Events

Monday's derecho spawned so many tornados in Northern Illinois that the National Weather Service hasn't yet confirmed the paths they all took. But one of those paths got my attention: That's, uh...that tornado ended at the front door of the Ogilvie Transportation Center, where I get off my morning commuter train, which is 300 meters from my office. It went straight down Madison Street from Racine to Canal. That does not usually happen. And yesterday, this one little punk rainstorm dumped almost 10 mm of...

A full-on derecho ploughed through the Chicago area last night, bringing spectacular rainfall and at least 10 tornados—one of which hit the Near North Side: While few injuries were reported related to the storm, a woman in Northwest Indiana died after a tree fell on her Cedar Lake home. Laura Nagel, 44, was pronounced dead and identified by her family after storms ripped through the area Monday night, the Lake County, Indiana, Coroner’s Office said. At least 10 tornadoes were reported in the Chicago...

Welcome to stop #112 on the Brews and Choos project. Brewery: 18th Street Brewry, 5725 Miller Ave, Gary, Ind.Train line: South Shore Line, Miller Time from Chicago: 57 minutesDistance from station: 200 m It turns out, 18th Street Brewery's Miller Taproom doesn't have a production facility, so it wouldn't qualify after the July 2023 update to the Brews & Choos Criteria. But it was on the list from the beginning, so it stayed. And Saturday's visit might have been the only time I've ever been in Gary...

Time for another reminder. If you see something on social media that: seems to confirm something you already believed about the "other side," comes from someone claiming to have inside knowledge, and makes you angry ...then it's almost certainly fake*. The Economist prominently featured a story on the onslaught of conspiracy theories today, as did NPR. Will those stories help? Probably not. After all, "men willingly believe what they want," as Julius Caesar once (may have) said. But let's review anyway....

US District Court Judge Aileen Cannon (R-SDFL) has dismissed the classified-documents case against the convicted felon rapist XPOTUS on the clearly erroneous grounds that Special Counsel Jack Smith's appointment violated the constitution: [T]he judge...found that because Mr. Smith had not been named to the post of special counsel by the president or confirmed by the Senate, his appointment was in violation of the appointments clause of the Constitution. The ruling by Judge Cannon, who was put on the...

Welcome to stop #111 on the Brews and Choos project. Brewery: Zorn Brew Works, 605 E. 9th St., Michigan City, Ind.Train line: South Shore Line, 11th St/Michigan City Time from Chicago: 84 minutesDistance from station: 800 m Zorn Brew Works provided a nice contrast to Shoreline Brewery, as tourists seemed to make up 90% of Shoreline's clientele and about 25% of Zorn's. It makes sense, as Zorn is in a more residential/transitional area, and Shoreline is about ten steps from the beach. It does help that...

Welcome to stop #110 on the Brews and Choos project. Brewery: Shoreline Brewery, 208 Wabash St., Michigan City, Ind.Train line: South Shore Line, 11th St/Michigan City Time from Chicago: 84 minutesDistance from station: 1.4 km It took 4½ years of Brewing and Chooing to get to Indiana, because the Northern Indiana Consolidated Transit District added a second mainline track to the South Shore Line from 2021 to just this past April. This ended the street-running through Michigan City, but shortened the...

Three celebrities from my youth died yesterday, but for obvious reasons none was the top story on any news outlet this morning. No one should politicize the attempt on the XPOTUS's life yesterday at a rally outside Pittsburgh. We have no idea why the assailant shot the XPOTUS and three other people; the FBI and the Pennsylvania State Police are investigating, and with the shooter killed by the Secret Service, we won't have to wait for a criminal trial for the full story. I trust both agencies to...

The High Speed Rail Alliance advocates extending the Metra UP-North (my line) all the way to Milwaukee: Hourly trains departures will bring Chicago and Milwaukee closer together, strengthen the economic and social ties between them, and help revitalize both city centers. Wisconsin and Illinois set a goal of 14 daily roundtrips, which is close to hourly, in the mid-1990s. More recently, the Federal Railroad Administration’s Midwest Regional Rail Plan called for 24 daily roundtrips. But heavy freight...

Everyone in the world knows that President Biden had a bad night two weeks ago. Since then, we've heard a steady drumbeat of calls for him to withdraw from the race. But did anyone watch last night's press conference? Here it is; I'll wait: The convicted-felon rapist XPOTUS could not have done that press conference, because he lacks the knowledge, the focus, the sanity, and frankly the IQ to answer questions for that long. And still, what did most press outlets report? That he bobbled the name of the...