Going green
Chicago’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, scheduled this year for March 15, has, for more than 50 years, featured the tradition of dying the Chicago River green. And despite the extremely cold weather this winter, the river will go green again next Saturday, parade organizer Kevin Sherlock told Crain’s Chicago Business earlier this week.
“We’re going to gamble that if there is ice, we can still break it,” said Sherlock, a member of Local 130, Chicago’s main plumbers labor union. “If there are ice chunks, they’ll still be able to turn the water green. It might hamper the view, but it’ll still turn the water green.”
Chicago takes center stage
The Chicago Tribune’s Rick Kogan called “Chicagoland,” the Chicago documentary from executive producer Robert Redford that aired Thursday night on CNN, “a feast of bright and dark images and emerging story lines.”
The eight-part docu-series depicts tumultuous social issues affecting the city and how Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other city officials work to resolve them. In Thursday’s series premiere, documentary makers Mark Benjamin and Marc Levin focused on the contentious closure of 50 Chicago Public Schools last year and the city’s gun violence.
In case you missed it, the debut of “Chicagoland” is set to re-air on CNN at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday, at 9 p.m. and midnight Sunday, and at 3 a.m. Monday.
Lakewatch
With the end of winter drawing near, the Chicago Park District is accepting applications for summer lifeguards. Applicants must be city residents, at least 16-years-old as of July 1 and certified by American Red Cross Lifeguarding, or have an equivalent certification. For more requirements and information, visit chicagoparkdistrict.com/lifeguards.
That’s rich
Forbes magazine this week released its 28th annual list of the world’s richest billionaires, and over two-dozen Chicagoans were included. Among them: Citadel CEO Ken Griffin at No. 270, with an estimated net worth of $5.2 billion; “Star Wars” creator George Lucas at No. 295, with an estimated net worth of $4.9 billion; and real estate mogul Sam Zell at No. 345 with a $4.3 billion estimated net worth. For all the Chicago billionaires on the list, head over to Crain’s Chicago Business.
Show time
“Divergent,” which was filmed in Chicago last year, premiered at the Showcase Icon theater in the South Loop Tuesday.
Actress Shailene Woodley, who plays the film’s protagonist, Tris, had some difficulty maintaining her “alternative” lifestyle – which includes collecting her own spring water and making her own cheese – while filming in the city. “It was a little bit tricky, actually,” she explained at the premiere, according to the Chicago Tribune. “There was this one market [in Chicago] that was amazing, which is where I did all my shopping. It’s a co-op. I found it online.”
Divergent is slated to open in theaters on March 21.
-Tom Butala