Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Tuesday, August 15, 2017.
- Emanuel slams Trump again: “Members of the neo-Nazi and the KKK think they have a friend in the Oval Office”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel slammed President Donald Trump’s tepid response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville over the weekend, saying “members of the neo-Nazi and the KKK think they have a friend in the Oval Office.” Trump’s first official statement on the violence was widely criticized by Democrats and Republicans for not condemning neo-Nazis and other white supremacist groups. It took him until Monday to denounce the racist hate groups as “evil.” “I think the notion that when the bully pulpit of the American presidency is to be exercised and you miss the distinction between our ideals and our values and those who spew hatred, you have failed us in the job of a president to bring us country together,” the mayor said Monday. “It does not require a multiple-choice answer when it comes to what’s right versus what’s wrong.” [Tribune]
- Rauner is mad that the senate overrode his school funding veto
Governor Bruce Rauner is not happy that the Illinois senate overrode his amendatory veto of the school funding bill, saying Monday that the senate had made “a terrible mistake.” An Illinois State Board of Education analysis received last week said CPS “would receive $463 less in funding this next year school under Gov. Rauner’s funding plan than the measure approved by the Democrat-controlled Illinois General Assembly,” according to the Sun-Times. “I work for the children of Chicago . . . but I work for the children of the suburbs too,” the governor said. “I don’t want to hurt the children of Chicago. . . . My veto was designed to make the system fair.” The house now has 14 days to act on an override. [Sun-Times]
- Book chronicles Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s campaign against Emanuel
Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s unsuccessful 2015 run for mayor against incumbent Rahm Emanuel ended more than two years ago, but it’s still a interesting piece of Chicago history. Former Sun-Times columnist Mike “Houli” Houlihan has written a book, Nuthin’s in the Square, about his work for Garcia in the 19th Ward. Unsurprisingly, he’s very critical of Rahm—whom he calls the “little, nine-fingered ballerina”—and his supporters, including former President Barack Obama and 19th Ward alderman Matt O’Shea. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- The number of pedestrians killed by cars in Chicago is continuing to surge
Pedestrians deaths in the city are continuing to surge, with 27 pedestrians killed in Chicago in the first half of 2017, one more than the 26 that were killed in the first half of 2016. The number of pedestrian deaths has been on the rise since 2013, when only 27 pedestrians were killed over the entire year. Altogether, 44 pedestrians were killed in 2016. The surge has been caused by “reckless driving by young people,” according to Chicago Police Department deputy chief of patrol George Devereux. [DNAinfo Chicago]
- Oprah is enjoying her new life and doesn’t miss Chicago
Oprah Winfrey, formerly Chicago’s most famous resident (after Michael Jordan moved), has no regrets about leaving. In a new Vogue profile, she says that she doesn’t miss Chicago or the daily grind of a talk show, but does miss “my audience connection and my exchange with them.” Back in 2006 she was determined to end the show before it wore out its welcome, she says. “I started thinking about the times: where we were, would I be able to take it digital,” she told Vogue. “People were moving into ‘I want to be able to watch it when I want to watch it,’ and the four o’clock hour was no longer must-see television. I could feel that happening with the audience. Their behaviors were shifting, and the media world was changing. I had written something in my journals years before: ‘I never want to stay too long in the ring so I end up punch-drunk.’ I didn’t want people saying, ‘She shoulda quit that show three years ago!’ ” [h/t Tribune] [Vogue]