types won’t ever admit that. Instead, they’ll probably come up with yet another conspiracy theory about Lisa’s decision or her future, or, more likely, conveniently forget about their dark predictions and move on.
Mike Madigan is Mike Madigan. And Mike Madigan is all about his majority. Yes, he would’ve done everything possibly to help his daughter if she had announced for governor. But the Speaker’s behavior during the past six months has been infinitely more about Mike Madigan than Lisa.
* I’m visiting my uncle, who has no high speed Internet access and who lives in a town that appears to be so far off AT&T’s 3G system that the wireless access I do have is slower than dialup. Bad, AT&T. Bad.
Anyway, things are taking much longer today. Sorry about that. I’ll be back in a few with a new post, I hope.
Sanders, 21, of Harvey, was shot and killed Thursday evening at 154th and Center Avenue in the south suburb while walking with his cousin. Sanders had been home on furlough to visit his family.
The cousins had just gotten french fries at a restaurant and heard men arguing — some on the sidewalk and some in a car, family members said. Wanting to avoid trouble, the cousins tried to cross the street, and got caught in the crossfire.
The three victims — ages 18, 21 and 29 — were sitting on the porch when a four-door car drove up and a passenger sitting in the driver’s side rear of the vehicle opened fire, police said. The car then fled from the scene northbound.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says the Federal Emergency Management Agency has rated Illinois’ homeland security program among the top four percent nationwide.
Quinn says Illinois received an overall effectiveness score of 91 out of 100. He says the national average was 71.
Low income utility customers could benefit from a new state law that limits how much they can be charged for gas and electric.
Legislation signed Friday by Gov. Pat Quinn would create a payment program that allows power bills to be paid over time.
For certain low income customers, seniors and others on fix incomes, the program would cap gas and electric bills at six percent of a household’s income and also would establish a payment program in case someone falls behind on their bills so payments could be made over time to avoid disconnection.
Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias plans to announce a revamped state program that allows banks to give low-interest loans to farmers who need money for seed, fertilizer, and other expenses.
A spokesman for Giannoulias says the Democrat will make the announcement Monday in Moline. In a press release, the treasurer says a review of Cultivate Illinois, the state’s annual agriculture loan program, showed violations and abuses dating back to 2000.
* Ill. officials: Accounting error caused bad checks
Illinois officials say an accounting error caused worthless checks to be sent to several state health care providers.
Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services spokeswoman Annie Thompson says the checks that began bouncing last month are unrelated to the state budget crisis.
The checks were issued by St. Louis-based HealthLink. The health care network pays out insurance claims for state employees and their dependents.
* Drug, Mental Health and Youth Courts Being Shortchanged $2 Million by Cook County
If you’ve pleaded guilty to something like running a stop sign or speeding in Cook County in the last year you’ve probably had to pay a hundred and 35 dollars in court fees. Some of the fees are earmarked for programs like drug court, mental health court and youth court services. The county has collected a couple million dollars for those three efforts over the past year but the money never actually gets to where it’s supposed to go…
STUTTLEY: Can’t nobody tell me where that money is. I’ve talked to the chief judge, I’ve talked to the state’s attorney, I’ve talked to the presiding judge, I’ve talked to the county board. I’ve talked to everybody and nobody seem to know where the money is. And we talking about a substantial amount of money…
FASHINA: We distribute our funds based on Illinois statute and Illinois statute says in order for a fund to receive its own money it has to be reconciled with the clerk of the court Act.
Yeah, I didn’t really get that the first time around either but Fashina explains. He says the clerk can only give out money as explicitly laid out in a state law called the clerk of court act. So while the cook county board passed a law that allows the clerk to assess and collect a 5 dollar fee for youth court services, Fashina says the legislature needs to pass a second law so the clerk can actually distribute the money. Such a law is awaiting the governor’s signature, but for the past year all the money collected to help troubled teens, Fashina says it’s gone into the county’s general revenue fund.
Indeed, a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine found that Illinois’ readmission rate for Medicare patients was the fourth highest at 21.7 percent, behind Maryland (22 percent), Louisiana (21.9 percent), and New Jersey (21.9 percent).
A study of more than 180,000 U.S. veterans over the age of 55 found that 10.6 percent of those who had been diagnosed with PTSD developed dementia within seven years of follow-up, compared to 6.6 percent of veterans without PTSD.
In a separate study released today, researchers from Wake Forest University found that people in their 70s and older who said they had one to two alcoholic drinks a day had a 37 percent lower risk of being diagnosed with dementia. But drinking alcohol did not slow the progression of dementia in people who already had mild cognitive impairment, researchers found.
Joliet officials have projected a three-year $67 million deficit and, as a result, 90 fewer employees are working in city government today than last year.
Springfield is requiring its employees to take eight unpaid furlough days next year. Sales tax also is going up in the Capital City.
Peoria is hardly alone in battling the crippling effect the recession is having on city halls throughout the U.S. and, especially, Illinois.
NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol, one of the most influential players in the Olympic world, blames the United States Olympic Committee for jeopardizing Chicago’s chances to win the 2016 Summer Olympics.
“The only thing that can cost Chicago the Games is continuing squabbles between the two parties,” Ebersol said Friday via telephone, referring to the latest quarrel between the USOC and the International Olympic Committee.
Now it should be pointed out that Mr. Ebersol and NBC have a vested interest in this conversation. He is disappointed that NBC will not be a partner in the new U.S. Olympic Network. Perhaps he is expressing some of that disappointment here.
* Could third airport make way for a new Windy City?
The quest to build an airport out of farmland near Peotone has been an endless source of hot air.
An idea to scrap the airport altogether and turn the proposed airfield into a wind farm, generating electricity to power a decent chunk of the Chicago area, is gaining momentum.
* My brother Denny’s birthday was yesterday. We did the city but good, so I never got around to closing comments. He said he’s been listening to a lot of early Beatles lately, so this one is for him…
