WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

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Did I read this right in the New York Times? 32,000 people gathered on or by the Brooklyn Bridge for the Occupy Wall St. march yesterday? And in Chicago, right at rush hour, protesters shut down the LaSalle Street bridge here in Chicago. Just when you thought the movement was dying down, it springs right back up. It's fascinating to watch. How does a regular Chicagoan respond to the Occupy Chicago movement? There aren't a lot of super rich people here (I'm sure there are a few, but still). So how does the 99 percent view it? Let's find out. Good blog idea for next week. I wish Anne Elizabeth Moore was still doing her Revision Street project. That would be an interesting question to ask real Chicago.

B story: My colleagues at work believe that new Chicago Cubs Manager Dale Sveum looks like me:

First off, this guy is much better looking than me. Secondly, it's in the nose. This guy has a regular nose, where I go with more of the hook style nose. Lastly, not all bald guys look alike.

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The city budget passed 50-0 yesterday, bringing the phrase "rubber stamp" back into the Chicago lexicon. 50-0? That's a shut-out.

Not one Waguespack voted against the city budget with its massive cuts and increases for tickets, taxes and services?

No one used their vote to distance themselves from the mayor?

No one used their vote to let their constituency know that the garbage rebate reversal, the water and sewage cost increases and the library cuts were not the right ways to balance the budget?

Sure, the budget process was arguably more transparent (and respectful) to alderman this time around, but there isn't one dissenting voice in our city government? Should we be concerned about that?

B story: A judge tossed out the convictions of the two nightclub owners involved in the E2 nightclub stampede. I remember being a producer on Eight Forty-Eight when that story came across the wire. It was a gruesome story, one that was hard even to imagine.

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Today is a big one for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. He worked hard on his first city budget, and today he puts on his best suit, maybe puts some product in the old hairstyle and tries out a different cologne. A cologne called "Victory."

The City Council is expected to vote overwhelmingly in favor of the new 2012 Chicago budget. According to some reports, we could be seeing a 48-2 vote margin, reminiscent of the rubber stamp days of Daley. However, the aldermen appear to have had much more involvement in this first Emanuel budget, and many are signing on because of mayoral compromises made after a series of budget hearings. (For a look at how the proposed revenue increases will affect you, check out our short video with own Steve Edwards and Sam Hudzik, who break it all down). Bottom line:  This process has not been as "shove it down your throat" as it has been in the past.

Even so, it will be interesting to see who votes "no" in the end.

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I woke up to the news that the NYPD dropped the hammer last night and removed the protesters and arrested 150 people from Zuccotti Park. Wall Street is no longer occupied. But not so fast says a court order. A court (don't know which one) ordered that the protesters could return with tents if they choose to do so. Protesters did return to the park this morning sans tents, but were evacuated again because of a suspicious package. My guesses at what the package was: 1) New drum 2) Latrine 3) Block of weed.

The New York Times is doing a great job this morning covering the breaking news. I mean, if you like typos! C'mon Grey Lady, the whole world is watching..

A similar story came out of Oakland, where police raided and removed protesters from their camp in front of City Hall. No word on courts there, which probably don't open til 8am. So what does this mean for Occupy Chicago?

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As news breaks today about the possibility of no 2011/2012 NBA season due to labor strife between players and owners, I started to think more about what businesses might be affected by no Chicago basketball. Vendors, hotels and local businesses will definitely be impacted. But who else? I've put a list together below. Feel free to share more in the comment section:

Newspaper reporters: Do you continue to pay for beat reporters or do you cut your staff? The sports departments at the major newspapers already have beat reporters for the other sports in town. So what do you do with the team assigned to cover the Bulls? Yes, you have some lock-out, off the court storylines, but not enough to justify several reporters. If I were the box score guy, I'd be worried. Or could you imagine if you are a Bulls themed blog?

Suburban Sports Bars: No brainer, but even restaurants and bars away from the UC will have a harder time getting butts in seats come February (after football). Imagine what no basketball does for the neighborhood bar, or perhaps suburban sports bars?

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The Detroit Lions have always been division foes. But more like the Milwaukee Bucks rather than the Detroit Pistons. More like the Houston Astros than the St. Louis Cardinals. But what the Lions lack in football skill, they make up for in just being dirty. And dirty is a great way to start a rivalry. See, we dislike the Packers because they once took cheap shots at our stars. Once winning is out of the question, they turn to chop blocks and unnecessary roughness. Which brings me to my point:

You gotta love the Bears for not backing down. It would have been easy to let the Lions physically pout for playing crappy football. But after Jay Cutler was driven into the turf, the Bears defense found something to play for. Crossing route to Megatron? Briggs was there (and cleanly). If Stafford tries to behead a player out of frustration, that player (DJ Moore) teaches him a thing about the NFL. See, Detroit: We can play that way, too. We just wait to play that way when we have already won, not while we are losing...badly.

But all is right in the world. The Lions looked overmatched. They tried and tried, throwing the ball to the wrong team over and over.

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I heard a Penn State board member say they had to fire Paterno because of the "media frenzy." Add to that the student outrage directed at the media and it seems like locals are trying to blame this scandal on a familiar target.

This terrible, terrible, terrible story doesn't need hype. Everyone is talking about it. When my wife chokes up talking about it and co-workers have to walk away from conversations, it's not because CNN is telling them to. This story makes the human spirit want to throw up.

There's no way around it. There's no way to explain it. America is hurt. There's no more love left in the room.

Enter Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

If you are looking for an uplifting experience, come to Millennium Park at 11am today. It's Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Beckoning of Lovely show, which is tied to the launch of Amy's crowdsourced film. It's free. It's live. It's special.

We've been along for the ride for the past three years, all leading up to today.

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