CHICAGO — A local writer takes on "Pretty Woman," a reporter breaks down Rahm's rocky relationship with reporters and "Divergent" author Veronica Roth talks college insecurity.
Red Light Anniversary: Today's the 25th anniversary of the release of the film Pretty Woman, which millions of fans see as a heart-warming rom-com, but people who work with prostitutes and human trafficking hate, hate, hate. Senior editor Andrew Herrmann recommends Newsweek's take by former Chicago writer Nina Burleigh on the dangers and damages of prostitution.
"Most sex buyers do not treat the women they buy to strawberries and champagne, or shopping sprees on Rodeo Drive," one researcher tells her. More than 70 percent of prostitutes report having been assaulted. "The reality is far from pretty," writes Burleigh, a University of Illinois-Springfield's Public Affairs Reporting Program grad.
The pits: The futures trading pits of the Chicago Board of Trade along with the yelling, bright coats and occasional fights are being left in the dust due to technological advancements. Most of the pits inside the iconic Chicago institution will close for good in July as face-to-face trading goes by the wayside. Lincoln Park reporter Paul Biasco recommends a New York Times dive into the culture of the pits, which it called a "working-class portal" to money.
"Perhaps even more significant for Chicago is the disappearance of a career path that for over 150 years allowed scrappy teenagers and former high school athletes to hustle their way to wealth, or at least excitement," the Times says.
Terminal wait: Radio News Director Jon Hansen says he hates messy traveling days. The moment that first cloud appears in the sky on a day he's flying, he's checking four different websites to see how long his flight is delayed. By the first raindrop, he's already identified six alternative flights and is already prepared for the fact that he knows his entire trip will have to be canceled.
Luckily, Slate has put him at ease — sort of — with tips to cope with a canceled flight and what the airline owes you under certain circumstances.
In This Corner: The fact that Mayor Rahm Emanuel isn’t the Chicago news media’s biggest fan shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows the news out of City Hall. But an in-depth look at the issue from Jackie Spinner in the Columbia Journalism Review caught the attention of reporter Heather Cherone by digging deeper into the issue and asking whether it matters that there is so much antipathy between the mayor and the press corps. The key line: “You can’t have any kind of open government if you don’t have some openness with the local press,” said Beth Konrad, a past president for the Chicago Headline Club.
This Dude Could Fill the City's Budget Gap: We get it, Chicago's broke. Requiring cyclists to spring for a license for their bikes — a proposal raised during a recent 43rd Ward aldermanic debate — could be a cash cow for the city. Especially if we could get Asahi Chang to relocate here from Taiwan. Chang has an impressive collection of more than 600 bikes, which he's been amassing since the 1970s. Patty Wetli stumbled across this post on the Factory Five blog (via Turin Bicycle), which offers a glimpse into Chang's treasure trove, typically not open to public view.
There's hope: The Daily Northwestern sits down with 26-year-old Veronica Roth who, before her Divergent series became massive hit books and movies, was just another NU student in a creative writing class. In the interview, Roth recalls being intimidated by her fellow NU writers but that only made her work harder. "Just because someone is more skilled than you doesn't mean you don't have value. It's OK to be in the world and look up to people," she says.
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