“Tuten, who’s worked for the Chicago Public Schools for almost 23 years–he began teaching high school in 1986 and joined the administrative staff in 2005–says there’s a saying at his bar: “Nobody ever quits at the Hideout, they just go on tour.” Though he’ll looking for an apartment in DC, his wife, Katie, will remain in Chicago, and he says he’ll be back often. So never fear: there’s still a chance you’ll be subject to, or the subject of, one of his endless band introductions in the near future.”

“First, people participated. Yes, marijuana was #1 and #2 in the energy category, and this was caused by disproportionate enthusiasm for Open For Questions. But instead of bemoaning the marijuana questions and figuring out ways to silence them, we should be thinking about why the other more topical questions fared so poorly by comparison. Those questions have constituencies. But those constituencies didn’t turn out. Why? I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure pot smokers aren’t the reason. I’m ashamed that our first reaction has been to blame enthusiasm when we should be celebrating it and trying to generate more. It’s fair to recommend improvements to the system that will make it more representative of public interests. But it’s not fair to blame the people for being vocal.”