John Williams

The Mincing Rascals this week are John Williams of WGN Radio, Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, Cate Plys, former staff writer at the Chicago Reader, and political op-ed columnist at the Sun-Times and Tribune, and political pundit Marj Halperin! This week the Rascals kick off the podcast talking about the upcoming debate between President Biden and Donald Trump. Are the Rascals looking forward to watching? What are the Rascals most interested in seeing from the candidates? This week former Alderman Ed Burke was sentenced to two years in prison plus a $2M fine. Do the Rascals believe justice was served? A Supreme Court ruling today will narrow the scope of corruption laws targeting public officials. What do the Rascals make of this SCOTUS decision? And finally, Chicago Alderman William Hall asked aldermen to log their yes/no support for 16 different tax hike proposals in a “Revenue Survey” distributed to city council members. The survey briefly had an open link that anyone could access. Where do the Rascals stand on the various tax hike proposals?

Bob Bertog, president of Bertog Landscape Co. in Wheeling and a certified landscape professional with the National Association of Landscape Professionals, joins John Williams to answer all of your lawn and garden questions. Bob tells us if it is safe to plant grass seeds now when air temperatures are cooler.

Aaron Kleidon, owner, Scratch Brewing, joins John Williams to talk about his spot being named as one of the best pizza places in the USA by the New York Times. Aaron tells John how they are pretty well known for beer across the U.S., the way word of mouth has been a good advertiser for their food, what makes the pizza so unique, and why he’s happy working in southern Illinois.

Elder law attorney Kerry Peck joins John Williams to answer all your questions about elder law, trusts, wills, and elder abuse. Kerry discusses the devastating impact of Alzheimer’s disease on both the patient and the family and what you need to know about dealing with the legal impact of the illness.

USA Triple Jumper Tori Franklin joins John Williams and Ryan Burrow to talk about her strenuous training regimen, the keys to be a successful triple jumper, the mental aspect of her sport, her experience at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, her chances of medaling in Paris, and why she likes being the underdog. And don’t forget to check out Tori’s work with The Live Happii Project. They are hosting an event in September and you can find more information about that here.

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to [email protected]

US Para Track & Field athlete, Decatur native, and DePaul University alum Noelle Malkamaki joins John Williams and Ryan Burrow to talk about competing against non-disabled athletes growing up and at DePaul, when she fell in love with track and field, how she came to start competing in the Para games, what she’s doing to getting ready for the Paralympic trials in July, the way NIL has changed the terrain of college athletics, who her biggest competition will be at the trials, and the difficulty coming to terms with being a disabled athlete.

Eric Zorn, Publisher of The Picayune Sentinel, joins John Williams to talk about the controversy surrounding U.S. Track & Field star Athing Mu not qualifying for the Paris Olympics, his thoughts on the sentence given to former Alderman Ed Burke, and what he’s looking forward to in the debate between President Biden and Donald Trump.

Dr. Jeffrey Kopin, Chief Medical Officer for Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital, joins John Williams to talk about how the heat can impact your brain health, why you need to be smart when dealing with extreme temperatures, how thinner stools might be a sign of colon cancer, how closely we should be paying attention to bird flu, and why you shouldn’t drink raw milk. Dr. Kopin also answers your medical questions.

John Williams brings you another round of Speed Jokes. Keep sending yours to [email protected]