Results tagged “obamapalooza”

After several months of hashing out the details with the City of Chicago, the Democratic National Committee has made good and paid back the $1.74 million it owed for President Obama's Election Night party in Grant Park. DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said the bill's complexities are what caused the delay: "It's a big bill. We needed to work through some issues with the city, which we have." A lot of the cost was related to security, as $1 million of the bill went to pay the Chicago Police Dept. Daley confirmed the payment yesterday, saying, "They paid the bill. They went over all the bills we submitted. They paid it appropriately." [CBS 2, CBN] more ›

With all the recent ruckus over President Obama's stimulus package, it's easy to forget the swell of happy and goodwill that came from the Election Night Obamapalooza rally in Grant Park back in November. And this latest bit of news surely won't help: it seems the Democratic National Committee still owes the city $1.74 million stemming from the party. Peter Scales, spokesman for the city's Office of Budget and Management, said, "The Democratic National Committee has not yet paid us. We're reaching out to them this week." A DNC spokeswoman only responded with, "We are still looking at various costs and bills.'' According to the Sun-Times: more ›

Today we're wrapping up our look at the top 8 local stories that captivated us in 2008. more ›

Obamapalooza was a memorable experience for anyone who attended, but it's even more memorable for attendees Erin and Mawi Asgedom. The couple were watching President Elect Obama speak when Erin went into labor. She said, "Before we went, we realized that our contractions were about seven minutes apart. We decided to take the risk and witness something that was very historic." The couple left and walk nearly a mile to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where Erin was admitted and gave birth to a healthy Sawyer Tewolde Asgedom. Father Mawi, an immigrant from Ethiopia, said, "I feel like I've had the best 12 hours one can have. I got to witness a momentous moment in the history of democracy, Barack Obama, and then now I have my son here, who can be anyone he wants to be." more ›

No matter how you feel about Chicago hosting the 2016 Olympics, it is undeniable that Mayor Daley has been politically strategic about bringing one of his largest pet projects to fruition. From the get-go, Daley had enough foresight to recognize the power of a potential Obama presidency in relation to Chicago’s chances, bringing Obama on board to support the bid way back in the spring of 2007. Obama showed up at the city’s USOC Candidate City rally last year and the IOC Candidate City rally last June, each time making a speech that tied the Chicago 2016 bid to his candidacy for president. more ›

First, a slide show of photos from within the media tent at the rally courtesy of our own Lizz Kannenberg. more ›

Once more, with feeling, from our Flickr pool. more ›

Yep, even more Obamapalooza pics from our Flickr Pool! And a few more to come... more ›

Thanks to everyone who contributed photos to our Flickr Pool from last night's historic event. We'll be going through more of these as the day goes on. more ›

Welcome to the first person. I had my doubts about Obama waaaaaay back when, but once he became the Dem Nom, I couldn't have supported him any more strongly. This election marked the first time I actually donated to a candidate, and it marked the first time my girlfriend actually prepared an argument to try and sway her Conservative parents in Missouri. And it's the first election I ever cried at when the President Elect was actually announced. more ›

In case you missed it or if you just wanted to relive it, here is Barack Obama's acceptance speech as he was elected the 44th President of the United States. more ›

Grant Park and the surrounding areas are packed with people with and without tickets to witness history. We've got several staff members and readers down at the park and we'll be keeping you as up-to-date with happenings at the park as we can via texts, twitter, flickr, and other updates. more ›

We're under four hours away from the first polls closing but the news is still going fast and furious. more ›

We've gotten some more specific info on some street closures and other transportation issues. We also have learned some Very Important VIPs are staying downtown so don't be at all surprised when dudes with earbuds grab you and shuffle you out off the way as a tornado of activity leaves this or that hotel lobby. more ›

It's Election Day and early reports are of long lines at polling places around the city and the build-up of Obamapalooza. Keep 'em coming, folks! more ›

Things are already cranking early this morning with people already showing up for Obamapalooza and glitches already being reported. According to Crain's:

Voting in Washington Park on the South Side was slowed when there were not enough pens to mark the ballots. more ›

The clock is ticking and polls will open soon across this great nation of ours and soon we'll elect a new leader. As head into the home-stretch and supporters begin worrying about a repeat of 2000 (or worse), here are a few stories about the Chicago candidate, Illinois Senator Barack Obama. more ›

Cartoon for Chicagoist by Tim Daly more ›

The CTA, Metra and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications are all working to handle the throngs of people expected to show up at Tuesday night’s rally in Grant Park. Complicating the plan is that they really have no idea how many people will attend, but they are planning for an event similar to the annual July 3 fireworks display--on steroids. more ›

Days after Mayor Daley invited everyone in the entire world down to Grant Park for Tuesday's Obamapalooza, the City is now saying people will be turned away if things get too crowded. Ray Orozco, executive director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, said, “If Grant Park reaches capacity, people will be turned around. This is for public safety.” According to Crain's:

On-street parking will be banned between the lake and the Kennedy Expressway, from the river south to Cermak Road (22nd Street) after Tuesday’s rush hour.

Intermittent “rolling” closures are likely on Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue, and sections of Balbo and Columbus drives will be shut as early as Saturday. Buses will not be allowed to drop off passengers on Michigan Avenue.

Anyone with a ticket to the party should enter on Congress, walk east to Columbus and then south. Anyone else will be turned north on Columbus, until the park reaches capacity.

Photo by efroten
• Eight people were hurt, some seriously but none life-threatening, in a multiple car accident on the Northwest Side this morning that involved a Fire Department ambulance
• Internet muckraker Matt Drudge is reporting that representatives from three newspapers that have endorsed McCain are being booted from the Obama campaign pool. Some reports are that room is being made for documentary filmmakers or for major television reporters.
• Test results were revealed today for the state's schools. Both the Trib and the Sun-Times have rundowns of the report.

Yeah, we're not looking forward to pushing against the massive rush of folks hoofing it to Grant Park Tuesday afternoon and evening in hopes basking in the glow of Obama (the glObama, as it were). So we perked up when we heard that the Building Owners and Managers Association in Chicago had asked businesses in the Loop to close early! And then our shoulders slumped when we realized that probably just wasn't going to happen. more ›

Remember when you were a kid, and one day one of your classmates would hand out invitations to his or her birthday party, except they didn't give you one and you felt like such a tool for being left out? No? That was only me? Well, fine. But at least Governor Blagojevich knows how I feel. It seems that his name is not on the long list of VIP guests for next Tuesday night's Obamapalooza. Sure, there's Lisa Madigan, Emil Jones, Jesse Jr., and, naturally, Mayor Daley. But no Blago. Can't say we're surprised, what with indictments and convictions on every side of G-Rod. Still, it's gotta smart to be lumped in with the likes of Rev. Wright. Of course, I'm sure Sen. Obama's leaving me off that list was simply an oversight and I'll be getting my invitation in the mail today. Of course. That's all it is: slow mail. Yep. Has to be. more ›

Well, this is interesting. Even as the Obama campaign has limited the number of tickets and is focusing on security concerns, our benevolent mayor has invited any- and everyone down to Grant Park next Tuesday night, tickets be damned! more ›

The Sun-Times had a nice semi-overhead shot of the rally site in yesterday's paper, but we figured we'd go check out the rally site from locations that will look more familiar to any of the estimated million-plus people that are going to show up to Hutchinson Field in a little under a week. more ›

We're six days from Election Day and we're finally starting to get some of the details nailed down as the City Parks District released the permit application for the event. They include: more ›

In news that will surprise no one, The Swamp is reporting that all the tickets for Obama's election night event in Grant Park have been snapped up. A message on the wait-list website reads "Thanks for your interest. There are no remaining tickets for this event." Sorry, Charlie. So what if you still want to be there? Unticketed folks are going to have to hang out around the perimeter and probably won't be able to see much of anything, unless they set up some big-ass TV screens. Time to dig out that old transistor radio and tune into NPR. more ›

Now that security has been hired, we can go about looking at some of the details about Obama's Election Night rally in Grant Park. Emails are being sent out gradually to supporters directing them to this site where they can apply for tickets (at a limit of one per applicant). more ›

Going to Sen. Barack Obama’s election night rally in Grant Park? Well, Chicago officials say Neil Sullivan’s got your back. The retired security expert is getting paid $100 an hour, with a $60,000 cap, to make sure no one raises the roof too high. Sullivan previously worked with the city by revising its emergency and evacuation plans, which hopefully weren’t the same plans used in The Dark Knight (yes, everyone exit the city on Michigan Ave. while cons are bused to Navy Pier). Sullivan was originally hired in the event that the Cubs and the Sox made it to the playoffs and possibly the World Series (HA!). Since that dream didn’t come true, city officials gave him the Obama rally. more ›

DeRo is reporting C3 Presents -- most famous in our fair town for staging the yearly Lollapalooza concert -- will be handling all the deets for Barack Obama's election night spectacular in Grant Park. And to those of you afraid of catching a chill in the early November air as you wait hours upon hours to gaze upon the face of Obama, have no fear ... the heat generated by Barack's halo should keep you warm and toasty. more ›