Flint is famous for its Coney Island spots; a new owner gave one a new name.

Well, move over Hyde Park and make room for Flint!

My daughter goes to pre-school across the street from the Obama family home, so like a lot of neighbors the fam and I feel an extra share of pride in our new president. But it looks like we’re going to have to move over to leave some room for Flint, Mich. — not coincidentally, site of the Workshop’s next one-day Michigan Communications Project mini-conference next Friday, Dec. 5.

According to Good Morning Flint blogger, local attorney, and former Flint ombudsman Terry Bankert, it’s the first sign of the “Obama Stimulus Plan.” Read the rest of this entry »

When Workshop storyteller trainer Susan O’Halloran was interviewed by New York Times Chicago Bureau Chief Monica Davey for a Sunday pre-election story on preparations for Barack Obama’s election night celebration in Grant Park, little did she know her story about being chased by police out of Grant Park in 1968 would lead to her becoming a citizen journalist for the Canadian Broadcast Corporation.

The CBC contacted Sue and gave her a camera to document her election day experiences–from getting out the vote in Evanston to joining the crowds welcoming the president elect and his family in Grant Park. The subsequent CBC report can be seen here.  

President Elect Barack Obama in Chicago for his first press conference following the election 

Text & Photos by Thom Clark

On the day the feds announced higher unemployment, following two days of downturns in the stock market, the question receiving the most attention at President-Elect Barack Obama’s first press conference was asked by Chicago Sun-Times Washington bureau chief Lynn Sweet: What kind of dog will the Obama girls get to bring to the White House?

“The dog issue” is the most popular discussion on our website, the president-elect reported. And the family has two criteria: they want a shelter dog and one of the girls is allergic. “And since most shelter dogs are mutts like me,” Obama is not sure what kind of puppy the family will end up with.”
Above Photo:WBBM TV’s Jay Levine interviews Sun-Times Washington bureau chief Lynn Sweet about her dog question.

“I never thought I’d see a black president,” retired WMAQ-TV political reporter Dick Kay told me. Now a Saturday afternoon talk show jock on Air America, Kay is overjoyed with Obama’s successful campaign. “I was in a neighborhood with a lot of bars and I couldn’t believe the noise when the networks declared for Barack,” Kay concluded.
 Above Photo: Andy Shaw of WLS-TV and Dick Kay of Air America. Photo Below: Dulce Mora of Radio Arte. All photos by Thom Clark

Also on hand in the media throng at the Chicago Hilton and Towers, and hoping for a query on immigration was Radio Arte’s Dulce Mora. “My pet issue was hardly mentioned during the campaign,” Dulce complained, even as exit polls showed that for Latino voters, after the economy, immigration reform was the most important issue. “The majority of naturalized citizens went for Obama.” Flanked by over a dozen economic policy advisors, the president-elect (it feels so good to say that) began his conference with an eye on the morning’s dismal employment report.”It’s sobering,” Obama said, encouraging the outgoing administration to work closely with Congress to pass another stimulus package during its upcoming veto session. Reiterating familiar campaign themes, Obama said “We need a new rescue plan for the middle class,” while stopping the spread of the economic crisis into other sectors like small business.It was great to return to my reporting days, for ninety minutes least, on a day in a week when community voices from immigration reform to animal shelters will be heard in the new White House.