Twitter satire doesn’t play in Peoria
After Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis retaliated against being subject of a parody Twitter account, former Columbia College instructor Dan Sinker, whose @MayorEmanuel mock Twitter handle became prominent in early 2011, told the Chicago Tribune that Ardis “appears to be the thinnest-skinned guy on Earth.”
The @peoriamayor Twitter by Peoria resident Jacob Elliot has been deactivated, as, unlike Emanuel, Ardis does not take Twitter humor in stride.
After learning of the gag-account, Ardis directed the Peoria Police Department to subpoena both Twitter and the account-author’s Internet provider. After identifying Elliot, the police department raided his home, confiscated his Internet-equipped devices and even arrested Elliot for marijuana possession. But the local State’s Attorney did not charge Elliot for “false personation,” the original allegation that prompted the police search.
Kids at work
About 525 kids attended a Thursday “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work” day event at advertising agency Leo Burnett’s Wacker Drive headquarters, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The event was not your typical “Take Your Kid to Work” day. Leo Burnett partnered with some of its clients to offer activities on 18 floors, which included the McDonald’s Happy Room, where attendees designed personalized Happy Meal boxes, and the Purina dog show, which featured dogs fetching Frisbees.
“We don’t have a dog show every (Thursday),” Rich Stoddart, Leo Burnett’s CEO for North America, told the Tribune. “Part of it is just exposing [the kids] to a creative environment – what is it like when you’re here trying to invent new ideas for clients?”
A real squeeze
Squeezed by a lime shortage, Wicker Park’s Big Star Mexican restaurant recently raised the prices on its margaritas and other drinks that call for the fruit.
Big Star sous chef Joey Hejtmanek told DNAinfo Chicago that the restaurant has raised margarita glass prices from $8 to $9, due to a Mexican lime shortage. The price of a margarita pitcher, meanwhile, has jumped from $33 to $40.
Hejtmanek said that the restaurant, located at 1531 N. Damen Ave., has recently paid an average of $125 per 40-pound carton of limes. By comparison, a 40-pound lime carton last summer cost just $25.
Let there be bacon
Baconfest 2014 is scheduled to begin Friday at the University of Illinois-Chicago’s UIC Forum, but if you don’t already have a ticket in hand - better luck next year, the event is sold out.
Running through Sunday, Baconfest will feature more than 160 chefs cooking up an estimated 8,000 pounds of pork, according to NBC Chicago. A portion of the event’s proceeds will benefit the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
-Tom Butala