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Chicago2016.org – Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Committee website.

Citizen Media Law Project – Chicago 2016 v. Frayne – vexatious litigation by US Olympic Committee and Chicago 2016 Olympic bid organization against Chicago2016.com website domain.

Don’t Give Up The Ship – Chicago Yachting Association and Columbia Yacht Club boating advocacy support for Chicago 2016 Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee will choose the 2016 Olympics host city on October 2, 2009.

Boat owners warned: Don’t make waves over Olympics rowing plan

Yacht club group tells members it fears retaliation from city if they protest proposal for Monroe Harbor

By Laurie Cohen, Kathy Bergen and David Heinzmann

Tribune reporters

February 12, 2009

Lots of boaters are unhappy with plans to use Monroe Harbor as the rowing venue for the 2016 Olympics should Chicago win the Games, but you won’t hear many complaints.

The Chicago Yachting Association, an umbrella group for 15 yacht clubs in the Chicago area, has asked members to keep a lid on it, noting in a memo obtained by the Tribune that yacht clubs “are vulnerable to retribution.”

Mayor Richard Daley’s office and the Chicago Park District have made it clear “that they do not wish to talk about issues that may be confrontational until after October 2009,” according to the memo by an association committee charged with formulating an approach to the city’s Olympic plans.

City officials say they aren’t trying to stifle dissent before Oct. 2, when the International Olympic Committee, which values popular support, selects a host city. But critics of the bid, from parks activists to concerned taxpayers, believe boosters have worked to suppress public criticism and withhold potentially controversial information.

The three-year Chicago campaign to win the Summer Games has been a study in how to carefully control the flow of information, with details parceled out only to the extent required to satisfy Olympic officials. The team has cited the intense competition among the finalists, which include Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, as a reason for keeping portions of its playbook private.

But critics want more information. The bid campaign “is not a very transparent process, and that makes it frustrating for us,” said Peggy Brennan, vice commodore of the historic Columbia Yacht Club, who wants more details on how use of Monroe Harbor as the rowing venue would affect boaters.

“When taxpayer dollars are involved, you’d like to be a little more transparent on these things,” said Allen Sanderson, who teaches economics at the University of Chicago.

Now, in formal bid documents due Thursday, Chicago and its rivals had to answer an extensive battery of tough questions from the IOC. The bid team has been saying for months that its book, to be released publicly in Chicago on Friday, will answer many remaining questions.

But other significant questions that aren’t required to be addressed will continue to go unanswered, including an accounting of donations to fund Chicago’s nearly $60 million effort to win the Games, information that would show who pitched in the most for one of the mayor’s favorite causes.

Chicago-area residents, while largely supporting the bid, doubt some of the city’s claims. A Tribune poll this month found that many Olympics supporters, as well as a vast majority of those opposed to bringing the Games here, don’t buy Daley’s pledge that private funds would cover nearly all the costs.

So far, the city hasn’t been quick to own up to the financial risks taxpayers would have to bear. Over time, it became known the city would make a variety of commitments, from a $500 million guarantee against the potential of operating losses to picking up the cost of city services and purchasing the site for an Olympic Village, for ultimate resale to a private developer.

Visit www.chicagotribune.com to continue reading this article.

Article:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-thu-olympics-transparency-20feb12,0,7405895.story

United States Maritime Academy a.k.a. USMA Chicago is once again pleased to be offering it’s USCG Approved Captain’s Licensing Program at Columbia Yacht Club on Chicago’s beautiful Lakefront. An Introduction to the licensing process as well as a Q & A meeting will be held at Columbia on Thursday February 19 at 7:00 PM.

This session is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC with NO OBLIGATION. There is FREE parking in the Columbia lot under the LSD

Classes begin Tuesday February 24 through April 18. Successful completion of the training will qualify you for your Masters License up to 100 gross tons as well as the OUPV (six Pack) license.

USMA Chicago is authorized to give the TEST. You do not have to drive to Toledo or St. Louis USCG REC to take the exam. You test right in the same familiar classroom and with the same students you studied with.

For additional information contact:

Captain Fred Swastek 773-578-6852

Captain Al Grigalunas 312-259-5125

or visit our web site at: www.usmaritime.us

USMA Chicago “the benchmark of Captain’s Training”

another great night

more later

This disastrous incident reaches all of us in the Chicago area sailing community, and hits close to home for many of us.

I knew John Finn, and sailed the 1998 Chicago-Mackinac with him, before he owned J/35 Jason. I also sailed one beercan race on Jason, and enjoyed one of John’s rooftop parties which he very graciously hosted.

I did not know the other crewmembers of the ill-fated delivery, and regret that I will never have the opportunity. I am both deeply saddened, and, quite honestly, somewhat outraged, that three lives are now no longer with us.

Amidst the sadness and grief, there are questions surrounding this ill-fated delivery voyage. By all accounts, there were a number of opportunities where better decision-making would have resulted in a safer journey.

Death is too high a price to pay for an activity we engage in only for pleasure. Unfortunately, the hazards of nature and elements beyond one’s own control sometime make that an unforgiving reality of the risks we take.

However, we should not discount the importance of all efforts necessary to prevent danger.

I cannot help but imagine the horror each of the four Jason crewmembers and the Coast Guard rescue team experienced on that night, beginning with the first awareness of the actual dangers involved in the voyage, to the loss of a crewmember overboard, the loss of the boat underneath your feet, and the individual fight for survival in the darkness against water, cold, and the unyielding breakwall.

We can all be thankful for the call to the Coast Guard, and the Coast Guard’s prompt rescue response. Without the wherewithal to make those efforts, the entire crew would have been lost.

My heart goes out to all who are affected by these events.

Hungry finches visited many boats returning to Chicago on the third leg of the Tri-State Regatta this year. The animated birds seemed very friendly, sometimes landing on or near racing crewmembers. Hopping around the boat, the little birds brought good cheer and happily ate tiny insects and pesky flies.

The finches were occasionally joined by bats. Our boat had several bats swoop by. One took a break by clinging upside down on the jib, while another one flew to the boom gooseneck and disappeared into the boom. He could not be seen anywhere inside, but outhaul adjustments or tapping the boom did not seem to disturb the heavy sleeper. After docking the boat in the harbor and night fell, the furry stowaway decided to come out and flew away.

Recognizing the nimble agility, light weight, and insect-eating abilities of the little finches, we decided to recruit them as alternate crew. The slow race gave us time to train them with the necessary basic skills to fill all crew positions on the boat. Take a look at the finch crew pictures here.

More fun this weekend…

News has reached us that the long-running and highly-popular Dead of Summer party will not be held by Columbia Yacht Club this year.

What are they thinking?

Did anyone really think that “Rock the Dock” in June was rocking?

I think not…

Bring back the tie-dye!

Mark your calendar for Wed., May 16, 2007, 6:00PM at Columbia Yacht Club for Beer Can College. Beer Can Prep School is not a prerequisite!

Learn more about beer can racing. Open to all interested. In addition to Beer Can College, Gary Jobson will be presenting, followed by a party and cash bar.

“12345″ posts on Sailing Anarchy:

On a lighter note…

For those who may have been curious what happened to Jimmy the Columbia Bar Tender the wife and I ran into him on Sunday getting some sweets at Letizia’s Bakery on Division. He is next door at the Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar Enoteca Roma. He said to let people know, funny guy actually misses the sailors, most flee the likes of us… Consider the word spread!

www.enotecaroma.com

Jimmy was always a huge favorite among everyone at Columbia Yacht Club, and is the best bartender ever.