What in the world
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Casey Toner
@ctoner
reporter, steward. Reach me at ctoner@bettergov.org. Potential future space: .bsky.social
Hotel & LodgingChicago, ILJoined March 2009
Casey Toner’s Tweets
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Is this scammy SEO work, laziness, someone with a concussion?
Chicago BBQ king grilling in the alley. Sox shirt, beer in hand. Not making fun, genuine respect 🙌
There are cities with more Mexicans and there are cities with more Poles but there are no cities with more Mexicans and Poles than Chicago. Tuesday's World Cup match between Mexico and Poland will be a Chicagopacalypse. Bombs away 🇲🇽🇵🇱
When this is all over let's throw the nurses and doctors and grocery store workers of Chicago a parade down Michigan Avenue and a party in Grant Park
chicago.suntimes.com/business/2023/ The restaurant business is tough and Chicago bureaucracy is a mess, but suburbanites being afraid of West Town crime now when it was far worse 28 years ago when you opened is not a valid reason for your restaurant's closure
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Brb changing my work email signature to ("That's pure emotional intelligence!")
Whenever I read crime panic stories, I remember this line from 's excellent and illuminating "Rise of the Warrior Cop"
An Injustice Watch guide, but for Metropolitan Water Reclamation District commissioners
"This is the worst day of my life"
Going through the holiday email backlog and was struck by this line from in the At War newsletter on the Blackwater pardons
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Ah, alright. From one writer to another, I should have reached out to you directly before sending out this goofy tweet that went viral. Sorry for pouring this on your lap. For whatever reason, two of these headlines showed up back to back in my Google Discover
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Kaep has spent a lot of his time and money mentoring youth.
Compared to Chicago, Miami is a minnow of a city, a great place to spend a midlife crisis before you lose all of your savings in a crypto scheme
Just scratched off three white power group stickers off Loop street signs and traffic lights. So I got that going for me, which is nice
Free idea: instead of indulging Hollywood nostalgia, should play a game at Rickwood Field, America's oldest ballpark in Birmingham. Home to Negro League legends, some of the greatest ballplayers in history
In addition to many gifts, Bob Odenkirk brings dangerous levels of "Cook County Guy" to Saul Goodman. Levels that are only seen in certain corners of the MWRD and Cicero donut shops. He must be protected at all costs
Couldn't a federal judge just invalidate Chicago's parking meter contract? The company has been made whole and then some while the rest of us are stuck with this onerous infrastructure burden for the rest of our lives :/
Chicago is the most beautiful city in America
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Look at this absolute 👑: opened during the Great Depression, weathered all sorts of economic storms before burning to the ground in 2017 and reopening during the Pandemic! Never complained once
Illinois contributes nearly $15 billion more to the federal government than it receives every year while Wisconsin receives $1 billion more than it contributes. 🤔
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Wisconsin GOP lawmakers trash Illinois in arguing a federal bailout package for states should be rejected jsonline.com/story/news/pol
Maybe it's good Chicago is floating a plan to vax people in bars. Can't stop human behavior but you can make people safer by meeting them where they are
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Basically the pandemic equivalent of buying some speakers out of some guy's trunk
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“It’s easy to assume that others think the worst of you. But when you assume what others think, maybe all you’re doing is turning them into a character that only exists in your mind.The nice thing is, sometimes all it takes is a change in perspective to make the world brand new.”
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I had never seen All Saints Episcopal Church's stained glass lit up at night. A moment of much needed tranquility during last night's run
The documentary was terrific. I watched it mostly unaware of YouTube culture and found myself riveted and surprised by every turn. Also a big thank you to for turning me onto it despite my initial protest.
Customs seized 77,000 bootleg Rick and Morty vape pens (street value: $1.5 million) at O'Hare Airport.
There's got to be a better way to do this
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At 2 p.m., one neighborhood — Auburn Gresham, Austin, Englewood, Little Village, North Lawndale or South Chicago — will win $10M to fund critical resources for the community. blockclubchicago.org/2020/08/05/who
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@samstecky to be fair MJ was high as hell on painkillers near the end. Probably thought he was talking to Timberlake
Saw Rod Blagojevich jogging in the wild today. First time, felt like a big moment
Shout out to for getting me home last night. Rideshare venture capitalists killed the cab industry, unemployment benefits demonstrated that no one actually wants to drive a Lyft or an Uber, but the People's Transportation, the CTA bus, was right on time
The sight and sound of the CTA rumbling along on elevated tracks is far more comforting than the Blue Angels IMO.
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For the people that are flooding me with screenshots of random crimes, a historical snapshot: 480 shootings and 100 murders in West Town from 2001 to 2011; 310 shootings and 76 murders from 2012-2021. That's one of the largest declines in violent crime in the city
chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/202 Phil Kadner's last column in the Sun-Times ran today, and it's a banger
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Legendary journalism project, glad your students are learning about it! Be sure to check out the incredible book the late Zay N. Smith wrote about it as well.
One point of clarification: The Mirage was a joint production between the Chicago Sun-Times and
Out at Stanley's (est. 1924), the last surviving stockyard bar, for lunch in Back of the Yards. Kind of a trip
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If I had to guess it probably has more to do with the restaurant's competition, which is much stronger now than it was 28 years ago
What's happening to the Trib is five alarm fire, born out of corporate greed, but also preventable. If Alden gets its way, Illinois will lose a vital watchdog and instrument of reform. should run this op-ed on its front page. nyti.ms/2TD5bJJ
Just a reminder ahead of the #VanDykeMurderTrial verdict that not a single police officer was disciplined, let alone charged with a crime after a police shooting since 2005 in suburban Cook County
One of the rural Midwest old man things my Dad does is keep a pocket knife with him at all times. Every time the knife comes in handy I think he's the smartest man in the world.
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Irving Park Blue Line, which you enter under a hideous lightless expressway overpass, is the worst. The station overlooks a loud expressway choked with exhaust fumes. Only time it is good is when there's a traffic jam and you can people watch + feel good about public transit
At the Chicago Fire game, a banner behind the home goal: IF YOU ARE NEUTRAL TO INSTITUTIONS OF INJUSTICE YOU STAND WITH THE OPPRESSOR #CF97
My greatest NYE was watching a giant drop from the sky in Mobile while the Village People heralded in the new year with YMCA. Nothing else compares
At 4:06 pm Feb. 12, 2015, gay marriage is happening in Mobile, Al. #ALmarriage
A friend has made this point but it's worth repeating: Lagos, Portugal is Summers from Earthbound
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We have several B- parks that would be star attractions in other cities but are just part of the landscape here -- our city in a garden
Shout out to the employees for working to retrieve this man's cell phone that fell on the tracks at the Quincy brown line stop 👏👏👏
When I was working at my college newspaper, we had a pitch session and someone said in earnest, "We need to write a story about all the crazy shit people are saying."
If appointed alderman, I pledge to faithfully represent the good people of the 11th ward. I did not apply for the position, I don't live in that ward and I have no practical political experience. But if I was appointed, I would carry out those duties 🙏
Just got vaccinated at the United Center. Amazing and inspiring. 10/10 will do again
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Definitely one of those "wouldn't have been possible if the keeper hadn't dipped his gloves in vegetable oil at the half" moments followed by pure class. The distance between those extremes exemplified in a single highlight is pure MLS
Tilikum Crossing, aka The people's Bridge in Portland, Oregon. For pedestrians and bus traffic only 😤
Beth Kenny voted Dem for all her life until now. Obama led the country into the ground, she said #Trump2016
Wandering UIC medical district. Renovated Cook County Hospital, truly impressive
On the bright side, White Sox tickets will remain cheap. Also, our owner didn't circulate white power emails
Replace lazy, thin-skinned New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, who is bad, with hardworking, courageous Chicago metro columnist Phil Kadner, who rules #BedBugs
I'm reading "Death in The Haymarket" and it is bananas. Chicago in the late 1800s was wild
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Neither do the performances of the Blackhawks and Bulls play any part of your restaurant's closure
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bettergov.org/news/days-of-b My latest looks at the drag racing scene that's an open secret at a park on the city's southeast side and Chicago's wrist slap approach to a crackdown. Not speed cameras or speed bumps, but hundreds of tickets for parking in the bike lane
Get dunked on Cubs fans with your Schaumburg-ass looking jerseys twitter.com/JCB_Journo/sta
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I see the Illinois energy bill will pay people up to $4k to buy an electric car. What about electric bikes?
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They would all be vaxxed but George would lie about his vax status on a date with a hot antivaxxer. The lie would fall apart after he would need to show his vaxx card to get inside a restaurant. His antivaxxer would be outside the restaurant, protesting
One of my Christmas gifts was my Dad's White Sox sweatshirt that he bought in the late 90s that no longer fits 👑
One of my favorite Chicago journalism stories is the Tribune investigation that showed that the campaign of the former Harvey mayor, a gangster whose tenure was a crime spree, was financed by an FBI agent who worked undercover at a local strip club
Amazing "Russian-propaganda-on-Ukraine themed bingo" from Thanks for the visit to the
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My grade school choir teacher taught me the joy of singing decades ago. She died earlier this year. Her students sang to her outside her window in her final days. If you're looking for a good choir-related cry:
Still ridiculous there's like five ID checkpoints at the dispensary when you can just waltz into a liquor store and buy a handle of whiskey without any fanfare
Monk's Pub is a solid downtown bar. I kind of feel that any old bar in downtown is preferable to a new one
Book review: 's "The Battle of Lincoln Park" is essential for understanding gentrification in Chicago, where idealism gave way to ruthless self-interest on the Northside. In this tragedy, some dreams were realized only because so many others were shattered ⭐⭐⭐⭐
