CHICAGO CARLESS

(Photo: Ding! Dong! The witch is dead! Original Credits: Brendan Reilly–Reilly for Chicago; Burt Natarus–The Haymarket Group, as digitized by swanksalot.)

In one of the most sudden political upsets in modern Chicago history, after 36 years on the city council, last night Burt Natarus was rejected by the voters of the 42nd Ward, the Ward synonymous with downtown Chicago (and the Ward I call home). Challenger Brendan Reilly, a man who wasn’t yet born when Natarus first took office and a virtual unknown to most Ward residents, won the 42nd Ward in stunning fashion, with 55 percent of the vote.

[Read more →]

(Photo: Share a car, save the planet. Credit: Zipcar.)

Last night, February 26, the folks over at Zipcar, Chicago’s for-profit but far better and very downtown-friendly car-sharing company (sorry, I-Go), hosted a movie benefit at the opulent, old Music Box Theatre movie palace on Southport Avenue.

[Read more →]

(Photo: It’s not just a barista thing; you will understand. Credit: Starbucks Union.)

Today, a momentary hop back onto the labor movement bandwagon to talk about the Employee Free Choice Act, and why you should care about it.

[Read more →]

(Photo: A loaded question if ever there was one.)

This evening, WTTW’s Chicago Tonight welcomed 42nd Ward aldermanic candidates incumbent Burt Natarus and challenger Brendan Reilly (apparently the Internet-challenged Mike Liebert dropped out of the race). Reilly repeated his criticism that Natarus governs the Ward at the heart of downtown Chicago for the developers who build here rather than for the people who live here.

[Read more →]

(Photo: “I don’t cause commotions. I am one.” — Natarus as Wicked’s Elphaba. Credit: The Haymarket Group, as digitized by swanksalot [thanks, Seth!].)

Because I think he’s a liar. Probably my top reason why I will not vote for Chicago’s incumbent 42nd Ward alderman, Burt Natarus, in the municipal election on February 27.

[Read more →]

(Original Photo Credit: Museum of Broadcast Communications.)

Last week, the Chicago Tribune’s Eric Zorn blogged about the continuing trials and tribulations of building the new River North home of Chicago’s Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC). The museum, founded in 1987 and one of only three broadcast museums in the country, left its longtime home at the Chicago Cultural Center in 2003 in preparation for moving into swanky new digs next to Marina City at the corner of State and Kinzie streets. Unfortunately, as E-Z Writer tells it, the museum building just can’t seem to finish getting built.

[Read more →]

(Photo: You live here, you should know better. Credit: Vince-Vaugn.com.)

Just how far is the City of Chicago willing to sell itself out to movie filming? A closed street here and there to accommodate a movie shoot is one thing. Allowing a studio to close almost every single bridge between the Loop and the Near North Side on a Friday evening is something else entirely.

[Read more →]