Friday, July 15, 2005
Friday!
I'm enjoying a quiet Friday evening at home tonight. Jeanne had a work outing at Arlington Park today...so I'm on my own this evening.
I tried a new Japanese restaurant...Kizoku, on Ontario Street, just a couple quick blocks from here. I walked over a little after 6pm...and was the only one in the dining room when I got there! But, the place did fill up quite a bit before I left. They have a nice menu. I stuck with maki rolls tonight...they're usually pretty safe. I enjoyed them. All in all, I enjoyed it. It's much more subdued than my other favorite Japanese place, Sushi Samba Rio, which has more of a Japanese-Latin fusion feel to it (hence the name, I suppose). But, the food at Kizoku was quite good...I would return.
There were a flurry of news stories late in the day today. I have a high-ranking cop friend who tips me off on some great stuff. First, it was a rocket propelled grenade launcher (along with a MAC-10 assault rifle, lots of pot, and $200,000+ in cash) found in a Ricobenes Restaurant delivery truck on the southwest side. The, later this afternoon, a "ticking package" was delivered to Provident Hospital on the south side. That forced the evacuation of an entire wing of the hospital...including the emergency room. Eventually, the all-clear was given...and everything returned to normal.
My cop source has tipped me off on a couple items which - if I can figure out how to properly research, package and present them - could turn into blockbuster stories. But, there are only so many hours in the day, you? That's one hardship our WLS news staff faces. We only have five full-time news people. It's hard for me to tell one reporter to just take the next six weeks to develop an investigative piece. That wipes out a big chunk of my staff. Take a station like WBBM Newsradio 780...they must have 30 or 40 people running around over there. So, it's much easier for them to allow a reporter - like, for instance, the award-winning Steve Miller - to put together some nice investigative stories. And, of course, public radio - like Chicago's WBEZ - has the staffing and the time to put together excellent long-form stories.
So, we'll see if any of my great story ideas ever pan out.
I will say this...the new top management team at WLS is extremely supportive of our news effort...and I expect some enhancements for our news product, both short term and long term.
Looks like the Cubs, Sox and Tiger Woods all had pretty good days today. And, how about the emotion of Jack Nicklaus making birdie on the 18th hole at his final British Open? It doesn't get much better than that. So what if he didn't make the cut...
Should be a relaxing weekend. I hope so.
I tried a new Japanese restaurant...Kizoku, on Ontario Street, just a couple quick blocks from here. I walked over a little after 6pm...and was the only one in the dining room when I got there! But, the place did fill up quite a bit before I left. They have a nice menu. I stuck with maki rolls tonight...they're usually pretty safe. I enjoyed them. All in all, I enjoyed it. It's much more subdued than my other favorite Japanese place, Sushi Samba Rio, which has more of a Japanese-Latin fusion feel to it (hence the name, I suppose). But, the food at Kizoku was quite good...I would return.
There were a flurry of news stories late in the day today. I have a high-ranking cop friend who tips me off on some great stuff. First, it was a rocket propelled grenade launcher (along with a MAC-10 assault rifle, lots of pot, and $200,000+ in cash) found in a Ricobenes Restaurant delivery truck on the southwest side. The, later this afternoon, a "ticking package" was delivered to Provident Hospital on the south side. That forced the evacuation of an entire wing of the hospital...including the emergency room. Eventually, the all-clear was given...and everything returned to normal.
My cop source has tipped me off on a couple items which - if I can figure out how to properly research, package and present them - could turn into blockbuster stories. But, there are only so many hours in the day, you? That's one hardship our WLS news staff faces. We only have five full-time news people. It's hard for me to tell one reporter to just take the next six weeks to develop an investigative piece. That wipes out a big chunk of my staff. Take a station like WBBM Newsradio 780...they must have 30 or 40 people running around over there. So, it's much easier for them to allow a reporter - like, for instance, the award-winning Steve Miller - to put together some nice investigative stories. And, of course, public radio - like Chicago's WBEZ - has the staffing and the time to put together excellent long-form stories.
So, we'll see if any of my great story ideas ever pan out.
I will say this...the new top management team at WLS is extremely supportive of our news effort...and I expect some enhancements for our news product, both short term and long term.
Looks like the Cubs, Sox and Tiger Woods all had pretty good days today. And, how about the emotion of Jack Nicklaus making birdie on the 18th hole at his final British Open? It doesn't get much better than that. So what if he didn't make the cut...
Should be a relaxing weekend. I hope so.
