The looming threat to curbside Little Free Libraries
& will eliminating the subminimum tipped wage turn people into Mr. Pink?
9-21-2023 (issue No. 106)
This week
Ald. Lopez seeks to ban free book exchange boxes on parkways
News and Views — On Elon Musk charging for Twitter, the coming end to the subminimum wage for tipped employees in Chicago, cuts to “Chicago Tonight” and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s weak response to allegations of scandal in the city Treasurer’s office.
Land of Linkin’ — Where I tell readers where to go
Squaring up the news — Where Charlie Meyerson tells readers where to go
Mary Schmich — Eight thoughts on two weeks in Italy
Re:Tweets — Featuring the winner of the visual tweets poll and this week’s finalists
Tune of the Week — “Time in a Bottle” by Jim Croce in observance of the 50th anniversary of his death
Last week’s winning tweet
I’ll bet the guy who invented the snooze button never invented anything else. — @BobGolen
Here are this week’s nominees and the winner of the Tuesday visual-tweets poll. Here is the direct link to the new poll.
Ald. Lopez seeks to ban free book exchange boxes on parkways
An ordinance introduced by Ald. Ray Lopez, 15th, would ban “public bookcases” from the city-owned portion of homeowners’ lawns between the sidewalk and the street.
Specifically, Lopez proposes to amend Section 10-28 of the Municipal Code — the section that deals with “structures on and under public ways” — to include those little birdhouse-like structures in which neighbors place their used books in order to offer them free to a good home.
Under the proposed law:
Only educational institutions, day care centers, public and private libraries, not-for-profit organizations, community organizations, and religious societies, associations, organizations, or institutions are eligible for public way use permits for public bookcases.
This would outlaw the little DIY “libraries” on the parkway — a strip of land that the homeowner is responsible for maintaining but does not own. We called it a “government strip” when I was growing up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but others call it a “tree lawn,” “road verge," "nature strip," “easement,” “extension,” “boulevard,” “tree belt,” “hell strip,” “berm,” “parking strip,” “curb lawn,” “Devil’s strip,” “grass bay,” “mow strip,” “planter zone,” “sidewalk lawn,” “terrace,” “tree bank,” “ditch” and “dog bog.”
That would be a pity as I find them both charming and useful. A history of the idea at Little Free Library, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based not-for-profit that promotes the service, says:
In 2009, Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin, built a model of a one room schoolhouse. It was a tribute to his mother; she was a teacher who loved to read. He filled it with books and put it on a post in his front yard. His neighbors and friends loved it, so he built several more and gave them away.
The idea spread rapidly. The organization now reports having registered more than 150,000 such kiosks in more than 120 countries, and that doesn’t count the unregistered take-a-book/leave-a-book boxes found in many neighborhoods.
Little Free Libraries promote literacy and community spirit. But Lopez told me they can get out of hand, and his ordinance was in response to an incident in which one popped up in his ward on the parkway of an unsuspecting homeowner.
That’s not good, of course. But guerilla book-share boxes aren’t a rampaging problem, and certainly not a problem that couldn’t be best solved with the occasional deployment of a chainsaw rather than with an ordinance.
Lopez pointed out that it would remain legal to erect such structures on private property — the lawn between the house and the sidewalk — and that his proposal merely treats public bookshelves the same as other such installations on public property, such as newsboxes.
I disagree with the complaint that says the City Council should not be wasting its time on such small issues. Alders frequently and appropriately deal with seemingly minor quality-of-life matters, such as the appearance of dog bogs.
But I do disagree with Lopez’s sweeping proposal. It would require the removal of scores if not hundreds, of free libraries in Chicago, as this map showing registered boxes in a randomly chosen area on the West Side indicates:
But the idea that they should be regulated in some way doesn’t strike me as outrageous. Size limits are probably appropriate. Even a few construction standards and minimum setbacks from the sidewalk and street might be in order.
Margret Aldrich, director for communication for Little Free Library, told me that public-way “bans of this type aren't common, as most cities recognize the value of a Little Free Library book-sharing box as a community resource.”
News & Views
News: Elon Musk suggests X will start charging all users "small monthly payment"
View: Nope. If Musk weren’t such an execrable hypocrite, I’d be fine with paying a small monthly fee for all the news and entertainment I get from Twitter (quoting Neil Steinberg, “I’ll start calling it ‘X’ when Chicagoans start calling the Bean ‘Cloud Gate’”), even though Musk is the richest person in the world.
I’d also be fine paying for Facebook, frankly. But, please, friends, stop spreading this bullshit meme. It’s been going around for years and is simply not true. Not yet, anyway.
News: Chicago is on the path to phase out the practice of paying a subminimum wage to employees who regularly receive tips
View: It’s very hard to write critically about tipping without sounding like the flinty character Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) in the movie “Reservoir Dogs” who doesn’t believe in the practice:
It’s a weird custom, but nearly all of us participate in it at least in part because we know that servers are often paid less than the minimum wage and their employers count on customers to make up the difference. It would be more transparent and make the most sense for restaurants to jack up their prices 25% or so and pay their employees better.
The proposal to phase out the subminimum wage of $9.48 an hour over five years and begin requiring employers to pay tipped employees the standard city minimum wage of $15.80 passed out of a City Council committee on Wednesday. And I’ve seen quite a bit of social media chatter from people either happy not to have to tip as much in the future or wondering if they should tip as much.
A Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics 2018 policy brief reported that states that have eliminated the subminimum wage for tipped employees “have thriving restaurant industries, where diners still tip at rates comparable to those in states where wait staff are paid subminimum wages. In these states, gratuities function as they are often intended to by customers—as a monetary ‘thank you’ for good service, not as a replacement for employer-paid wages.”
Destiny Fox doesn’t believe it. She’s a server at Gene & Georgetti, an upscale Chicago steakhouse, and wrote this in a Sun-Times op-ed this week:
Typically, I bring home two to three times the city’s required minimum wage on an hourly basis. I’m not an outlier: A recent Sun-Times article reported survey results of Chicago restaurant workers. The survey found workers earn an average hourly wage of $28.48 an hour.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and his allies on the City Council want to scrap the current tipping system in favor of a flat minimum wage for all workers. Essentially, I would be treated the same as a cashier at Burger King or a clerk at Kroger — rather than as the tipped professional that I am currently.
They claim this policy change will have no negative impact on my earnings, but I’ve done my research, and I don’t buy it.
Consider Washington, D.C., which recently implemented the same policy for which the mayor is advocating. The changes have been both swift and severe: More than 150 restaurants have scrapped or modified the tipping system in favor of a “service charge,” which is not a tip but the property of the restaurant.
This change has been necessary because it’s one of the few ways owners can adapt to the new system without charging eye-popping prices for food. But it comes at a cost: Diners don’t like it, because they feel forced to leave a specific amount; tipped workers don’t like it, because many guests are not tipping on top of the service charge.
Here’s the question:
News: WTTW-Ch. 11‘s ‘Chicago Tonight’ is cutting back again
View: This is a shame. For nearly four decades, “Chicago Tonight” has offered daily in-depth analysis of important local stories. I had mixed feelings in January when the show went to half an hour from an hour and moved to 10 p.m., and it felt ominous in May when it moved to 5:30 p.m.
But Axios Chicago reported last Friday that:
The original "Chicago Tonight" program will (now just) air Mondays and Tuesdays. The other three weeknights will be filled with existing weekly shows, "Chicago Tonight: Black Voices" on Wednesdays and "Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices" on Thursdays. "Chicago Tonight: Week in Review" will continue to air on Fridays. … In less than a year's time, WTTW has cut "Chicago Tonight" from four hours a week down to one. Even though WTTW will continue to have local programming, the move signals the end of an era in local TV news.
Axios quoted former “Chicago Tonight” contributor and veteran local broadcast journalist Carol Marin: "I think it's a serious civic mistake. 'Chicago Tonight' is a go-to place for newsmakers, a reliable place to hear more than one sentence on an issue. To lose it is to sell off a PBS jewel."
News: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says that the "allegations have been settled” against Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin.
View: I wish Hizzoner would show a little indignation on this subject. The full quote, as reported by the Tribune’s Gregory Royal Pratt who broke the story of whistleblower claims of serious misconduct in Conyears-Ervin’s office:
These allegations have been settled, and my hope is that we all as public servants continue to earn the trust of the people who send us here. And that all of us are ultimately held to a standard that I believe is quite reasonable.
Technically, yes. The city has settled the civil claim made by two whistleblowers. But given that Inspector General Deborah Witzburg recently seized computers in Conyears-Ervin’s office and a criminal indictment does not seem out of the question, some determined bluster — “I am extremely troubled by these allegations, and we must get to the bottom of them!” — was in order.
Land of Linkin’
Aaron Rupar: “How not to interview Trump: Kristen Welker's tenure as ‘Meet the Press’ moderator got off to an inauspicious start.” “Instead of coming ready for a fight, Welker conducted herself as though she’s Trump’s therapist. … She offered no pushback at all when Trump claimed, without a shred of evidence, that President Biden orchestrated his indictments.”
Mark Jacob: “A New Idea in Political Interviews: Ban the Liars.” The “Meet the Press” interview of Trump “was a shameful piece of journalism in which Welker cleared the street for Trump’s parade of lies, pushing back only occasionally and ineffectively. … When journalists ask tough questions but allow the guest to ignore them, that’s not being tough. That’s being a performer. The whole interview was an assault on the truth and a triumph for Trump – another disappointing performance by mainstream news media.”
Dan Froomkin: “What Kristen Welker should have done with Trump.” A pretaped sit-down interview is precisely the right format to debunk Trump to his face, but Welker barely even tried. So, here’s the transcript of Sunday’s ‘Meet the Press’ — with something extra added in: What I would have said if Welker had let me tag along.”
“The Latest UPS Text Scams To Watch Out For (2023)” — Ever get a text purportedly from UPS or FedEx or Amazon saying they have a package for you but need more information before delivering it? Of course it’s a scam, Bunky.
Mike Pesca explores the empty cavern at the center of the allegations against Joe Biden in “The Broken Shokin theory: Anti-corruption activists around the world opposed the Ukrainian Prosecutor General precisely to fight corruption, not to help Hunter Biden.”
Rick Telander in the Sun-Times: “Hamsters run inside wheels that go nowhere. Their pea-sized brains say, ‘Keep going, pal, you’ll get there eventually!’ We’re not hamsters. Yet the Bears have us on a hamster wheel to nowhere, dangling the hologram of a great quarterback in front of us like a shelled sunflower seed.”
Adriana Pérez in the Tribune: “Only 9.6% of Chicago’s waste was recycled last year. A new facility could improve rates, but stumbling blocks remain.” “Minneapolis reported it recycled 19% of its waste last year. In past years, several West Coast cities have reported recycling rates above 70%, with San Francisco leading the way with more than 80% recycled since 2008, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Even New York City recycled about 20% in 2020.”
The Chicago Headline Club: “Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times investigative reporter Megan Twohey (formerly of the Tribune) will be featured at the Chicago Headline Club Foundation’s Inaugural Fall Fundraiser to benefit the organization’s Les Brownlee Memorial Scholarships and journalism internship grants. Twohey, co-author with Jodi Kantor of ‘She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement,’ will be on hand for a VIP reception, a screening of the film based on their book and a conversation afterwards. The event will be held the evening of Thursday, Sept. 28, at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago.”
Broadcast legend Steve Dahl had some things to say on his podcast about my item last week on the 30th anniversary of his high-profile split with his on-air partner, Garry Meier. I responded to his complaints and offered more of his version of events in “Steve Dahl is understandably irritated at my use of ‘reportedly’ to describe his sobriety” in the Tuesday issue of the Picayune Plus.
More than 80% of Picayune Plus readers agreed with my grouchy take in “Delivery drivers: Just pull over to the curb, will ya?”
The Picayune Sentinel preview: Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. I talk with WGN-AM 720 host John Williams about what’s making news and likely to be grist for the PS mill. The WGN listen-live link is here.
Squaring up the news
This is a bonus supplement to the Land of Linkin’ from veteran radio, internet and newspaper journalist Charlie Meyerson. Each week, he offers a selection of intriguing links from his daily email news briefing Chicago Public Square:
■ At a U.S. Senate hearing on library book bans across the nation, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias—who spearheaded Illinois’ groundbreaking ban on such bans—laid a little snark on Louisiana’s benighted Sen. John Kennedy.
■ Esquire’s Charlie Pierce: “The climate crisis is introducing a staunch Republican county in Kansas to being part of the Third World.”
■ USA Today’s Rex Huppke: Anyone still on the fence over which party to support should simply contrast what’s happening in Michigan and Florida.
■ The Lever: Ex-President Obama’s former acting solicitor general and a Democratic senator-turned-lobbyist are helping a dark money group pressing the Supreme Court to block Congress from ever instituting a wealth tax on the superrich.
■ From Jared Newman: Updated codes for getting Paramount+ and Showtime for free, even if you’re already a subscriber.
■ Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina: Even though this is the first time the feds aren’t paying for shots—although most health insurance plans will—University of Michigan analysis concludes the out-of-pocket cost is worth it, especially for those over 65.
You can (and should) subscribe to Chicago Public Square free here.
Cheer Chat
Rehearsals are beginning in earnest this Sunday for the 25th annual Songs of Good Cheer holiday caroling parties at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Mary Schmich and I host the show and are joined by a stellar cast of local musicians.
Yes, it feels early to be thinking about the winter holidays, but tickets tend to go fast. Here is the link.
Mary Schmich: Eight thoughts on two weeks in Italy
My former colleague Mary Schmich posts occasional column-like entries on Facebook. Here, reprinted with permission, is her most recent offering:
1. Traveling Light
Am I crazy to think I can go to Europe for two weeks with a 20-liter backpack instead of a suitcase?
I asked several people this question before I headed off to Italy at the end of August. Their answer was, overwhelmingly, yes. Totally crazy.
But I was determined to try.
So I bought a green Osprey 20-liter pack at REI, stuffed my clothes into compression bags, figured out how to work the 4,000 straps on modern backpacks and set off for Rome feeling like a college student.
And I loved it.
No rolling a suitcase over the cobblestones in Rome, no lugging a suitcase up four floors to a tiny apartment. It did mean, however, that I was the least stylish woman in Italy.
2. The Awful Thrill of Getting Lost
Before I set off for Rome, I learned some vital Italian on Duolingo.
Scusi, dov’e il bagno? (Where’s the bathroom?)
Un bicchiere di vino rosso, per favore. (A glass of red wine, please.)
And the phrase I used the most: Mi sono persa. (I’m lost.)
Rome is a labyrinthine city that defies American street logic. It perplexes even Google Maps. Over and over, I got lost.
But I came to love being lost in Rome. Getting lost, I saw things I didn’t set out to see. And I had this comforting, self-help thought: Getting lost is discovery. It’s how you learn where you’re situated in relation to everything else. After you've been lost, then finally found your way, you're less likely to panic when you get lost again.
3. Nuns!
I spent my first three nights in Rome, on a narrow cobblestoned “vicolo” in a neighborhood near the Vatican. My Airbnb was quiet, but mobs of tourists—every skin tone, every language—roamed the city just two blocks away.
And among the mobs were nuns. (I use the word loosely for Catholic women religious because it’s the word I grew up with, and the Vatican roused all my memories of my Catholic childhood.)
Nuns in blue habits, brown habits, gray habits, white habits. Even green habits. A disproportionate number of them, I deduced from listening and looking, were from places without the economic bounty the U.S. enjoys—the Philippines, India, African countries. What struck me most was how energetic they all seemed, how much they laughed and smiled. And it made me wonder: Is this how women in poor countries find liberation and a path forward?
4. Sixth-grade flashbacks
When I was in grade school, I loved learning about Rome. Roads! Gladiators! Aqueducts! The mighty Tiber River! Being in Rome was like stepping back in time, not only to the world B.C. but to Miss Lois Birch’s sixth grade class in Macon, Ga.
My images of Rome are now updated to include all the homeless people camped out near the Vatican. And I've learned that Tiber is also the name of a gas station chain.
5. The glory of Lake Maggiore
I rode a fast train north from Rome to Milan, then took a bus to Lake Maggiore, where I met one of my brothers. Every morning when I looked out at the lake and the mountains, I involuntarily exclaimed, “Oh my God.” That's all I'll say except to say: If you get the chance, go.
6. The peace of Umbria
My initial reason for going to Italy was that my friends Jenny Stang Kaufman and Patti Lupo invited me to co-lead a yoga and writing retreat on a farm in Umbria. The people who joined us on the retreat were all remarkable—funny, smart, open-hearted. We did yoga every day, wrote a little every day, ate, drank, slept, walked, took a couple of field trips to ancient hillside towns. I’m unbelievably grateful to Jenny and Patti and everyone who joined us.
7. The Pleasure of the Right Book
On my first night in Rome, I set out in search of the perfect book companion. I found a little bookshop and there, on a low table, a book called to me: “The House on Via Gemito”, an autobiographical novel by Domenico Starnone.
Starnone is Elena Ferrante’s husband. Their styles are sufficiently similar that it's rumored he wrote her famous Neapolitan Quartet. (I’m skeptical.) I’d read a couple of his other books and liked them, so with fingers crossed that I could squeeze a hardback into my backpack, I bought it. It kept me great company, reinforcing my belief that the right book can make a good trip even better.
8. Otherwise
One morning on the yoga retreat, I woke up to two messages. One told me that a friend had just entered hospice. The other told me that a family member was in crisis. Their struggles cast a shadow over this otherwise golden time, but also made me aware— again, always — that pleasure and time are fleeting, and that the best we can do is appreciate the good moments when they come, knowing that moments never last.
I thought about this poem by Jane Kenyon called “Otherwise,” which, coincidentally, was the name of the book shop I went to in Rome.
I got out of bed on two strong legs. It might have been otherwise. I ate cereal, sweet milk, ripe, flawless peach. It might have been otherwise. I took the dog uphill to the birch wood. All morning I did the work I love. At noon I lay down with my mate. It might have been otherwise. We ate dinner together at a table with silver candlesticks. It might have been otherwise. I slept in a bed in a room with paintings on the walls, and planned another day just like this day. But one day, I know, it will be otherwise.
Minced Words
Monica Eng of Axios Chicago joined the panel for most of the discussion in this week’s episode of “The Mincing Rascals.” She had lots to say about proposed city-run grocery stores and the phasing out of the tipped wage in Chicago. Brandon Pope, host John Williams and I also reflected on the first week of the elimination of cash bail in Chicago.
Our first live public taping in more than two years will be this coming Tuesday, Sept. 26 from 6-8 p.m. at The Second City in the Old Town neighborhood. Come mingle with the Rascals regulars! Ticket info is here. have two free tickets to give to the first PS reader to email me Thursday morning.
Subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. Or bookmark this page. If you’re not a podcast listener, you can hear an edited version of the show at 8 p.m. most Saturday evenings on WGN-AM 720.
Re: Tweets
In Tuesday’s paid-subscriber editions, I present my favorite tweets that rely on visual humor. Subscribers vote for their favorite, and I post the winner here every Thursday:
The new nominees for Tweet of the Week:
The moment my kids get over the shock of my wife and me being the tooth fairy, I'm going to reveal that we're also the dishwasher fairy, the laundry fairy, the playdate fairy, the school project fairy, the... — @HenpeckedHal
After the third “how interesting” you should be able to just walk away from a conversation that won’t end. — @adamgreattweet
I've been "Maine sober" (haven't done cocaine off a Stephen King book) for 30 days. — @chadopitz
The military loses a jet and they call it a "mishap.” From now on, all of my mistakes will be classified as "mishaps." — @amandajpanda
Most of my trips into Home Depot are to fix something that I screwed up after my previous trip to Home Depot. — @RodLacroix
You can't simply wear purple corduroys, you must sport them. — @schumoo
Before you get angry at your brain just remember it's been trapped inside your head for years and it's seen all the stupid shit you've done. — @wildethingy
[explaining the plot of my favorite book to my date] Me: So you know how most caterpillars are only a little hungry? — @TheAndrewNadeau
I hate it when my family and I are trying to stretch our meager provisions through a bitterly cold winter and then, out of nowhere, my favorite daughter falls ill. — @camerobradford
When people would call me a nerd in school, I'd beat them with my clarinet. — @TrueTorontoGirl
Vote here and check the current results in the poll.
Here is one of my periodic bonus “Dad tweets” polls featuring groanworthy wordplay. I don’t attribute these because most of them are recycled jokes of uncertain origin:
Why do the French eat snails? Because they don't like fast food.
Forgetting your manners in the south is ma'amnesia.
Last night I went to a fancy dress party dressed as a screwdriver. I turned a few heads.
The Indian restaurant I work for is so secretive I had to sign a legal agreement that I wouldn’t share the flatbread recipe Just their standard naan disclosure agreement.
I went to the candle store today. They were having a blowout sale.
When I worked as a restaurant critic, I wrote under a nom nom nom de plume
My boss said he was going to fire the employee with the worst posture. I have a hunch it’s going to be me.
Anyone who ever worked at Twitter is now either an ex-employee or an X employee.
Lowe’s manager: So you want a job. What department should I assign you to? Me: Hmm…how about the mirror aisle? I can see myself working there.
I always thought orthopedic shoes were overrated, but I stand corrected.
Vote here on the Dad tweets.
For instructions and guidelines regarding the poll, click here.
Tune of the Week
Fifty years ago Wednesday, singer songwriter Jim Croce and five others died in a single engine plane crash during takeoff from the Natchitoches Regional Airport in Natchitoches, Louisiana. He was just 30, and it’s sad to think of all the great songs he would have written had he lived. My favorite, “Time in a Bottle,” is one of the best love songs of all time:
If I could save time in a bottle The first thing that I'd like to do Is to save every day 'til eternity passes away Just to spend them with you If I could make days last forever If words could make wishes come true I'd save every day like a treasure, and then Again, I would spend them with you But there never seems to be enough time To do the things you want to do once you find them I've looked around enough to know That you're the one I want to go through time with
The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts after Croce’s death.
Consult the complete Tune of the Week archive!
The Picayune Sentinel is a reader-supported publication. Browse and search back issues here. Simply subscribe to receive new posts each Thursday. To support my work, receive bonus issues on Tuesdays and join the zesty commenting community, become a paid subscriber. Thanks for reading!
.
Awesome to show the love to Jim Croce. The sheer number of awesome songs he wrote before he died at 30 is just amazing.
I am a believer in small problems should get small solutions. Ald Lopez should get the one offending small library box removed and problem solved.
There does not appear to be any other library box issues, why create a problem that is not there?