Top story:‚ Don’t worry Rahm, this always happens when you do a listening tour. Don’t look so put out. 
These pictures were snapped by former WBEZ intern Bill Healy, who is becoming the Where’s Waldo of Chicago news (I saw Bill in the background of several shots during the Blago trial). But he got this great photo of a woman in Pilsen blocking Rahm’s motorcade until Rahm would talk to her about the Whiittier elementary sit-in. He popped out and got her number. It would be something else if Rahm did jump in on the CPS/Whittier saga, as we are hitting three weeks of protest. CPS wants to raze it, go with a new green space for the children. Whittier parents and community members want the building to stand and make it a library. CPS says the building is unsafe. Whittier parents say it needs to be renovated and they believe TIF funds were misspent on other projects, after promises to be used to renovate their school and fieldhouse. This is a crazy story and last night, CPS one-upped the drama by shutting off the gas to the building. According to CPS spokesperson Monique Bond (via Sun-Times), they are preparing the building for demolition. What do the parents want? I don’t need to quote them from other sources, since Anne Elizabeth Moore has been down at the scene for the last 3 weeks collecting interviews for her Revision Street: America blog. B story: I can’t tell which I like better: Hinz’s column about how republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady is way off on his budget plan or the fact that Rahm Emanuel’s chief of staff is from Pennsylvania, with no ties to Chicago. It’s a toss-up. C story: I’m not past posting corrections. Yesterday, old friend and former colleague Andrew Patner corrected me on my Muti blurb. He wrote in the comments:
It’s A-OK if Muti never did a concert in Symphony Hall -- Symphony Hall is in Boston! So far this season, from September 23 through October 1, before his illness, he HAS done *six* concerts at *Orchestra Hall* which is on South Michigan Avenue at Adams in Chicago, Illinois. And I was unaware that the CSO had ever been *off* off the map.
So mark it - even super-human snarky columnists make mistakes. What did I learn? I learned not to ask co-workers random questions over the cube. And I’ve decided Andrew can have this beat. I’m done with it! Muti, it was fun while it lasted. D story:‚ Confusing traffic jargon? Meet Sarah Jindra. Sarah put together a great FAQ on traffic reports. Must read. And if it isn’t in there, you can find more at Gapers Block, who better be the authority based on their name. Weather: It was so cold this morning that I pulled out the winter jacket. And I had that great once-a-season moment where I reached in the pocket and fumbled around with a piece of my history.‚ What did I have in my pocket back in spring of 2010? A pair of socks. Weird. Sports: Forget Cutler and the Bulls for a moment - if the Northwestern Wildcats continue their winning ways this weekend against Purdue, we will have a 6-0 football team in Chicago. After Purdue, they play games against Iowa, Penn State and Wisconsin. All tough, no doubt. But a few wins and a little buzz and we might have a contender in Evanston. As someone who was working here when Northwestern and Darnell Autry took us for a wild ride in the mid-90s, let me tell you that a winning Wildcat team is fun. Kicker: 10/10/10. Amy is following up on her amazingly successful 8/8/08 event at Millennium Park with another event on 10/10/10 at 10:10pm. It’s celebrating lovely. It’s a great concept. If you concentrate on the idea of ‘lovely’ in your life, you will start to see so many more lovely things around you. Amy’s event will be not only well-attended, but it will be attended by none other than internet superstar John Green. Green was a former WBEZ contributor (what up 848!) and now has broken through by writing YA titles and creating a massive following on YouTube and other social media sites. In other words, John blown up.
