Saturday Open Thread

Enjoy this weekend with family and friends.

This week, the President visited Lehman College in New York City for the launch of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, taped an episode of the Late Show with David Letterman, hosted a Cinco de Mayo celebration, announced his nominee for the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and presented the 2014 Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. That’s May 1st to May 7th, or “Viva Los Estados Unidos!”

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25 Responses to Saturday Open Thread

  1. rikyrah says:

    I was so sad to hear this. I spent many an hour listening to him on my radio.

    RIP, Ty.

    …………………………………..

    Ty Wansley 1951-2015

    posted on May 7, 2015 at 9:00 am by Robert Feder

    Ty Wansley, a Chicago radio news anchor and talk show host for more than 35 years, was being remembered Thursday as a man who was passionate about his profession and the community he served.

    Wansley, 63, died Wednesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was admitted last week for treatment of congestive heart failure and related illness, according to his brother, Larry Wansley. He previously suffered a series of small strokes.

    “He really was a good guy, a caring guy who touched so many people,” his brother recalled.

    Wansley most recently was news and information director for three iHeartMedia stations — urban contemporary WGCI FM 107.5, urban adult-contemporary WVAZ FM 102.7 and gospel WGRB AM 1390. He anchored morning news on V103 and WGRB and hosted two weekend public affairs shows, “Chicago Insight” on WGCI and WGRB, and “Chicago Speaks” on V103.

    “Chicago lost a legend in Ty Wansley,” Matt Scarano, president of iHeartMedia Chicago, said in a statement. “Over his vast career, Ty interviewed community leaders, mayors, congressmen, governors, and presidents with ease. He most enjoyed his interaction with listeners and the community. We will all miss his passion, wit, and friendship.”

    http://www.robertfeder.com/2015/05/07/ty-wansley-1951-2015/

  2. rikyrah says:

    State pension ruling deals Emanuel triple blow on Chicago’s finances

    by Hal Dardick, John Byrne and Bill Ruthhart
    Chicago Tribune

    The Illinois Supreme Court’s decision to toss out the state’s pension reform law dealt a triple blow to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s difficult task of shoring up Chicago’s shaky finances.

    First, the ruling could nullify pension deals the mayor struck last year with unions representing the city’s laborers and municipal workers, sending Emanuel back to the bargaining table.

    Second, the decision weakens Emanuel’s negotiating position as he seeks pension concessions from Chicago police and fire unions, since the court made clear that public employees’ retirement benefits cannot be diminished once they’ve been granted.

    And third, the ruling adds another major problem to a stack that’s already piled high at the Capitol, leaving less political oxygen as Emanuel tries to breathe life into his wish list of multiple fixes for City Hall and Chicago Public Schools pensions that includes a city-owned casino.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-illinois-pension-rahm-emanuel-met-20150508-story.html#page=1

    • majiir says:

      I’m a public retiree. I, and my fellow retirees, held up our end of our state’s (GA) agreement. Whenever I see/hear any politician hating on public employees and retirees and trying to blame them for budget shortfalls, I get very angry. Public employees and retirees aren’t the cause of these budget problems. The cause is related to lawmakers not fulfilling their part of the bargain by “shorting” state deposits to pension funds and by using them to fix budget problems caused by their own ineptitude. Thanks for sharing this article, rikyrah! I’m glad to hear that the IL Supreme Ct. has refused to go along with your governor and Emanuel’s plan to cheat public employees and retirees out of what they deserve. They have done what they agreed to do, and it’s not their fault that citizens elected these sh*tty politicians who can’t do basic mathematics and budgeting.

      • Ametia says:

        majirr, it’s the same thing for SOCIAL SECURITY too., We worked for all those years and paid into the system. then have these nutcases get elected by other nutcases tell us they’e going to do away with it, that there isn’t enough.

        fuck that!

  3. rikyrah says:

    uh huh

    uh huh

    …………………

    Former CPS CEO Brizard: SUPES owner ‘instrumental’ in bringing Byrd-Bennett to district

    Posted: 05/07/2015, 08:41pm |

    Lauren FitzPatrick, Dan Mihalopoulos and Fran Spielman

    The man whose company is at the center of a federal investigation of Chicago Public Schools was “instrumental” in bringing Barbara Byrd-Bennett into a high-ranking job at CPS and in her promotion as CEO there, according to former CPS chief Jean-Claude Brizard.

    Gary Solomon, an owner of SUPES Academy, whose no-bid $20.5 million CPS contract is under investigation, played a significant role in recommending Byrd-Bennett for the job of chief education officer and later to replace Brizard as CEO in 2012, Brizard said in an interview Thursday.

    “Gary was instrumental in bringing her name forward,” Brizard said.

    The revelation from Brizard shows in the most detail yet how close Byrd-Bennett and Solomon were professionally. Byrd-Bennett worked for two of Solomon’s companies, including SUPES. She then joined CPS as a top official under Brizard and replaced him.

    Byrd-Bennett first arrived at CPS as SUPES’ lead coach for high-ranking administrator Noemi Donoso, said Brizard, who left CPS in the wake of Chicago’s historic 2012 teachers strike.

    http://chicago.suntimes.com/education/7/71/587670/former-cps-ceo-brizard-supes-owner-instrumental-getting-byrd-bennett-district

  4. rikyrah says:

    it was unanimous

    ………………………………..

    Illinois Supreme Court rules landmark pension law unconstitutional

    The Illinois Supreme Court on Friday unanimously ruled unconstitutional a landmark state pension law that aimed to scale back government worker benefits to erase a massive $105 billion retirement system debt, sending lawmakers and the new governor back to the negotiating table to try to solve the pressing financial issue.

    The ruling also reverberated at City Hall, imperiling a similar law Mayor Rahm Emanuel pushed through to shore up two of the four city worker retirement funds and making it more difficult for him to find fixes for police, fire and teacher pension funds that are short billions of dollars.

    At issue was a December 2013 state law signed by then-Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn that stopped automatic, compounded yearly cost-of-living increases for retirees, extended retirement ages for current state workers and limited the amount of salary used to calculate pension benefits.

    Employee unions sued, arguing that the state constitution holds that pension benefits amount to a contractual agreement and once they’re bestowed, they cannot be “diminished or impaired.” A circuit court judge in Springfield agreed with that assessment in November. State government appealed that decision to the Illinois Supreme Court, arguing that economic necessity forced curbing retirement benefits.

    On Friday the justices rejected that argument, saying the law clearly violated what’s known as the pension protection clause in the 1970 Illinois Constitution.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-illinois-pension-law-court-ruling-20150508-story.html#page=1

  5. Ametia says:

    FLOTUS Tuskegee University Commencement thread is up!

  6. Ametia says:

    WireAP_3e00151dd07e40f2a15dec86e720fcd5_16x9_992
    Gary Young, owner of Young’s Primtime Sports, in Watertown, S.D., poses for a portrait in a “Saved the Best for Last” t-shirt he made on Wednesday, May 6, 2015, ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit on Friday. Obama checks the 50th state off his.

  7. rikyrah says:

    Michael Hargrove @MichaelHargrov1

    Starting to believe a lot of Hillary supporters thinks they are running against Pres. Obama again. If so, that’s gonna be losing strategy.

  8. rikyrah says:

    get da phuq outta here.

    Freddie Gray wasn’t shooting anyone. You didn’t even have a charge for Freddie Gray.

    So, get.da.phuq.outta.here.with.this.bullshyt.

    ……………….

    Alec MacGillis ✔ @AlecMacGillis
    Here we go. As shootings surge in #Baltimore “officers are expressing reluctance to go after crime” bc of Gray case: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-ci-police-prosecutors-morale-20150508-story.html#page=1

  9. rikyrah says:

    Boston Mayor Walsh seeks 1,000 mentors for young men
    By Meghan E. Irons GLOBE STAFF MAY 09, 2015

    Mayor Martin J. Walsh wants to recruit 1,000 mentors to help boost high school graduation rates among young black and Hispanic men, prepare them for college and careers, and curb the violence that sometimes derails their paths to success.

    Walsh is set to formally outline his recommendations Saturday as part of the city’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. It reflects a national movement launched by President Obama to reduce barriers to education, employment, and engagement in society for African-American and Hispanic boys and young men.

    “Making systematic reforms . . . requires collective willpower,’’ Walsh wrote in a letter to Obama reviewed by the Globe. “I am confident the recommendations for action will foster a renewed culture in delivering services and support for our youth.”

    Walsh signed on to the national initiative in September, charging an advisory committee with engaging residents and community groups in developing an action plan, which resulted in a 58-page booklet.

    http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/05/08/mayor-martin-walsh-outlines-recommendation-for-brother-keeper/Wne0DtpriWhcMLbV1bHd6J/story.html?hootPostID=ea8a9c794c19218a5026ac81603407ef

  10. rikyrah says:

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

    Off to swim and run errands!

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