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Â· Tougher penalties for fake cops pushed.

Â· McSweeney goes on the attack.

Â· House bill would force online dating servies to investigate participants.

Â· Labor endorses Stroger, Stroger blasts Claypool.

Â· No real surprise, but Ryan won’t testify in his own defense and his wife is certain that he’ll be acquitted.

Â· Tribune endorsements for Illinois House and Senate.

Â· Wilmington’s water nightmare.

Â· Most inane editorial ever. And that’s saying something.

Â· Illinois lost 32,000 manufacturing jobs last year. (Hat tip: IR.)

Â· Fritchey loves him some Peppers, claims he was ripped off.

Â· If you’re a DuPage Dem, Hiram has your weekend planned. Man, that’s a good blog.

Â· Would somebody please ask Ray LaHood about this? Are all reporters in his district blind or just too afraid to offend?

Â· No executions yet, says guv.

Â· Idiot wind, blowing like a circle around my skull. From the Grand Coulee Dam to the Capitol. Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth. You’re an idiot, babe. It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

Â· “In the past year, Marly’s has had fewer police calls than all but two of the 3 a.m. bars near it, according to department records. Police have been called to Marly’s 51 times, while they were dispatched 150 times to The Firehouse, 67 times to PT’s, 56 times to Catch 22, 55 times to 11 West, 41 times to The Alamo and 14 times to Mojo’s.”

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 23, 06 @ 7:54 am

Comments

And over at DCFS the Chicago Trib reports that the agency’s child protection unit (DCP) failed to follow its own procedures and notify the Chicago Archdiocese that if had founded a report against a priest working in one of the Archdiocese’s facilities. The priest remained on the job and was subsequently charged in the later abuse of a second child.

When asked what happened, DCFS’s press office dithered for a day then told CBS (Jay Levine)
that the priest’s lawyer said he would notify the Archdiocese and “we believed him.” This level of credulity is not what we like to see in our state child protection department. Child abuse investigations require a high level of skepticism and attention to detail, not to mention intelligence.

These revelations come on the heels of this month’s unspeakably violent homicide death of a
four year old Canton girl. DCFS says it investigated one earlier report on the child.
Community members claim 18 earlier reports were made to the agency in the last year.

DCFS is a highly politicized agency, currently under federal probe. Its child protection management team includes the husband of a Chicago Dem politician, among others with strong political ties. In light of these disasters, maybe there are some management change in store. But it’s unlikely that anyone at DCFS will be held accountable for these blunders. In the Blagojevich-Tuak administration, politics trumps all, including the kids.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Feb 23, 06 @ 9:40 am
Blog DOA?
The Trib still believes a Chicago baseball team will win the World Series.
Oh wait. One did! Go Sox.

Comment by Reddbyrd Thursday, Feb 23, 06 @ 9:51 am
WOW! The Trib endorsed Chris Welch. Nyberg’ll be ticked off.

Comment by Provost Thursday, Feb 23, 06 @ 10:48 am
Is the blog doa over on the swamp? We should really hit it heavey.

Comment by Bill Baar Thursday, Feb 23, 06 @ 11:22 am
As usual, the Trib editorial page completely misses the point. People look to blogs like this for information they can’t get elsewhere. But there is a HUGE difference between a blog like Capitol Fax or Political Wire or Daily Kos, and the kind of blog every Tom, Dick or Sherry puts out to vent their collective spleens.

Blogs will never replace the mainstream media (MSM), but I have learned tons from the blogs long before I read the same info (if ever) in the MSM. The global ports story is a perfect example where the blogs were ahead of the MSM. Another was the story of how white phosphorous was used against the civilian population of Fallujah despite the US previously having described such use as a chemical weapons attack.

But the reason the Trib fails to get it, is that blog readership is a direct broadside against them and other news orgs. It reflects massive frustration by tens of millions of people that they can’t get what they want from the herd mentality of most news organizations.

Comment by ChicagoCynic Thursday, Feb 23, 06 @ 11:40 am
On Monday the Tribune said in its endorsement in the 15th District Cook County Board race that Commissioner Carl Hansen should be put out to pasture. On Wednesday, the Tribune used pretty much the same reasoning in endorsing the opponent of State Senator Adeline Jay Geo-Karis (R-31st).

But in today’s editorial, the former college jazz show producer and his gang of screwed-up editorial writers endorse State Representative Lovana Jones (D-26th), even though their editorial states that Jones “says she’s tired and eager to retire.”

Why the inconsistancy? Could it be that Rep. Jones is a Mike Madigan loyalist, and the Tribune wants the Speaker to help Tribune Co. on a variety of special-interest legislation?

Hey Bruce Dold (the Tribune’s Editorial Page Editor and the one-time jazz show producer at Northwestern University’s WNUR-FM, back when we both worked at the station 30 years ago)… the people want to know the answers! And are these early endorsements an indication of other strange endorsement actions to come from the pages of the Tribune?

RANDALL SHERMAN

Secretary/Treasurer, Illinois Committee for Honest Government
Chicago

Comment by Randall Sherman Thursday, Feb 23, 06 @ 1:06 pm
The Tribune endorsed Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins over Harper College Trustee Matt Murphy in the 27th Senate District GOP primary, but as a resident of the district, I feel pretty confident that Murphy is going to win that primary. Anybody have any thoughts on that?

Comment by Establishment Republican Thursday, Feb 23, 06 @ 1:22 pm
Fritchey…mosh pit…just don’t see it.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Feb 23, 06 @ 1:48 pm
Thank you Crain’s for admitting what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Chicago Tribune won’t: the loss of manufacturing jobs is due to outsourcing overseas, not lawsuits:

â€œThe new domestic manufacturing plants tend to rely more on computer-controlled technology,â€ said Tom Dubin, president of Manufacturersâ€™ News Inc. in Evanston, which publishes the directory. â€œMany employees in the new plants are engineers and programmers. The more labor intensive work is being shipped out overseas.â€

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Feb 23, 06 @ 5:00 pm
Re: Ray LaHood.

He’s been asked. Several times…although Bill has conviently missed those stories. The Congressman held a press conference the day after the Abrahamoff thing…if you search the PJStar.com archives, you might find it. Bill has also been told about press conferences where he could ask himself…as a reporter for the River City Times or Community Word…and he’s not shown up.

Comment by anon Thursday, Feb 23, 06 @ 7:24 pm
Anon: Bull

First, the Journal Star does not print the questions their reporters ask Ray LaHood. Unless it’s a live interview, we don’t get to hear the questions LaHood is asked.

Typically, if he IS asked about trips paid by others, he goes off into a spiel about one to China paid for by the Aspen Institute, which I have written about, but which isn’t a trip that raised many issues about ethics with me.

Second: If the Journal Star has ever printed a story about LaHood’s response to the articles about frequent flyer miles that ran in many, many, many other newspapers, I failed to see it on the Web. If there is one, please send me a link.

Third: If ANY article in the Journal Star has ever specifically addressed the issue of the trip to Paris paid for the Nuclear Energy Institute, forgive me. It’s just that I read the online version of the JS every day and routinely search the Web for any reference to LaHood. If there is such a story, please send me a link.

Fourth: If there is ANY JS article that discusses the Cullinan family contributions to Ray LaHood’s campaign, I have yet to see it. Again, if there is such a story, send me a link.

Fifth: As to my failure to attend LaHood press conferences — I assure you that if LaHood holds a press conference, I learn about it after the fact. I am not on the Congressman’s contact list. If any reporter who knows about them has contacted me to let me know when and where, I fail to recall it, although it’s entirely possible someone has and I forgot they did.

And even if I did not, I might not attend. You see, even though I write an occasional freelance article and that one publication lists me as an editor, I am not a full or even a part-time reporter. I have a full time job.

I am a BLOGGER. Perhaps you are familiar with the concept? I read the newspapers, watch TV and MAYBE do a little original reporting.

Covering the politicians is the job of the press. It’s my avocation to comment on politics and how the press covers politics.

Stop trying to deflect my criticism on how the press fails to cover a politician back onto me. You sound like a movie director complaining that you would like to see a movie critic try to make a movie.

AGAIN: If there are any links that disprove prove the JS has writtren about issues I say they haven’t, PLEASE SEND THEM TO ME. I have asked many, many tims whenever someone at the JS says they have covered these topics.

It’s getting tiresome. Either these people think they wrote about something they didn’t or there is a deliberate attempt to mislead my readers into thinking I’m making stuff up.

Comment by Bill Dennis Friday, Feb 24, 06 @ 9:54 am