Results tagged “whitehouse”

The White House today released the official portrait of the First Family. The photo was taken on September 1, 2009 by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz in the Green Room of the White House. As expected, their family portrait is waaaaaaay better than any of the ones the Chicagoist family has taken at the K-Mart portrait study over the years.

Has White House swearing increased? Politico looks at whether the current administration is more profane or reporters are just more accurate - and more complete - with their quotes and general coverage.

• The White House responded today to the video footage of the brawl in which 16-year-old Derrion Albert was killed.
• The New York Times has announced plans for a local edition in Chicago.
• The investor who bought the city's large old main post office has missed a deadline, putting the deal in jeopardy.

              

We'll have more on today's event at the White House, supporting the 2016 Olympic bid, tomorrow, but for now, check out some photos from today's events. Mayor Daley introduced Michelle Obama who, in turn, introduced her husband, President Barack Obama. Below is a clip of Obama's speech.

                     

With all the talk of the Olympics and health care, what else has been going on in the Obama White House?

It's been nearly 25 year since the Bears won Super Bowl XX -- doesn't that make us feel old! -- but the Bears team that brought home the Lombardi Trophy has never received their customary visit to the White House. Back in 1986, the Challenger Space Shuttle tragedy resulted in their visit being postponed, and it was never rescheduled.

         

Here's one more round of the All-Star visit of Pres. Obama, courtesy of the White House Flickr Stream. [see our previous set here and check out SI's collection here (thanks, Chris!)]

              

Pictures from President Obama's first Fourth of July in office, which also happened to be oldest daughter Malia's 11th birthday. Most pics are from the Fourth of July party on the White House's South Lawn.

              

It's been a few weeks since we last took a peek inside the White House courtesy of its awesome Flickr stream.

One last, self-indulgent note before we bow out for the day. Chicagoist went live on May 10, 2004 featuring a design you can see above (via the Wayback Machine). Since then, we've had ups and downs but it's been one hell of a ride. Five years is an eternity in internet time, so thanks to Jen, Jake and all our benefactors in NYC, thanks to Rachelle and Margaret for getting the ball rolling here, thanks to every single writer who has posted - past and present - for your hard work, and last but most importantly, thanks to all of you readers who keep coming back every day. We hope to see you tomorrow night at our celebration, and we'll see you back here next week as we start the next five years. - M.G.

                     

Things are rolling along at the Windy City White House these days and one of the coolest things we've found is the White House's official Flickr page. For fans of the President, it offers a daily glimpse into the inner workings of the White House that have never been so readily available while opponents of the President will likely decry it as a propaganda move. Either way, we enjoyed flipping through the photos and thought we'd share a few of our favorites.

Over the weekend, the White House posted on its blog about a special ethics waiver that was granted so as to allow senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett to serve as the White House's lead in supporting the Chicago 2016 bid. Per the White House:

It's pretty clear the Barack Obama is anxious to get started leading the free world, with the fake government office and the counter-programming of the president's weekly address, but there's one thing Obama seems to be having trouble doing early -- moving his family to Washington.

The White House has confirmed they received Sen. Dick Durbin's letter asking President Bush to commute the sentence of convicted former governor George Ryan but if they feel one way or the other about it, they're not letting on. Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said, "Well, I can tell you that we have received the request from Sen. Durbin, but I would not comment on the pardon process--except for to say that anyone who is eligible for a pardon can apply for one, and those requests go through our pardon attorney, which is at the Justice Department...I wouldn't be surprised if there were more before he leaves office, but I couldn't tell you how many and I certainly couldn't tell you who." For his part, President-Elect Obama said any comment from him on the matter, isn't "appropriate" at this point.

Happy Birthday, Cynthia!

Yesterday's primaries in Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island saw John McCain assume the mantle of the Republican presidential nominee, with commanding victories in all but Texas, and Mike Huckabee's announcement that he's withdrawing from the race. "It's now important that we turn our attention not to what could have been or what we wanted to have been, but now what must be -- and that is a united party," Huckabee told told supporters in Dallas. After it became clear that McCain would sweep all four races, Barack Obama called McCain to congratulate him on winning the nomination, adding that he was looking forward to facing the Arizona senator in the general election.

In what could quite possibly be the nail biter of the season, Hillary Clinton pulled it out last night, winning the New Hampshire Democratic primary by a two to three point lead over Iowa front-runner Barack Obama. While most of the media was writing Hillary's political obituary, she was winning New Hampshire. With the Nevada caucuses next, and the black vote potentially split between the Clintons and Barack Obama, South Carolina may be back in play. In fact, Clinton's win last night showed one of Obama's key weaknesses: his reliance on independent and new voters. Female and older voters seemed to gravitate towards Clinton last night, with 45 percent of female Democratic voters chose Clinton. Voters over the age of 40 also picked Clinton, with nearly 70 percent going for Hillary over Obama.

If you are willing to brave crappy weather with your "Bush was right" or "Bush is a dope" signs, get ready: he's coming to town on Monday.

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in...

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston's firefighters bent over backwards all week long - first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else - like Tom...

Nearly two weeks after Congressman Luis Gutierrez announced that he will, indeed, seek a ninth term in Congress (after announcing that he wouldn't run again), First Ward Alderman Manny Flores has announced that he won't seek the congressional seat. "I did this of my own accord. He's my friend," Flores told the Sun-Times, adding that Gutierrez didn't try to persuade him. Of course, Gutierrez's decision shouldn't be too shocking. The conventional wisdom is that if...

As all of us watch the terrible news in Minnesota unfold, many state governments are starting to look at their own inventory of bridges. Illinois ranks in the middle of bridge condition when compared to other states, according to an AP article in The Daily Southtown, with around 10% of our bridges rated "structurally deficient" - slightly better than the national average of 12%. Yesterday Governor Rod Blagojevich ordered immediate inspections of high-volume bridges and...

So you think Chicagoist is sometimes too critical of the way Mayor Daley runs the city? Wait until the Reverend Al Sharpton gets settled in his new digs. The boisterous Gotham-based minister, with the pompadour that's fading away like a Neil Young lyric, is opening a Chicago chapter of his National Action Network this week, in part to add pressure to His Elective Majesty and Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine to react faster to...

It's no secret that Chicagoist is interested in global politics. In the wold-wide checkerboard of cities, we love knowing that our little City by the Lake is quickly becoming a global destination, for business, people, education, and life. That's why our ears perk up a little bit when some national or international figure pays us a visit; even more so when Chicago is used as a platform for some sort of important announcement or drama....

In the marathon that this presidential political season is becoming, presidential hopeful and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards made a pair of brief campaign stops in Chicago Wednesday, just one day before Barack Obama made a campaign stop in North Carolina. At BB's bar and restaurant on Hubbard, part of his "Small Change for Big Change" series of fundraisers, Edwards told the crowd, who had paid between $15 and $100 a head to hear...

As Luis Gutierrez makes the rounds for Barack Obama, Latino politicians around the city are jockeying for the opportunity to run for his soon-to-be vacated Congressional seat. Gutierrez has announced that he will "retire" in 2008, but makes no mention of what he will do after that. Last week, Cook County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado (D - 8th) announced that he had created a campaign committee to raise funds for an '08 congressional bid. City Alderman...

Last night was the first debate among Democratic candidates for the presidential nomination. On a crowded stage, the large group of suits that are hoping for the nod to take on a Republican in Fall of '08 for the White House argued about the nuances of the Iraq War. Erstwhile local gal Hillary had a well thought-out answer to the question "Do you agree with the position [that the war in Iraq is lost] of...

Eggs. Seriously, haven't they caused us enough trouble? One day (in the 80s) they're good for you. The next day (in the 90s) they're bad, and also represented your brain. Then we find they were good all along. The egg's latest offense? Causing an entire state national embarrassment. Okay, okay, so we guess it wasn't really the egg's fault, persay, but the egg advocates. The Egg Board in Park Ridge started it all by...

This week, more than before, we have a veritable cornucopia of presidential news. After how many years of Southerners and Westerners in the White House, it seems only fitting that we dedicate this week's Hump Day Political News Roundup to all the cowboys that have ridden off into the sunset that is the Beltway. Let's take a look back: George W. Bush Is a Bad-Ass Cowboy. As his term dwindles away, his approval ratings circle...