As I was driving in to Chicago today, about 1 p.m., the WLS team reported that a 6’ 7” inch male in his fifties had been shot and killed by Chicago police in the downtown theater district, near the Chicago Theater at State and Randolph Streets. The WLS team was agog that the shooting took place less than 50 yards from their offices.

Two Channel 7 photographers were outside smoking and, as a result, ended up as witnesses to the entire event. (“Thank God people still smoke!” said one on-air talking head.)

The man who was shot was described as “an over-aggressive panhandler” who was apparently using a large butcher knife to make his point. This caused understandable stress for the streets, which were full at the time, as it was the lunch hour. Because it was the lunch hour and the original Marshall Fields (now Macy’s) flagship store and a Border’s bookstore are nearby, there were a number of people in the street who witnessed the incident.

Pepper spray was initially used on the man, but it did nothing. The man with the knife took an older gentleman hostage and, in preliminary reports, the radio people said that he was pulled from the man and then held the knife to the throat of a woman, who was described as “curled in the fetal position against the curb” before she was taken away by ambulance. I watched the news later in the day, and there was no mention of a female hostage, but the fact that a man with a butcher knife was menacing people in broad daylight in one of the busiest parts of town went unquestioned.
The real kicker to the story is that 5 to 10 shots were fired, and one of them hit an officer who, fortunately, was wearing a bulletproof vest, so that he sustained only minor injuries. (A local police official said the bullet did not penetrate the vest and the worst the injured 11-year veteran officer might have suffered would be bruised ribs and a bruise at the site of the shot.) The two officers firing their weapons had a combined total of 27 years of experience on the force, and the commanding officer conducting the news conference on the 6 p.m. news, when asked why the officers did not use tasers, said the policemen did not have tasers with them and, “We had a man who was trying to murder someone right in front of officers,” which the officer seemed to be saying justified shooting the panhandler up to ten times.

Anthony Porse, a young African-American bystander who was interviewed by the WGN newscasters on the 6 o’clock news said, “I never saw anything like this happen in broad daylight.” (near State and Lake). Bobby Polk, another eyewitness interviewed said that he heard four shots and vouched for the fact that the officers told the man with the knife to put down his weapon and release the hostage three separate times.

I will not be shopping at Macy’s downtown store in the foreseeable future.

I’m packing to go to Chicago and, from there, to fly to the Hawaii Writers Retreat and Conference. Originally, I wanted help with finishing my genre nonfiction novel, and the person for that seems to be a man named Gary Braver, whose class I did not gain admission to (it was full). I was then assigned to Ron Powers, who won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for his TV criticism when he wrote for the Chicago Sun Times. I was thrilled, as my book is movie criticism. I received a lovely note, inviting any of us to write with questions, and, in the original “Welcome to the Class” e-mail, the suggestion was made that perhaps I should EXPAND the book I am bringing. (Anyone who knows me knows that EXPANDING is not a good idea for me.) Since I have been working diligently to cut the book down from about 500 pages to 250 for some time, I did write back, saying that I didn’t really see myself expanding, at this late date. From there, I have received 2 phone calls from Hawaii, and, in one of them, the suggestion that I move to a different class has been made. I like the sound of the instructor I have now, so I am hoping that this “flies,” At any rate, I shall attempt to post from Hawaii, where names like Mitch Albom are going to be present and Nora Jones is singing in a special concert.

We’re here in Nashville, Tennessee, awaiting the Belmont University graduation ceremony to take place on Friday, August 14th, at 7:30 p.m. The daughter will graduate (after 4 years) with a degree in Business, with a Music emphasis. So far, we’ve given her half of her presents and taken her out to dinner. The boyfriend (Austin) went to dinner with us and Austin’s parents are in town, so we may have the opportunity to meet them, as well. It’s sultry and warm here. We saw two serious accidents on the highways while driving here.

Bob Schieffer, the host of “Face the Nation” on Sunday, August 9, 2009 reported the “Wall Street Journal” story originally written by Brady Mullins (Brady.mullins@wsj.com) and Timothy Farnam (timothy.farnam@wsj.com) of the “Wall Street Journal” about Congress authorizing one-half billion dollars to enlarge the fleet of private planes that carry Congressman on junkets.

It seems that 2 of the planes were old and did need replacing. Two more were being leased. But the House wants FOUR more planes beyond that.

Why?

Well, it seems that its members are spending more and more time overseas…. 3,000 days at last count…and the cost has been $13 million, which, by the way, is a four-fold increase from just 10 years ago, and a 10-fold increase since 1995.

Since 1995, the cost of flying Congressman to Timbuktu (or wherever) has increased 10-fold and now, in these dire economic times, the House has approved a measure to buy half a billion dollars more in private planes so Congressman (and their wives) can spend more than the current 3,000 days flying hither and yon. The Defense Department is on record as saying that more planes are not needed, but Congess has other priorities, apparently,.

Case in point: Brian Baird (D, Washington) not only took a trip to investigate climate change that saw him diving and snorkeling off the Great Barrier Reef of Australia but also had the group visiting a penguin rookery and the South Pole. Six members of Congress took that 11-day trip over New Year’s of 2008, with their wives. The cost to taxpayers was $103,000, but it would have been $500,000 if the flights to the South Pole (South Pole for Congressmen, only; wives had to stay in New Zealand) had not been on Air Force planes. Brian Baird is on the House Science Committee on Research and Science Education.

It’s reassuring to learn that Baird also visited the Galapagos Islands on another trip.

Then representing Alaska, Ted Stevens flew to Paris with 4 others for the Paris Air Show. Cost? $121,000. Excuse: It’s hard to get to Alaska any other way than by flying and this kept him up-to-date…(until his recent legal troubles for some unethical conduct while in office made keeping up-to-date less of an issue).

Two days in Australia cost the American taxpayers $50,000. $32,000 was spent on hotels and meals. $7,000 was spent on transportation. $10,000 was spent for “other purposes” and, we learn, each member of such a trip gets a $350 a day per diem allowance for such “other expenses.” And, on the way back, the plane stopped to refuel in Hawaii and the Congressmen were housed at the Royal Hawiian Hotel.

To co-opt a famous drug ad: “This is your Congressman. These are your Congressman on private jet planes flying to the South Pole and asking for $550 million to fly more such trips?”

Any questions?

The second in a trilogy of ghost stories set along Route 66, Ghostly Tales of Route 66: Arkansas to Arizona from Connie (Corcoran) Wilson, is due out momentarily from Quixote Press. Volume II is a solo project by Wilson (see YouTube video for first volume) and she will be the featured speaker at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge Second Annual Route 66 Festival on October 3rd in St. Louis, Missouri. A website (www.ghostlytalesofroute66.com) is being mounted at this time, and the book will be available from Amazon.com and/or by contacting Quixote Press at 1-800-571-2665 ($9.95 plus postage).