Chicago Tribune pulls plug on TribLocal

The Chicago Tribune pulled the plug on the Trib Local, one of the more reliable major news resources. Most if not all of the reporters for the Trib Local will be "let go." It's going to be outsourced to a "content provided" called Journatic LLC. (Read story.) Journatic pays its writers about $12 an hour. But they offered reporters $50 if they heard that reporters were asking about the gutting of the TribLocal and told the company. Reporters were banned from talking about the transformation from journalism to content management. (Read story from Michael Miner in the Chicago Reader.)
The TribLocal was a balance to the news offered by major newspapers. The Chicago Sun-Times gobbled up and gutted the once impressive Daily Southtown, fired most of the Southtown's Employees, merged it with another victim of its community newspaper absorption policies and merged it with the fading Star Newspapers. Most of the writing is done by a handful of reporters from what used to be an impressive lineup of journalists.
22nd Century Media, which publishes the informative The Orland Prairie, is one of the only remaining independent community news organizations left in our region, published by 22nd Century Media. (Click to read a profile on 22nd Century Media Group.)
What does the TribLocal's demise mean for the region?
Well, Orland Park is a good example. The MainStreet Development has been a white elephant and burden on the taxpayers of Orland Park. But this week, the Village of Orland Park announced that it was giving management of the project to HSA Commercial Real Estate, which did a phenomenal job of reviving the old Orland Park Place. Orland Park Place is now a beehive of activity.
But a taste of what you can expect from the TribLocal comes int he form of news regarding The MainStreet Triangle project, which has many remaining unanswered questions and a very uncertain future -- let alone the political hay that will be made about it during the upcoming battle for Orland Park Mayor, assuming Mayor Dan McLaughlin decides to seek re-election.
Here is the story published on the TribLocal's Page under "From the Community," which will be growing since it won't be able to boost "From Our Award Winning Reporters."
Click here to read it.
The story has a by-line from "By Taylor Johnson." Sounds like a writer. But Taylor Johnson is a PR Company that apparently works for HSA.
Click here to view Taylor Johnson's information.
That's the future folks. No one to ask questions (whether we like them or agree with them or not). No one to point out political ties, question the TIF or the growing burden on the property taxpayers for projects like this.
Orland Park is an important community and there is a lot of room for good newspapers. 22nd Century Media does a phenomenal job. But there is room for another weekly community newspaper here. Despite the sluggish economy and the many vacant commercial properties that sometimes make Orland Park corners look like slums, Orland Park has one of the largest retail bases in the Southwest Suburbs. It's a strong community and it has a vibrant politics, one worth covering -- good, bad or ugly.
Journatic LLC would make a great resource for any newspaper. But as a primary news source?
-- Ray Hananiawww.RadioChicagoland.com

Gorman: Awareness needed to address rising heroin use in Cook County suburbs

Orland Park, April 16, 2012

Gorman: Awareness needed to address rising heroin use cited in Cook County suburbs

At the Cook County Board meeting On Tuesday, April 17, 2012, Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman will be sponsoring a Resolution to bring awareness to the growing problem of heroin use in our communities.

“I think it is an important issue to bring to the forefront given its rise in use in the Chicago Metropolitan Area” Gorman said. “Heroin use amongst our high school and junior high school students has been on the rise in recent years and shows no signs of stopping. The stakes have never been so high or the need for action more urgent.  This issue has become a major epidemic and needs to be dealt with now.”

The resolution calls on all local governments, from school districts and library districts to Village Boards and City Councils to pass the resolution to bring the problem to light. “The first step in working toward a sensible, workable solution is to bring awareness of the problem to the forefront” Gorman added. “It is my hope that the resolution will make every citizen aware of the problem.”

Last month, Commissioner Gorman held a community summit meeting at which over 60 people attended including Police Chiefs, school officials, village officials and interested citizens. The purpose of the summit meeting was to bring the community together to brainstorm realistic strategies that can help parents and their children prevent further tragedy.

Commissioner Gorman said “our only hope in saving our young people from the devastation caused by this horrific heroin epidemic is to come together as a community and find solutions to this problem now.”

 Commissioner Liz Gorman

708.349.1336

liz@lizgorman.com

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"Patlackey" Chris Robling's lack of honesty when it comes to the Republican Party, Ed Vrdolyak and the Patlak-Morrison duel

"Patlackey" Chris Robling's lack of honesty when it comes to the Republican Party, Ed Vrdolyak and the Patlak-Morrison duel
Chris Robling touts his senior position as righthand man to Jayne Thompson's political consulting firm. Thompson is the wife of former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson, who for years was very close to Ed Vrdolyak.
Yet Robling doesn't mind turning the lights down a bit to disguise Vrdolyak's connections as he jump into the muddied end of the political swimming pool to wallow and squeal about Sean Morrison, whose candidacy against Dan Patlak proved that the Cook County Republican Party is being ripped apart by selfish rightwing fanatics that hang around Patlak like flies.
One of those flies is Fran Eaton, the political consultant who uses her columns to deceptively promote her pals in office like Patlack. Eaton and Robling are birds of a feather.
Even though Patlak won the Republican Primary, defeating Sean Morrison, the election showed how weak Patlak really is going into the General Election against Midlothian Democrat Casey Thomas Griffin.
Given Patlak's poor election performance and the inability of his crew of creepy and untalented rightwing fanatic activists to raise any real issues other than pejorative and oftentimes racist misrepresentations, it is pretty clear that Patlak can't win the November election. He'll blame the failure of the Republican Party to come together behind him in the November election but the real cause of his quandary is Patlak's association with so many extremists, racists and his pandering to the Fran Eaton and Chris Robling nutjobs who have fractured the Republican Party in Cook County with their vicious fanaticism.
These fanatics -- often referred to as "Patlackeys" -- have done everything to promote their own selfish agenda while Orland Township Republican Committeeman Liz Gorman has done everything she could to save the GOP in Cook County including with her successful campaign to turnback the Todd Stroger Jr., sales tax hikes. Gorman did that almost single handedly while most of the other board members gave up trying until they saw her rally once, twice and then a third time with success. That's the kind of persistence that the Republican Party has lacked for a long time. Instead, the GOP in Cook County has been plagued by the "Patlackeys," a rabble of deceitful activists who are promoting their own agenda.
Rather than reach out to mend the GOP divide, Patlack has sat back on his confused hands while his Patlackeys have been out there slandering and defaming Morrison and Morrison's supporters. Imagine the idea that every other party should have a primary except for the Cook County Republicans. These are the same stooges who backed Mark Thompson who was slam-dunked by Gorman in the 2010 Republican Primary battle for the Cook County Board. Gorman went on to win the district in a record landslide.
Knowing that Patlak is in trouble in November, Robling is on the warpath slamming anyone who dares to question the Patlackeys and their poor political choices.
Most real Republicans will sit back on their hands on the race for the Board of Review in November and Patlak will surely lose office. Instead of bring the Republican Party together, he is demonstrating the precise reasons why he was such a bad candidate in the first place, his inability to bring Republicans together.
Robling is stepping out on a weak limb with his less than honest attacks against Morrison and his mudslinging against Liz Gorman. His continued efforts to drag Ed Vrdolyak into the debate only raises questions about Vrdolyak's longstanding ties to the former governor. Oh, I'll bet Robling was fawning all over Vrdolyak back then when ERV was the GOP boss. But now Robling wants everyone to ignore how the Patlackeys brought Vrdolyak into the long past GOP soiree. 
Robling, a B-List political pundit will continue his slander against his critics in much the same way that Fran "Lurch" Eaton has helped to undermine Republican Party strength with her feeble analysis and partisan observations that advance her personal friends.
But it won't work. Morrison didn't beat Patlak but the fact was that Morrison got a huge boost when his candidacy was back by Gorman, who remains a heavyweight in the Republican Party circles. Maybe Patlak likes hanging around with morons and fanatics. Or, maybe Patlak is just to meek to stand up and push the extremists aside and try to build a Republican campaign that brings everyone together rather than continuing to tear the party apart at the unseemly seams. 
That's what defines leadership. The ability to do what's right for the Republican Party or to do what's right for the fanatics who are tearing the party apart.
-- Ray Hananiawww.hanania.com