Lead story: Even though school is in session for some Chicago Public Schools and a tentative deal between the city and the teachers union was reached earlier this summer, a strike still looms: Chicago Teachers Union members picketed six schools yesterday and pickets will continue throughout the week. The pickets came after a 30-day "cooling off" period, implemented after July's tentative agreement between the union and the city, expired over the weekend.
Lead story: In case you didn’t hear, or if you did and needed to have a rage stroke again, Rep. Todd Akin, the GOP candidate for Senate in Missouri, implied that most women who are victims of “legitimate rape” don’t get pregnant.
Setting aside for the moment Akin’s use of the phrase “legitimate rape,” let’s look at what he said and why he’s wrong. In an interview KTVI-TV, Akin, who is a 60-plus-year-old white man and reportedly has never been raped, pregnant, or even has a uterus, said, “First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
Lead story: Mayor Daley was the Honey Badger of politics: He took what he wanted and didn’t care. And yesterday Mayor Rahm Emanuel endorsed one of Daley’s most controversial acts as mayor: the midnight bulldozing of Meigs Field. While Rahm didn’t come right out and say, “Yeah, I’m glad he bulldozed that place,” he didn’t really do much to say how it should have been done differently. When asked about the controversial way Daley went about claiming the airport, Rahm hemmed and hawed before voicing vocal support for turning the airport into a park. “The plan developed for this was the right thing to do,” he said.
Lead story: It was an extraordinary scene at Navy Pier Wednesday as thousands of young undocumented immigrants lined up to file paperwork to take advantage of President Obama’s new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy (essentially a watered-down version of the DREAM Act). The sheer number of youths on location was hard to fathom, but our own Andrew Gill captured the scene in the astounding video below:
Applicants do face risks, including revealing a lot of background information about themselves to the government, even if they get rejected. WBEZ's Chip Mitchell spoke to Sen.
Lead story: I should have known this was coming, what with the London Olympics being a success and all, but still, it rankles. There are still a few folks out there – even the usually clear-minded Eric Zorn – floating the idea that Chicago should re-bid for the Olympics in 2024. Since some people still don’t get it, let me break it down for you: NO. Stop trying to get the Olympics back in Chicago. It was Mayor Daley’s pipe dream; let it stay buried with all of the fake voters whose ghosts helped elect Machine candidates.
Lead story: Chicago music lovers are mourning the loss of jazz saxophonist Von Freeman, who died over the weekend at age 88. Freeman, who was admired by jazz greats like Miles Davis, went out of his way to avoid the spotlight; he rarely left Chicago even though his talents indicated he could have had a career alongside the likes of Davis or Louis Armstrong. Numerous obits have popped up in the hours since the announcement of his death. Whet Moser at Chicago Magazine has an excellent piece as does Chicago Tribune art critic Howard Reich.
Lead story: The big weekend story was Mitt Romney’s announcement of Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate. According to some pundits, the Ryan VP pick is a smart one, because it will help Romney appeal to younger voters — and because Ryan actually has opinions and stances on stuff. I, for one, am thrilled by the selection. It’s like the GOP trotted out a ticket of Francis and his father from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, except instead of Pee Wee’s bike they’re trying to steal birth control.
Ryan is also a noteworthy pick because he’s the first candidate from either major party born after January 1, 1970 (January 29, 1970 to be exact), making him the first Gen X candidate for the nation's second highest office. To be fair, he seems like the kind of guy who’d rock out to Toad The Wet Sprocket as opposed to Pearl Jam.
