We couldn't pass this up. Bonny Jain, a teen from Moline, brought the giggles on a recent episode of Jeopardy when, in his Final Jeopardy answer, he made a reference to those SNL Celebrity Jeopardy skits and got a laugh out of even Alex Trebek. It would have been funnier, though, if he had gotten the answer correct. [via]

This month is National Novel Writing Month — Nanowrimo for short. A time for cranking (crunking?) out 50,000 words of elegant prose — or crap, depending. A time (30 days, to be precise) within a time (that lacks a foreseeable end, to be depressing) of widespread unemployment among writers, many of whom used to get paid to wordsmith. Damn, man. Those were the days.

Hyatt, the hotel chain owned by Chicago's storied Pritzker clan, raised $950 million in its initial public offering Thursday, as the hotel chain took its shares public. Shares were priced at $25, but closed up 12 percent Thursday, near $28 a share. "We are delighted at the success of our initial public offering and with our new partnership with the NYSE," Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian said of the IPO. "Our focus will continue to be providing authentic hospitality to our guests and driving preference for our brands."

  

Bulls Edge Cavs

There were a pair of debates last night of interest to voters with the approaching primaries in February. Of particular interest to local voters is the The Hispanic American Construction Industry Association (HACIA) Cook County Board President forum. ABC 7 has video of the complete forum that you can check out here. The participants were current Democrat candidates Pres. Todd Stroger, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, and MWRD Pres. Terrence O'Brien, Green Party candidate (and former No Games Chicago leader) Tom Tresser, and only one Republican candidate, John Garrido.

With a massive budget deficit looming, property taxes on the rise, and the mayor talking about more furloughs and service cuts, the Chicago Public Schools have still found over $150,000 to hire a city hall insider to handle "forging partnerships with the business community to support school programs," the Sun-Times is reporting. Better yet, the hire is Barbara Lumpkin, who has served as Daley's city comptroller, budget director and city treasurer, and who was involved in several city hall scandals during her previous tenure.

We were all shocked yesterday afternoon watching coverage of the shooting rampage in Fort Hood, Texas. This morning, the tragedy hits close to home as it's been learned one of the 13 people killed, Army Pfc. Michael Pearson, 21, was from Bolingbrook. Pearson's mother Sheryll told the Tribune, "We thought it was going to be okay, because we thought it was another building. Mike won't be there because he already he got his inoculations ... He shouldn't be in that part of that building. Since we weren't contacted, we felt we were okay." The Trib's report continues:

It's cloudy now but don't worry, the sun is coming out later. And when the clouds do break, it's going to start warming up. How warm? Hard to say, we're not weathermen, but Skilling Sayz it's going to get into the mid 60s and maybe even near 70 by tomorrow. The National Weather Service is a bit more modest in their forecast, but either way, we're shaking the chill for a few more days so enjoy it.

• A Naperville man has been charged with trying to bribe a "city agent," who the Sun-Times reveals to be Ald. Ike Carothers.
• GOP candidates for governor aren't the only ones debating tonight; the candidates for Cook County Board President will participate in a forum that gets underway at 6 pm. You can view it live online at ABC 7.
• Two men have been arrested in the shooting death of DePaul student Francisco “Frankie” Valencia from last weekend.

As a union leader expressed doubt about the recent stroller incident at the Morse Red Line stop, police have now called the mother's account "credible" and say there's no evidence of any shenanigans, though the investigation, including interviews, continues. While the union leader expressed doubt over the lack of damage to the stroller, police say traces of paint on the stroller back up her story. The Tribune report also says the stroller was not turned over to the CTA until some five stops later. Union officials claim the stroller (pictured right) would be more heavily damage from hitting guardrails. Initial tests on the train from the incident show the car's door were functioning meaning they would have stayed open as long as an obstruction was present. The train's operator remains suspended without pay pending the investigation.

Writer Claire Zulkey is bringing the funny back to the Hideout for another round of her excellent Funny Ha Ha series. Funny Ha-Ha rounds up Zulkey’s funny friends for a reading of pieces they’re particularly proud of and a few performance pieces. Low-key literature plus a dash of multimedia from Zulkey’s husband, Steve Delahoyde, equals big laughs at the Hideout next Wednesday.