A dopey comment
Rose Kelly, senior counsel with the Chicago Department of Law, does not like the new state law legalizing medical marijuana. Kelly made a Freudian slip during a Thursday City Council Zoning Committee hearing, calling the Illinois Department of Agriculture the Department of Aggravation. Kelly corrected her mistake, but then said, “That’s what this whole act is – a little aggravating.”
Kelly also glumly listed off the new, legal uses of marijuana for patients with a doctor’s note, including cannabis-laced brownies. Alderman Walter Burnett (27th) asked Kelly how those tasted.
“I have no idea alderman,” Kelly responded. “I don’t need to take the fifth on that.”
A slice of victory
Also at Thursday’s City Council Zoning Committee meeting, aldermen signed off on a zoning change that would allow for the development of a new Lou Malnati’s pizzeria in North Center, according to local Alderman Ameya Pawar (47th).
“Zoning for a new Lou Malnati's located at Lincoln and Montrose [avenues] just passed committee!” the alderman rejoiced on Twitter Thursday morning.
Old money
As the Chicago Transit Authority slowly removes the training wheels from its new Ventra fare payment system, the RedEye this week published an infographic that shows the rates of and payment options for CTA fares since the beginning of the 20th century. The cost to ride the CTA in the year 1900? A nickel.
Take a whiff
Bath & Body Works recently caught some media attention for its “Lake Shore Drive” scented candle, which the East Reynoldsburg, Ohio-based company said smells like a “windswept blend of fresh water, shoreline woods and a hint of mint.”
But do the scents accurately portray the true smells of Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive? “Nope, nope and nope,” wrote Scott Kleinberg of the Chicago Tribune. Kleinberg wrote that “several” of the Tribune’s Facebook fans suggested a scent of dead fish and car exhaust would be more fitting. But that probably wouldn’t sell as well.
-Tom Butala and Matthew Blake