Before we start, the pledge drive is on!‚ I had inquired about a splash page for this blog so that you would get a nice big ad for the drive before you read. But I was informed that won’t happen. So I’ve decided just to skirt the system and post a pledge spot. You must play it on the honor system before you read any more.‚ Be cool. LINK Great, now we can proceed.
WILLIS TOWER? ALL HANDS ON DECK! So the news is breaking that the Sears Tower will be renamed “Willis Tower”. Don’t worry, our crack blog team is on it. We have installed the newest photoshop, called in freelance joke writers and are scouring google images for the most irreverent coverage possible. Please check back or send us your awesome jokes. TIP FOR THE YOUNG INVESTIGATIVE/INTERPRETIVE REPORTER Looking for a scoop? The Obama critics are all over the President for more wasteful spending and pet projects with the current round of earmarks. Capitolfax has a list of the Illinois Congressional pork projects. There are several sites and information on earmarks and pork projects dating back to the last administration. I’m willing to bet that earmarks were popular back then as well. Maybe just google Dennis Hastert? When you win your Pulitzer, just buy me a sandwich. INSPECTOR GADGET LOVES CITY HALL Alderman Joe Moore wants an Inspector General. This story came out earlier in the week, but the best part has to be the colorful opposition from Alderman Bernie Stone. Stone gave City Room Editor Sam Hudzik gold with a Jesus/Moses quote (even though he wouldn’t go on tape) and then the Reader’s Mick Dumke has a fantastic story about an elevator ride with Stone, complete with profanity. FUTUREGEN: STORY OF YEAR I can’t believe this story and why it’s not the front page story in the NY Times. Seriously - a government miscalculation leads to a major Clean Coal plant being scrapped in this struggling town? I remember listening to this story when Mattoon lost the bid and the feeling was that the town screwed up by underestimating how much it would cost. And then the Government comes out yesterday and says that they forgot to carry the one?
