News

What's the best part about the Monday after the Super Bowl? Why it's heading into the office and listening to Mr. Hilarious Co-Worker re-enact all of his favorite Super Bowl ads of course. more ›

Sha na na na, sha na na na, Sears CEO Aylwin Lewis. Lewis's official last day is Saturday, but his bank account won't know the difference--he'll be collecting his $1 million salary and benefits through 2010. But that's just cause he did so well a godawful job that led to four quarters of net losses. Burn! more ›

The sweetheart deal negotiated by the investors of Park Grill and the Park District has been covered before. But a good story is worth repeating, so we'll remind you, the taxpayer, what you're paying for at Park Grill: more ›

Local internet guru Adrian Holovaty is pulling the plug on the much-beloved, much-used Chicagocrime.org. After February 15, the info trove will be no more; instead, it'll redirect to the appropriate parts of EveryBlock, Holovaty's latest venture. He writes on his blog, more ›

maxed out on "don't tase me, bro" jokes, why? Oh, there's a Taser story in today's Sun-Times? Hm...no, we just can't bring ourselves to do it. more ›

Ugh, Chicago's post office is the worst. No, literally, it's still the worst in America when it comes to in-town deliveries and one-day service. At least we're improving? more ›

The United States isn't the only country that is having federal elections this year. In March a by-election will be held in Toronto's Toronto Centre Riding. And our sister site, Torontoist has been posting a semi-regular column by their Environment Editor, Chris Tindal, who is running for parliament as the Green Party candidate. more ›

An Austin man was killed in a car crash Wednesday, just hours before his home and business went up in flames. James Phillips called 911 yesterday morning from behind the wheel, saying he was having an asthma attack. Around 10:30, he lost control of his Escalade, crashed into a pole and died. Then nine hours later, his barbecue restaurant and catering business Phillips Ribs and his home above the restaurant on 5048 W Chicago Ave on caught fire. more ›

Good news, snowbunnies. The National Weather Service is predicting up to 7 inches of snow today, starting around 2pm and continuing through Friday morning. We're already having a very snowy season--so far, 22 days with measurable snow, and we've racked up 30.2 inches at Midway (average for the last 30 years is 25.5), which makes this the fourth snowiest winter in 25 years. Luckily, temperatures won't be too brutal, staying somewhere in the 20s. [WGN, NWS] more ›

.] Now Jesse Jackson's candidate Larry Suffredin is under renewed scrutiny for his work as a corporate lobbyist. more ›

Barack Obama continues to try to put a distance between himself and the shady Tony Rezko, giving more Rezko money to charity. Or as the Sun-Times puts it, "Barack Obama on Tuesday night aimed to scrub Tony Rezko's taint." more ›

In a political season that has been marked by the theme of change, Illinois's 3rd Congressional District has become one of the battle grounds over what the Democratic Party might look like going forward in 2008. Critics of the incumbent, Dan Lipinski, are unhappy with his opposition to abortion rights and stem cell research, and his siding with moderate Republicans on the war in Iraq and domestic spying. Besides his voting record, they also don't like how he came to congress: If you don't remember the 2004 general election, the elder Lipinski won renomination in the primary, withdrew during the campaign year, and then led the process to pick his replacement on the November ballot - his son Dan, a political science professor from Tennessee. Although Dan won handily in 2004, angry challenges in 2006 held him at only 54% in the primary, with the opposition split between two opponents. more ›

If you're looking for a peaceful night's rest in a still-under-construction downtown Chicago skyscraper, then lucky you! The Trump International Hotel and Towers opens its doors today. Guest rooms are available now, with the restaurant opening early next month and both the spa and the hotel bar slated to open in March. more ›

Among all of the jockeying for Cook County State's Attorney and the sparks and drama of the presidential primaries, one of the more significant local races this primary season hasn't gotten nearly the attention that it deserves. more ›

Randy Salerno’s childhood friend has been charged in his death. Scott Hirschey, 44 and also of Crystal Lake, was charged yesterday with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle; he was allegedly drunk, driving the snowmobile with Salerno on the back. Hirschey was also injured in the accident and was released from the hospital yesterday. Salerno’s family says they don’t want to see Hirschey prosecuted. God, what a nightmare. more ›

John McCain changed careers last night, from the candidate who was almost out of money (and the race) last summer to quite possibly the Republican presidential nominee. He's now the man to beat. The close but critical win in Florida gave him 57 delegates and a solid lead going into Super Duper Tuesday, (there are no superdelegates at the Republican National Convention). Hillary Clinton won the non-binding Florida race, a largely symbolic victory that featured virtually no campaigning and earned her no delegates to the convention. more ›

Since 1940, two Major League Baseball teams have been honored each year with an invitation to play in the Hall of Fame Game -- an in-season exhibition game held in Cooperstown, New York. But because of the increasing complexity of fitting the "off day" game into teams' schedules, the 2008 game will be the final one. more ›

There are "Adult Fans Of Lego" out there? Really? Actually, we find that kind of awesome. Happy Birthday Lego! more ›

Well, when it rains it pours. Today, it's raining awful people and practices, so let's get all the coverage done at once, and then we'll try to chase it with some puppies or some such after this. To the jerk cave! more ›

Bill will chill has been answered with the announcement of the former president's campaign itinerary. Next stop on the legacy-tarnishing express: Edwardsville, IL. Hillary's more controversial half will be campaigning in the small town near St. Louis tomorrow morning, hosting a "Solutions for America" rally at Southern Illinois University at 7:45 a.m. more ›

This morning's not-too-brutal weather is a lie. A lie! Because starting around 3pm, temperatures are going to be falling, fast*, into the single digits. It's also going to start snowing, and winds will be gusting around 50 mph. Overnight, temperatures will be around 3 degrees, which putswind chill in the -24 degree zone. The National Weather service has issued a winter storm warning, and remember: even if the snow doesn't stick, it's going to be "blowing snow," which makes travel hazardous. And a total drag. [Trib, S-T, USA Today] more ›

Mark your calendars, old people: March 17 isn't just St. Patrick's day, it's also the day free rides for seniors begin on Metra, Pace and the CTA. more ›

So how's the smoking ban going so far? Y'know, other than cold? Well, Helen's Two Way Lounge on Fullerton nabbed the coveted title of First Bar to be Cited by a City Inspector. (The bar owner got off on a technicality.) But maybe people would be more willing to step outside if bars has "smoking shelters." more ›

With this year's presidential primaries perhaps the most exciting in recent memory, the media, and the nation, have paid very little attention to today's Democratic primary in Florida. Unlike the Republicans, who will let half of the state's delegates vote at the convention, the Democrats stripped Florida of its delegates to the August convention for holding a primary earlier than party rules allowed. As part of the party's castigation of the state, Democrats have agreed not to campaign in Florida, an agreement that has been honored until now. more ›

Blackhawks coach Denis Savard read his team the riot act last week and dropped the phrase "Commit to the Indian"--and it's making a meme of itself. Enough so that team prez John McDonough said he'd consider using it in an official capacity. [Trib] more ›

A few weeks ago we wondered where our Obey/Obama posters were. Behold this poster, from Shepard Fairey, he of the Obey Giant creation: more ›

Preservation Chicago announced its 7 most endangered buildings today, and on the list are surprise entries Grant Park and the Landmarks Ordinance. Also cited are Norwood Park, the American Book Company Building, the Devon Ave commercial district, the Booker Building and the Daily News building. more ›

U of C Business School Assistant Professor Nicholas Epley has been on faculty at the GSB for three years, but this week he's been making headlines around the world. Today's Financial Times profiles Epley as a "professor to watch," focusing on his application of behavioral science methods to business education. According to the article, Epley's brand of mind-reading, which basically amounts to knowing one's coworkers, "looks at how people intuit others' thoughts, how good they are at it and the consequences of what he calls 'mind-reading mistakes.'" The study finds that our perceptions of others and what others think of us are distorted (we think people like us more than they actually do), and these distortions can be improved with better communication. However, "if you want to avoid ambiguity, never depend on e-mail," the article warns. more ›

Investigators had in recent weeks become concerned about the movement of some of his finances, a source said.

While the Cubs and their fans held their annual love-in last weekend, this past weekend the rest of us gathered at the Palmer House Hilton to celebrate and commiserate with fellow White Sox fans. Given the airing of grievances by fans and feats of strength by team management, it could very well have been renamed SoxFestivus. more ›

The South Carolina Democratic primary could have been a footnote in this year's race to the nomination. The Clintons fought hard in South Carolina, hoping that Bill's popularity in the black community could divide the vote, giving an unexpected win to Hillary. By the time the exit polls indicated that Obama had carried the state by wide margins, the Clintons were dismissing Obama's win as a by-product of the racial demographics in this southern state, the "black candidate" that carried a mostly African-American electorate. But the large turnout yesterday (over half a million by some estimates) combined with Obama's strong showing among non-black voters give the freshman Senator from Illinois new momentum heading into the February 5 vote. more ›

Miss Michigan Kristen Haglund from Farmington Hills, Michigan, was crowned the 87th Miss America last night during the live pageant telecast, and First Runner-Up was Miss Indiana Nicole Elizabeth Rash. more ›

While we’re still waiting for today’s high temperature, the forecast calls for things to warm above freezing -- a welcome relief for dog walkers and CTA commuters in every neighborhood. Tomorrow’s temps will be well above freezing, melting all the snow, and creating the possibility of ice jams and flooding on the Rock and Kankakee rivers. more ›

The Adalberto United Methodist Church and its leader Reverend "Slim" Coleman have returned to the forefront of the immigration debate. You might remember them as the church who gave refuge for a year to Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant facing deportation for falsifying documents in order to secure employment at O'Hare. Arellano left the church last August and was subsequently arrested in Los Angeles and escorted to the Mexico border. more ›

It’s official now, the frozen woman found yesterday is not the body of Lisa Stebic or Stacy Peterson. The identity of the woman has not been released, but those two have been eliminated as possible victims. more ›

more ›

"You've got to be willing to get a cut in your face to get rewarded at the end of the night. If you don't want to do it, you're not going to win the Stanley Cup." -- Blackhawks coach Denis Savard after last night's 1-0 loss to the Blue Jackets. more ›

Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers, and a law set to go into effect in Illinois July 1 is an attempt to make teens safer drivers. The law includes a provision that says driver's ed in high schools have to include six hours of teacher-supervised street instruction, and now 19 public schools are asking the State to waive that part of the law. more ›

Number seven, obviously the best. more ›

CBS 2 morning news anchor Randy Salerno died yesterday in a snowmobiling accident in Wisconsin. He was 45. more ›

We know, we know, we're hard on the Trib today, but...did you read this advice about staying home? more ›

Tribune sportswriter Mike Downey briefly departs from the sporting world to announce the end of a glass ceiling today in his "In the Wake of the News" column, True equality: Both Sexes can be Ingrates". The column includes a roundup of "publicly humiliating stunts that female TV personalities have pulled" in recent months, beginning with ESPN's Dana Jacobson, who got liquored up at an off-air "Mike and Mike" roast last week and laid into Notre Dame's sacred "Touchdown Jesus" (she's an alum of rival Michigan). more ›

In 2006, James Srodon took his grandson to see Blue Man Group at Briar Street Theater. Now he's suing the group, theater owners and related entities for $50K because he says he was subject to the "esophagus cam." From TMZ's copy of the lawsuit, Srodon alleges: more ›

An update to yesterday's plans for new El cars. These renderings are from the President's Report. (Hat tip to commenter Kevin) more ›

I had no intention of ever going through with the Dating Game idea, once I got off the air and had the chance to think it through. Besides, Drew is still legally married, so he’s not really allowed to date yet. I’m very old school. What can I say?

With Wednesday night's win over the Indiana Pacers, the Bulls reached the half way point in their season on a high. Not only did they win the game, but they did so without Luol Deng, Chris Duhon and Ben Gordon, who are all currently injured. more ›

Thanks to Bill M, we know that it isn't just Chicagoists who read... Chicagoist. And if you are part of that select group of ex=pat Chicagoans who keep up with our city, you're probably interested in voting in the upcoming presidential primary. And now, for the first time, Democrats living abroad can vote in the upcoming presidential primary. Democrats Abroad, the official overseas branch of the party will hold a global presidential primary from Feb. 5 to 12. Americans living outside the US can vote in the Democratic primary via internet, fax, mail and in-person in 34 countries around the globe. (The Tribune says there are 100 countries, but the website managing the vote says 34.) To participate, you must join Democrats Abroad, register, and request a ballot from the last US state you lived in before February 1. more ›

Send good thoughts Roger Ebert's way tomorrow. He's having surgery again. [S-T] more ›

Local filmmaker Steve Delahoyde and sketch comedy team Schadenfreude make a series of short films together called . The first one in that series is called "Boxes." more ›

Adam Burish scored his first goal (pictured), but the Blackhawks still lost to the Sharks yesterday, ending both the Blackhawks' four-game winning streak and the Sharks' four-game losing streak. [AP] more ›

8:30 So plan on Dating Game with Drew tomorrow at 8 unless they change their mind. If they were smart they would. If there is a date Steve's going to chaperone. He'd love to get the film rights to something like that. more ›

The CTA approved a plan today to buy 406 new El cars for $603.6 million to replace some current cars that are 30 years old. And these new bad boys won't be any old rail cars--no, no. They're the rail cars oooof theeeee fuuuuuuuture! (That's in our "Pigs in Space" announcer voice.) more ›

Live in the 44th Ward? Care a ton about Wrigleyville development? There's a public meeting tonight with Alderman Tom Tunney to talk about the proposed development on Addison. Yes, head to the Stadium Club at Wrigley (swank!) at 6:30 tonight for the airing of grievances. Er, discussion. more ›

Joseph Pannell was 19 years old when he shot a Chicago police officer in 1969. And then he skipped bail. And skipped bail again in 1974, this time fleeing to Canada, where he changed his name to Douglas Gary Freeman and lived under that identity for almost 40 years. But in 2004, Chicago's cold case squad tracked him down and started extradition proceedings, which Parnell fought....until this week. more ›

A week after their North Side counterparts held their annual convention, the White Sox will hold their SoxFest this upcoming weekend at the Palmer House Hilton. While Cubs fans were concerned about the future of the Cubs ownership and fate of Wrigley Field, at least when it came to the players on the field there was near unanimous optimism. more ›

From the Trib's website a few minutes ago... more ›

Head to Daley Plaza this morning at 10:30 a.m. for a quick early voting rally for Mark Pera. Pera, the assistant Cook County State's Attorney who is running against Dan Lipinski for the 3rd Congressional District seat, is the first serious candidate to challenge Lipinski since he went to congress in 2004. Pera's campaign has attracted a lot of attention, both online and in the district. Online support has helped helped fund his campaign, but anger in the district at how the elder Lipinski handed his seat to his son has fueled the viability of his candidacy. Still, he's running against the full force and weight of Chicago's entrenched Democratic Machine. more ›

Fred Thompson officially drops out of the presidential race. [Trib] more ›

With all the bad news out of newsrooms recently--and new Tribune owner Sam Zell not making any friends this week (unlike a few weeks ago)--we got a kick out of this email he sent to Tribune employees today: more ›

If you managed not to fall into the sinkhole this morning or die at Mary-Kate Olsen's apartment this afternoon, then you're poised to be able to enjoy tonight...when temperatures are going to be in the teens, with windchill putting us at around -8. And it's going to stay really, really cold the rest of the week. Blerg. [National Weather Service]
more ›

T Fish captured some more freaky shots of the Great Pit of Carkoon the street collapse on Montrose . And CNN has video. more ›

The number of homicides in Chicago is decreasing, but there's another number that's dropping, too: Fewer murders are being solved. Of Chicago's 443 murders last year, only 162 were solved. The police also solved 102 cases from previous years. This year's clearance rate of 36.6 percent is about the same as last year, but 42 percent of 2005 and 47 percent of 2004 murders were cleared. more ›

Everyone knows Bratz dolls cause cancer of the AIDS. But Jammin' Jenna dolls, a slightly softer-seeming knock-off from Ty, are also poisonous. Her vinyl shoes contain an amount of lead that's illegal in Illinois, but Ty refuses to recall the toys, saying they'll stop selling new dolls to Illinois distributors but won't pull the dolls already on shelves. more ›

In case there were any lingering skeptics, this recession thingy is for real. more ›

Today would be an excellent day to take the CTA, if you happen to be planning on driving anywhere from, or to, Lincoln Square or Ravenswood. A water main broke on Montrose under the Montrose Brown Line stop at 1:30 a.m. (or 12:30, if you like to believe the Sun-Times) last night, causing an enormous part of the street to collapse in, and partially submerging several cars. Also causing water to run down Montrose and Wolcott. Also causing the snow from last night to turn into a disgusting brown sludge that runs from Damen past Ravenswood. The street, obviously, is closed for the time being, as workmen attempt to fill the hole with sand. more ›

Just days after the death of his father, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has indicated that he may agree to give control of the county hospitals to an independent agency. Stroger's chief of staff Lance Tyson told Crain's Chicago Business "the intent is to take health services for the poor out of the sphere of politics and put it into a sphere of greater business expertise." The proposal to turn the county's health care system over to an independent body came last October, when a committee of business and health care executives commissioned to study the systemreleased their recommendations. more ›

Today's must-read: The Reader's Whet Moser discovers the Chicago Tribune was not such a big Martin Luther King fan back in the day. more ›

At a Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Scholarship Breakfast this morning, Governor Blagojevich gave a three-minute speech, and included this charming verse, aimed at the seniors in the audience. more ›

An Elgin high school teacher was stabbed in the neck and face by a student Friday morning. Carolyn Gilbert, a family and consumer sciences teacher, lost her eye after the 16-year-old stabbed her with a steak knife. more ›

The race for Cook County state's attorney has been hot and heavy in the past few weeks, with candidates taking plenty of shots at each other in a debate last week. (You can watch the debate here.) more ›

Tomorrow marks the 35th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, so anti-choice protesters marched downtown yesterday and Trib editorial board members wrote syndicated columns calling abortion "evil". more ›

It's not just your suburban-bound friend's condo that's taking longer to sell -- the Cubs sale is proceeding slower than Sam Zell predicted due to real estate uncertainties as well. more ›

Less than two years after receiving over $15 million in TIF money and fuel tax breaks, rumors are flying (heh) that United may merge with Delta, creating uncertainty if our hometown airline will remain based for the long term in its Wacker Drive digs, or if it will leave and take their 325 full-time jobs with them. Fortunately, as part of the financial deal, United's "successor entity" would be locked into the space for about another eight years. But after that, it's all up for grabs. more ›

href="http://londonist.com/2008/01/6_years_on_amne.php">Amnesty International bringing Guantanamo Bay to the American embassy to raise the profile of the continuing campaign to close the detention center.

If you’re looking for a little summertime fantasy amidst this arctic freeze we’re having, then head on over to McCormick Place for the 78th Annual Chicago Boat, RV and Outdoor Show, which is in its final day. New for this year is the Accessory Center, which highlights all the latest we need to bling our boats, from safety equipment to the latest in outdoor entertaining. You can also “test drive” a pair of Crocs, borrowing a pair while you’re at the show. more ›

Former Chicago mayor Eugene Sawyer has died, following a long illness. Sawyer was 73 years old. more ›

In a Sun-Times exclusive, the Bright One is citing sources that confirm that Barack Obama is the unnamed "political candidate" mentioned in the 78 page document detailing the fraud and corruption case against Tony Rezko. By now we're all aware of the questionable land deal between Obama and Rezko, as well as the $168,000 in campaign donations from Rezko over the years ($44,000 of which have been donated to charity), and their overall longtime friendship. But this latest revelation just gets a "meh" from us, despite the big story the Sun-Times is trying to make it out to be. Why the indifference? Because unlike "Public Official A", the tiny paragraph mentioning the "political candidate" doesn't indicate any wrongdoing. Although any instance of having Obama's name brought up in the same sentence as Rezko at this point can't be a positive for the campaign. In a written response to questions, the Obama camp continued to deny knowledge of any Rezko shenanigans. more ›

The split between Mayor Daley and Chicago's labor movement grew a little bit bigger this week, as the Congress Hotel, which has been on strike for the last four and a half years, was denied an expansion request by the city's Plan Commission. Four of the nine Plan Commission members voted for the proposal Thursday, one member rejected the request, and four other members abstained from voting. Mayor Daley supported the proposal, saying that "it would be inappropriate to bring the hotel's labor issues into a discussion.... The matter before the Chicago Plan Commission is to determine if these plans are in accordance with the Lakefront Protection Ordinance. And that's all it has to do." The hotel's New York-based ownership wants to build an additional five floors to the historic property, to be used for a swimming pool, a health club, a restaurant, and more rooms. more ›

). Even less fun is rotting away in a cell for almost 26 years for a crime you didn’t commit. Now imagine that the key to your freedom was sitting the entire time locked in a box in a lawyer’s office, who couldn’t reveal it due to attorney-client privilege. That’s exactly what happened to Alton Logan. Logan, now age 54, was arrested in 1982 for the murder of a security guard at a south side McDonald’s in a robbery gone wrong. He was identified by witnesses along with Edgar Hope. A few days later, as police were hunting down Andrew and Jackie Wilson for an unrelated murder of two officers, a raid on Andrew’s suspected hiding place turned up a shotgun that tested positive as the gun used in the McDonald’s shooting. But since only two men were involved in the robbery and police conveniently had two men already in custody, charges were never filed against Andrew Wilson in that case. You might remember Wilson -- his allegations of being tortured by Jon Burge and two detectives started the snowball that led to Burge’s firing and a $1 million award by the court. But the plot twists even further -- public defenders Dale Coventry and Jamie Kunz, representing Wilson in the police shooting, received word that Hope was claiming Logan had nothing to do with the McDonald’s murder, and was pointing the finger at Wilson. When Coventry and Kunz confronted Wilson he admitted to being the trigger man. Wilson agreed to allow the lawyers to prepare a notarized affidavit of his confession, but it could only be revealed after his death. The affidavit has sat sealed in a metal box in Coventry’s office ever since. Andrew Wilson just died in November of last year -- Coventry and Kunz have now come forward with the new information, and Logan’s attorney is motioning for a new trial. Logan’s case is an example of how our justice system is for the most part effective, but far from perfect. The evidence to help exonerate someone in prison is just sitting around next to back issues of the , and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Even if Coventry and Kunz didn’t care about reprimands and losing their license for breaking the attorney-client privilege, because of that privilege the affidavit would be inadmissible, anyway. At least that’s our hope, as the thought of these two men sacrificing Logan just for the sake of their careers is unfathomable. Can any of our law degree toting readers confirm this? [Trib] more ›

With lots of delegates and potential momentum going into Super-Duper Tuesday, Nevada's primary has been both contentious and significant this year. Earlier this week a federal judge settled a lawsuit brought by the Nevada Teachers Union that should have helped Obama. Instead, with more than half of the precincts reporting, CBS, CNN and other major news outlets are projecting Clinton the winner today. Mitt Romney was the big winner in the GOP caucuses, taking his third primary win, and some serious momentum heading into Florida. more ›

Chicago-born chess champion Bobby Fischer died yesterday. He was 64. [AP] more ›

more ›

The CTA bailout passed, and now we can move on to that other chronic political problem: Governor Blagojevich. Just how much of Mr. Testicular Virility are Illinois residents willing to take? Judging by a new Chicago magazine article about the embattled gov, "Mr. Un-Popularity," not much. In that article, the Capital Fax Blog's Rich Miller suggests that Blago is the most unpopular governor in the country, with approval ratings that have sunk as low as 16 percent (which, Bernstein notes, is worse than President Bush polls in Illinois, one of the country's bluest states). more ›

Now that the Michigan primary is safely behind us, all eyes are focused on Nevada and South Carolina. For Democrats, who need at least 2,025 delegates to win the presidential nomination, Nevada's caucuses this Saturday offer 33 delegates. Not only is the nation looking at the Silver State, where early voting is a new experience for a mix of Latino, rural and urban voters, but so are the federal courts. Hillary Clinton has been polling well there, but Barack Obama has been endorsed by the state's largest union, the Culinary Workers. This endorsement is significant not only because it is the largest union in the state, but also because the state's Democratic party has opted to hold nine "at-large" caucuses, open to anyone within 2.5 miles of the Las Vegas strip, where the bulk of CWU members work. Intended to make voting easier for shift-workers in Nevada's casino industry, the move prompted a lawsuit by the Nevada Teachers Union. The lawsuit claimed that those voting in at-large precincts being held on the Strip would have too much weight compared with those voting at their polling places, infringes on the right to equal protection guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and violate state statute in the way they were drawn. more ›

A Lake Zurich man has started using pyrotechnics to rid his neighborhood of pesky Canada geese. Robert Warren recently got village approval for his new de-geeser; in previous years, he used his dog to shoo the birds. more ›

The transit crisis has been averted--and let's raise our lunchtime glasses to toast that miracle, shall we? --but it brought out some of the weirdest and worst in our local politicians. These are some of our favorite lines from the entire, oh, what should we call it, bill-capade? more ›

Breaking news: A child and at least four adults were either shot or stabbed about an hour ago on the 4000 block of West Division in what police are investigating as a home invasion. The Sun-Times is reporting that the child died. [Trib, ST]
more ›

It's cold again? In Chicago? In January? Will wonders never cease? more ›

Former Cook County Board President John Stroger has died, Mayor Daley announced this morning. He was 78. more ›

We always imagined it'd be pretty hard to get into too much trouble in a place like Boise. The Bulls' second-round draft pick JamesOn Curry, currently playing for the Iowa Energy in the NBA's developmental league, however, managed to find enough to be arrested in the Idaho town early Thursday morning and to be charged with urinating in public and resisting arrest. more ›

• Drew Peterson Watch: the Cowardly Lion's attorney says a racy message recently found on missing wife Stacy's phone is proof that she was having an affair, and ran off.
• The mini Wrigley Field formerly at the New City YMCA is being relocated to Humboldt Park.
• If you're a Streets and San worker around 53rd and Union, be careful that woman you offer money for sex isn't an undercover officer.
• Kanye West, blogger.

Right Now, the State Senate is in the process of grandstanding before voting on the amended transit funding bill. You can read Rich Miller's updates to this point here. more ›

The Illinois House passed the mass transit funding bill--with Blagojevich's seniors-ride-free amendment--61-47 this afternoon. Now it's headed to the Senate. Cross your fingers. [Trib, CBS 2 ] more ›

Who doesn't love going to the eye doctor--so many cool tools and bright lights, and the "what's better, one or two?" thing is like a quiz you can't fail. Best! Thank jeebus we never went to the Myers-Wyse Center for the Eye in Skokie, though. Too bad for Roman Tesfaye. She did go there and got way more (less?) than an eye exam. more ›

The Museum of Science and Industry is raising its prices. Adult Chicago residents will now pay $12 (up from $10), adult non-Chicagoans $13 (from $11), Chicago children $8.50 ($6.25), non-Chicago children $9 ($7), Chicago seniors $11 ($8.75), and non-Chicago seniors $12 ($9.50). more ›

A fire on the 3400-block of West Harrison early this morning revealed an apparent dog-fighting ring. Nine dogs were recovered from the basement of the building, and other than one snout injury, the dogs appear healthy. more ›

Answer quickly... who was the last Cubs pitcher to win 20 games? more ›

CBS 2 news anchor Phil Antonio Mora is moving to Miami to do the news there. He says once he's gone, Chicago won't have any Latino nighttime news anchors. [S-T] more ›

And we're wearing Milkbone underwear. (Maybe our favorite Normism ever. Er, anyway....) more ›

Let’s just get it done. Let’s pass it. They have to pass this legislation…with the change. Everybody will accept that. Who cares? Let’s just pass this legislation. That’s how important it is.

It's been a week since Venkatesh's most recent book, Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets was published, and the critical response is unanimous: OMG! What a total badass! more ›

It's been quite a week for Bulls rookie Joakim Noah. After a confrontation with Bulls assistant coach Ron Adams, Noah was suspended for a game. Then his teammates voted to suspend him an additional game. more ›

On the left, the old Chicago Fire jerseys. On the right, Fire players Bakary Soumare and C.J. Brown don the new, sponsor-friendly duds. [MLSnet] more ›

The Chicago 2016 Olympic "applicant file" is now available to the public and it's gosh-darn gorgeous. It's like getting your eyeballs massaged by angel feathers--visually, it's fabulous. Content-wise...well... what are you, new here? A few highlights: more ›

So it's week three of the Statewide smoking ban. How's everyone holding up? Apparently well, since there has been a shockingly low number of violations, 54, in the city so far. We suspect that's partially due to the fact that it takes a number of complaints before the city will actually send someone out to issue a citation, but mostly we think it's because people are quick to adapt and have just moved the party outdoors. At some point things will loosen up, and much like New York, some bars will begin to quietly allow smoking. Certain establishments with covered patios have already begun allowing folks to smoke in those spaces since they're technically outdoors. So look for more loosening of the rules along those lines. more ›

Typically we like to blame Canada for cold weather fronts, but this week's frigid temps are "flowing all the way from northern Russia," according to Tom Skilling. Wowza! Cold air is currently moving through Alaska and Canada and working its way towards us (purple = really cold on that map), spreading frigid conditions through the region until we bottom out with single-digit highs on Saturday. The National Weather Center says lows might drop as far as 20 degrees below. Gah! There's a slight chance of snow later today, but otherwise we're just looking at brutal, bitter cold for the next week. more ›

Michigan defied the conventional wisdom yesterday, giving Mitt Romney 30 delegates to the national convention and his second primary win. more ›

When Hyde Park Co-Op opted to take the buyout plan proffered by the University of Chicago last month, we knew that the university would act fast to fill the space with a grocery store that would better serve the needs of Hyde Park residents. With yesterday's convenient announcement through the U of C Chronicle that they signed a lease with Treasure Island to fill the space, it almost seems as though the university had the deal lined up before the co-op's members cast their ballots. more ›

Oprah is getting her a cable network, OWN ("Oprah Winfrey Network"), which will--gasp--replace the Discovery Health Network. Noooo! We all know what Oprah wants, Oprah gets, but we freaking love the Discovery Health Network. [Trib] more ›

There's more than just choosing candidates for President at stake when the Illinois Primary rolls around February 5. For instance, in our home 3rd Congressional district, puppet incumbent Dan Lipinski is facing an actual opponent this time in Assistant State's Attorney Mark Pera. more ›

Last week, both houses of the Illinois General Assembly passed a law that would enable Illinois to bypass the Electoral College in future presidential elections. The move came just before New Jersey Governor John S. Corzine signed similar legislation on Sunday that would eliminate New Jersey's participation in the Electoral College. The only other state to have passed a similar law is Maryland, which was the first state to take up the cause. more ›

more ›

Last week, Governor Blagojevich's amendatory veto--"improvement" was it?--that seniors be able to ride the CTA for free made our brains explode with both shock and dismay. Shock that he waited until the last minute to unveil this idea, and dismay that it might derail (zing!) the transit funding plans the state legislature so laboriously hammered out. And then today, this treat: He never discussed it with Ron Huberman or anyone else from the various branches of the RTA. more ›

For Michigan Democrats, the choices in today's primary are pretty stark. Late last year, Michigan Senator Carl Levin supported moving Michigan's primary up to January 15 in an attempt to make the state more relevant in this year's race. That move backfired, however, when the Democratic National Committee punished the state party by stripping it of all its delegates at the convention. Party rules mandate that Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina hold the first primaries. more ›

Thousands of migratory birds died in the last few months due to Type E Botulism poisoning from Lake Michigan. Scientists don't know exactly how the birds are contracting botulism, but our theory that they ate tainted canned goods—that's the most common way to human adults contract botulinum poisoning--isn't an option, apparently. The current theory blames invasive populations of zebra mussels and round gobies. more ›

Barack Obama took the first step in cooling off the war of words between his campaign and Hillary Clinton's. "I've been a little concerned about the tenor of the campaign," Obama said in a press conference called yesterday evening in Nevada. "We've got too much at stake at this time in our history to be engaging in this kind of silliness," Obama said. "I suspect that other candidates may feel the same way." more ›

When Chicagoist was in high school, we knew that "Drug Free and Proud" banner hanging above the main entrance was a joke when we could smell the weed classmates had smoked at lunch. more ›

So the Sun-Times is laying off reporters, but it still has the money to run a moronic article about presidential candidates' sexiness? John Edwards is "not exactly wet-T-shirt sexy, but it still sets a few hearts aflutter," Rudy Giuliani is "now rather frigid," John McCain is "a far cry from a sexy man in uniform," Hillary Clinton has "stripped herself of the trappings of sexuality and femininity," Mike Huckabee "Preacher. Moving right along...," Mitt Romney's "tendency to flip-flop on certain issues belies his discomfort with sexuality," and Barack Obama "exudes the most sex appeal of the bunch." [S-T] more ›

The Bulls are 14-21 as we near the half-way point of the season, and a crummy record seems to be reflective of a crummy locker room. The league suspended Joakim Noah for a game for shouting at assistant coach Ron Adams on Friday, and his teammates unanimously voted yesterday to suspend him for another game. He watched the Hawks bitchslap the Bulls from a chair behind bench, in street clothes. more ›

First there was the America-as-speaker stencil. And now there's an Obama "O" (inset) in this stencil (captured by JoeM500). Can an Obey Obama be far behind? more ›

Early voting has begun across the state, and will continue until January 31st. As long as you didn't/don't register during the grace period, from the 2nd until the 22nd, then you can take advantage of early voting for all primary races. That includes the big one, so be the first to shut all your friends up about Hillary vs. Obama vs. that one muppet and let them know you won't be hearin' any more of their idle talk until they do the damn thing. more ›

$15 million buys a nice apartment, especially in the future. Shelbourne Development has officially open a sales office for the 1,194 residences in the Spire, the upcoming architectural marvel and source of an absolutely endless number of wiener jokes. Units—zing!—are priced at around $1,400 per square foot; according to the Trib, most luxury condos in Chicago cost between $750 and $1,100 per square foot. And...our eyeballs just turned to dollar signs. more ›

In the continuing soap opera that is our state's budget crisis, Governor Rod Blagojevich made a visit to Rev. James Meeks's south side mega-church, House of Hope Sunday to drum up support for his proposal of free rides for seniors on the region's mass transit system. Besides being pastor of the church, Meeks is also an Illinois State Senator, and is often allied with the governor. more ›

Who among us hasn't accidentally forgotten to do something that we then really feel guilty about? Like maybe failing to call our Mom on her birthday? Or forgetting to include one of our favorites on our Hall of Fame ballot and almost seeing him forever dropped from the ballot? more ›

• Londonist pondered who might be the next sponsors of the London Eye and whether or not readers would be willing to donate £1,000 each for a Londonist Eye.
• Shanghaiist was shocked to find a cameltoe in the city's only English-language paper.
more ›

Today is the last day of the old design. Come Monday morning, we’ll be seeing a “fresh look” for the paper edition of the Tribune, which promises to make more use of white space, more sophisticated fonts, and a page that in smaller by 1/2-inch. We’re not exactly sure if “more white space” means less news or not, but one thing is for sure -- less ink and less finger-print smudge. more ›

Air travel could get a little harried for Illinois residents this spring. Illinois is one of seventeen states that have passed legislation or resolutions objecting to the post-9/11 REAL ID Act’s provisions over concerns it could cost too much to implement. The law is designed to make driver's licenses more secure. more ›

On the missing/murdered woman radar, Reginald Potts, Jr., the former boyfriend of Nailah Franklin, who has been held without bail since Decemeber when he was charged with Franklin’s death, plead not guilty on Friday. Potts has been charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, vehicular hijacking and robbery. Potts and Franklin dated on and off for several months before Franklin’s death last September. more ›

Further evidence that Macy’s strategies are not headed in the successful direction executives hoped, Macy’s North, the division that operates Macy’s in the Midwest, announced Friday the layoff of 271 employees, citing lagging sales. Combined sales for November and December were down 1.1%, while December’s sales were down 7.9%, significantly worse than the anticipated 4 to 7 percent drop over last year. January’s same day sales are expected to dip 4 to 6 percent. more ›

Freakonomics author and University of Chicago Economics Professor Steven Levitt and sociology professor Sudhir Venkatesh presented a draft of their paper, “An Empirical Analysis of Street-Level Prostitution” last week at an economics conference in New Orleans. The paper examines the business of sex work on the streets of Chicago, a draft of which is available on the Web with the disclaimer “extremely preliminary and incomplete.” more ›

• Mattell will make a collectible Barbie based on locally-based sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha (Barbie Dream Gamekeepers not included).
• For the curious: the man whom the Bishop Ford Freeway is named after.
• Mayor Daley open to the idea of closing half-empty schools.

senator Barack Obama some unsolicited advice on how to beat Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. When that didn't work, you took him to task in an op-ed piece for the Wall Street Journal. more ›

more ›

Sangamon County Circuit Judge Patrick Kelley ruled Wednesday that Governor Blagojevich's administration must disclose subpoenas from federal prosecutors in the ongoing investigation into state hiring. When the governor's office denied a Freedom of Information Act request for copies of the subpoenas last year, the Better Government Association, a Chicago-based government watchdog group, sued. US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is investigating charges that the Blagojevich administration traded state jobs for campaign contributions. more ›

More bad news for and from the Sun-Times: business editor Dan Miller, a 2006 inductee into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame, resigned today as seven non-union employees were laid off, including editorial board members Michelle Stevens, Lloyd Sachs and Michael Gillis, and Assistant Managing Editor Avis Weathersbee. Miller wrote in an email that he thinks the Sun-Times will be sold in a matter of months. [Crain's, Trib] more ›

There have now been four murders in Logan Square this year, as in the past ten days, even though violent crime has been going down lately in the area and Chicago as a whole. more ›

Update: The transit bill has landed on Blago's desk! The Senate approved the sales-tax plan, and now all we need is Blagojevich's signature to save 81 bus routes, 2,400 jobs and all of our sanity. [ABC 7, S-T] more ›

There is a new international polar bear sensation! The yet-unnamed cub at the Tiergarten Nürnberg zoo in Germany is so fucking adorable we think we might die. (more photos) She had to be taken away from her mother because Mama Bear kept dropping her and acting strangely, and the other polar bear in the enclosure ate her two offspring. more ›

As we read John Hilkevitch's story about potholes today, a few things caught our interest. Mostly numbers, to the shock of no one: more ›

Hillary Clinton's "Emotional Moment" in the Portsmouth, NH café on Monday has already become the stuff of myth, with many pundits directly and indirectly attributing Clinton's surprise victory in Tuesday's primary to the tears that almost fell (but never actually did). Leave it to Chicago's own Jesse Jackson Jr., co-chairman of Barack Obama's national campaign, to siphon the tears out of the excretory ducts of Clinton's eyes and leverage them for political gain: more ›

Illinois state legislators are at it again today, after yesterday's close-but-no-cigar attempts to resolve the transit funding crisis. The House passed a sales-tax increase plan yesterday, but it fell one vote sort in the Senate; those so-and-sos are going to give it another go today because three of them abstained (courteously?) yesterday. more ›

During Chicagoist's middle and high school years, there was nothing cooler than owning the latest pair of Air Jordans ... or so we thought. But we had a number of pairs of Jordans over the years and it likely didn't have much impact on which table we got to eat lunch at. Maybe because everybody else had them, too? more ›

State lawmakers are back in session, attempting to solve the little nightmare we call transit fundin. Things...are not looking so good, though. What's the governor doing? Watch for yourself! [AP] more ›

It's official for Jody Weis: He's the new superintendent of police as of today, now that the City Council has approved him. 3rd Ward Alderman Pat Dowell cast the lone dissenting vote, saying she thought Weis's answers to the Council's questions were too general. more ›

KISS-FM's "Radio Boy" Michael Wawrzyniak has been charged with indecent solicitation of a child for allegedly trying to arrange a meeting for with a 13-year-old in Carol Stream. It wasn't a 13-year-old, though. It was a cop. more ›

Even though Barack Obama came in second last night in New Hampshire, he's still number one in Chicago. In fact, the City by the Lake loves Obama so much that we're throwing him a $1000-a-plate fundraiser "Welcome Home" dinner this Thursday. Peoples Gas Co. President Desiree Rogers will be hosting Obama in her Gold Coast home on January 10. Also listed on the invitation are some of Obama's more monied backers, including developer Neil Bluhm, Commonwealth Edison President Frank Clark, Hyatt Hotels heiress Penny Pritzker, Ariel Capital Management founder John Rogers Jr., and Democratic money man Lou Sussman. One-time rival for US Senate and #1 Obama Superfan Dan Hynes is also listed on the invite. more ›

Artur Shehu is still on the lam, but he was charged yesterday with two counts of first-degree murder for killing his parents. Syrja Shehu, 66, and his wife Safo, 67, were each shot once in the head, and were found dead in their Villa Park home early Monday morning, after Artur placed a call to the police. He was gone by the time police arrived. more ›

If Fox & Obel's new owners have their way, you'll be seeing a lot more of the gourmet markets throughout the city in the near future. more ›

Does it surprise anyone by now a lobby might donate money to a politician's campaign fund as a "favor" for supporting their special interest? If not, we can move on. more ›

In what could quite possibly be the nail biter of the season, Hillary Clinton pulled it out last night, winning the New Hampshire Democratic primary by a two to three point lead over Iowa front-runner Barack Obama. While most of the media was writing Hillary's political obituary, she was winning New Hampshire. With the Nevada caucuses next, and the black vote potentially split between the Clintons and Barack Obama, South Carolina may be back in play. In fact, Clinton's win last night showed one of Obama's key weaknesses: his reliance on independent and new voters. Female and older voters seemed to gravitate towards Clinton last night, with 45 percent of female Democratic voters chose Clinton. Voters over the age of 40 also picked Clinton, with nearly 70 percent going for Hillary over Obama. more ›

Jim Dooley, the coach who took the reigns from Bears and NFL founder George Halas, passed away on Tuesday at 77. more ›

favorite candidate in the February 5 primary here in Illinois? Forgot to register to vote yesterday? It's not too late! more ›

Goose Gossage is the lone Hall of Fame inductee this year. He should also be inducted into the mustache HoF, dudes. [MLB.com] more ›

In an attempt to save $50 million this year, the company is eliminating 40 newsroom jobs at the Sun-Times, 11 newsroom jobs at Pioneer Press papers throughout the suburbs, a three Northwest side Pioneer Press papers all together (the Jefferson Park/Portage Park/Belmont-Cragin Times, the Harlem-Irving Times, and the Edgebrook-Sauganash Times). more ›

Mayor Daley wants to push Chicago's teen curfew up to 10pm on weeknights and 11pm on weekends, 30 minutes earlier than the current curfews, in an attempt to curb teen violence. more ›

This week's warm temperatures aren't without a downside. A downside of tornado variety. More than 30 tornadoes hit the Midwest yesterday (map), killing at leas two people and destroying homes across Missouri, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Illinois. Winds were powerful enough to derail a freight train, which was conveniently carrying toxic materials through McHenry County, so about 500 people had to be evacuated. Yesterday's heavy rain flooded parts of the region, and we remain under a flood warning today. more ›

A new ordinance kicking around City Council says disabled people with city-designated parking spots in front of their homes would no longer have to display a permit sign on their windshield. Apparently people often forget put the sign on their dashboard when they park, and they get tickets--and then they complain to their aldermen. more ›

The big news from the campaign trail yesterday evening was an emotional moment with Hillary Clinton and a group of sympathetic, yet undecided, New Hampshire voters. When asked "how do you do it? How do you keep up ... and who does your hair?", Hillary Clinton choked up as she responded, tears welling up in her eyes. Less widely reported, however, was an incident of two men who heckled her in Salem, NH, holding signs that read "Iron My Shirt", and chanting the same slogan. As the hecklers were removed, Clinton responded "ah, the remnants of sexism" to cheers from the crowd. “I’m also running to break through the highest and hardest glass ceiling,” she told the audience. more ›

yesterday that if the General Assembly sent him a transit bill that included a sales tax increase, he wouldn't veto it. Blagojevich has vowed since the beginning of the budget debacle to veto any sale tax increase to fund mass transit. more ›

We're at home today fighting a cold and trying to take things easy. The last thing we need is to become violently ill reading a newspaper. Yet that's almost what happened when we read this story in today's Tribune by reporter Lauren Viera, endorsing the Master Cleanse fasting plan. more ›

Major League Baseball's annual election results will be announced today, and a couple of former Chicago players hope to cross the magic threshold from paying customers to inductees in Cooperstown. Voted on by the Baseball Writers of America, players become eligible five years after retiring and must receive votes on 75 percent of ballots. more ›

Deer heart? Human heart? Page out of Snow White? Someone found a possibly human heart in the woods at Assumption Cemetery in Glenwood. Eeeew. [S-T] more ›

The jury in alleged mobster Anthony Calabrese's trial may hear an audio tape of him beating the living the shit out of someone, even though he's on trial for armed robbery. The Sun-Times got ahold of a transcript of the tape, and it really reads like a scene right out of The Sopranos. Except the curses are blacked out. [S-T] more ›

From today’s Sun-Times: joining the ranks of Weight Watchers (sorry, “don’t call it a diet”, although Valerie Bertinelli on the Jenny Craig plan is looking fierce these days), NutriSystem, and Seattle Sutton in town are the Mike George Fitness System personal chef Program and Alter EatGo. more ›

Ex-CTA head Frank Kruesi broke his era of silence just in time to disavow any responsibility for the clusterfuck of mismanagement, power jockeying and buck-passing also known as the transit funding crisis, telling the Sun-Times "I made the decisions that I thought were right at the time. I don't think anything is gained by going back and rehashing things." Because learning from the past is for assholes. more ›

While the warmer temps are a treasured respite from the bitter winds this time of year is better known for, they do present certain inconveniences, namely fog and flooding. Today's fogginess is not, unlike our own fogginess, a result of too fun a weekend; rather, it's an advection fog, formed when warm air flows over cold ground. A bunch of flights at O'Hare were canceled or delayed due to crummy visibility, but things seem to be back up and running. more ›

Congressman and mayoral wannabe Jesse Jackson Jr made some strange bedfellows this weekend when he announced that he's endorsing Larry Suffredin for Cook County state's attorney. more ›

President Bush is in town today to celebrate the anniversary of No Child Left Behind, hobnob with Mayor Daley to talk Olympics, and give a speech about the economy to the Union League Club. And the Sun-Times makes him feel welcome with a front-page smackdown of NCLB. more ›

Mayor Daley might not do irony well, but Mitt Romney knows how to do momentum. more ›

Agence France-Presse has interviewed an unnamed member of the IOC committee who is saying Chicago is all but locked up to be named host for the 2016 Olympics, and that "it is [ours] to lose." According to him, Chicago has been in the lead from the beginning and is "streets ahead" of the competition due to Chicago's "professionalism and power." No, really. Stop laughing! more ›

If you've tried to make travel arrangements to Europe lately, you know first hand that the U.S. dollar is sucking wind compared to the Euro -- as of today's exchange rate the Euro is worth a whopping 47% more than the dollar. And don't think Europeans haven't noticed -- they're bringing that "free money" and empty suitcases to the Mag Mile and loading them up with Burberry and Hershey's chocolate. The Tribune reports that international tourists are flocking to Chicago: the number of overseas visitors rose by 8% in 2007, compared to no increase in 2006. So if you find yourself pushing your way through even more camera and shopping bag toting throngs along Michigan Avenue, that's why. And forget about getting a table at The Cheesecake Factory. Can't say we blame them -- we would be shipping our asses off to the ru du Faubourg Saint-Honore if the situation were reversed. more ›

Photo Credit: Malingering more ›

We had a nice spit take while drinking our morning coffee and reading the front-page headline of the Sun-Times. The headline accompanying Fran Spielman's story about His Elective Majesty's advice to Senator Barack Obama in the wake of his win in the Iowa Caucuses was to "always be the underdog." more ›

The long-threatened lawsuit challenging the city's bottled water tax was finally filed in Cook County Circuit Court yesterday, five days after the tax went into effect. more ›

Less than 15 people want to attend the virtual U of I. A spokesman says, ""It is important for people not to focus on the doggone numbers for these initial enrollments. The key is that it exists now." Aim high guys! more ›

This is currently the image on the Sun-Times website. Ah! Huckabee looks like he's shitfaced and has one giant, pointy tooth in the front; Obama looks like he crawled out of hell and is tipping the scales at a cool 76 pounds; Clinton looks like she was hit with Homer Simpson's make-up gun; and is that Romney's mug shot? We know newspapers don't have to pick flattering or attractive photos of people, but this graphic looks like a medical text book. Jaysus. And why is everyone's mouth open? [Link] more ›

Laughter, the best medicine. As in, your doctor is laughing at you and giving you fake medicine just to get you to shut up. The U of C surveyed internists from U of C, Northwestern and University of Illinois at Chicago, and of the 233 doctors who responded, 48 percent said they'd given patients placebos, including "vitamins, herbal supplements, saline infusions, dummy pills and doses of medicine too low to be effective. One of the most common placebo treatments was giving antibiotics for viral infections that don't respond to antibiotics." Er, isn't that an awful idea? Taking antibiotics you don't need can make those antibodies ineffective when you do need them. more ›

Not sure how we missed Trib public editor Timothy McNulty in our Beard-Off yesterday (round two coming up?), but he's sure on our minds today. He's taking the controversial position that "journalists should recognize their weak spots and moments of unintentional bias when dealing with religion and morality." more ›

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks gave its OK to Wrigley Field today to add 70 more seats along the third-base line and some new digital signs along the grandstands. Or as everyone seems saying, "signage." Gaaah. There are already 82 "bullpen box seats" on the first-base side, and now that Wrigley has updated its drainage system, there's room for more money/seats on the third-base side, too. more ›

Planning on flying to New York on the cheap this year? You won't be going easy, going ATA (or Southwest). The low-cost carrier will no longer be flying to New York. more ›

Last night marked the official beginning of the 2008 presidential season. The close of the Iowa Democratic caucuses saw Barack Obama with 37 percent, John Edwards with 30 percent, and Hillary Clinton in third place with 29 percent of the votes, with 99 percent of Iowa precincts reporting. On the Republican side Mike Huckabee was the big winner. more ›

In a day packed with college football bowl games, the coolest televised sporting event on New Year's Day had to be watching the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins play an NHL game outside in Buffalo, in front of over 71,000 fans. It brought the game back to its roots, played outside on frozen ponds and lakes throughout the Midwest and Canada. Now imagine that same game outside, only featuring two of the NHL's "Original Six." With the Black Hawks roaring back from the brink of irrelevance in the months after Bill Wirtz's passing, playing hockey in a sold-out Soldier Field, for example, would be the capper on an impressive resurrection. more ›

Think reaaaaal carefully about what fashion mistakes you're going to make on bank-robbing day. Because those choices? Well, those choices become who we are. Take the case of the "Kangol Bandit." more ›

It's not just your friends from college: Lake Michigan is getting shallower, too. It's approaching record lows, and its water levels have been dropping since 1997. more ›

to no one showed up, and the ones who did left after 15 minutes. And some left after 2. The rest of the country is starting to notice, too. Our transit woes have made it all the way to the Economist, which concluded "If Illinois's politicians were trying to demonstrate how not to tackle a serious issue, they could hardly do better." Burn! more ›

Mayor Daley said yesterday that he's keeping "an open mind" about a state agency acquiring the Cubs. Back on http://chicagoist.com/2007/12/13/bad_itea.php>December 13, he said more ›

After running around the state for months (and in some cases, years) the big day for presidential wannabes has finally come: The Iowa Caucuses. This presidential ritual comes around every four years, and while most of the nation watches, a Midwestern state makes the first pick for the presidential nomination. more ›

Why yes, today's temperatures below zero (with the windchill). It's a two-pairs-of-socks kind of day. more ›

Police officially identified the body of Eric Kaminski today, announcing that the remains they uncovered in a Pilsen basement on Saturday belong the Oak Park Lawn man who had been missing since 2004. A tip led police to 2248 W. Coulter St, where cadaver dogs helped locate the body under six feet of concrete and limestone. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, and police already have a suspect in custody (he was being held on unrelated charges), but motive is still not clear. [Trib, CBS 2, S-T] more ›

If you are willing to brave crappy weather with your "Bush was right" or "Bush is a dope" signs, get ready: he's coming to town on Monday. more ›

Courtesy of the TOC blog, we've learned that on February 27 (his 65th birthday) Jonathan Rosenbaum will retire as senior film reviewer at the Reader. Blogger Hank Sartin swears that it's not "one more sign of new Reader owners Creative Loafing trimming the budget. In fact, Rosenbaum tells us that his new bosses at Creative Loafing will be setting him up with a website of his own so that even in 'retirement' his writings on film will continue to be part of their franchise." more ›

Only the biggest of dreamers gave Illinois a chance of beating the semi-professional USC Trojans in yesterday's 94th annual Rose Bowl. Unfortunately, USC beat the Illini like the proverbial red-headed stepchild 49-17. The academic conclusion to the game also led to some wonderful entendre-laden headlines in the dailies: "Case of California Creamin'", "Too Much Booty Puts Illini on the Defensive", and "Trojans Pull Out All the Stops" are some of our favorites. The loss also provided Jay "the Joke" Mariotti with another opportunity to pen his now-patented "sports in this state really suck" columns, complete with desperate stabs at modern cultural relevance and creating lame-ass nicknames, this time referencing "Knocked Up" and calling Illini head coach Ron Zook "Zooker." more ›

A tiny bit more information coming out today about Subhas Chander, the Oak Forest man who's been charged with murdering his daughter, grandson and son-in-law. He was ordered held without bail yesterday, and his lawyer says he's suffering from some liver problems. more ›

Hunter Podschwit is one lucky dog. Or one really unlucky dog, depending on how you look at it. Unlucky to be shot point-blank in the head by a police officer, certainly, but extremely lucky to survive the shooting, yes? more ›

Smokers, meet Winter. Winter, smokers. Timed perfectly with a bone-chilling cold, Illinois's smoking ban went into effect at midnight, Jan. 1. more ›

Subhash Chander has been charged with three counts of murder and one count of intentional homicide of an unborn child in the Oak Forest fire that killed his pregnant daughter Monika Rani, son-in-law Rajesh Kumar, and grandson Vansh. Prosecutors say Chander set the fire because he believed his son-in-law was from a lower caste than his daughter, and that he didn't approve of the marriage. The fire also destroyed a 36-unit building and has left dozens of people homeless. more ›