Times Square Gossip

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP Story By: Kathy Posner **** Kathy Posner Kathy Posner's View My friend Linda, whose head spins and she spits green soup when I write a mathematical blog, loves when I post a story about me. This blog is for her. I have lived a very luxurious life in a million dollar plus condominium on Michigan Ave. I recently sold the condo because I did not need such a huge home with four bathrooms! It is just me performing daily ablutions, so why did I need four different spots to squat? I decided that I would now rent. It is incredible how much less expensive renting is than owning, but that story would have to include mathematical equations which would only upset Linda. So just trust me on that statement. After only two days in my new apartment on Wacker Drive, which has a magnificent view of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, I am discovering how ”real people” live. At my old building I think there were more service people than reside...

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP Kathy Posner Found Faisal Khan But Can You? **** Disgruntled Kathy Posner I have been writing about Chicago Legislative Inspector General Faisal Khan since his office was created last year. In April I decided to try contacting Mr. Khan and could not find him anywhere. No City of Chicago resource that I called or contacted had any idea who he was. I wrote about it on April 4th in a blog called, “What Happened to Chicago’s Legislative Inspector General?” Mr. Khan read my blog and contacted me. I was very impressed with his credentials and have great hopes that he will do a fantastic job in fulfilling his mission. The picture on this blog is a copy of a sign a friend recently gave me telling me that she had heard it was supposed to be posted in all Aldermanic offices. My first thought was I wonder if anyone posted the sign and my second thought was does the City of Chicago now know who Faisal Khan is?

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP Story By: Kathy Posner ****  United States Supreme Court Washington Last week most people were eagerly awaiting the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacre and totally missed the Court’s 6-3 decision that the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 was unconstitutional. That Act made it a federal crime to falsely claim or wear unearned military medals. The wording of the 69 page decision seems to make lying legal! BACKGROUND: The case, United States vs. Alvarez, was about Xavier Alvarez, a California Water Board member, who had falsely claimed to have received the Medal of Honor. In 2007 Alvarez pled guilty but reserved the right to appeal. His sentence was three years probation, a $5,000 fine and community service. On appeal, his lawyer argued that the Stolen Valor Act was unconstitutional because it violates a person’s right to lie. "The Stolen Valor Act criminalizes pure speech in the form of bare falsity, a mere telling of a lie...

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP Story By: Kathy Posner **** Groupon In November of 2009, I wrote a blog about the financial woes of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) At the time I quoted Jon Hilkevitch of the Chicago Tribune, who had written, “The average fare collected by the CTA is 98 cents, according to the transit agency. It takes into account full-priced fares, reduced fares, passes and free rides. The cost for the CTA to provide service averages $7 per ride, including some capital costs such as maintenance and some system improvements. The cost per ride jumps to $9.90 if major projects such as the ongoing Brown Line capacity-expansion project or the planned extensions of the Red, Orange and Yellow/Skokie Swift Lines are factored in, CTA officials said.” Since costs have not gone down for the CTA in the past three years, I feel safe in using those per ride numbers in my upcoming analysis of the CTA’S latest deal with Groupon. Followers of this bl...

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP ****  Engineer Kathy Posner McDonough Associates, Inc. describes itself on its web site as “a full-service engineering/architectural firm with a professional and technical staff of approximately 135 employees.” But on the site’s link to “Latest News” the stories about the company’s recent travails are not included. Last week, Sun-Times reporters Chris Fusco and Tina Sfondeles, chronicled the story of how McDonough Associates had blatantly over-billed the Illinois Department of Transportation. They pointed out that a July 2011 auditor’s report had “… questioned why McDonough employee bonuses, payments of dividends to the firm’s shareholders and other expenses were recorded as “overhead costs” even though those expenses appeared to have little to do with the work performed. Those expenses included “dinners, golf outings, Christmas luncheons and professional baseball and basketball game excursions involving IDOT employees.” Bil...

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP **** Kathy Posner   As the summer months heat up, so do tempers and the number of violent gun related killings. On Saturday, June23rd, Chicago will hold its annual summer gun turn-in program - "Don't Kill A Dream, Save A Life." The point of the program is for citizens to turn in any illegal weapons they have with no questions asked. Thousands of guns are turned in every year—in exchange for gift cards. Firearms are worth a $100.00 gift card and replica and BB-guns may be turned in for a $10.00 gift card. Chicago has long believed in the value of Gun Turn-In days, a program run by the Chicago Police Department’s Community Policing Office and faith and community-based organizations, to decrease the number of guns on the streets Without getting into a debate on gun control, which seemingly has no unanimously agreed upon answer, there is still debate as to whether this voluntary program is affordable to the Police Depa...

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP ****  Kathy Posner Chicago is known not only for crooked politicians but also for a section on prestigious north Michigan Avenue known as the Magnificent Mile. The 12 block stretch contains the city’s largest shopping district with approximately 3,100,000 sq. ft. of retails shops (460 stores), 275 restaurants, 51 hotels and many cultural attractions. It is estimated that approximately 22,000,000 people visit the area annually. To paraphrase bank robber Willie Sutton, “That’s where the money is.” So besides shoppers and tourists, the area is a Mecca for panhandlers. But are they allowed to beg there? Is it their space also? First some history. In 1991 the city enacted a panhandling ordinance. In 2001, on behalf of three beggars who had been arrested or ticketed over the years, Mark Weinberg, an attorney who represented the panhandlers, filed a suit in defense of their First Amendment right to beg. He later got the suit certifi...

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP ****  Zip Car My condo building owns the garage on which the building sits. Unit owners can not own individual spaces but our monthly parking price is less than what we charge non-resident parkers. Because we allow hourly parking also, the garage is a revenue stream for the building in the same way parking in city-owned lots is revenue for the city. But there are some problems in both cases when outside deals are made. In my building, if a non-resident wants a reserved space the fee is $389/month. But the Board made a deal with Zip Car that they get two spaces at only $220/month per space. That is a yearly loss of revenue of $4,056 to the buildings coffers. The Board’s explanation for this seemingly “inside deal” was that it made it convenient for residents who don’t have their own personal car to have easy access to the automobile sharing service Zip Car provides. So those people who do own a car and have to pay a higher parking price...

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP ****  Smug Kathy Posner Sue Kupcinet, president of the Kathy Posner Fan Club and loyal, daily blog reader, asked me to do a follow up on some stories I wrote about. Because she performs many tasks as President of the Club, how could I turn down this simple request? If I did, she might stop answering all the fan mail! So this blog is for Sue. LISA AND THE SALON On Wednesday, March 28th, I wrote about how my friend Lisa was having a problem redeeming a gift certificate at a beauty salon. This seemingly innocent posting had nothing to do with important worldly issues of the day, yet it received 42 comments-- more comments than any other posting in the three year history of the blog. It was a simple story. Lisa had received a $200 gift certificate as a present but when she tried to make an appointment at the salon, they would not make one without her giving a credit card number over the phone. Lisa did not want to do ...

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP **** Chicago's Kathy Posner First some background for those not from Chicago. In 2007, the City of Chicago introduced the Blue Cart Recycling program. This is a program for people who live in a single-family home, 2-flat building or 3 or 4-flat building. According to the web site of the Department of Streets and Sanitation,” Recyclables are picked up and transported in specially designated recycling trucks to avoid contamination with regular garbage. Materials are taken to a city-approved recycling center where they are sorted into separate materials, called commodities, then baled or packaged for delivery to manufacturers who reprocess or reuse the materials to make new products.” Materials that are accepted by the program are: •Glass: jars and bottles,•Metal: cans, aluminum foil and pie tins,•Paper and Cardboard (flattened): Cereal boxes, paper towel rolls, cardboard (flatten all boxes), junk mail, magazines, catalogs, telephone books, paper bags, off...

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP **** Kathy Posner Last November I wrote a blog about how the Chicago City Council had finally hired a Chicago Legislative Inspector General, 18 months after the ordinance to create the job was passed. Because the current Chicago Inspector General (IG) is banned by ordinance to investigate Aldermen, a new office had to be created just for the purpose of investigating allegations of misconduct by Aldermen, Aldermanic staff or members of the City Council. Selected for the job was Faisal Khan, a former New York City attorney who had been Inspector General at New York City Department of Investigation. I wondered what has happened to him since last November when a friend recently asked me if I knew how to reach Khan. Remember that the Chicago City Council only appropriated $60,000 to run the office. Alderman Joe Moore (D-49) said at the time that the part-time salary and no staff authorized for the new inspector general in the 2012 budget supports his claim that...

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP **** Nothing Plastic About Kathy Posner On May 11th last year, I wrote a blog “Confessions of a Plastic-A-Holic,” where I highlighted my love affair with plastic bags and why I was upset about the potential plastic bag ban in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois. Not that I ever go to Evanston, but since it is so close to my hometown, I was afraid the potential ban could spill over the border. Some cities currently have plastic bag ban ordinances and I was excited to discover that the measure passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is being challenged in court. An association called, “Save the Plastic Bag Coalition,” filed a motion last week in which, “Petitioner seeks a judgment and writ of mandate to set aside, void, annul, and repeal San Francisco Ordinance No. 33-12 (the “Ordinance”). The Ordinance bans plastic carryout bags (“plastic bags”) at retail stores, restaurants, and other food establishments, and requires that consumers pay a 1...

Baby Sitting Kathy Posner My Mother loved me and my sister very much, but she was not fond of other people’s children. She called young people “fat squabs.” I never had any children. I never wanted to have any children because they would have gotten in the way of my life. I always wished my sister had decided to have children so I could have spoiled them and been the eccentric Aunt Kathy. I find it enjoyable visiting with friend’s offspring, but I am always glad when they go away. I am good for an hour tops with those less than 21 years of age—with a few exceptions. Given my history of not caring about little people, it is obvious that I probably was never hired to baby sit in my younger years. I wrote about my feelings for children last November so none of this should come as a surprise to anyone. Up until now, the only time I have been totally in control of a baby is when, years ago, my friend Stephanie Dillard had a doctor’s appointment at Northwestern Hospital, close to my hom...

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP Story By: Kathy Posner **** Mancow Muller With Wallace “Gator” Bradley Wallace "Gator" Bradley growing up in the Racine Courts housing projects in Chicago’s Southside in the 1960’s did not have much of a chance for advancement in life except for what the street gangs could offer. Today is his 60th birthday and I wanted to share his story. Coincidentally it is also the date of my Mother’s birthday. She passed 36 years ago; the two had totally disparate lives. Without her, there would no me. Odd that he and I are friends coming from such different backgrounds. The young man became a member of Chicago’s largest street gang, the Gangster Disciples (GDs), founded by his childhood friend Larry Hoover. He rose through the ranks, becoming an enforcer, and in 1975 he was convicted of armed robbery. Sentenced to Stateville Penitentiary in Joliet, he was reunited with Hoover, who was serving a 150- to 200-year sentence for the 1973 murder of William Young, w...

**** THE CHICAGO GOSSIP Story By: Kathy Posner **** Chicago Macy's “NO” TO “HAPPY NEW YEAR’S” Just because one turns the calendar on a page, and the year date advances, does not make one bit of a difference in my life. There is no distinction for me between December 31st and January 1st and I am sick of people saying, “Happy New Year” as if one day will vary from the next having anything to do with the date. I turned off my cell phone on the evening of December 31st so I would not be awakened by all the stupid, “Happy New Year’s” texts that started coming in right after midnight. When I looked at them the next morning, they were group texts, so they were meaningless and had nothing to do with me personally. All day on the first, I was forced to respond to people chanting, “Happy New Year’s” until I wanted to start screaming! I was forced to respond with greetings in return rather than seem like Andy Rooney ranting at the end of a “Sixty Minutes” episode. Which, of course, will ...