The ongoing feud between local rap artists and the House of Blues could pick up steam again, with many of those artists expected to stage a demonstration at the Mos Def show May 1 at the Marina City venue. Their gripe: HOB doesn't book enough local hip-hop acts. Several people demonstrated at a show featuring Chicago's own Common at House of Blues this month.

"A lot of people are frustrated," Domingo Naris, a local rap promoter, told Inc. "But they don't really know the business." Translated: National hip-hop acts bring in more money than the local groups. Nonetheless, in a statement faxed to Inc., HOB officials point out that local acts have shared the bill with national acts at least 30 times the last four years.

Nice gesture

Gov. George Ryan was so moved by an essay by high school senior Emily Sachs that he picked up the phone to call her himself. Sachs of Elmhurst wrote eloquently on the devastating impact of teasing on kids: "From the moment that some of the other kids knew that they could make me hurt, they did. I was different, and I was an easy target, so I had to live with their harassment for years, until I learned to not react, to not care."

Sachs' story ran last week in the Tribune, and now she has accepted an offer--in that phone call from Ryan--for an internship on his Commission on the Status of Women.

Gone fishing

What's a seder without gefilte fish from Manny's deli? Gov. George Ryan and his guests at the governor's mansion last week got their fish courtesy of Nancy Mynard, GOP candidate for Cook County Circuit Court clerk.

A quote

"Many were surprised to hear the amount of cheering Atlanta Braves relief pitcher John Rocker received upon taking the field. Though, to be fair, it was `Racist Appreciation Day.'" That from Jon Stewart on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." He was joking about Rocker's warm reception in his first game last week after serving a suspension for making racist comments in a magazine article.

Another quote

"If Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Ted Koppel care about their broadcasts, they are viewed as caring professionals, and if I care about mine, then I'm a meddling guy. If they operate from a position of confidence and show it, they are ultra-professional. If I do it, then I'm arrogant." That's native Chicagoan Bryant Gumbel, in the issue of TV Guide that hits newsstands Monday, discussing the double standards he has to face in the news business.

Inc.-lings

Don Rumsfeld has established a scholarship at the Rand Corp. in honor of Newton Minow. Both Chicago-area men are former chairs of that think tank. ... WTTW-Ch. 11 airs correspondent Laura Washington's special (produced by Kay Weibel) on the aftermath of the Ryan Harris murder Thursday at 8 p.m.

... but who's counting?

Monday: Playwright Eric Bogosian, 47; ;Mayor Daley, 58; actress Shirley MacLaine, 66; entertainer Barbra Streisand, 58.

The Inc. Spot

Warren talks to a winner.

Twelve-year-old Amy Lipman, a 7th grader from Naperville, recently won a $5,000 first prize for writing a book report in a contest sponsored by Kellogg's cereal. (Her proud grandmother, Elsie Halperin, thought Inc. should know and phoned us with the tip.)

Inc.--How does it feel to be the richest kid at Madison Junior High?

A--I'm not necessarily. I had to bargain a lot. It took forever. My mom at first didn't want me to spend any. But you have to have some fun.

Inc.--So how much fun did you finally bargain for?

A--Two hundred dollars. I went to the mall. I saved the rest for college.

Inc.--How did you find out you were the winner?

A--It was really weird, because I wrote it (the book report) when I was 10 and it just came in the mail one day and my mom was, like, freaking out.

Inc.--And a check for $5,000 arrived in the mail, just like that?

A--I was actually cleaning my room and she (mom) ran upstairs and I was like, "Oh, yeah, right." I thought it was one of those fake Publishers Clearing House things.

Inc.--Did you find out about the contest by just sitting at the breakfast table eating your cereal and reading the box?

A--Yeah, it was on the box.

Inc.--What kind of cereal?

A--I don't know. It was Lucky Charms or something. I don't even know if that's Kellogg's (Editor's note: It's not).

Inc.--I suppose I need to ask you about the winning book report: How did you get so good at writing that you won this nationwide contest?

A--My 2nd- and 3rd-grade teacher, Mrs. Scott--Barbara Scott--at River Woods Elementary School.

Inc.--What did she teach you?

A--How to, like, write about things--to elaborate and stuff.

Inc.--Sounds like she was a great teacher who taught you well.

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Send comments and tips to Warren & Armour at chicagotribune/go/inc or e-mail inc@tribune.com and catch the duo's act on WGN-TV Ch. 9's "Morning News" every Thursday.