Extra Extra

Image Credit: kern.justin

For news and updates regarding today's tragic plane crash in Austin, TX, please visit our sister site Austinist. [Austinist]

• Airline passengers are increasingly unsatisfied with their experiences at O'Hare. [Tribune]
• Thanks to a little known perk given to ex-House speakers, nearly $1 million in taxpayer money has been spent on the business expenses for Dennis Hastert's lobbying and consultant firm. [Tribune]
• Former Illinois First Lady Lura Lynn Ryan, who is terminally ill, has renewed efforts requesting President Obama to pardon her husband George. [Sun-Times]
• The Northwest Side Mayfair neighborhood, noted for its bungalows, was picked by the television series This Old House as one of the best "old-house neighborhoods" in the U.S. and Canada. [AP, via Crain's]
• The late film director John Hughes will receive a special tribute at this year's Oscars, separate from the standard reel of film industry notable that have passed away. [Sun-Times]
• The RTA says more public transportation service cuts are likely this summer if the state can't pony up the $250 million it's already delayed. [Sun-Times]
• The Reader's Ben Joravsky, who's been doing the Lord's work regarding the tax increment financing shell game, traces what all those bribes accepted by Ike Carothers bought developer Calvin Boender. [Reader]