The Evening Rush for Friday, Sept. 13, 2013

Nausheen Husain/Sun-Times

Ventra adventures

“Ventra is here!” — that’s what the CTA has been happily declaring all week. But the “new way to pay” hasn’t arrived for lots of Chicago Card and Chicago Card Plus users who are still waiting on their new cards to arrive in the mail. “Quick is here!” — another Ventra line from this week — also hit a snag as riders discovered to their horror one way it can slow users down: You have to take the Ventra Card out of your wallet before tapping, lest the electronic payment system charge your credit/debit cards too. Meanwhile, the CTA announced plans to eliminate 149 positions, about a third of which are due to Ventra making some cash-collecting responsibilities obsolete. [Sun-Times, Voices]

Flooding catastrophe

Thousands in Colorado are being evacuated as flooding across the state continues. [Denver Post]

Dulles danger

Today, Rahm visited the South Side elementary school that has been urging staff to clear the building and parking lot immediately after dismissal for fear of neighborhood violence. But he wasn’t there to talk about that. [Sun-Times]

Stop and frisk

The tactic made headlines in New York this summer, but it poses potential race-based problems here, too. WBEZ wades through police data to provide some much-needed scrutiny. [WBEZ]

Happy anniversary!

Remember the Chicago teachers’ strike with a gallery of “photographs, drawings, paintings, and other artifacts” commemorating the one-year anniversary. [Reader]

Flying high

If you were lucky enough to snag free United tickets thanks to a snafu yesterday, the airline says it’ll honor your purchases. [Sun-Times]

Mike’s HQ

Everyones favorite… uh… hard lemonade maker is now headquartered at Jackson and Jefferson. [DNAinfo Chicago]

Riot Fest 2013

It’s here, and we have an awesome preview video. [Voices]

Golden tickets

Vikings at Bears is the second-hottest game in the NFL this week, based on its average ticket resale price of $386. [Voices]

The Bright One

Rick Telander says Jay Cutler has bigger things to worry about than Brian Urlacher’s hurt feelings — like running an offense, and winning football games. [Sun-Times]

Commute

Sudoku; Weather; Traffic; CTA; Metra; Flight delays

And finally

Patrick Kane can handle a stick. [Voices]