CHICAGO CARLESS

(Photo: Hear ye, hear me.)

Today at 6:00 p.m., listen to my interview about the Chicago Transit Authority’s ill-considered holiday crackdown on homeless ‘L’ riders on WLUW 88.7-FM’s independent weekly news and features show, Outside the Loop RADIO.

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(Photo: Never underestimate the power of compassionate thinking.)

Yesterday, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless announced on its blog that the organization will “track any efforts to crack down on homeless people riding the CTA.” The statement highlighted and was in direct response to my recent opinion pieces here and on Huffington Post Chicago decrying recently installed Chicago Transit Authority signage barring “continuous riding” that the agency appears intent on applying only to homeless riders.

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(Photo: The Chicago Transit Authority’s holiday train––no room for the homeless? Credit: morydd.)

No, the Chicago Transit Authority has not yet budged from its thinly veiled discriminatory policy of throwing homeless people out of the ‘L’ system at terminals. Over the weekend in these pages and on my Huffington Post Chicago byline I posted a series of questions about the policy that I had submitted to CTA’s media relations department along with the seriously spin-meistered answers that I received back.

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(Photo: The Chicago Transit Authority wants you to believe that this sign is not aimed directly at the homeless. Really.)

[The following entry is cross-posted on my Huffington Post Chicago byline.]

During the past few weeks of waning daylight, waxing chill, and growing holiday spirit, the Chicago Transit Authority has been busy installing new signage at rail terminals on the CTA ‘L’. The message on the signs–an example of which appears above–is clear, and a bit ominous: they demand an additional fare from any rider who wants to depart the terminal in the opposite direction from which they arrived.

The reason for the signs is a lot murkier.

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There once was a dentist named Gary,
Whose teeth were so white it was scary,
But he had a Secret,
And he couldn’t keep it,
So now he has need to be wary.

So Gary Kimmel was sentenced to prison today and Marina City’s just fine without him. Since January 2006, there’s been neither rhyme nor reason to explain the actions of the former Marina City condo board member. After his arrest and indictment that month on charges of money laundering in connection with a national prostitution ring operated out of several of his Marina City condo units, stupefied corncob residents took to the age-honored task of trying to render reason through rime on the then-newly debuted Marina City Watchdog blog.

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[The following entry is cross-posted on my Huffington Post Chicago byline.]

I’ll cut to the chase: Macy’s State Street has cost-cut its Chicago Loop holiday windows and Christmas tree so deeply this year, I personally don’t believe it’s worth anyone’s time to bother to make that time-honored special trip to bring the family downtown to see them.

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(Photo: If only his campaign–and its aftermath–had been as gracious as his concession speech…)

Last night on CNN, Campbell Brown nailed John McCain’s campaign advisers to the cross, damned near literally. In her “Cutting Through the Bull” segment, she made one thing clear to GOP aides who have been set on publicly humiliating ex-Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin ever since Barack Obama’s historic win: they picked her–and more than that, they have only themselves to blame.

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