(CBS) The temper of Canadiens forward Andrew Shaw still runs hot, in case anyone here locally was wondering about the former Blackhawk.
We were reminded of that again Tuesday night, when Shaw was called for a hooking penalty late in Montreal’s 2-1 loss to Anaheim as the Canadiens pushed for the tying goal. Shaw didn’t agree with the call. He let the referee know about it. He busted his stick. He received a game misconduct. He also manhandled a stick rack.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — You probably don’t know his name, but you’ve almost certainly devoured his creation: two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun.
Michael James “Jim” Delligatti, the McDonald’s franchisee who created the Big Mac nearly 50 years ago and saw it become perhaps the best-known fast-food sandwich in the world, died Monday at home in Pittsburgh. Delligatti, who according to his son ate at least one 540-calorie Big Mac a week for decades, was 98.
Delligatti’s franchise was based in Uniontown, not far from Pittsburgh, when he invented the chain’s signature burger in 1967 after deciding customers wanted a bigger sandwich. Demand exploded as Delligatti’s sandwich spread to the rest of his 47 stores in Pennsylvania and was added to the chain’s national menu in 1968.
“He was often asked why he named it the Big Mac, and he said because Big Mc sounded too funny,” his son Michael Delligatti said.
Jim Delligatti told The Associated Press in 2006 that McDonald’s resisted the idea at first because its simple lineup of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and shakes was selling well.
“They figured, why go to something else if (the original menu) was working so well?” Delligatti said then.
McDonald’s has sold billions of Big Macs since then, in more than 100 countries. When the burger turned 40, McDonald’s estimated it was selling 550 million Big Macs a year, or roughly 17 every second.
A McDonald’s Big Mac and French Fries (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)
“Delligatti was a legendary franchisee within McDonald’s system who made a lasting impression on our brand,” the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said Wednesday in a statement. The Big Mac “has become an iconic sandwich enjoyed by many around the world.”
Ann Dugan, a former assistant dean of the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business and an expert on business franchises, said Jim Delligatti’s genius was simple: He listened to customers who wanted a bigger burger.
“In franchising, there’s always this set playbook and you have to follow it. Jim saw an opportunity to go outside the playbook because he knew the customer,” Dugan said. “He persevered and (McDonald’s) listened, and the rest is history.”
Delligatti headed M&J Management, a four-generation family business and McDonald’s franchise organization, for more than 60 years. He opened his first McDonald’s in Pittsburgh’s North Hills suburbs in 1957. In 1979, he co-founded Pittsburgh’s Ronald McDonald House, then the seventh such facility in the country, where families can stay when children travel to Pittsburgh for life-saving medical care, and he was involved in several other charities.
Delligatti also helped introduce breakfast service at McDonald’s, developing the hotcakes and sausage meal to feed hungry steelworkers on their way home from overnight shifts in the mills, his family said.
In addition to his two sons, Jim Delligatti is survived by his wife, Ellie, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
The Devlin Funeral Home near Pittsburgh is handling visitation Thursday and Friday. Delligatti’s funeral will be held Saturday at St. Joseph’s Parish in O’Hara Township.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
CHICAGO (CBS) — Will 2017 be a rerun of 2011?
We’re talking about a state income tax increase, outgoing lawmakers helped pass on their last day of service. WBBM’s Dave Dahl reports.
“Didn’t (then-Gov.) Pat Quinn teach us the failure of an income tax increase, also the failure of an income tax increase at the last minute?” State Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) asked.
The state’s income tax went from three percent to five, partly with the help of lame ducks who waddled into the Quinn administration.
Not wanting a repeat, McSweeney has a resolution urging lawmakers to oppose a lame-duck tax increase.
Another lawmaker, State Rep. Jack Franks (D-Marengo), appearing with McSweeney at a statehouse news conference, said the answer is a constitutional amendment making such an increase pass by a three fifths super-majority, not a simple majority.
“Lame duck sessions should not be used for eleventh-hour tax increases – period,” said Franks.
The next General Assembly is sworn in Jan. 11, 2017.
As it stands now, a bill needs only a simple majority to pass if the vote is between Jan. 1 and the inauguration.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Mayor Emanuel seems unfazed by the ongoing budget showdown between Governor Rauner and Democratic State lawmakers.
WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore has that story from City Hall.
Mayor Emanuel verbally shrugs when asked about the continuing budget stalemate in Springfield. After all, he points out, the Chicago City Council unanimously passed a budget that moves the city forward.
He said the problem for the state in not having a budget is that, it creates uncertainty. Businesses and investors don’t want uncertainty. They have enough of that in their lives, especially these days.
When you create certainty, Emanuel said, you attract business.
In other words, having a state budget would be better than not.
(CBS) The Blackhawks are estimated to be worth $925 million, the fourth-most valuable franchise in the NHL, according to Forbes.
The New York Rangers are the most valuable franchise, checking in at $1.25 billion, per Forbes. The Canadiens ($1.12 billion) and Maple Leafs ($1.1 billion) followed before the Blackhawks checked in at fourth.
The Blackhawks have won three Stanley Cups in the past seven seasons and have led the NHL in attendance in each of the past eight seasons, per ESPN.com.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Major Emanuel announced Tuesday a major expansion of the city’s Large Lots land sale program, that will expand into more than 30 communities across Chicago.
The program sells vacant city-owned land for $1, is set to expand with approximately 4,000 lots in the South and West sides. WBBM’s political ediot Craig Dellimore reports from City Hall.
“The Large Lots program turns vacant lots into neighborhood assets that benefit neighbors and communities,” Mayor Emanuel said. “This program’s success is driven by people who are committed to strengthening their communities block by block, and this expansion will create opportunities to strengthen neighborhoods throughout the entire city of Chicago.”
The Chicago Department of Planning and Development have begun accepting application from existing property owners. People can purchase up to two city-owned lots for $1 each.
Communities where land is available include:
– Auburn Gresham
– Austin
– Avalon Park
– Burnside
– Calumet Heights
– Chatham
– East Garfield
– East Side
– Englewood
– Fuller Park
– Hegewisch
– Humboldt Park
– Morgan Park
– New City
– North Lawndale
– Riverdale
– Roseland Pullman
– South Chicago
– South Deering
– South Shore
– Washington Heights
– West Englewood
– West Garfield
– West Pullman
Areas of Chicago Lawn, Douglas, Gage Park, Grand Boulevard, Great Grand Crossing, Near West Side, Oakland, South Lawndale and Washington Park also have lots available.
Applications will be accepted through Jan. 31, 2017 through the website.
To qualify as a buyer, an applicant must own property on the same block, be current on their property taxes and have no outstanding debt to the city.
Each lot is sold “as-is” via a quit claim deed.
The Large Lots program began in 2014 in greater Englewood and later expanded into other communities. Since the program launched, more than 550 lots have been sold, bringing success to the neighborhoods.
Many lots have been purchased and turned into side yards, community gardens or landscaped open space.
An ongoing study by the U.S. Forest Service indicates that more than 40 percent of buyers make rapid improvements, such as installing fencing, removing trash and refuse, planting grass and foliage, and developing recreational and social amenities. Approximately 20 percent of the lots sold to date are actively gardened, according to a statement for the mayor’s office.
Residents surveyed in the study also reported quieter and safer streets with the reduction of opportunities for vagrancy, loitering, and antisocial behavior.
Applications are submitted through the Large Lots website. Application assistance is available during business hours at City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St., Room 1101.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Chicago aldermen have approved the creation of a new TIF district to help secure $1.1 billion in federal funding for projects to modernize the Red and Purple Lines on the North Side.
At a special City Council meeting, the aldermen discussed and approved a series of ordinances to create a new Transit TIF District that would run for about six miles along the Red and Purple Lines, and in one-half mile on either side of the tracks.
TIF districts raise money by effectively freezing property taxes in the district for 23 years, and funneling any increases in taxes from rising property tax values into a special fund used for specific purposes. The transit TIF would last for 35 years, and unlike normal TIF districts, schools within the district would continue to get their normal portion of increased tax revenue.
City officials feared a new presidential administration might delay or decrease the $1.1 billion in federal matching money the Obama administration has offered for the transit project, and had to act by Wednesday to commit to $622 million in local funding to guarantee that federal grant.
The projects to be funded would include replacing Red Line tracks from Lawrence to Bryn Mawr, creating a controversial flyover to separate the Red and Purple Lines from the Brown Line where they intersect north of the Belmont station, and improving signals from Belmont to Howard.
Opponents of the TIF plan fear it will divert money away from other needs in the district. They also worried the project will increase property values, and therefore tax bills.
Supporters argued the Red and Purple Line improvements are essential, because of the aging infrastructure.
Ald. Harry Osterman (50th) said, with no possibility of state lawmakers agreeing on a capital construction bill to fund the CTA project, it was up to the City Council to create the new transit TIF district to retain the federal grants.
“This is not something that was done quickly. This is something that’s done methodically, working in tandem with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the RTA to have this project to where it is today; but the reality is is that we’re here out of necessity,” he said.
The CTA also has approved $468 million for the project, which will total about $2.1 billion.
