Craig Gaines

Food Truck Congestion Pricing

Hundreds of food trucks slowed traffic during afternoon rush hour last Thursday in a mass protest of the city’s new congestion-pricing scheme.
The act of civil disobedience, coordinated by the Mobile Food Providers Alliance, delayed commuters on their way home from work by up to 90 minutes. At 5:30 p.m., at least 215 food trucks pulled… »

Friday Facts: Impes, “Leapin’ Lepean,” Debtors Prison

:: Mayor Cosgrove is expected to deliver to City Council on Monday her administration’s plan to make up the city’s now $728 million five-year deficit.
:: Expected remedies: Rec Center  and library cutbacks, trash collection, city vehicle usage cuts, wage rollbacks, hiring freeze.
:: The plaque on the Trade and Securities Building (43rd Ave and Roosevelt) remembers… »

Traffic Scofflaws Forced To Run Marathon

A judge has ended an experimental, controversial program to promote fitness among parking violators — but not before a determined Wilders administration compelled the city’s most chronic scofflaws to compete in what may be the grimmest marathon anywhere.
The past few days have seen frantic races to the finish, figurative and literal, as city attorneys stalled… »

Friday Facts: Peelers, It’s the Humidity, Blood

:: When the new Southside High School opens at the end of the month, it will be the first high school in the city built without an Olympic-sized swimming pool in 46 years, after the school district was finally able to override the requirements of Elanor Jean Hapsworth’s will.
:: Number of days (so far) this… »

The Blotter: Potato Guns Are Surprisingly Illegal

As a public service, The City Desk periodically offers up selected items culled from local police reports. (Note: More violent, standard items do not frequently show up here, as they are covered in the local papers with regularity.)

7:23 am
3700 block of Pennsylvania Avenue: A group of students are arrested after carrying Davidson High School principal… »

Three Stooges Convention Turns Surprisingly Violent

A gathering of slapstick aficionados turned violent Saturday, requiring dozens of city police bearing shields and batons to quell the riot. It was the first conflict in the 13-year history of the Three Stooges Enthusiasts and Impersonators Annual Convention, held every year at the Westport Heights Sheraton & Conference Center.
The yearly event is part reunion,… »

The Blotter: Monster party, pets in trouble, misc.

As a public service, The City Desk periodically offers up selected items culled from local police reports.
9:17 pm
200 block of Euclid Avenue: A 7-year-old girl reports to 911 that “monsters are knocking at my door.” Dispatch sends a cruiser to reassure the girl, only to find people dressed as Frankenstein and the Werewolf knocking on… »

The Blotter: Mischief, Various

As a public service, The City Desk periodically offers up selected items culled from local police reports.
12:08 am
Harding Park, Officers disperse a group of people loitering in the park after hours. 1:01 am
3400 block of Spring Street: A woman reports excessive noise in adjoining house. The responding officers could hear nothing. 2:17… »

“The New-Economy Day Laborers”

A misunderstanding over the attempted coining of a new phrase has resulted in an unlikely friendship between two groups of the City’s workforce.
When Tomas Babushkin announced the opening of WorkSHOP, his new “wiki-place” where freelance information professionals can rent cubicles, collaborate on projects, and drink complimentary espresso and yerba mate, he foresaw a clientele dressed… »

Tech Company “De-friends” City, Investors

The city’s latest great tech hope, Software & Co., has swiftly and suddenly left town, leaving behind an angry mob of scammed investors, jilted customers, and red-faced city officials. Its abandonment of the city’s much-touted “High-Tech High-Rise” building (formerly known as the Main Administration Building at the old Bellmet Manufacturing complex) renders Mayor Wilders’ “22nd-century… »