Oprah is leaving Chicago? Tough break. I will say that the newspapers and newsmakers are approaching this story as the biggest since Blago’s arrest.  And I could care less. It’s hard to lose a show like that, but what’s the scoop on Harpo? It would be one thing if she was closing Harpo studios and people were losing jobs. No, she is just stopping the show. That Le Peep over in the West Loop is who’s screwed. Where will the Iowa moms go for brunch after the tapings? All I ask is that they keep the Harpo sign. Therefore, we can continue to take our picture in front of it.

Let’s play a new game. It’s called “If I were running Pat Quinn’s campaign”… First question: how would you respond to charges that he almost fell asleep during a debate?

“Hey, everyone gets tired. He’s burnin’ the midnight oil..for the people. He also has an onset of low-stage narcolepsy. Like a lot of 35-50 year old suburban women voters. No new taxes! And um…Blagojevich sucks.”

In other news:

• Don’t look now – the Blackhawks are for real. And rumor has it that Hossa will be back soon. Could this be the year?
• Whatever happened to shutting down high school newspapers because a) they sucked or b) the printer broke?
• The midwest edition is out for the NY Times. It should include the Chicago News Cooperative insert. Our paper at the station doesn’t have it (or I couldn’t find it).  But there was an ad for “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.” I didn’t know that was happening. So there ya go.
• A new style of Crocs were unveiled today at the University of Chicago. Oh wait, read that wrong. A new species of crocs was unveiled…
• A new study says 43 percent of our local population will be obese by 2018. They should have an interactive diagram that shows (in 3D) the expected growth. Like a before/after web site. That would be fun. How fat will you get.com.

Finally, Mayor Daley describes why Oprah left. It’s because of us…