Economist.com Cities Guide: Chicago Briefing - March 2006

News this month

Possible meltdown

Chicagoans got a scare on the morning of February 20th when operators at the LaSalle Generating Station, a nuclear-power plant about 75 miles south-west of Chicago, declared an emergency during a planned shutdown of the facility. The emergency was over in a matter of hours, and state and federal officials announced that no radioactivity was released. But locals are rattled. It turns out that plant sensors incorrectly indicated that three of the reactor's 185 control rods failed to enter the reactor core properly, which automatically triggered a “site-area emergency”—the second-highest of four emergency grades. Though workers at the LaSalle plant say there was never any real danger, rods that fail to enter the reactor properly risk leaking fuel into the cooling water, moving radioactive material closer to the public.

This scare, the first nuclear emergency reported in America since 1991, has prompted federal regulators to order a thorough review of all nuclear plants in the state. But the near-miss is merely the latest slip-up by Exelon Nuclear, a private company that owns and operates seven nuclear plants in Illinois, including LaSalle. The company has previously come under fire for failing to disclose leaks of tritium-contaminated wastewater, which can cause cancer and birth defects.

Dirty pool

With less than a month to go before the gubernatorial primary, Judy Baar Topinka, the Illinois State Treasurer, appears to have secured the Republican nomination. This would pit her against the Democrat incumbent, Rod Blagojevich, in the November elections. But her party rivals do not seem to be throwing in the towel just yet. During a radio debate on February 20th, three of her four opponents accused her of ethical lapses—including taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in political contributions from companies that do business with her office—while the fourth resorted to schoolyard tactics, chanting her name in a mocking, sing-song voice.

Ms Topinka called her opponents’ charges “desperate”, and noted that she is not a millionaire, unlike her rivals. She also challenged her fellow Republicans—Bill Brady, a real-estate developer; Jim Oberweis, who runs a dairy and brokerage firm; and Ron Gidwitz, who is independently wealthy—to release their tax returns from the past ten years. So far, no takers.

Hot Rod

Rod Blagojevich formally kicked off his re-election campaign for governor on February 19th. He reiterated his pledge not to raise taxes and warned that Republicans would return the government to a state of “complete and utter meltdown”.

Conspicuously, he did not mention the ethics investigations that have dogged his administration. At issue are the administration's hiring practices, and whether campaign contributions have helped secure state contracts. Federal investigations are still underway. Mr Blagojevich's omission prompted criticism from his expected Republican rival, Ms Topinka. She spent the day unveiling a broad package of reforms aimed at highlighting the “pay to play” politics of the governor’s administration. So far, this line of attack seems to be working. A poll released in early February showed Ms Topinka leading Mr Blagojevich by over ten points.

Midway fear

A written bomb threat found on a Chicago-bound plane caused the temporary closure of Midway International Airport on February 23rd. The note was discovered by a passenger aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Seattle, as the plane came in to land. The Federal Aviation Administration shut down all air traffic for about 20 minutes and kept the plane far away from the terminal building. The 129 passengers and five crew members on the threatened plane were taken off on a special bus, before an FBI team searched the plane and luggage areas, but found nothing untoward. Investigators are trying to assess whether the paper was left on board by a passenger on an earlier flight.

On thin ice

Shani Davis, a speed-skater and Chicago native, became the first black athlete to win an individual medal in the Winter Olympics. After growing up in the south-side neighbourhood of Hyde Park and training in the suburb of Evanston, he came in first in the 1,000-metre-long track event on February 18th. But Mr Davis’s achievement has been largely overshadowed by his feud with Chad Hedrick, an Olympic team-mate. Mr Hedrick, a brash Texan who also won a speed-skating gold-medal at the games, sparked the row when he criticised Mr Davis for refusing to participate in a new team-relay event. The dispute boiled over when Mr Davis stormed out of a joint news conference with Mr Hedrick following the 1,500-metre event, in which Mr Davis finished second and Mr Hedrick third.

A separate dispute awaits Mr Davis when he returns home. The gold-medal winner and two of his brothers are suing the city of Chicago and a former police superintendent, Terry Hillard, alleging they were victims of racial profiling. According to the lawsuit, filed in 2003, police stopped and searched Mr Davis on several occasions without justification. Harvey Grossman, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which is representing Mr Davis, said a disproportionate number of members of minorities are stopped by police in search of illegal weapons. “Generally, you've been stopped by a policeman if you're 16 years old and black in Chicago,” said Mr Grossman. For its part, the Chicago Police Department says it has zero tolerance for racial profiling. The case is expected to be tried later this year.

Waking from hibernation

Of all the rituals that foretell the coming of spring, nothing warms Chicagoans’ hearts like pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, the period before the baseball season starts on April 2nd. Fans of the Cubs, Chicago's beloved but hapless north-side team, are accustomed to tendonitis and sore elbows coming with their April showers: such ailments sidelined their star pitcher, Mark Prior, for the beginnings of the 2004 and 2005 seasons, respectively. But other than a two-week-long throat infection that sent him to hospital this winter, Mr Prior so far reports a surprising absence of pain, soreness, stiffness or irritation. With their oft-injured second pitcher, Kerry Wood, recovering from yet another round of surgery, Mr Prior's elbow has become the team's most important joint. As always for loyal Cubs fans, there is reason for hope.

Catch if you can

March 2006

The Living Heart

Until March 5th 2006

The average adult's heart beats about 35m times per year; over the course of a lifetime, it will pump about 1m barrels of blood, enough to fill four supertankers. Perhaps the only organ that appeals to poets as much as scientists, the heart is the James Brown of the body: the hardest-working muscle in the business. This exhibition from Alexander Tsairas, a designer who has created groundbreaking methods of visualising the human body, provides a quirky, enthralling visual narrative of the heart. Come for the transparent baby; stay for the dilated vessels.

The Museum of Science and Industry, 57th St and Lake Shore Drive. Tel: +1 (773) 684-1414. Open: Mon-Sat, 9.30am-4pm; Sun, 11am-4pm. Entry: $11 ($10 for Chicago residents). For more information, visit the museum’s website.

More from the Chicago cultural calendar