Week Around The Ists

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the ist-a-verse...

• Chicagoist’s readers were not happy with a 67 percent increase in the state income tax. The staff, meanwhile, interviewed the director of a new Stephin Merrit documentary; asked author Ted McClelland why he likes winter in Chicago; chatted with the creator of Vladimir Putin Action Comics; got a behind-the-scenes tour of the soon-to-open butcher shop, The Butcher and Larder; and Art Shay reminisced on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Shanghaiist was terrorized by a "Tiger Mom" called Amy Chua.
• DCist was all about poor customer service this week, ranging from a notoriously anti-customer chef posting YouTube videos criticizing her patrons to Metro operators urinating and defecating in the system’s trains and buses.
• In the midst of the tragic news out of Tucson, Bostonist found reason for hope. Organs from Christina Taylor Green, the 9-year old girl killed in Tucson, were donated to a sick girl from Boston. In other news, five members of the state parole board resigned after a man they released allegedly killed a police officer; Vicki Kennedy isn't running for Senate; there might be a football game happening Sunday afternoon, possibly as you read this.
• Seattlest lamented our city getting knocked off our literacy throne and watched a local park get drawn into the Amanda Knox saga.
• Gothamist found out why a City Council member wants to introduce legislation requiring bicyclists to get licenses/registration: It’s because of the jerk bicyclists. Councilman Eric Ulrich told us, “I have never, never seen a cop car pull over a bicyclist for running through a red light. I wish they would, because those are the ones who are creating problems every day in the city. If these people are not obeying traffic laws, they should be held accountable.”
• LAist readers rejoiced in Gov. Jerry Brown's executive decision to save California $20 million by snatching state-issued cell phones from public employees.