It sounds like Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste is out to show that nothing stands in the way of his political ambitions–even stories dragging his personal life through the dirt. Celeste`s name was dropped from most people`s lists of potential Democratic presidential candidates last month when an Ohio newspaper accused him of having a ”Gary Hart-type problem.” In part to show that he hasn`t been scared off yet, Celeste will address a crowd of 16,000 gathered in Houston for the 1987 National Urban League Conference this month. THE TOP JOBBERS . . .
So why isn`t Mayor Harold Washington agreeing to Gov. Jim Thompson`s choice of Tom Reynolds Jr. as chairman of the new authority building the White Sox stadium? Some say that Washington`s holding out to make sure that the guv won`t try to grab control of McCormick Place, another city-state agency that`s about to get a new chairman and general manager. Thompson and the mayor meet Tuesday to talk about those two jobs, and INC. hears the mayor isn`t likely to let Thompson walk away with both the chairman and general manager`s spots. P.S.: Thompson wants Patrick Daly, the architect-developer who was a member of the interim board, to become chairman, and Capitol Development Board executive director Gary Skoien to be general manager. But he may be willing to trade the chairman`s spot if the mayor backs Skoien as the GM.
A SUPER BLOOPER? . . .
. . . or the garbage cart shuffle? Department of Streets and Sanitation Commissioner John Halpin needs a new name for Mayor Washington`s pet project
–the automatic garbage pickup system, a.k.a. Supercarts. The catchy name for the plastic garbage containers with wheels has been printed on brochures and stationery, and it has been spun off to name Superbags and Superdumpsters. Now it`s headed for the garbage heap because a private company, which trademarked the name Supercarts, has ordered the city to stop using it. Halpin`s looking for a new name, reportedly something very Chicago. How about Clout Cans?
CHICAGO/CHICAGO . . .
”Chicago,” the original jazz ballet commissioned by the Chicago City Ballet to celebrate the city`s 150th birthday, will have its long-awaited premiere Sept. 25 at (appropriately enough) the Chicago Theatre. The ballet, which also will be presented on Sept. 26, has been choreographed by Joel Hall and features a score by Richard Adler. . . . Will the $30,000-plus a year corporate ”luxury boxes” at the Chicago be a tougher sell the second time around? INC. hears the number of shows offered in the theater`s first year of operation is falling quite a bit short of the 200 annual offerings hyped in sales pitches to prospective luxury box buyers last year.
2D THOUGHTS ON THE 4TH . . .
— Former Chicagoan Ken Erlich, who produced last weekend`s ”Welcome Home, Vets” HBO concert from Washington, D.C., is not represented by the New York public relations firm that issued a press release reporting he`d estimated a capacity crowd of 55,000 at RFK Stadium for the show (which was moved to a 19,000-seat arena). The same press release listed Paul Simon as one of the show`s scheduled acts; Simon had indicated a desire to help but was not able to fit the concert into his schedule and never made a commitment to appear.
— Kris Kristofferson got some bad press in Washington because an award he had accepted backstage at the vets` concert from a New York veterans group was discovered several hours later in a trash can. INC. sources report that Kristofferson felt so awful about the incident (which he attributed to the fact that he wasn`t traveling with his regular support staff) that he rearranged his schedule and flew to New York early this week to re-accept the award from the group.
BATTERED . . .
That`s how members of the City Hall press corps felt after the Chicago City Council cleaned their clocks 10-5 in Monday night`s annual softball game. INC. hears the event was business as usual: It started an hour late, the aldermen brought warm soda and no ice and the press accused home plate ump Walter Kozubowski, the city clerk, of fixing the game. The council team was shorthanded because only Aldermen Pat O`Connor (40th), Mark Fary (12th), David Orr (49th) Ed Smith (28th), William Banks (36th) and Raymond Figueroa (31st)
showed up. The other 44 apparently thought it was a committee meeting, not a softball game.
INC.LINGS . . .
Thursday birthdays: Ed Ames, 60; O.J. Simpson, 40; Richard Roundtree, 45; Dick Orkin, 52. . . . The INC.sters sit in for vacationing Fred Winston on Thursday from 7 to 9 a.m. on WLS-AM 89. . . . Bally Corp. exec Bob Mullane is very close to lining up the L.A. Lakers` biggest celebrity fan as a guest for the Sept. 13 National Basketball Players Association dinner here honoring Julius ”Dr. J.” Erving; maybe he`ll say who it is at Thursday`s kickoff luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. . . . Yummy Mark Harmon, in town to promote his ”Summer School” movie, will spend some time in the WGN broadcast booth with Harry Caray at Saturday`s Cubs game.
