2010 stories that fell through the cracks

December 26, 2010

“O Rahm, O Rahm Emanuel” tops 1,000 views

While I’m not going to take credit for Rahm Emanuel passing the first hurdle in his sprint to become Chicago’s next mayor, I’m not going to rule anything out. After all you can’t buy the kind of publicity that my caroling group,The Frozen Robins, have given him in the past few weeks, thanks to our holiday hit, “O Rahm, O Rahm Emanuel.” Makes me wonder what he’s going to do to get in the public eye now that the holidays are almost over. Well, I’m sure he’ll think of something.

As we lurch toward a new year…what did I miss?

It’s that time of year, kids, when I look back at all of the worthy news stories that should have made it to my program and say, “How the heck did I miss that?” Which is why I am doing my second annual list of stories that caught my eye at one time or another…and which I completely forgot in about twenty seconds.

This might have to be the quote of the year:

A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule. – Michael Pollan
(The quote heads the chapter on herbicides/pesticides in the recent book “Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things,” by Canadian environmentalists Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie.This information was sent to me by listener Jeffrey Kunka)

Under the wire: Year-end contributions you should consider

If you have last minute, end-of-the-year decisions to make about charitable contributions, you might consider one or more of these groups that work tirelessly to save our environment and make life better for everyone in our area. These are some of our favorite groups, most of which have been featured on The Mike Nowak show. Any money sent their way is going to help do some real good.

Angelic Organics Learning Center

Chicago Audubon Society

Chicago Recycling Coalition

Chicago Wilderness

Environment Illinois

FamilyFarmed

Friends of the Chicago River

Friends of the Forest Preserves

Friends of the Parks

Growing Home Chicago

Openlands Project

Safer Pest Control Project

Sierra Club, Illinois

Urban Habitat Chicago