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Columns & Opinion, On Politics Feb 3, 2021
So outrageous

It’s hard to get outraged about the Steans-to-Cassidy handoff when Marjorie Taylor Greene’s on the scene.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: On Politics, Heather Steans, Kelly Cassidy, Adam Kinzinger, Harry Osterman, Robert Peters, Tribune, Lori Lightfoot, Chicago Teachers Union, Mayor Rahm, Lincoln Yards, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mary Miller, Lou Lang, Mark Kalish, Denyse Wang Stoneback, Luis Arroyo, Eva-Dina Delgado, Nidia Carranza, Carol Ronen

Columns & Opinion, On Politics Dec 2, 2020
Some things never change

Aldermen can vote to fire city workers but they better not vote against a TIF.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: On Politics, Lori Lightfoot, Harry Osterman, Tom Tunney, Brendan Reilly, Anthony Napolitano, Chicago City Council, Danny Solis, Ray Suarez, Rahm Emanuel, Richard M. Daley, TIF, tax increment financing, Lincoln Yards, Matt O’Shea

Columns & Opinion, On Politics Aug 21, 2019
Kicking ass since 1971

The Reader holds its first telethon this Friday.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: On Politics, Reader, Mick Dumke, Aimee Levitt, Kiki Yablon, Alison True, Reader, Mayor Daley, Olympic bid, Claude Walker, Harry Osterman, Kelly Cassidy, Carol Ronen, Art Berman, Michael Madigan, Bruce Rauner

News & Politics, Politics Jun 1, 2019
Lightfoot’s first council meeting excites but sheds little light on procedures

What’s going on in the City Council? Still hard to say!
- By Maya Dukmasova
- Tags: Politics, Lori Lightfoot, Mayor Lightfoot, City Council, Chicago City Council, Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, Fran Spielman, John Kass, Scott Waguespack, Ed Burke, Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Emma Mitts, Anthony Napolitano, Nicholas Sposato, Tom Tunney, Stephanie Coleman, Anna Valencia, George Blakemore, Michelle Harris, Brendan Reilly, Gilbert Villegas, Walter Burnett Jr., Matthew O’Shea, George Cardenas, Ray Lopez, Pat Dowell, Carrie Austin, Roderick Sawyer, Proco Joe Moreno, Howard Brookins Jr., Michael Scott Jr., James Cappleman, Danny Solis, Susan Sadlowski Garza, Patrick O’Connor, Chris Taliaferro, Ariel Reboyras, Joe Moore, Harry Osterman, Michele Smith, Daniel La Spata, Anthony Beale, Cleopatra Watson, Amy Abramson, Lincoln Yards

Blogs, Bleader Jun 6, 2018
In debate over civilian oversight of Chicago police, grassroots proposals win the day

Alderman Ariel Reboyras's two proposals were decried as toothless at the last of five community meetings on proposed police reform ordinances.
- By Maya Dukmasova
- Tags: News, News Bites, police accountability, police oversight, CPAC, Chicago Police Accountability Council, GAPA, Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Frank Chapman, Ariel Reboyras, Harry Osterman, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Amanda Shackelford, Gerald Reed, John Catanzara, Tom Tunney, Kevin Graham, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge Seven, FOP, police reform, Police Accountability Task Force, Rahm Emanuel, Roderick Sawyer, Good Kids Mad City, Southside Together Organizing for Power, Debra Silverstein, Community Renewal Society, Drea Hall, Ugo Okere, Andre Vasquez

Blogs, Bleader May 7, 2018
Are 16-year-olds smart enough to vote? Vote16 Illinois thinks so

Some students are pushing Chicago and Illinois to follow the lead of other places that lowered the voting age recently.
- By Ashley Mizuo
- Tags: News, Politics, Vote16, Kelly Cassidy, John Pearl, Harry Osterman, Vote16 Illinois, Chicago, Willmette, Chicago City Council, Illinois Constitution, Illinois House of Representatives, Illinois, voting, voting age, Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, Wiley Developmental Science, American Psychological Association, Tacoma Park, Huntsville, Greenbelt, Berkeley

Film, Fall Preview Sep 13, 2017
Chicago Filmmakers and the Ridge Firehouse: A match made in heaven

The local indie cinema organization throws open the doors on its new home in October.
- By Ben Sachs
- Tags: Fall Preview, Chicago Filmmakers, Edgewater Chicago, James Bond projectionist, Brenda Webb, Harry Osterman, Floyd Webb, Black World Cinema, Chatham 14 Chicago, Uptown Chicago, BlackLight Film Festival, Adele Friedman, Jon Jost, Senn High School, filmmaking

Blogs, Bleader Nov 26, 2014
Let's give thanks for aldermanic elections

Look on the bright side, Chicago—the upcoming aldermanic elections give at least some of you a chance to undo the mistake you made in the last election.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: Politics, News, Chicago city council, aldermen, Harry Osterman, Ed Burke, Michael Madigan, Brendan Reilly, Patrick O'Connor, 42nd ward, 14th ward, 13th ward, 48th ward, Edgewater, Michael Kasper, Green Party, Jason Farbman, Chicago, Leonid Brezhnev, Dianne Daleiden

Blogs, Bleader Jun 27, 2014
The politics behind Chicago's garbage bins

The City Council passed a new fee on Dumpsters—without knowing who's going to pay, who's going to profit, and whose idea it was.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Eco, Politics, News, Leslie Hairston, Ed Burke, Brendan Reilly, Pat Dowell, Michele Smith, John Arena, Harry Osterman, Willie Cochran, Robert Fioretti, Ray Suarez, Michael Kasper, Michael Madigan, Rahm Emanuel, mayor, Chicago, City Council, Streets and Sanitation, recycling, garbage, waste, dumpsters, taxes, fines, fees, Richard M. Daley, City Hall, garbage collection, government transparency, radio-frequency identification, RDIF

Blogs, Bleader Dec 17, 2013
Chicago Filmmakers may have a new home in an old firehouse

The longtime nonprofit organization has been named the finalist to redevelop and occupy a vacant firehouse in Edgewater.
- By Ben Sachs
- Tags: Architecture, Film, News, Chicago Filmmakers, Argyle E. Robinson, Brenda Webb, Edgewater, Harry Osterman

Blogs, Bleader Jun 5, 2013
City Council approves Rahm's new parking meter deal

Chicago's parking meter money will continue to flow to private investors.
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Politics, News, aldermen, Ameya Pawar, Brendan Reilly, Chicago City Council, Chicago Parking Meters, City Council, Debra Silverstein, Harry Osterman, Joe Moore, John Arena, Leslie Hairston, mayor, Michele Smith, parking meter deal, parking meter lease deal, parking meters, privatization, Rahm Emanuel, Rey Colon, Richard M. Daley, Scott Waguespack, Tom Tunney, Walter Burnett Jr.

Columns & Opinion, On Politics Mar 12, 2013
Charities drowning in city water fees

Mayor Emanuel sticks it to the poor to collect a few million bucks a year.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: Ben Joravsky on Politics, Diana Faust, Robert Fioretti, revenue, budget committee, Carrie Austin, Richard Mell, Rey Colon, parking meters, school closings, Misericordia, Rosemary Connelly, water bill exemption, water bills, water fees, Timothy Cullerton, Pat O'Connor, Margaret Laurino, Franciscan Outreach, Will Burns, Anthony Beale, George Cardenas, Marty Quinn, Michele Smith, Harry Osterman, Debra Silverstein, Danny Solis, Ray Suarez, Matthew O'Shea, charities, homeless shelters, homelessness, Rahm Emanuel, bills, fees, city services, water, nonprofits, Richard M. Daley, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Kevin Ford, St. Paul Church of God in Christ, churches, Meigs Field, City Council

Blogs, Bleader Nov 3, 2012
What a robbery in Edgewater says about the police staffing debate, part two of two

A close look at a jewelry store stickup and the politics of police deployment, part two of two
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Crime, Politics, Clout City, News, Edgewater, Bryn Mawr, Bryn Mawr jewelry company, drugs, gangs, violence, war on drugs, Chicago Police Department, Rahm Emanuel, Garry McCarthy, community policing, CAPS, murder, homicide, shootings, budget, policing, Chicago city budget, robbery, police staffing, police deployment, Harry Osterman, Lucy Moy-Bartosik, 20th District, 48th Ward

News & Politics, Feature Jan 26, 2012
Bedbugs: not dead yet

Bedbug infestations are on the rise in Chicago—and the number of complaints barely scratches the surface
- By Julia Thiel
- Tags: Feature, bedbugs, pests, infestation, bedbug home remedies, insecticide, landlords, Harry Osterman, Illinois Department of Public Health

News & Politics, Politics May 6, 2010
Check the Thermostat in Hell

Alderman Mell invites a certain Reader columnist to come out and talk TIFs.
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: Politics, Richard Mell, Dick Mell, 33rd Ward, zoning advisory board, Monique Bond, CPS, Chicago Public Schools, City Hall, TIF, tax-increment financing, Deb Mell, The ABC's of TIF, Robert Fioretti, Mayor Daley, Harry Osterman, John Fritchey, Vilma Colom, 35th Ward, 2nd Ward, Rod Blagojevich, Department of Community Development

News & Politics, Feature Dec 3, 2009
Alexi's Albatross

Can Alexi Giannoulias shake off the problems plaguing his family's bank to win Obama's old Senate seat?
- By Mick Dumke
- Tags: Feature, Alexi Giannoulias, Jan Schakowsky, Larry Suffredin, Barack Obama, Broadway Bank, David Hoffman, Chicago Urban League, Cheryle Robinson Jackson, Jacob Meister, Mark Kirk, Alexis Giannoulias, Anna Giannoulias, University of Chicago, Boston University, Tulane University, Demetris Giannoulias, Michael Iannaccone, MDI Investments, Crain's Chicago Business, most profitable bank, construction and development, C&D, brokered deposits, Lev Stratievsky, Boris Stratievsky, Tony Rezko, Michael Giorango, Loren Billings, Museum of Holography, Terrence Kasprzak, Peter Fitzgerald, George Ryan, Dan Hynes, Tom Hynes, Blair Hull, Gery Chico, Maria Pappas, Sean Conlon, Jim Houlihan, Jesse White, Walter Burnett, Harry Osterman, Dan Burke, John Stroger, Forrest Claypool, Roberto Maldonado, Joe Berrios, Burt Natarus, Manny Flores, Judy Baar Topinka, Michael Madigan, Paul Mangieri, Jesse Jackson Jr., Richard Mell, Konstantinos Boulis, Spiros Naos, Christine Radogno, Rod Blagojevich, Bright Start, Illinois college savnigs fund, OppenheimerFunds, Green Rewards, Cash For Clunkers, Mayor Daley, Kyle Orton, Wells Fargo, Hartmarx, Mark Beaubien, Lisa Madigan, Roland Burris, Tom Dart, Bill Daley, Christopher Kennedy, Jerry Morrison, SEIU, Service Employees International Union, FDIC, Delmarie Cobb, mortgage lenders

News & Politics, Politics Nov 19, 2009
Transparency in Action

How a bill intended to expand the state Freedom of Information Act was bastardized to expand the mayor's shadow budget
- By Ben Joravsky
- Tags: Politics, Mayor Daley, TIFs, TIF, tax-increment financing, FOIA, Freedom of Information Act, Michael Madigan, John Cullerton, Madden/Wells, Roosevelt/Racine, Stony Island/Burnside, Englewood Mall, Kevin Joyce, Don Harmon, Marlow Colvin, Bill Brady, Kirk Dillard, Harry Osterman, John Fritchey, Mike Quigley, Chicago Housing Authority, Finkl Steel, Englewood Mall, United Airlines, David Orr, Cook County Treasurer Bobby Rush, Angela Caputo, Progress Illinois

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It’s hard to get outraged about the Steans-to-Cassidy handoff when Marjorie Taylor Greene’s on the scene.

Aldermen can vote to fire city workers but they better not vote against a TIF.

The Reader holds its first telethon this Friday.

What’s going on in the City Council? Still hard to say!

Alderman Ariel Reboyras's two proposals were decried as toothless at the last of five community meetings on proposed police reform ordinances.

Some students are pushing Chicago and Illinois to follow the lead of other places that lowered the voting age recently.

The local indie cinema organization throws open the doors on its new home in October.

Look on the bright side, Chicago—the upcoming aldermanic elections give at least some of you a chance to undo the mistake you made in the last election.

The City Council passed a new fee on Dumpsters—without knowing who's going to pay, who's going to profit, and whose idea it was.

The longtime nonprofit organization has been named the finalist to redevelop and occupy a vacant firehouse in Edgewater.

Chicago's parking meter money will continue to flow to private investors.

Mayor Emanuel sticks it to the poor to collect a few million bucks a year.

A close look at a jewelry store stickup and the politics of police deployment, part two of two

Bedbug infestations are on the rise in Chicago—and the number of complaints barely scratches the surface

Alderman Mell invites a certain Reader columnist to come out and talk TIFs.

Can Alexi Giannoulias shake off the problems plaguing his family's bank to win Obama's old Senate seat?

How a bill intended to expand the state Freedom of Information Act was bastardized to expand the mayor's shadow budget

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