A quiz before flying

So long, and thanks for all the clicks

(NOTE: This was my farewell post for WBEZ. Needless to say, the blogging continues here at the Meyerson Blogger blog. But this farewell is presented here for archival purposes.)

This'll be the last post for the Meyerson WBEZ news blog. (At least for now. Life is long. Never say never. You know.)

Thanks to the talented WBEZ team for making me welcome in this space the last three months or so, and for tolerating my almost daily attempts to test the limits of the website production system.

And thanks to you for your comments, questions, suggestions and -- most of all -- for your attention.

As for what's next: Stay tuned. 

• The blogging continues at meyerson.blogspot.com.
• Follow @Meyerson on Twitter.
• Subscribe to updates here.

Comments or questions? Email Meyerson@gmail.com.

And, now, what better note on which to leave than a final news quiz?

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ANNOUNCEMENTS.
* For help preparing this week's quiz, thanks to readers Phil Vettel, Joe Hass, Andrew Thackray, Patrick Heylin, Phil Marty, Steve Rozwalka, Jf Powalowski, Brent Zhorne and Jenna Brown Russell.
* Follow us on Twitter: @WBEZ and @Meyerson.
* Looking for previous WBEZ Meyerson news quizzes? Here you go.

CTA Ventra card defended: Criticism 'very misleading'

Also: 'Coming out' worked / Towering mistake / Free 'Trek'

'VERY MISLEADING.' Chicago Transit Authority chief Forrest Claypool dismisses an analysis suggesting the new Ventra commuter card is "not a very good deal for consumers." On WTTW-Ch. 11 last night, he contended, "There is zero cost on the transit side at all."
* Chicagoan enacts Stations of the Cross using every CTA train line.

'COMING OUT OF THE CLOSET WORKED.' Whatever the Supreme Court decides on the question of same-sex marriage, the Sun-Times' Neil Steinberg says credit goes to those who "helped their families understand that religion and morality ... are not always linked."
* The Tribune's John Kass describes himself as part of an "irritating minority": traditional Christians in journalism."
* The Tribune's Eric Zorn: Gay marriage opponents will become a "fundamentally irrelevant minority."
* Anti-gay-marriage pastor: "The dominoes are falling ... faster than I ever thought they could."
* Hear or download the full oral arguments yesterday before the Supreme Court. Or read the transcript.
* Magazine gallery cover documents a cultural revolution -- from "The sad 'gay' life of the homosexual" (1967) to "The first gay president" (2012).
* Backers of same-sex marriage say momentum's growing in Springfield.

ONE REASON YOUR TAX-RETURN SEASON MAY BE MISERABLE. A joint NPR-ProPublica investigation details how the maker of TurboTax software spent millions lobbying to keep free and simple tax-filing from becoming a reality for tens of millions of Americans.

TOWERING MISTAKE. A Willis Tower display on Chicago history mispells the name of beloved author and radio host Studs Terkel, according to a post on Jim Romenesko's media blog.
* Willis Tower offers bike valet service for $250 a year.

NEXT FOR KATHY GRIFFIN? Deadline Hollywood says Oak Park native Griffin may team up with Anderson Cooper for a regular show that could air on CNN.
* Mediaite's Joe Concha says a Cooper-Griffin series would be "the worst idea in the history of cable news."
* Nine other famous people from Oak Park.

FREE 'TREK.' Hulu's offering free access this week to every episode of every "Star Trek" series ever aired. Slate recommends 10 of the best, clickable and watchable on one Web page. Among them: The first appearance of the Borg.
* Hulu owners consider selling.

BUILD YOUR OWN MAGAZINE. The Flipboard news reader app for smartphones and tablets now claims 50 million users -- double its figure from August -- and it's adding a new feature, to let them create their own digital magazines on subjects they choose.

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App will help parents, kids map routes to new schools

Also: Yahoo makes teen a millionaire / Onion ridicules Syria's president / NFL player may come out

'ATTENDING A NEW SCHOOL COULD BE A DANGEROUS PROSPECT.' As Chicago prepares for its largest-ever round of school closings, Tom Kompare, a member of Chicago's vibrant Open Government Chicago programming movement, has created a new Web application called "Go to School!" -- to help families across Chicago gauge "their travel options." That includes, as he explains in an email to the group, "locations of police stations, fire stations, and hospitals."

He says it started out as a selfish exercise: "I sometimes get to work from home and get to pick up my daughter after school. I need to hop on the L do so, and was wondering when I had to leave in order to get there on time."

The app's up and running now, with maps showing which schools are closing or relocating. By this fall, he expects to add so-called "safe haven" businesses and crossing guard locations. It works on smartphones or desktop browsers. Check it out at cps.go2school.org.

Meanwhile, Kompare is making the source code available here to anyone who wants to adapt it for use by other school districts.

* Student protests escalate, along with fear over violence.
* Chicago putting more cops on foot patrol along dangerous blocks.

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A MILLIONAIRE AT 17. British teenager Nick D’Aloisio has sold his news-reading app, Summly, to Yahoo for a figure reportedly in the tens of millions of dollars. And how was your Monday?
* Spotify targets Netflix, HBO with streaming video, including original content.
* Facebook finally adds "Reply" option to comments.
* Facebook founder Zuckerberg creates organization to promote immigration reform.
* Mayor Bloomberg seems to suggest Rupert Murdoch stay off Twitter.

'HI, IN THE PAST 2 YEARS, YOU HAVE ALLOWED ME TO KILL 70,000 PEOPLE.' The Onion makes fun of Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad. Or is it making fun of everyone else?
* UN pulls staff out of Syria because of deteriorating conditions.

NFLer OUT OF THE CLOSET? CBS Sports reports a current NFL player is considering coming out publicly. His main concern, the report says, is that he'll be in jeopardy from homophobic fans.

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Did NBC's Brian Williams ambush the Emanuel brothers?

Also: Same-sex marriage showdown / Illinois science education overhaul / Google Alerts endangered?

WATCH THIS VIDEO ... of NBC's Brian Williams interviewing the three Emanuel brothers: Mayor Rahm, bioethicist Ezekiel and Hollywood "super-agent" Ari, recorded March 8 in New York City.

Note the (evidently simulated) slide show of old family photos, the reference to the family as "America's Jewish Kennedys."

What do you think of it?

Love-fest? Puff piece? Affectionate portrayal?

Or hatchet job?

Ari Emanuel reportedly puts it in the latter category. The New York Post quotes sources as saying that he sent a "a fiery legal letter to NBC," complaining the interview, which aired Friday, was so aggressive as to catch the brothers off-guard.

'I THINK WE'RE GOING TO WIN.' That's the optimistic prediction of David Boies, one of the lawyers set to argue Tuesday before the Supreme Court that California's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
* Among those to be seated as a guest of Chief Justice John Roberts: His lesbian cousin, who wants to marry her gay partner.
* Court expert Jeffrey Toobin: 10 years ago, Justice Scalia was right about the future of gay marriage.
* Chart outlines ways the court could rule.
* New poll finds young Americans' growing support for same-sex marriage "one of the biggest shifts we've seen."
* Same-sex marriage convert Sen. Rob Portman's son writes in the Yale Daily News: "In many ways, it’s been a privilege to come out so publicly."
* Politico: Republicans see cash in shift toward gay marriage.
* Mediaite: Is conservatism dead?
* Video: Starbucks CEO tells shareholder to sell if he can't support marriage equality.

'WE LIVE IN A GOOGLE AND WIKIPEDIA SOCIETY, AND IF KIDS NEED TO KNOW SOMETHING, THEY CAN LOOK IT UP.' And so, the president of the Illinois Science Teachers Association tells the Tribune Illinois is ready for dramatic changes in science courses, textbooks and testing, maybe as soon as this fall.
* Illinois bill would improve medical insurance for high school athletes with catastrophic injuries.
* Chicago Public Schools has yet to deliver on college scholarships for kids whose parents died in 2003 E2 nightclub stampede.

GOOGLE ALERTS: WINDING DOWN? If you're among those who've come to rely on Google's service to advise you of new Web content on a specific topic, be warned: Mashable.com says Alerts may be on the way out, but it notes an alternative.
* Wish you had a Wikipedia page of your own? Now you can pretend.

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It's an honor just to be nominated ...

... even if I did nominate myself for this year's Chicago Headline Club Peter Lisagor Awards. (Hey, that's the way it works when the radio station you worked for has gone belly up.)

It's more of an honor to make the list of finalists -- over which I had no control. This entry made the cut for "Science, Health, Technology, Environmental Reporting":

For the record, here are a few entries -- for feature writing, business reporting and best reporter -- the judges passed over:





May 3 at the Union League Club, we'll find out who wins. (Note to self: This year, no jeans.)

3 important columns

Read these, Chicago:

'JUST AFTER BILL BEAVERS LEFT THE FEDERAL COURTROOM GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS ... HE GAVE ME A QUIET SHRUG.' John Kass with an excellent veteran newsman's perspective on the conviction of "The Hog with the Big Nuts."

SURPRISE CONNECTION. Mark Brown draws a line you might not otherwise have perceived, linking Beavers to ex-Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, ex-Ald. Sandi Jackson.

'THIS WAR IS LONG OVERDUE.' Mary Mitchell says the Chicago school closings plan has been handled delicately. Now, she's calling on those who would "rather see kids stuck in underperforming schools than invite them to share in the blessings of a good school" to give the plan a chance to work.

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Get out your No. 2 cursors for a news quiz

Once again, it's time to test your recall of items in the news

 

 

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ANNOUNCEMENTS.
* For their help preparing this week's quiz, thanks to Laura Enright, Bill Jeffreys, John Kerke, Joe Hass, Belinda Bremner, Patrick Heylin and Jf Powalowski.
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Misery is ... Chicago (according to Forbes)

Also: Time for another news quiz!

'CHICAGO: WE'RE NOT AS MISERABLE AS _______' The city's new travel slogan is ready. Based on Forbes magazine's 2013 rating of "America's Most Miserable Cities," you could fill that blank with the names of three other cities – Detroit, Flint and Rockford – because Chicago shows up at No. 4.

* Retired general who led military response to Hurricane Katrina: National Guard could help Chicago.
* Search crime data in your community (Tribune interactive database).
* New tourist attractions for Chicago could be up and running within months.
* Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z reportedly headed to Soldier Field this summer.
* Chicago to be home of new American Writers Museum.
* Congress Theater owner plans ambitious renovation.

'THE AMBULANCE INDUSTRY TAKES IN MORE MONEY EVERY YEAR THAN HOLLYWOOD.' That's Steven Brill, author of Time magazine's "longest single piece ever published by a single writer" – 36 pages on "Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us" – in an extended, online-only Daily Show interview with Jon Stewart.
* Brill's article wasn't originally supposed to run in Time.
* FBI declares war on The Scooter Store.

... AND THIS WEEK'S NEWS QUIZ:

 

 

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* Thanks to WBEZ's Alex Keefe for inspiration.
* This blog is taking a day off Monday. See you early Tuesday.

Transit fare-card fog thickens

Also: School closings analysis / Docs back gay marriage / Abusive priests / Your taxes at work / Prostitutes walk free? / March #^¢&ing Madness

TRANSIT FARE-CARD FOG. Adding to confusion over the incoming Ventra card for Chicago-area transit, the RTA says its version won't include prepaid debit account functionality for senior citizens and people with disabilities. On one hand, that means they'll be spared a bewildering array of debit-card fees; on the other, a disability rights group executive tells the Tribune, "Whatever options are available to the general public should be available to persons with disabilities and persons over 65 who qualify for reduced-fare cards."
* Correction to something I said yesterday on WBEZ's "Afternoon Shift" (at about 5:02 in this audio clip): According to the Trib, that $2.95 "Reload on Internet" fee applies only to money added to the retail (debit) side of the card; not to recharges for the card's transit-fare side.

SCHOOL CLOSINGS ANALYSIS. As Mayor Emanuel's administration prepares to announce what could be the largest number of schools shut down by a city in a single year, keep an eye on these data-driven websites (including WBEZ's map of school closures), featuring what Chicago magazine's Whet Moser calls "vital" tools for understanding the closings' impact.
* Chicago charter-school operator UNO's boss has 3 relatives on the payroll, Sun-Times reports.

KIDS DOCS BACK GAY MARRIAGE. The Illinois-based American Academy of Pediatrics says stable relationships between parents, regardless of sexual orientation, contribute to children's health and well-being.
* Gay-marriage opponent: "To the extent that the other side is able to frame this as a vote for gay people to be happy, it will be challenging for us."

'SURE. SEX AND THE PRIESTS, LET'S BLAST IT ALL OVER THE PLACE. NEVER LET IT GO.' The retired bishop of the Joliet Diocese reacts bitterly to release of previously secret papers detailing decades of sexual abuse on his watch.
* Lawyer who won the revelations: "At least 75% of the diocese ... had a sexual predator priest."

LET PROSTITUTES WALK FREE? To ease a population crunch at Cook County Jail, several County Board members are asking prosecutors to treat prostitution arrests as misdemeanors, not felonies.
* On WBEZ, Sheriff Tom Dart criticizes mental health clinic closures: "We as a society have decided to criminalize mental illness. ... We've shut down all the facilities to treat people. Where in God's name do you think they're gonna go?"

YOUR TAXES AT WORK.
* Chicago ordered to pay $57.8 million to parking company for letting competing garage open nearby.
* Cook County to pay $646,000 to ACLU in fight over law forbidding recording of cops on the job.

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COMING FRIDAY: A fresh news quiz.
Limber up your quizceps by trying these previous editions.

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COULD MAKE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS AWKWARD. President Obama was caught on-mic and on-camera in Israel joking, "It's good to get away from Congress."
* Obama, Israel's prime minister complain NBC reporter asks too many questions.
* Conservative vs. conservative: "O'Reilly slams Bachmann for 'trivial' criticisms of President Obama" (Politico).

'THE AMERICAN NEWS CONSUMER HAS NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD.' Slate's Matthew Yglesias says, sure, it's a rough time for news producers, but the doom-and-gloom reports on the state of the news biz miss the key point that "today’s readers have access to far more high-quality coverage than they have time to read."
* Reporter who quit: "Newspapers killed newspapers."
* Washington Post nails Jane Goodall for plagiarism.
* CNN reporter allegedly "outraged" over Steubenville rape trial coverage criticism.

GOOGLE'S NEW NOTE-TAKING SERVICE. Google Keep is aimed at services like Evernote, promising to "save ideas and organize to-dos the moment they happen by creating notes, lists, photos and voice recordings right from your phone."
* YouTube now reaches 1 billion unique visitors a month -- 15 percent of humanity.

THIS LINK UNSUITABLE FOR ALL AGES. Tired of the traditional NCAA bracket? Deadspin offers a 64-slot "Swear Word Bracket" -- because "68-team brackets are stupid."
* Tech Crunch: "Google Embeds March Madness Bracket In Search, Because Screw Sports Sites." 

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Mobile journalism: From the palm of your hand ... to the world

Anyone who grew up in the era of typewriters and reel-to-reel audiotape -- the era of REAL cut-and-paste editing -- can't help but be astonished by all reporters can do with a simple smartphone. Here's a quick overview, although you really have to see this stuff in action to believe it.

This is an abbreviated version of my presentation to dozens of students and teachers at the Scholastic Press Association of Chicago annual conference, hosted by Roosevelt University, March 19, 2013.

Mobile journalism: From your palm ... to the world from Charlie Meyerson

CTA's new card comes with expensive options

Also: City Council, spineless in Chicago / 'Worse than Nixon' / Colbert bump / Pants in the news / Lollapalooza lookahead

NEW CTA CARDS: TAKING YOU FOR A RIDE? An analysis of the huge contract with the company responsible for the forthcoming Ventra passes reveals potentially costly surprises if you opt for the debit-card version -- including $2 for a call to customer service. The Tribune's Jon Hilkevitch reports.

SPINELESS IN CHICAGO. In Chicago magazine, Steve Rhodes explores how the mayor always gets his way with the City Council: "When disastrous ideas come around ... they pass with flying colors."
* Sources to Sun-Times: Wrigley alderman OK with scrapping scoreboard for video version "as big as you want."

'WORSE THAN NIXON.' The First Amendment advocate who represented The New York Times when the government sued over publication of the Pentagon Papers says the Obama administration "is worse for press freedom than former President Richard Nixon."
* Climate-change-denying congressman to head subcommittee on climate change.

WILL CNN APOLOGIZE? More than 220,000 people have signed that online petition demanding the network take back its sympathetic coverage of the sentencing of two men convicted of rape in Steubenville, Ohio. The Atlantic says "it's hard to understand why CNN wouldn't feel compelled to address the backlash."
* Steubenville rapist to appeal because his "brain isn't fully developed."
* Two girls charged with social-media threats against Steubenville rape victim.

COLBERT BUMP. Stephen Colbert's sister, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, is the easy winner in the Democratic primary for a South Carolina seat in Congress.
* Colbert joins sister's political team: "I’m not worried about what it would do to me or my show to try to help her as myself – not as my character."

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Meyerson + Kogan, 2 p.m. today on WBEZ's "Afternoon Shift."
What should we discuss? Your suggestions welcome.

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BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. Gay-bashing Westboro Baptist Church has a new neighbor right across the street in Topeka: A rainbow-colored home. And Google Maps played a part.
* WBEZ's Nico Lang: What's holding up Illinois' Marriage Fairness Act?
* Nine justices, no waiting: Supreme Court to release audio recordings of next week's gay-marriage arguments just hours after conclusion.

PANTS IN THE NEWS.
* PolitiFact gives "pants on fire" rating to Michele Bachmann's statement that 70 percent of food stamp funding goes to bureaucrats.
* Lululemon warns of yoga pants shortage after recall for too-revealing fabric.

LOLLAPALOOZA LOOKAHEAD. The headliners set for Grant Park Aug. 2-4 include Mumford & Sons, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend and the Killers, according to Greg Kot in the Tribune. Tickets go on sale Tuesday.
* Alfred Hitchcock's earliest surviving silent films set for Chicago screening.

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Illinois' not-so-magnificent miles

Also: Cubs' Rosemont option, CNN petitioned, the state of journalism, ... and zipper injuries

'SIMPLY UNACCEPTABLE.' That's the American Society of Civil Engineers president assessing the D-plus his group's awarding Illinois for condition of its infrastructure. The Tribune says the society found 73 percent of Illinois roads in poor or mediocre shape -- at an average annual cost to the typical motorist of $292 in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs.
* So come for a visit -- but just don't drive: Chicago's set to double its tourism and convention bureau budget this year.

'MAYOR STEPHENS WANTS THE CUBS TO KNOW THEY HAVE AN OPTION.' A spokesman for Rosemont elaborates on an offer to give the Ricketts family 25 acres of land to build a replica of Wrigley Field in the 'burbs if things don't work out in Chicago.
* Plan to spend $3 million to expand the Northerly Island concert pavilion up for vote Thursday.

'APOLOGIZE ON AIR FOR SYMPATHIZING WITH THE STEUBENVILLE RAPISTS.' More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition demanding CNN renounce its "disgusting" portrayal of two athletes convicted of raping a woman.
* TV networks aired 16-year-old rape victim's name.
* Blogger who flagged Steubenville case fights criticism she helped create "Internet lynch mob."

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THE STATE OF JOURNALISM. Know the story of the blind men and the elephant? That's the sort of treatment the Pew Research Center’s 2012 News Media Consumption survey is getting. Choose your own adventure:
* "Report: Local news somehow even worse than it was before."
* "News Coverage of Local Politics Is Fading Away."
* "State of the media: The cracks are still widening, but some light is also getting in."
* "As Mobile Grows Rapidly, the Pressures on News Intensify."
* "Nearly one-third of U.S. adults have abandoned a news outlet due to dissatisfaction."
* "This Is the Scariest Statistic About the Newspaper Business Today."
* "Newspaper Newsroom Staff Numbers Are at Lowest Point Since 1978."

... AND SO, CRY 'HYPOCRISY' IF YOU WILL. BUT NOT IF YOU CLICK HERE. The Atlantic: "17,616 Men Went to the ER for Zipper-Related Penis Injuries Between 2002 and 2010."  

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CNN's Ohio rape trial coverage ridiculed

Also: Gay marriage debate shifts, CTA fare help, Obama's Dow problem, Earth Hour critiqued and 'Veronica Mars' revival

'ANYONE WOULD FIND THEMSELVES ON THE SIDE OF ... THESE POOR YOUNG MEN, WHO WERE VERY GOOD AT TAKING TESTS AND PLAYING SPORTS WHEN THEY WERE NOT RAPING ...' Gawker ridicules CNN's coverage of the Steubenville, Ohio, trial of "star football players."
* The Atlantic: "CNN's not the only one peddling sympathy" for rapists.
* HyperVocal.com: Onion parody perfectly anticipated CNN's coverage -- two years ago.
* Former porn star Traci Lords says she and her mother were also raped in Steubenville.

SPEAKING OF OHIO ... Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) has reversed his opposition to gay marriage after his own son came out; but Speaker John Boehner, also from Ohio, says he "can't imagine" ever changing his position.
* Satire from Andy Borowitz: Other Republicans inspired "to stop speaking to their children."
* U. of C. law school prof: "Those who think that the marriage of same-sex couples is incompatible with their religious beliefs ... cannot legitimately or with a proper respect for the American system of law and justice attempt to impose those beliefs on those who disagree."

CTA FARES CONFUSING? HERE'S HELP. With even some board members seemingly bewildered by the plan they approved last week, the Tribune serves up a chart translating how you pay now to how you'll pay under the incoming Ventra system.

THE STORY OBAMA, REPUBLICANS 'DON'T DARE TALK ABOUT.' In another time, another political climate, you might expect President Obama or his opposition to brag about the Dow's stratospheric rise. But writing for Mediaite, Joe Concha says both sides are quiet: Obama, to avoid compromising his rep as "champion for Main Street"; Republicans, to avoid suggesting "any good economic news ... going into the midterm election season."
* Sarah Palin makes fun of Obama's teleprompter reliance ... while reading from a teleprompter.
* ABC contributor Matthew Dowd says Palin and the rest of the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference reminded him of "a 'Flintstones' episode."

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Looking for Friday's WBEZ Meyerson News Quiz? Here you go.

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'EARTH HOUR TEACHES ALL THE WRONG LESSONS.' An adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School says this Saturday's environmental awareness-raising festivities will in fact increase the world's carbon dioxide emissions.
* Following undercover video showing cows struggling to stand as they were prodded to slaughter by forklifts, new legislation in states across the country seeks to end farm-animal abuse ... (wait for it) ... videos.

'HOW I SAVED VERONICA MARS AND DESTROYED THE MOVIE INDUSTRY.' Reflecting on the Kickstarter campaign that seems set to revive the TV show starring Kristen Bell, Brian S Hall says he did it with "technology I carry around with with me everyday."
* Is New York-based startup a cable TV killer?

QUESTIONS MOST OFTEN ANSWERED WRONG IN FRIDAY'S NEWS QUIZ.

A national survey finds that, over the last 40 years, in all regions of the country, the percentage of U.S. homes with guns is _____ (up, down, unchanged).

Which of these events now holds the record for most tweets per minute? (Pope Francis' 2013 election, Barack Obama's 2012 reelection, Barack Obama's 2008 election, The Britney-Madonna kiss at the VMAs.)

Now it's your turn to avenge those who guessed incorrectly.

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Habemus News Quiz X

Put on your thinking caps. Or whatever item of attire is most helpful for thinking.

FRESH FOR YOU: OUR 10th WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ.

The white smoke emerging from the WBEZ studios at Navy Pier means ... it's that time!

 

 

 

Want to try your hand at previous news quizzes? Here you go.

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Honors due for Internet activist Aaron Swartz

Also: CTA fare hikes, speculations on a Clinton-Obama ticket in 2016 and Obama trumps pope on Twitter.

GONE, NOT FORGOTTEN. Chicago native and Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide early this year as he faced prosecution for the theft from MIT of millions of online documents, will be honored Friday with the James Madison Freedom of Information Award.
* From January: WBEZ's Robin Amer wrote after Swartz' funeral, "I am drained from crying."

REMEMBER ALL THOSE PROTESTS EARLIER THIS WEEK ABOUT HIGHER FEES IN THE CTA's NEW FARE SYSTEM? The CTA board has approved the plan anyway even though some board members themselves seemed not to understand it. So your existing Chicago Card is headed toward the scrap heap. But you might be able to get one of the new Ventra cards free.
* CTA prices headed up for college students, tourists.
* CTA train line colors added to Google's Chicago maps.
* Mayor Emanuel proposes overhauling parking taxes to lower rates on cheaper spots, raise them on premium spaces.

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New WBEZ Meyerson News Quiz tomorrow.
Catch up on last week's and other previous quizzes here.

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CLINTON-OBAMA TICKET? Speculation for the 2016 presidential race: Hillary + Michelle.
* Mother Jones: "Turns Out That [President] Obama Doesn't Hate Whitey After All."
* Bipartisan budget bill would make permanent four longstanding gun protections.

ON TWITTER, NEW POPE'S NO OBAMA. No matter how many tweets you read yesterday about the new pope, they weren't enough to break the record 20 million sent the night President Obama won reelection.
* Twitter's next frontier? Music -- with an emphasis on sampling.
* Google Reader, we hardly knew ye. And that was the problem. Or did Twitter kill it?
* Gawker: "If You Wear Google’s New Glasses You Are An A__hole."
* Is The New York Times technophobic?

'WERE YOU STRAPPED INTO YOUR CAR SEAT AND FORCED TO LISTEN TO NPR IN THE '80s AND '90s?' That's the hook NPR's using to promote itself at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, courting loyalty among a demographic it calls "Generation Listen."
* Meanwhile, WBEZ, which has been encouraging those former "backseat babies" to "Go Make Babies" of their own, is planning a "Member Meet-up: '90s Time Machine Edition."

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A 'hero,' finally heard

Also: Fight for a baby's life, John Belushi revisited, Emily Postmodern and who's hacked now

A 'HERO,' FINALLY HEARD. Previously unreleased audio of Pfc. Bradley Manning's speech to a military court gives the public a chance, for the first time, to hear the voice of the man who shared hundreds of thousands of government documents with WikiLeaks.
* Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg calls Manning a hero: "I can think of no one more deserving ... of the peace prize."
* Man who surreptitiously filmed Mitt Romney's "47 percent" comments on video: "I felt like I had a duty to expose it."

HACKED OFF.
* Minutes after the chief of the NSA warned the U.S. Senate about banks' cyber-insecurity, Chase's website suffered a denial-of-service attack.
* Without confirming reports Michelle Obama's credit records had been accessed illegally, President Obama declares the compromise of personal data "a big problem."

OBAMA'S 'MOST IMPORTANT MAN IN CHICAGO'? Chicago magazine's Carol Felsenthal says it'll be a guy named Jon Carson.
* Obama rejects Donald Trump's offer to pay for restoration of White House tours.
* Head writer for political drama "House of Cards" reveals why anti-hero Francis Underwood is a Democrat. (Spoiler-free, by the way.)

* 'WE ARE NOT GOING TO GIVE UP ON DESTROYING THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.' Former VP candidate Paul Ryan suffers an unfortunate slip of the tongue.
* Charles Pierce in Esquire: What Ryan doesn't get about America.

INSIDE THE FIGHT FOR A BABY'S LIFE. A doctor tells the Tribune how his team worked, unsuccessfully, to save a 6-month-old girl shot Monday in Chicago.
* Whet Moser: Is Chicago's crime problem people "peeing in the streets"?

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JOHN BELUSHI. DRONE STRIKES. THE SEQUESTER. What ties them together? It's Watergate sleuth Bob Woodward, like Belushi a native of Wheaton, Ill. Author Tanner Colby says re-reporting Woodward's book about Belushi raises troubling questions about Woodward's more recent work.
* Twinkies' new owner wants Zach Galifianakis for commercials.
* Ed Asner taken to hospital by ambulance after cutting short performance in Gary.
* Billy Joel's surprise on-stage decision at a college concert goes viral.

DO YOU SUPPORT MARRIAGE BETWEEN CONSENTING COMPUTERIZED AUTODIALERS DELIVERING RECORDED MESSAGES? As the Illinois House nears a decisive vote on whether to legalize gay marriage in Illinois, opponents are opening the spigots on a flood of robo-calls -- including one to Quad Cities residents, targeting Rep. Mike Smiddy: "Who is Mike Smiddy representing? You or Chicago homosexuals?"

EMILY POSTMODERN.
* Gawker: "Don't leave me a voicemail unless you're dying."
* The Atlantic: "Here's the nice thing about all these mean people writing something to force people to stop writing the way they do: It will never work."

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CTA's Ventra fare scheme suffers riders' blowback

Also: Wet winter, Media's 'failure', Durbin's choice, Mark Grace's 'slammer' time, your Facebook 'likes'

'THIS IS NO MORE THAN A DOG AND PONY SHOW.' That's one CTA rider's protest, as quoted in the Tribune, at last night's hearing on a new fare payment system set to take effect this summer, if the CTA board OKs it in a vote Wednesday.
-- DNAinfo.com Chicago: Chicago considers using red-light cams to spot parking violators.

GOOD AND WET. Yes, Chicago's winter has become wetter than usual. Yes, that's good news for farmers. No, it's not good for people who live near rivers, as the Sun-Times explains.

'THE MEDIA'S GREATEST FAILURE IN MODERN TIMES.' Newsweek's Washington bureau chief, Howard Kurtz says reports questioning the evidence or rationale for war in Iraq "were frequently buried, minimized or spiked."
* Conservative website Breitbart.com falls for a parody website's report that Paul Krugman of The New York Times filed for bankruptcy. 
* Song celebrates "the girls on Fox News."

HISTORIC DECISION. In what could be a break for Senate Democrats, Dick Durbin's decided to run for another term, which could make him the first Illinois Democrat to win four terms.
* "Ward Room" blog: "Durbin is so popular he’ll win even if he’s caught robbing Lincoln’s Tomb."

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VATICAM. Watch live video from the Vatican for a sign the new pope has been chosen.
* Eric Zorn: "Who might be the next Pope? I don't care!"

'MY 9-YEAR-OLD SAID: "WHERE, BACK TO THE SLAMMER?"' Ex-Cub Mark Grace says that, when he has to leave early to return to his work-release sentence at an Arizona jail, his son gets it.

ARE YOU WHAT YOU LIKE? A new report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concludes your Facebook "likes" reveal a lot about your personality.
* Simpler test on Web diagnoses personality with a single click. (Approach with caution: It found this blogger "shy and reserved." Also -- snicker if you will -- "well organized.")

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ANNOUNCEMENTS.
* Suggestions for this blog? Email anytime.
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* Looking for the most recent WBEZ Meyerson News Quiz? Here you go.

Fare enough? CTA hearing tonight

Also: Cops and technology, Gun ownership trends, SNL and other funny stuff and a news quiz recap.

CTA PRICE CHANGES. A public hearing tonight gives you a chance to say your piece about higher fees that could accompany new fare card options for CTA and Pace riders. For one thing, the Tribune's Jon Hilkevitch reports, those Ventra cards that for months have been "coming soon" come with a "dormancy fee" that'll drain away your money if you don't use 'em enough.
* Purple and Brown Line service returning to normal after bridge work.
* Customer accused of attacking CTA driver taking bathroom break.

LONG ARM, BIG DATA. Increasingly cheap technology and easy access to social-network profiles stands to make police work easier and more productive. But that makes civil libertarians nervous.
* U. of C. law prof: "If we really care about rights, we should mandate DNA testing ... of everyone."
* ACLU: Drones make possible new forms of privacy-invasion.
* Twitter knows bushels about you before you even sign up.

DISARMING NEWS. The percentage of U.S. homes with guns is down over the last 40 years -- in all regions of the country -- according to a new national survey.
* NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he aims to "level the playing field" against the National Rifle Association.
* Neil Steinberg on gun-rights advocates' opposition to drones: "On the one hand: The government cannot be trusted to identify a person as being so much of a threat he should be killed. On the other: Any random citizen can."
* President Nixon considered a ban on all handguns.

FUNNY THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED OVER THE WEEKEND.
* The return of about everyone who's ever hosted "Saturday Night Live." (Or so it felt.)
* President Obama, his "joke writers ... placed on furlough," joking about Bob Woodward and Nate Silver.
* Silver revealing whom he'd like to see as himself in a movie.

2 QUESTIONS MOST OFTEN ANSWERED INCORRECTLY IN THIS BLOG'S LATEST NEWS QUIZ.

* The New York Times shuttered its blog about _____.
* Chicago's murder total for February was _____.

Take the quiz now and improve those averages, won't you?

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Blogs R Us

Mornings will be busy the next several weeks.

In addition to my daily posts for WBEZ (several of which I've been cross-posting here on this blog for posterity's sake), I've signed on for the next month or so as temporary custodian at Crain's Morning 10 email/blog at chicagobusiness.com.

Catch all the action -- and let me know if I mess up; I give public credit to people who spot errors -- by subscribing to all three blogs. They're free:

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