Oh, Twitter. Even though you bring us joy sometimes, you can also stir up feuds. Twitter feuds between friends, enemies, and frenemies is nothing new, nor are feuds between, say, media outlets. But the raucous over Twitter has now extended to the Cook County Board of Commissioners. We've posted before about Com. Tony Peraica (Rep., 16th) and his tweeting habit from board meetings. Whether we agree or disagree with his views, the Tweets are also a good way to stay up-to-date on what was generally happening at the meeting and sometimes vote-by-vote reports on important ordinances. But one Commissioner had enough and introduced what he admitted to be an "Anti-Twitter" ordinance. Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno (Dem., 7th) introduced the ordinance to prevent Peraica from tweeting during meetings but the ordinance was shot down earlier today. Moreno expressed concerns about the information Peraica was relaying, calling it often "inaccurate" while Peraica saw it as " a clear violation of freedom of speech." more ›

For many food writers, the mere mention of the name John Mariani is enough to raise hackles and raise voices in protest. The "food and travel correspondent" for Esquire makes for an easy target with his byline at Esquire, Wine Spectator and Bloomberg News, ostentatious prose and numerous accusations of questionable ethics, including one instance relayed by moto's Homaru Cantu that's now become legend. more ›

Perhaps signaling that he’s jumping ship on the Toddler, Mayor Daley said on Friday that he wouldn’t be drawn into a battle with the Toddler over who has raised taxes more. "Remember. I said there was gonna be a gig -- a headline. You would try to get Todd and I kind of fighting. And I said, 'I don't know why you're doing that. ... Don't do that gig. I did not fight Todd Stroger,'" the mayor told the Sun-Times last week. "I just said the members of the County Board had to deal with that issue. ... They have to make some difficult decisions, and they made it. I'm the mayor of the city of Chicago. I'm making difficult decisions on my budget. So, no more gigs. Don't write any more headlines like that. ... The gig's up." more ›

With a new transit doomsday prophecy, the area's transit systems are trying to figure out exactly how they'll manage to find the funding to stay running. At a CTA board meeting yesterday, chief financial officer Dennis Anosike revealed the alarming news that the CTA's budget deficit was at $87 million, much larger than had previously been thought. When added to the ginormous shortfall in tax revenue the RTA already outlined this week, the CTA now finds itself over $240 million in the red. Well, shit. And with everyone out of cash and looking for more, the infighting has begun as the CTA and RTA clashed over where the money would come from and who knew what when. more ›