Gov. Pat Quinn dismissed calls
for a gambling expansion bill at a press conference yesterday, claiming
state lawmakers hot on the gaming bill are "distracted by shiny
objects."
Hundreds of Occupy protesters shut down Boeing’s Chicago headquarters and marched the downtown streets to President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign headquarters Monday.
Occupy’s
reasoning for shutting down Boeing was to protest the company’s
“immoral” involvement in making airplanes, “killer” drones and other
military equipment that’s used in wars and attacks overseas.
More than 2,000 NATO and anti-war protestors gathered in Grant Park
Sunday before they took to the streets and descended on McCormick Place
where world leaders are meeting for the summit.
Protestors with
various causes such as ending drone attacks and promoting women’s rights
overseas held signs, chanted in megaphones and waved peace signs as a
heavy police presence lined the park and the surrounding streets. Read more »
At their massive downtown Chicago rally today, the National Nurses
United union stuck with a script they developed prior to President
Barack Obama relocating this weekend’s G8 economic summit from Chicago
to Camp David – advocacy for developed nations to impose a tax on
financial transactions. Read more »
With ties to Occupy Chicago about a dozen protesters covered
themselves in fake oil and performed a symbolic death in front of the
Canadian Consulate in downtown Chicago Thursday evening.
Those who “died” were joined by more than 100 supporters in protesting Canada’s extracting of crude oil from the Alberta Tar Sands, which is the world’s third-largest deposit of oil. The protesters pointed to a recent report
which said the oil derived from the tar sands could emit 10 to 12 times
more greenhouse gases than conventional crude oils, and the Chicago Tribune recently reported that the increased level of emissions could be as high as 22 percent. Read more »
The eyes of the world will be on Chicago this weekend as about 2,000
journalists from around the nation and the globe are headed to the Windy
City to cover this weekend’s NATO summit.
Surely, the national and international press will be focused on the visiting Heads of State and other high-ranking government officials, in addition to the planned protests
set to take place. But a group of
community organizers is urging the NATO press corps to take a deeper
look at some of the city’s most troubled neighborhoods. Read more »