Mark Grote

WSCR’s Mark Grote holding his copy of “everycubever”.

Mark is in the book for his stint in the Cubs radio booth.

Chicago Radio Ratings

Thanks to Robert Feder for publishing these numbers. If you'd like the daypart breakdown, click here. These are the full-day ratings...

1. WTMX 101.9-FM hot adult contemporary, 5.6 (5.9)
2. WDRV 97.1-FM classic rock, 5.1 (4.7)
3. (tie) WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM all news, 4.8 (5.5); WLS 94.7-FM classic hits, 4.8 (4.5)
5. WVAZ 102.7-FM urban adult contemporary, 4.3 (5.2)
6. WLIT 93.9-FM adult contemporary, 4.2 (3.9)
7. WSCR 670-AM sports talk, 3.9 (4.2)
8. WBMX 104.3-FM classic hip hop, 3.7 (3.5)
9. WKSC 103.5-FM Top 40, 3.5 (3.6)
10. WXRT 93.1-FM adult album alternative, 3.4 (3.7)
11. WOJO 105.1-FM Mexican regional, 3.2 (3.1)
12. (tie) WGN 720-AM news talk, 3.0 (2.9); WKQX 101.1-FM alternative rock, 3.0 (3.0); WRME 87.7-FM soft rock oldies, 3.0 (2.9)
15. WSHE 100.3-FM adult contemporary, 2.9 (2.8)
16. (tie) WBBM 96.3-FM Top 40, 2.8 (2.7); WGCI 107.5-FM urban contemporary,2.8 (2.7)
18. WUSN 99.5-FM country, 2.7 (3.0)
19. WBEZ 91.5-FM public radio news talk, 2.5 (2.8)
20. WPPN 106.7-FM Spanish adult contemporary, 2.2 (1.8)
21. WLS 890-AM news talk, 2.1 (1.8)
22. WLEY 107.9-FM Mexican regional, 2.0 (1.9)
23. WPWX 92.3-FM urban contemporary, 1.9 (1.8)
24. WVIV 93.5-FM Spanish contemporary, 1.7 (1.6)
25. WEBG 95.5-FM country, 1.6 (1.8)
26. WERV 95.9-FM classic hits, 1.3 (1.5)
27. (tie) WCKL 97.9-FM contemporary Christian, 1.2 (1.0); WMVP 1000-AM sports talk, 1.2 (1.4)
29. WFMT 98.7-FM classical, 1.0 (1.1)
30. WMBI 90.1-FM Christian ministry, 0.8 (0.9)

RIP Paul Schramka

RIP Paul Schramka, former Cub.

Here's his listing in Everycubever...

~Paul Schramka 1928--2019 (Cubs 1953)
Schramka was a speedy outfielder who played in the Cubs minor league system from 1949-1954 (other than a military stint during the Korean War), but he did get a cup of coffee with the big league team in April of 1953. He appeared in two games for the Cubs. He pinch ran for catcher Clyde McCullough one game, and replaced outfielder Gene Hermanski for one inning during another game. That was it. He was interviewed by the Baseball Biography Project in 2007 about his time in baseball, and recalled it this way: “The Cubs had seven outfielders at the time. I was number seven. I knew my place.” After his playing career, Paul joined the family business in Wisconsin and became a funeral director. He passed away in the summer of 2019, and his own funeral home handled the arrangements.

Chet Tribute

Great night in Arlington Heights last night. Jim O'Donnell did a great job moderating a tribute to Chet with Cheryl Raye-Stout and Dan Jiggets. I met former Chicago Bull Dave Corzine and his buddy George. We had a long chat about the Steve & Garry days (both were big fans). Then we had to take the comedy picture of me with the 7 footer. (Thanks to Glen Stout for the photos)

RIP Jim Bouton

He passed away yesterday at the age of 80.

His book "Ball Four" remains one of the best baseball books ever written.

Chet Tribute

It was only last summer that Chet Coppock appeared at Eddie's in Arlington Heights (http://eddiesofarlington.com/) to promote his new Eckhartz Press book. I invited a bunch of his former producers to join us--and it really made Chet's day. We had no way of knowing it would be the last time any of those guys saw Chet. (He passed away in April). Tonight the Arlington Heights library is hosting another event about Chet at Eddie's. This time it's a tribute to him, and a discussion of his memorable life. The discussion will be led by Daily Herald columnist Jim O'Donnell, and panelists include his former producer Cheryl Raye Stout and former Chicago Bear (and broadcaster) Dan Jiggetts. I will be there too. I've contributed a few of Chet's last book as prizes, along with my Cubs book "everycubever". We'll have both of those books there for sale too, if anyone is interested. Looking forward to paying tribute to the Big Bohunk. We still miss him.

Terri Hemmert

From Robert Feder's column this morning...

Terri Hemmert signed off as midday personality at WXRT 93.1-FM Tuesday with the sincerity and class she’s brought to the Entercom adult album alternative station for 45 years. Saying her goal still was to meet every member of the ’XRT family, she added: “And if you listen to this radio station, you are part of the family.” Hemmert’s last three songs: The Beatles’ “The Long and Winding Road,” “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight” and “In My Life.” The Radio Hall of Famer will continue to host her Sunday morning “Breakfast with The Beatles” program and fill in for other on-air hosts throughout the year. Effective today, WXRT’s new Monday-through-Friday lineup will be: Lin Brehmer and Mary Dixon from 5:30 to 10 a.m.; Richard Milne from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Marty Lennartz from 2:30 to 7 p.m.; Ryan Arnold from 7 p.m. to midnight; and Emma Mac from midnight to 5:30 a.m. (An earlier announcement by the station misstated the start date.)

Here's a strange sidenote about Terri. Despite the fact that I was in Chicago radio for 20+ years, and have been writing about it since the early 90s, and desptite the fact that my Radio Producer's Handbook was used as a textbook at Columbia College (where she teaches), and despite my love for the Beatles (and attendance at Beatles Fest), and despite the fact that I have dozens of mutual friends with her, I have never met Terri Hemmert. I e-mailed her once asking for an interview and she never responded. I always figured I'd run into her one day and ask her in person. That day never happened. Odd. I am a fan, though. I've been listening to her since the summer of 1982 when I first discovered WXRT.

RIP Rip Torn

I'm going to have a salty dog in his honor tonight. He was one of my favs...

How a Real President Responds

Proud to rep America’s best team! Congrats @USWNT and thanks for being such a strong inspiration for women and girls—and everybody—all across the country. pic.twitter.com/9Gp6UTZhEE

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 10, 2019

Never Trumpers

I think there are only about a dozen or so of these Never Trump Republicans who speak out, but every time they do, it's music to my ears. Every word of this is true...

“The reason a lot of Republicans haven’t read the Mueller report isn’t because they aren’t illiterate, it’s because they don’t want to read what’s in there. They don’t want to see the truth” @Peter_Wehner w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/flI9m3UZNG

— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) July 9, 2019

Moon Over Mt. Prospect

Snapped this spooky pic last night...

The Stones Troll Trump

From Rolling Stone magazine...

On Sunday night, Mick Jagger paused his band’s show at Massachusetts’ Gillette Stadium to take in the perfect New England summer evening. He said he hoped everyone had a great July 4th weekend — and added that the Fourth had always been a “touchy holiday for us Brits.” “In fact, the President made a very good point in his speech the other night,” Jagger deadpanned. “He said, ‘If only the British had held on to the airports, the whole thing might have gone differently for us.’”

How to Look at Immigration

This is a beautifully written piece by former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson in today's Washington Post. It examines the slightly twisted way our president and his followers look at immigration and offers a much more hopeful and *American* view of the issue going forward.

Janet Sutherland Takes on Washington

It was a big day yesterday for Eckhartz Press author Janet Sutherland-Madden. This is how she described it on her Facebook page last night...

We spent part of the day meeting with Illinois Congressman Sean Casten thanking him for signing Ellie's law. I called Congressman Casten right after my mom died at the request of the Brain Aneurysm Foundation and asked him to sign HR 1648. This is an important bill especially for those who traveled to DC lobbied, worked really hard asking Congress for research and awareness were seeking for passage of Ellie’s Law. Ellie's Law is a bill that seeks federal funding for brain aneurysm research. It is named in honor of Ellie Helton, a 14-year-old Apex, NC teenager, who died on July 16, 2014 as a result of a brain aneurysm. The bill, HR 1648, provides $5 million each fiscal year, for five years, to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to conduct or support further comprehensive research on brain aneurysms, studying a broader patient population diversified by age, sex, and race.Congressman Casten did sign the bill!!! We met with him this morning to thank him for supporting the bill and asked him to support another awareness resolution. We are quite honored to be able to meet with Congressman Casten and hit him with a lot of items on our brain aneurysm "list" which he was open to. I also gave him a copy of my book 🙂 (photograph(copyright 2019, Lee Balgemann)

Minutia Men, Episode 140

EP140 – Rick and Dave discuss sexy dad bods, flatulence that smells like roses, keeping beer away from Nazis, Cubs in big historical moments, Rick’s brush with Elliot Gould, and they interview Starsky, Paul Michael Glaser.

Listen to it here.

Q&A with "I Cu Copper" author Deb Tokarz

Eckhartz Press is excited to announce the release of our latest book I Cu Copper by Deb Tokarz. Although I Cu Copper is largely about a personal struggle with depression and its stigma, it is simultaneously about a 15-year excursion to find an elusive cause that could secretly be harming many women. With the help of her journal entries, Deb recounts each battle with a visceral urgency and effortlessly blends it with the discovery of the science behind it. I Cu Copper is more than one woman’s journey. It could hold the key to the cause of many women’s (and some men’s) depression, anxiety and fatigue.

We recently caught up with Deb and asked her a few questions about this exciting new book…

EP: I’d venture to guess that most people have never even heard of copper toxicity. Can you give us a layman’s explanation of what it is?

Deb: Copper toxicity also referred to as copper overload is an inability eliminate excess copper from the body. This is not the same as Wilson’s disease which is a rare genetic disorder that shows up in the bodies tissues. The copper I’m talking about is unbound and floats freely in the body as a free radical disrupting the reproductive, nervous and glandular systems with devastating effects on mental health. The reason most people are unaware of it is because traditional doctors don’t test copper levels in the blood. If a patient complains of fatigue and mood like symptoms it is common practice for traditional doctors to dispense antidepressants instead.

EP: Your book is a very personal journey dealing with this condition. What were some of the biggest hurdles you faced?

Deb: What happens when a heavy metal like copper roams freely is it leads to high amounts of oxidative stress and attacks the nervous systems causing the body to go into a constant fight or flight state making it difficult to calm down. So one of my biggest hurdles was dealing with constant high anxiety. Then as excess copper disrupted my adrenal glands and neurotransmitters depression ensued. The catch 22 for me was I had never been a depressed person nor anxious so I knew there was something causing these behavioral changes and that’s why I kept searching for answers.

Another awful hurdle was dealing with the regret, guilt and shame after I imploded and loss a pregnancy I wanted. This was an unfortunate trauma that came out of fear from the anxiety and not understanding the depressive behavior. At times I thought I was going crazy and was afraid for and of myself.

I spent 8 years on antidepressants never getting better because antidepressants actually worsen anxiety in high copper individuals. Estrogen dominant women like myself retain copper whether it be the body producing it normally or from external sources like birth control pills, prenatal vitamins, some daily vitamins or hormone replacement drugs. So all along I had an intolerance to estrogen causing my distress. As I explained every symptom to doctors, not one of them linked it to hormonal change nor did they do any tests. So the biggest hurdle of all was getting doctors to hear me.

EP: What made you decide to write a book about it?

Deb: The reason I wrote a book is to create an awareness about copper toxicity to prevent other women from suffering unnecessarily.

Also with 16M adults in the US affected by depression and some 40 million by anxiety I knew I wasn’t alone. It was important for me to make sure others suffering don’t feel alone either. So I am very open about my personal moments and talking about what it feels like to have and hide behind depression. My goal is to spread hope that healing is possible and draw out others to talk rather than hide. It has been very liberating for me to finally talk about what I went through and I feel this is how change and proper treatment will happen.

I believe my book is only the tip of the iceberg because copper is getting more attention as environmental triggers are prevalent in tap and well water, copper pipes, pesticides, plastics, dry cleaning chemicals and some household and personal care products. Not to mention the popularity of plant-based diets which are high in copper. I was a vegetarian for years and thought I was eating a “healthy” diet not realizing I was adding copper rich foods that were causing brain fog and low concentration.

EP: If any readers of your book find themselves wondering if they are suffering through the same condition, what would you recommend they do?

Deb: It is highly likely that women will find themselves with similar symptoms because 35% of women test as estrogen dominant. This not to say that men cannot have copper toxicity as well. It is just more prevalent in women because of the relationship to estrogen.

I recommend getting tested. Again, most traditional doctors will not test but there are labs that will. Finding a doctor who is open to using nutritional supplementation and is willing to treat the cause rather than the symptom is key.

I am creating a resource on my website at debtokarz.com about how to navigate the process of finding practitioners who use molecular medicine and treat with nutritional supplementation.

World Cup Champs!

Best of the best. ✨#OneNationOneTeam pic.twitter.com/RbwptyrVcv

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 7, 2019

And this is how you celebrate! Congrats to the USWNT. They were so much to watch!

My Team twerks postgame #USWNT pic.twitter.com/5BBv6EJZ5E

— Reese Waters (@reesewaters) July 7, 2019

And this is how you react to a crowd shot on Fox News...

here's better quality pic.twitter.com/pecoFWGjMg

— Sara Pearl (@skenigsberg) July 7, 2019