If a governor says he might consider appointing someone to a prized position, but, hey, it might be a good idea for the beneficiary to throw, say, a fundraiser – is that the same as a cop offering to tear up the ticket for $50? Prosecutors at the Blagojevich retrial say yes – just asking is the crime. WBEZ’s Rob Wideboer joins us for a thorough recap of the trial to date. Lots of people have lost interest in Blago 2, but Rob reminds us that it’s pretty newsworthy. But if that’s not enough, Rob has posted at the BEZ site the actual, uncensored voice of Rod Blagojevich unleashing his full fury on the President of the United States. You’ve heard the bleeped version, but the real thing’s breathtaking.

On a different topic, CNC’s Kari Leydersen joins us to talk about the future of Coal Power in Chicago.  Three big, dirty coal plants operate every day in and just outside of Chicago, and activists have been battling for years to shut them down. Now, it’s possible that an unusual confluence of politics and economics might shut at least one of them down, and soon.

Also on this week’s panel is Mayoral Tutorial’s Don Washington. On May 17 he and his co-conspirators will be having a kick-off party at the Heartland to get you “dangerously informed” on mayoral politics in Chicago.

Did Mayor-Elect Emanuel’s team score a victory by hooking up Jean-Claude Brizard with a series of local education reporters this week, blunting some of the political noise that’s surrounded his appointment? And will the massive reconstruction of the north section of the Red Line, along with the proposed extension of that line to 130th street, ever really happen?

Just a couple of provocative questions tackled this week by our panel of veteran journalists. They are: Jon Hilkevitch, author of the Getting Around column in the Tribune; Linda Lenz, Publisher of Catalyst Chicago and Ed Zotti, correspondent for the Reader and long-time editor of the paper’s Straight Dope column. Ed wrote a fascinating piece recently called How to Fix the El.  Transportation, education and more on this week’s show.

It’s a very serious discussion this week as we talk with two veteran journalists who’ve been covering crime, police and justice issues for decades.

Our panelists are Frank Main, whose Sun-Times series just won a Pulitzer, and Chicago Reporter publisher Alden Loury. They talk frankly about what they’ve observed after years of covering some of Chicago’s most violence-plagued communities, and what they think can be done about the cycle of intimidation and retaliation. There’s also a good discussion about who might become Chicago’s next police superintendent.

(The Sun-Times series was reported by Main and Mark Konkol, with photographer John Kim).

A good deal of this week’s show was devoted to the appointment of Jean-Claude Brizard to the Chicago Public Schools.

Guest Monroe Anderson saw it as another step toward the corporatization of the public schools and and Steve Rhodes called the appointment a continuation of the Daley administration, while Lorraine Forte (Catalyst’s Editor in Chief) said that simply creating lots of charter schools eventually invites  cheating if teacher pay depends on test scores.

Also on the show: our congratulations to the Sun Times for  its local-coverage Pulitzer, some musings about recent successes of hyper-local and on-line journalism, and a very quick update on the Blago trial.

Two of Chicago’s top veteran reporters visit the Newsroom this week, and things start off on an optimistic note.

NPR’s Cheryl Corley and the BGA’s Andy Shaw have more than 60 years’ reporting experience between them (Andy reported for Channel 7 for decades) and they both believe the education reform package that has emerged in the Illinois Legislature is a positive development. It’s a way to begin tackling the thorny problems of education funding and school reform without demonizing teachers and destroying collective bargaining, they say.

It’s a wide-ranging discussion about schools, policing, youth violence and Chicago politics, with a few laughs along the way.

Is it possible that Rahm Emanuel isn’t particularly upset that Charles Ramsey took himself out of consideration for TopCop after demanding so much money (and maybe a home, Sneed says)? Our panelists  think so.  It gives him credit for going after a high-profile catch, but now frees him to look at some prospects within the Department who might be more easily accepted by the rank and file.

Also this week: the amazing collapse of the Banks machine in the 36th Ward, the ascendancy of Mayor Sawyer’s son in the family’s historic 6th Ward, and the election of the guy who looks the most like a Chicago Alderman – Tim Cullerton.

Guests: Political consultant Delmarie Cobb, Chicago magazine’s Carol Felsenthal, and Nadig Newspapers’ Russ Stewart.

What if the horses urinating on Michigan Ave were required to eat only foie gras? Less odiferous? It’s a suggestion on this week’s Chicago Newsroom. Other subjects: Although last, Illinois may become concealed-carry. Privatized recycling, the increasingly combative if predictable runoff elections, a half-sized City Council and Goose Island Beer.

That and more with Thom Clark (Community Media Workshop), John Dempsey (WLS-AM) and Paul Meincke (ABC-7).

It’s a freewheeling discussion this week about police reorganization, new media and Emanuel’s transition.

With the recent tragic death of Jim Tyree, we ask whether the future prospects for the Sun-Times have now dimmed even further. There’s strong support on the panel for the S-T, though, despite its troubles.  The Police Department seems to be going back to the policies of, well, the Hillard Administration now that Terry Hillard is acting supe. Is that what Mayor Daley wants? Is he backing off the police reorganization he appeared to want Jody Weiss to initiate?  And who’s Emanuel backing in the runoff elections? Why?

Guests: Mick Dumke (Chicago News Cooperative), Barb Iverson (Columbia College) and Don Washington (Chicago Now)

http://www.youtube.com/embed/1hdNLaEu6p0

It’s an all labor show this week, as we bring together three expert observers who’ve spent time in Wisconsin covering the labor protests.

We ask whether it’s possible to gauge the degree to which the incoming Emanuel administration will confront some of these same issues with public-service unions here, and whether the new mayor will play hardball with firefighters, police, teachers and sanitation workers.

The panel: Professor Bob Bruno, labor historian from the University of Illinois, David Moberg, senior editor at In These Times, and David Schaper, midwest reporter for NPR.