CHICAGO — Here's what we're reading today.
Blowin' in the wind: In the wake of the very unfunny confederate flag situation, senior editor Andrew Herrmann is getting a chuckle out of a Washington Post snarky critique of state flags. Nobody is spared. Alexandra Petri's take on Illinois: "This ill eagle should be illegal. Why is 'Sovereignty' upside down? None of the other words are. A lot going on here, none of it good."
Illinois' state flag: Awk!
Move Into A Chicago Board Of Trade Pit: The Chicago Board of Trade is selling its 36,000-square-foot, three-story, art-deco cave where for nearly 80 years, frantic traders waved their arms and shouted at each other. Reporter Linze Rice is reading in Reuters about the sale and architecturally unique space, described as "a sports arena, but darker." Glassed-in galleries provide a viewpoint down into the pits, where beaming red tickers and traders with laptops harnessed to their hips appear as a colorful sea of ants to those watching above. According to Reuters, the historic sale comes on the heels of a technical shift in trading, now moving mostly online. Maybe Krispy Kreme should move in there.
Portillo's: From the chopped salad to the dipped Italian beef, Portillo's knows how to do Chicago food right, which is why reporter Ariel Cheung has yearned for a North Side location since her first bite. Imagine her dismay upon learning that suburban Gurnee and Tampa, Florida, are in line for new locations instead. This Nation's Restaurant News article mentioned the plans along with the announcement that Noodles & Company president Keith Kinsey is taking the reins as CEO of the Oakbrook-based chain. Kinsey, baby, you know we love your peanut sauté and pesto cavatappi, so how about showing the North Side some Portillo's love?
Numbers and Hips Don't Lie: Obese Americans now outnumber the number whom are overweight, Playboy reports. The piece spotlights a new report in the Journal JAMA Internal Medicine, where researchers discovered that that 3 out of every 4 men and 2 out of every 3 women in our country were either obese (67.6 million Americans) or overweight (65.2 million Americans). Just some food for thought the next time reporter Alisa Hauser is wondering whether to exercise on The 606 or just eat another one of Big Star's new beef picadillo tacos and go to sleep.
Life After Football: Former Niles West and University of Illinois stand-out running back Rashard Mendenhall shocked the sports world when he retired from the NFL after six years in the league. Reporter Paul Biasco is reading a Business Insider story that proves Mendenhall knew what he was doing when he said "Football was pretty cool, but I don't want to play anymore. I want to travel the world and write!" back in 2014. Mendenhall, a former first round draft pick, joined the Writers Guild of America and worked as a writer on the first season of HBO's new show "Ballers." The show stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and is about an ex-NFL player who becomes an NFL agent. Hats off to Rashard for following his dreams.
Remember This Man who Cleans Portable Johns for a Living the Next Time You Complain About Your Job: Since spotting a few pop-up outhouses near some of The 606's ground-level parks (currently there are no places to relieve oneself along the 2.7-mile long trail), Alisa Hauser has been interested in the topic. Via Cracked.com, an anonymous man who cleans the bathrooms in an unknown city has discovered a corpse, wedding band, wallets stuffed with cash, syringes and even a gun during his career, according to "5 Weird Truths of Cleaning Porta Johns."
