Here's to you, bud
Best Buddies Illinois, the nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is hosting its Eighth Annual Best Buddies Illinois Gala tonight. CBS Chicago news anchor Rob Johnson will host the event that kicks off at 6:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago. Gov. Pat Quinn’s former chief of staff Jack Lavin will be honored for his involvement with the organization, according to the group’s website.
Rats attack
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s Sewer Rats team was recognized at the MWRD Board’s meeting on Thursday for chewing up the competition in last month’s Operations Challenge at the WEFTEC 2013 water quality exposition at McCormick Place.
Sewer Rats team member Ed Staudacher reported the group finished third overall while competing against 41 other regional groups from the U.S. and Canada in events that measured wastewater treatment facilities teams’ precision, speed and safety skills. Other Sewer Rats team members are: Josh Filler, John Conry, Rich Stubing, Miguel Vallejo, Jim McNamara and Matt Jurjovec.
Get in line
Monday is the first day for Illinois political candidates to file nominating petitions with the Illinois State Board of Elections for the March primary elections. That being the case, Will Cousineau – who leads the campaign of House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) – left nothing to chance.
Rich Miller, publisher of the Illinois politics blog Capitol Fax, last night at about 7:30 p.m. received an image of Cousineau camping out in line at the board of elections office to ensure he is first in line when it comes time to file Madigan’s petitions on Monday. When texted by Miller about how he was doing, Couisneau replied, “Just enjoying a nice evening outdoors.”
Cold pizza
What is likely to be the final twist in the “Great Chicago-New York Pizza Wars of 2013” played out on the Daily Show Wednesday after a weeklong battle pitted the Second City’s deep dish aficionados against the Big Apple’s thin crust devotees.
Daily Show host and New Jersey Native John Stewart set off an Internet uproar from angry Chicagoans when he besmirched delicious deep dish pizza on his program last week.
This week, Stewart apologized for his anti-deep dish rant, and even invited Lou Malnati’s owner Marc Malnati on his show. With Malnati present, Stewart sampled a slice of the restaurant’s famous deep dish and said that he liked it. The Daily Show host refused to follow true Chicago tradition by using a fork-and-knife, but you’ve still got to respect the gesture. Touche, Stewart, touche.
-Tom Butala