News: November 2008 Archives

It was as ugly a game as you could see on Saturday night as USC held Notre Dame just a field goal and 91 yards of total offense in cruising past the Irish 38-3. It was a completely dominating performance by the Trojans who didn't blink at their own miscues (two interceptions) and just dominated a Notre Dame offense that's struggled to find it's rhythm. Looking for any Notre Dame highlights? Save for a 41-yard Brandon Walker field goal, you won't find any. Now we can await the proverbial flood of "Fire Charlie Weis" screeds from the unhappy campers over in South Bend. At 6-6, the Irish are bowl eligible and could probably pull a decent bowl against a decent opponent. "Could" being the operative word. After the last two weeks of play, though, it'll be hard to take the Irish seriously against a major conference opponent.

Huzzah! A new day is upon us and tomorrow, a new month. Making it only fitting that by the time December arrives at midnight, we could have a fresh layer of snow on the ground, the first measurable amount for Chicago this season. We're starting out the day with a mix which will change over to snow in the afternoon as the temp drops from around 40 to the lower 30s. As much as two inches could fall on some areas by the evening. There'll be more snow tonight, too, as an additional 3 to 4 inches could fall, bringing the total snow accumulations by Monday morning ranging from around 3 to 8 inches. Of course, with warmer temps, those accumulations, especially earlier in the day, will be confined to grassy areas. And some melting could lessen total accumulations...you know what? It's gonna snow. More than 0 inches, less than 10 inches. There. Drive safe, everyone!

• Castle Rock State Park, Oregon
• Lowden State Park, Oregon
• Illini State Park, Marseilles
• Hidden Springs State Forrest, Strasburg
• Moraine View State Park, Leroy
• Weldon Springs State Park, Clinton
• Wolf Creek State Park, Windsor
• Dana-Thomas House, Springfield
• Lincoln log cabin near Charleston
• Fort de Chartres, Randolph County
• Vandalia statehouse (Saturday is last day; not open Sundays)
• State center at Bishop Hill, Henry County
• Carl Sandburg birthplace, Galesburg
• Cahokia courthouse
• Hauberg Indian Museum, Rock Island County, (part of the Black Hawk State Historic Site) but the adjacent natural area will stay open.
• Jubilee College, near Peoria
• Apple River Fort, Elizabeth
• Fort Kaskaskia, Randolph County
• Pierre Menard home, Randolph County
  
  Continue reading "State Shuts Down Parks and Historic Sites Tomorrow"

Governor Blagojevich is currently putting together a plan that, if passed, would force all transit agencies that hike fares in 2009 and 2010 to institute a salary freeze. Yes, the same Governor Blagojevich who played chicken with the CTA during last year's doomsday threats just so he could implement free rides for seniors, a program that is costing the CTA a nice bundle of money. Still, in Blago's defense, his plan only affects nonunion employees - union salaries are determined by collective bargaining agreements - and is mainly aimed at executives, many of whom actually saw a pay increase in 2008.

Salaries for dozens of transit executives continued to rise in 2008 after state bailout money started to flow, records show. The Chicago Sun-Times Watchdogs column reported Monday that the number of Pace executives who make more than $100,000 a year increased from 13 in 2006 to 20 this year.

Continue reading "Blago Continues Making Friends in Transit"

After a good start to their Circus Trip, the Blackhawks have now dropped two straight as they fell to the Anaheim Ducks 1-0 yesterday. It was the first time all season that the Blackhaws have been held scoreless. Huet was able to stop 20 of 21 shots, allowing only a Ryan Getzlaf goal in the second period, but Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller stopped all 26 Chicago shots, including 15 in the second period. Rockford's Corey Crawford has been called up to back-up Huet as Khabibulin remains day-to-day after getting hurt in the game against San Jose earlier this week. The 'Hawks play tonight in L.A. and then they head home.

The weather hasn't wavered much as we move into the holiday season but that's going to change very soon. Today is going to be partly cloudy with highs in the mid 40s, but some clouds are going to move in tonight and tomorrow will see some kind of rain/snow mix and we could see a few inches of snow pile up. How much? We're not sure, exactly, but Tom Skilling looks at the situation and thinks in the neighborhood off 1 to 4 inches.

Oh, Governor Blagojevich, you sly dog. While addressing reporters at a Chicago Christian Industrial League Thanksgiving meal yesterday, Blago began looking around for Congressman Danny Davis, also in attendance, and playfully asked, "Where's Senator Davis?" with a smile. While he didn't follow that up with, "Nah, I'm just fuckin' with yall," he did herald Rep. Davis as one of his favorites to take over President-Elect Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat.

"Congressman Davis is a very good person. He and I have worked together in Congress, and I know the kind of man he is. I know that he is a good, decent man, and you don't find a lot of that in politics," Blagojevich said. "I'm breaking my rules about speculating on a candidate, but Congressman Davis is here, and I can tell you he's certainly a strong candidate for the position."

The Trib has a reader update page for Black Friday craziness but things seem...relatively tame. Police were called early Friday morning (like, 2:40 a.m. early) to Gurnee Mills Malls to take care of a rowdy bunch of shoppers waiting on the early morning store openings. Still, nothing can compare to the tragedy in Long Island where a Wal Mart worker was killed in a stampede of early morning shoppers and a crush of customers at the same store also injured a pregnant woman. Earlier reports said she suffered a miscarriage but those have been retracted.

A Chicago woman and her family were rescued by the Indian Army from a Mumbai hotel where they had been trapped for almost two days since the siege began earlier this week. Carol Mackoff and her husband, sister, and friend were staying at the Taj Mahal Hotel as part of a three-week trip when the attacks began. With the satellite TV cut, Mackoff's only communication with the outside world was through text messages with the U.S. Consulate. In an interview with CNN, Mackoff said, "In the beginning, we heard shots and we didn't know what was happening. We saw men running down our hallway and we could see through the peephole in the door -- we could see guns in their hands."

Whether you're one of those folks working, dashing around town shopping or you're (like us) spending more time with your family, today's weather is good for you. Sunny with highs in the lower 40s. There. Pretty simple and friendly. No fuss, no muss. And it'll last through Saturday before Sunday makes way for some snow, which may or may not amount to some accumulation.

But instead of taking this opportunity to come clean, Ryan has doubled down on denial: "His conscience is as clear as his mind," his wife, Lura Lynn, told the Sun-Times Tuesday. "If he had it to do over—and I've heard him say this—he would govern the same way as he did before."

Continue reading "Blago Jumps on Ryan Clemency Bandwagon"

Ah, Black Friday. You always present us with deals and videos of crazy people trampling each other so they can be the first to grab that $500 HDTV or Tickle Me Elmo or whatever the kids are crazy about these days. It's become such big business that there's even a struggle amongst websites to be the first to break the Black Friday ads - even Twitter is in on the act this year. But even with more attention than ever on the day, there's also more pessimism than ever because of the large decrease in consumer spending in 2008. As the economy continues to slide, will Black Friday numbers follow suit? Some stores are so concerned about profits, they're offering freebies to those brave souls who sprint through the doors at the crack of dawn in hopes to entice more people to shop. And come Saturday, as the Black Friday numbers roll in, all eyes will shift to Cyber Monday as online retailers try to fight the slumping economy as well. And, of course, there are those who fight Black Friday and all it stands for.

In his weekly address, President-Elect Obama discusses Thanksgiving. And the economy.

"He did get his nails painted. Yes. [My daughters] painted his nails. So what? His sisters were painting their nails, so he was like, 'I want to paint my nails.' He's 3 years old. Who cares?

Continue reading "Urlacher: Baby Mama "Unreasonable""

Blackout Wednesday took a violent turn in Stone Park where one woman was killed and several others were injured after a nightclub fight spilled into the streets. The incident happened at the Nitro Nightclub.

"We encountered multiple incidents," according to [Stone Park Fire Department Lt. Chris] Soda, who said a fight was inside the club moved outside, where three people were stabbed and two people were struck by a hit-and-run vehicle.

Continue reading "One Killed, Several Injured in Stone Park"

Dolton Mayor William "Bill" Shaw passed away Wednesday at the age of 71 after a four-year bout with colon cancer. He was Dolton's first black mayor and had a long history in Illinois politics. he was elected the Illinois State Representative of the 34th Legislative District in 1982 where he served five terms. He also served as a state senator for 10 years and was elected mayor of Dolton in 1997. He had previously been hospitalized for the cancer in 2005, shortly after he was elected to a third term in the south suburban city.

During his two decades in the Illinois General Assembly, Shaw served as a member of the Senate Energy & Environment Committee and the Task Force on Electric Deregulation. As a member of the Senate Local Government Committee, Shaw was instrumental in the redevelopment of the Historic Pullman District on Chicago's South Side. Additionally, in 1984, Mayor Shaw along with current Illinois Senate President Emil Jones Jr, co-sponsored groundbreaking legislation with both Illinois House members that made it mandatory that African American History be taught in Illinois public schools. Mayor Shaw also sponsored legislation that created the Illinois Donor Program within the office of the Illinois Secretary of State.

It was a bad night for the Blackhawks. In spite of a pair of Jonathan Toews, the San Jose Sharks pulled out a 3-2 win over the 'Hawks in overtime. But there was more for the 'Hawks to deal with: goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and defenseman Aaron Johnson both left the game with injuries. Both players are scheduled to be evaluated today.

It's here, the best food day of the year. And it's a day we give thanks. Thanks, for instance, for this amazing weather. Sunny skies and temps in the upper 40s. We here at Chicagoist are thankful for many things: our friends, our families, our pets, the men and women in the armed services, etc. But what are Chicagoistos and -istas thankful for?

The suit also claims that Harvey has a criminal record, having twice violated a domestic violence protection order taken out against him. Doe feels that the station should have done more due diligence as to who they were trying to hook women up with, and that the station was negligent.

Just because it's a short holiday week doesn't mean the President-Elect is resting on his laurels. It's been a busy week for Obama, especially in the news.

The Joliet Herald-News reports this morning that Brian Urlacher's baby mama, Tyra Robertson, has filed a claim in Will County court that states that Urlacher's son, Kennedy, has taken to wearing pink diapers and wearing blue nail polish on his toes. We're not sure exactly where in the penal code this counts as child abuse, but it gets better - Robertson seems to believe that this is reason enough to keep Brian from seeing his kid. Can someone get Jeffrey Leving on the phone? Brian needs some Father's Rights representation, stat.

Chicago police have an old problem on their hands this holiday season: metal theft. A combination of rising copper and aluminum prices and the declining economy has created an increase in the theft of these metals especially. Thieves are stealing everything from sewer covers to the wiring inside gas meters and trying to cash them in at city scrap metal facilities. Many of these types of thefts cause serious safety hazards. Bonnie Johnson of People's Gas said, "The mouth (of the meter) that's going into the home is no longer controlled which could cause a gas explosion." The CPD has created a task force and a public service announcement notifying Chicagoans and asking for our help – and scrap metal recyclers have been warned not to take sewer covers and fire hydrants in exchange for cash, or they will incur a hefty fine.

"That's been the age-old problem," Deputy Chief Daniel Dugan said. "You would see scrappers taking fire hydrants. You should know this is property belonging to a municipality."

Continue reading "Heavy Metal"

U.S. Congressman from Illinois' 4th District Luis Gutierrez has asked Gov. Blagojevich to be appointed to President-Elect Barack Obama's vacant senate seat. But Gutierrez's request comes with stipulation that will probably take him out of the running: he doesn't want to run for re-election in 2010 even though Blago's preference is for someone more long-term. Gutierrez issued a statement, saying, "Gov. Blagojevich shared with me today that he was very interested in me as a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat, but that his preference is to appoint someone who will run for a full term in 2010." Thanks for sharing with the class, Luis.

Northern Illinois fell to Navy last night, 16-0, and likely fell out of a bowl. At 6-6, the Huskies are bowl eligible but are also in the middle of the MAC, which doesn't have enough bowl bids to go around. It was a defensive struggle with neither team topping 300 total yards and Huskie quarterback Chandler Harnish throwing two interceptions which both led to Navy scores. Coach Jerry Kill, finishing off his first season with the team, said, "The game comes down to little mistakes and you can't make those against the Naval Academy. We moved the ball but we couldn't finish and that was the difference."

We know it's only Wednesday, but most of you will probably be offline until you drag your well-fed butts back into the office next Monday, right? So don't forget when you park your car Sunday night that the city's draconian winter overnight parking ban kicks in at 3 a.m. this Monday, December 1.

Today is allegedly the busiest travel day of the year, with everyone returning home or venturing to far corners of the country for the holiday that celebrates the 3 F's: food, football, and family (preferably in that order). [For flying locally, Tuesday was expected to be Midway's busiest and Sunday will be O'Hare's busiest with almost a quarter-of-a-million people stomping through its halls.] And even in the bad economy, we know lots of you will be traveling. Fortunately, you'll have excellent weather around the area if you're staying close. Sunny skies and seasonable temps in the low 40s will make things easy on you and those conditions will continue if you're traveling tonight, with clear skies and lows in the 30s. So whether you're walking, driving, training, or flying, travel safe and have a happy holiday!

For what feels like the umpteenth time, Chicago's cabbies are demanding a fare hike and threatening to strike, but instead of just talking the talk, today they walked the walk. Literally. A group of cab drivers protested in the loop demanding an immediate 16 percent fare increase. Lest you forget, this shitstorm revolves around the dropping of the gas surcharge since gas prices have dropped below a set threshold, and the cabbies want the fare hike by January 1. City Hall hasn't complied but has said a hike is in works, though it wouldn't go into effect until Spring 2009 at the earliest. To get their point across, this group of cabbies claims they will strike for 24 hours starting at 2 p.m. on Sunday, which may or may not be effective with travellers returning home from the holiday. Because there's no alternative transportation from Chicago's airports.

On the bright side, for those of you who have been pinching pennies for a nice down payment on a house and have maintained a healthy credit score, it's a buyer's dream market.

 

The Cook County budget showdown is gearing up as county President Todd Stroger is expected to unveil his 2009 budget proposal today. Stroger has already put pressure on Cook County commissioners to approve a plan to borrow $720 million. The Stroger administration argues that the money is needed in order to keep the county afloat. Donna Dunnings, the county’s chief financial officer and Stroger’s cousin, told the Trib yesterday that massive layoffs are in store if the plan is rejected.

Times are tough for auto makers. High gas prices and tight credit markets have conspired to keep people from buying new cars in recent months. The Big 3 have been reduced to begging for funds just to stay afloat, claiming if they go down so, too, will 3 million American jobs. GM even dropped Tiger Woods as a Buick spokesman to keep costs down.

Story by Amy Wilschke, Photo by JOE M500

Blagojevich derisively called Pace officials "bureaucrats" who "sock it to" riders by raising fares.

Continue reading "Blago Slams Pace Execs Over Salary Increases"

Under normal circumstances, we'd call today "boring" but given we're staring down the barrel of a long, cold winter, we'll take it. Every single minute of it. Like what you see today? Good, cause this weather is going to be around all week. Partly cloudy, seasonably cool, and little chance of precipitation. Temps today will reach the upper 30s and maybe touch 40 under partly sunny skies and then drop to upper 20s tomorrow night. Hooray for sunny skies and turkey.

At a press conference today, President-Elect Barack Obama presented what is being called his "money team," his economic advisers who will attempt to help him turn the economy around once he takes office in January. At the presser, his second since his November 4 election win, he announced the following members of his economic team:

While companies are putting together bids for Des Plaines, Rosemont and Waukegan for the state's final casino license, they're finding themselves hampered by the struggling economy. Bill Eadington, director of a gambling institute at the University of Nevada-Reno, recently told the Trib, "It's very bad timing for Illinois. We're facing the biggest economic recession in 75 years. I wouldn't be surprised if the companies that made bids a couple months ago could no longer justify them." Casino giants like Harrah's are having to scale back or scrap plans for new casinos altogether.

The finalists are Trilliant Gaming, a Los Angeles-based venture that has teamed up with Rosemont and submitted the high bid of $435 million. The next highest offer is $225 million from Waukegan Gaming. A distant third at $100 million is Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, billionaire developer Neil Bluhm's group, who wants to open in Des Plaines. Those figures don't include the cost of building the casino, which could be in the hundreds of millions, making it tougher to turn a profit.

Continue reading "Casino Bids Hampered By Economy"

Stephen Colbert + Christmas + Willie Nelson dressed as a shepherd = Goodness.

The troubled Block 37 project seems to have suffered another setback today as David Barton Gym, "the first and largest retail tenant to sign," has pulled out of an agreement to put a 40,000 square foot gym on the top level of the structure. Instead, Barton will be focusing on a gym located at The Roosevelt Collection, a mixed-use project in the South Loop. Said Barton, "Even though Block 37 has suffered a few delays, I do think that the project will be a success in the long term. However, I have instead decided to focus on the Roosevelt Collection project which will cover the region effectively and makes more sense for my growth strategy."

A bone from the arm of Mother Cabrini, a 19th century Italian-American nun who founded hospitals, schools and and orphanages across the country, has made a temporary home at the Shrine of Our Lady Pompeii Church in Little Village. Mother Cabrini is known in the Catholic community for her missionary work that created a whopping 67 institutions in big cities across America, including Chicago's Columbus Hospital in Lincoln Park. In fact her bone normally resides within the National Shrine of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini at Columbus Hospital, which is currently being converted to condos. Cabrini Green was also named in her honor. Mother Cabrini was the first American to become a saint, and was named the patron saint of immigrants.

          

The City of Chicago is trying to pick a new design for the 2009-2010 city vehicle sticker and they need your help. They solicited designs from area high school students and have narrowed down the choices to 10. As you can see, the city has chosen to honor the city's canines with the design. Be sure to stop by the City Clerk's website to cast your vote. While Chicagoist policy prevents us from officially endorsing a design - and they're all fantastic - we're suckers for anything involving the city flag.

The CTA is creating a stink with some with new signs that are aimed at "continuous riders" that critics say are aimed at the city's homeless. The signs have gone up recently and some, like Chicago Carless' Mike Doyle, suggest the signs are aimed at curbing the number of homeless people who take to the warm train cars during Chicago's harsh winters.

Any regular ‘L’ rider can attest to the wave of homeless Chicagoans who take to the warm interiors of CTA rail cars during the city’s brutal winter months. Although generally a benign presence in the system, their downtrodden visual appearance–and in many cases odor–earns them the ire of many fellow, more fortunate passengers.

Continue reading "CTA To "Continuous Riders": Get Off Our Train"

Coming off last week's ugly loss in Green Bay, the Bears were looking for an opportunity to move forward in their quest to outlast their rivals and win the NFC North. Working in the Bears favor more than anything, perhaps, is their remaining schedule -- starting with Sunday's match-up against the St. Louis Rams. The Bears took care of business and headed north of .500 with a definitive 27-3 victory.

We have to hand it to the GOP: regardless of your political stance, the Republican Party has come up with a nice piece of online satire with Barackbook.com. The site, designed to mirror Facebook, satirizes Barack's online presence while also being used as a tool for pushing the GOP agenda. The site was originally started in July, but continues to be updated even since Obama won the Presidential election on November 4. Of course, the site loses its bite by satirizing one of the reasons Obama won the election (those pesky internets), but its continual presence may provide Republicans with a successful tool as the new administration begins and focus turns to 2010. That is, if they can come up with more successful attacks than the exhausted attempts to connect Obama to William Ayers and ACORN.

The Circus Trip gets longer for the Bulls, who blew a late lead as the Nuggets claimed a 114-101 win. Down by nine after the first period, the Bulls fought back to take a fourth quarter lead. With around five minutes left and up by three, the Bulls were stunned by a 13-0 Denver run that clinched the Nugget victory. Ben Gordon had 28 points for the Bulls and Drew Gooden added 21 more in the losing effort. After the game, Gordon lamented the Bulls play, saying, "We didn't make enough sharp plays to win the game. When it came to crunch time, we just didn't come with a big enough number of plays.'' The team travels to Utah tonight.

Those are some big flakes we see falling outside the Chicagoist office this morning, but no need for the boots as it probably ain't gonna stick, at least in the city. Snow, maybe mixed with a little bit of rain, will continue to fall throughout the early part of our morning, but will taper off as the day wears on. Clouds may even break a bit towards the afternoon, but temps will still remain in the upper 30s. Winds will be a bit gusty, too, hitting upwards of 30 mph today and into tonight. Still a chance of flurries this evening with lows around 30 and a few more flurries.

• Chicagoist took umbrage with a New York Times article, explored the Korean food Disneyland, examined Rahm Emanuel's Charades game-face, and checked out a cookbook that focuses on an, er, unorthodox ingredient.
• Phillyist covered Philadelphia's Prop. 8 protests and continued to debate Eagles fandom.
• Gothamist bemoaned plans for a fare hike , and how he hates hugging fans.

A group of Chicago residents living on the West Side have filed a suit against the Chicago Police Department for alleged harassment as they celebrated the outcome of the election.

Two Northwestern students have been named Rhodes Scholars.

The centralization will also lead to a more "efficient sharing of information" between officers investigating gang crimes, as well as being able to help "anticipate and prevent" them. [Trib, S-T, Photo by Pam Morgan]

Blackhawks Remain Undefeated On Trip

Today's weather will get along with us just fine, thanks. Sunny skies and temps get a bump into the 40s so it'll be a nice day to get about and take care of some of those pre-holiday errands. Or to sit inside and watch football. It's a day that you can do anything of your choosing. Skies cloud over tonight and there's a chance of a rain/snow mix after midnight as temps drop to the mid 30s. There'll be a mix hangover in the morning, but the National Weather Service says there will be no significant accumulation.

An IIT student missing for a week, Benjamin Collen, 19, was found dead last evening in a fraternity house on campus. Officials believe the death is a suicide, but an investigation is being conducted. [Trib]

We can't believe this but we actually have...good news to report in regards to the CTA. Beginning this morning, four-track service was fully restored to the Fullerton station. And, don't look now, but the same will be said for the Belmont station by the end of the year, according to CTA President Ron Huberman. Said The Ron via press release: “Completing the three-track operation at Fullerton is an important milestone and marks another chapter in bringing CTA’s largest capital improvement project to fruition. We thank customers for their patience during this project and assure them the accessible stations, longer trains and modernized stations will improve the overall travel experience now and in the future.”

Cloudy skies? Bit of a stiff breeze? Cold? Yep, it's Chicago in late November. The highs will reach into the upper 30s and there's a chance of snow flurries early this afternoon. Skies will clear a bit tonight as temps drop to the lower 20s. Skilling says there's a chance of snow Monday. Don't tease us, Tom.

It's been a busy day for the President-Elect.

We thought that July's rash of stories about the Amethyst Initiative and lowering the drinking age had come and gone, but last night CBS 2's Rob Johnson* brought back the age-old question: should we lower the drinking age to 18? And we were all set to spend about 300 words bashing CBS for not checking their fax machine in about 4 months, but lo and behold, across the nation there have been a wave of stories about Amethyst in the past couple weeks. Either people are really curious about the idea of 18-year-olds getting tanked, or Amethyst has a pretty solid PR person with a lot of illicit photos of news desk editors across the country.

On the cover of today’s Chicago Tribune is the story of Patrick Pridemore, 4, of Kentucky, who has a severe wheat allergy. Patrick’s mom bought him foods specifically labeled “gluten free” to cater to those with allergies to wheat, barley and rye. Patrick had a severe reaction, though, because the foods still contained a life-threatening level of wheat, despite the label.

 

Plans to create Chicago’s first gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender high school were pulled this week after mounting pressure from Mayor Daley and a group of clergy, who were concerned the school would be a throwback to the days of segregation. Some gay activists, however, believe the segregation charge was a “cover story.” That’s because one of the leading ministers who opposed Pride Campus of Social Justice High School is a supporter of the “sanctity of marriage.”

The survivor of a shooting that killed five women at a Lane Bryant in Tinley Park early this year was taken off of the store’s payroll for some unknown reason – but will be put back on payroll December 1. The unnamed woman was working at the store on February 2, when an armed man entered, robbed the store and ended up shooting her and five others. She was the only one to survive the shooting and had been on Lane Bryant’s payroll up until a few months ago, though her employment status is not certain.

It's not clear why or when Lane Bryant took the store employee off the payroll, but Tinley Park police Chief Michael O'Connell said she would be back on December 1.

Continue reading "To Pay Or Not To Pay? Lane Bryant Answers the Question"

Have you ever heard a song by a band and totally been turned on to that band, rushing out to buy their record, listening to it, and then excitedly telling your friend all about your "discovery", saying, "Hey, have you ever heard of this band called The Rolling Stones??? They ROCK!" only to have your heart crushed when your friend tells you that band's old news? (Tankboy has to do it to me all the time.) We hate to be "that friend," but...

Oh, Verizon. Aside from providing me with a last-second Halloween costume idea every year, you've always been benign. Well, until this big no-no. It seems some nosy employees at Verizon accessed Barack Obama's cell phone records, though no voicemails or emails were accessed. Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam issued an apology statement, saying:

We apologize to President-Elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day...a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account...All employees who have accessed the account — whether authorized or not — have been put on immediate leave, with pay. Employees with legitimate business needs for access will be returned to their positions, while employees who have accessed the account improperly and without legitimate business justification will face appropriate disciplinary action.

Another Cuban will soon be coming to town, but he's more likely to be playing the hot corner than hanging with fans in the bleachers or chilling in the owner's box. While Mark Cuban's chances of landing the Cubs took a turn for the worse this week, the White Sox are poised to sign Cuban phenom Dayan Viciedo.

While the Bulls have floundered thus far on their Circus Trip, things are going much better for the Guys on Ice. The Blackhawks moved to 2-0 on the trip as they beat Dallas last night, 6-3. Nikolai Khabibulin had 31 saves on 34 shots in goal for the 'Hawks, including 13 in the first period as a fast Dallas start gave them a 10-1 edge in shots early on. Still, led by Patrick Kane's pair of goals, the 'Hawks fought back. The game had a back-and-forth nature with the teams exchanging goals for most of the first two periods. With the score tied 3-3, Kris Versteeg scored with 30 seconds left in the second period to give the 'Hawks a 4-3 lead and Chicago would add two more goals in the third to clinch the victory. Besides Kane and Versteeg, Ben Eager, Brian Campbell, and Martin Havlat all scored. Next up on the road trip is a Saturday night date north of the border with the Maple Leafs.

We've received a couple of emails asking us, "Why do you love the snow so much since you always complain how cold it is?" Let's see:

Gun charges against Drew Peterson stemming from a semi-automatic weapon police seized were dismissed this afternoon after prosecutors refused to cooperate with a judge's ruling. The judge had ruled that prosecutors had to turn over to the defense all documents they compiled before they arrested Peterson on the gun charge. Attorneys for Bolingbrook's Most Notorious Ex-Husband™ claim the charge was a case of vindictiveness. So it looks like we will be prevented from seeing the awesomeness of John Travolta testifying on behalf of Drew.

Governor Blagojevich suffered a setback today as the Fourth District Illinois Appellate Court ruled in favor of releasing to the public federal subpoenas his administration has received. The Better Government Association sued the Governor to release the documents under the state of Illinois' Freedom of Information Act claiming they wanted to see how extensive the corruption investigation of Blagojevich has become.

Today marks the completion of the first stage of the O'Hare expansion as its new $450 million runway opened for business. The first flight to land on the runway (the first new one in the city in 37 years) was welcomed by Mayor Daley as well as U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Federal Aviation Administration chief Bobby Sturgell. Washington D.C.'s Dulles and Seattle's airports also had runway grand openings today. Supporters are promising that the new runway will help alleviate O'Hare's well-known delays.

Synonymous with air-travel angst for decades, O'Hare's delays persist despite a more than 8 percent fall in traffic this year. Mother Nature has been the airport's main vulnerability because when bad weather reduced visibility, controllers could land just two planes at a time -- reducing capacity by a third.

Continue reading "As New O'Hare Runway Opens, Airlines Fight More Expansion"

 

Mayor Daley’s unofficial city council floor leader, 40th Ward Ald. Pat O’Connor, says he’d like to run for Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s seat but only if the mayor gives him the thumbs up. Receiving Daley’s blessing would be a major bonus for any candidate competing in the special election for Emanuel’s soon-to-be-vacant House seat. So far, six other Chicago aldermen in have expressed some interest in the seat. Those aldermen are Manuel Flores (1st), Ariel Reboyras (30th), Tom Allen (38th), Margaret Laurino (39th), Tom Tunney (44th) and Eugene Schulter (47th). State Representative Sara Feigenholtz has filed her paperwork to run and may be joined by some colleagues.

The FBI says that the number of bank robberies in Chicago this year (220 to date) is on pace to surpass 2007 numbers (226), but probably won’t surpass the record number set in 2006 (284). They also reported that the number of robberies has spiked in the last two to three weeks, and the incidents are becoming increasingly dangerous. Apparently, it’s no coincidence that the number of bank robberies is on the rise as the economy is tanking. Crimes like muggings and ATM hold-ups also increase during times of economic strife. The Sun-Times reported Tuesday that police are focusing crime fighting in areas hit hardest by foreclosures. "Abandoned buildings breed crime," police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. Officers in the Troubled Buildings Unit have been identifying abandoned properties, patrolling them to keep gangs, vandals and other criminals out and getting the city involved in dealing with the owners, Bond said.

Pena testified that he had opened one bag and thought it was so good he wanted a third. But he said that as he walked to the front of the store to pay, he became concerned that he couldn't hear his radio. He said he forgot about the extra bag when he went outside.

In what was easily one of their worst performances of the season, the Bulls got absolutely trounced by the Portland Trail Blazers 116-74. We know, it's the Circus Trip, but this is only game two, so that excuse is out the window. The game that featured the last two No. 1 picks in the NBA Draft (2007's Greg Oden - Portland, and 2008's Derrick Rose - Chicago) turned out to be completely one-sided. The Blazers took advantage of terrible shooting by the Bulls and raced out to a 34-13 lead and cruised the rest of the way. If you're looking for a silver lining, you can stop. Nocioni led all Bulls in scoring, putting in 13 off the bench while Gordon and Gooden both added 11. Things don't get any easier with four games - against Golden State, Denver, Utah, and San Antonio - in the next six days and Luol Deng sidelined with a pulled groin he suffered against the Lakers.

So there was more sun than we expected yesterday, but today, that won't be the case. A new frontal boundary is making its way through the area (they never call to let us know, jerkstores) and it's gonna deliver us the coolest chill of the season yet - even though three months from now this kind of weather will seem absolutely balmy. It'll be cloudy with a chance of flurries after lunch and highs peaking in the low 30's in the early afternoon before tumbling to the upper teens - with a chance of more flurries - tonight. Chicago Weather Godfather Tom Skiling says get used to it: the next few weeks will be colder than normal.

Todd Stroger, the beloved President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, today issued a reminder via press release that December 2, 2008 is the deadline to apply for FEMA assistance for disaster relief stemming from this fall's flooding. According to the release, "To date, more than 30,000 businesses and residents have filed a claim through FEMA for assistance in the wake of this fall’s catastrophic flooding, with FEMA disbursing $35 million to impacted counties, including Cook. A full 88% of those funds – $33.5 million – have been disbursed to Cook County residents alone." To apply, call FEMA at 1-800 621-FEMA (3362).

Q What do motorists pay elsewhere?

Continue reading "Tiered Tolls Coming Soon"

The Chicago City Council passed the city budget today with a 49 - 1 vote. Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th) cast the only dissenting vote. Mayor Daley’s hard-times budget will cut no more than 770 city jobs, down from the nearly 1000 originally proposed. The plan will also raise parking taxes, raise amusement taxes and charge fees on private dumpsters.

A suburban school district's technology director is behind bars after soliciting a 17-year-old for a homemade porn movie. Michael Kolb, 23, of Woodstock, worked for Alden-Hebron District 19 and the incident allegedly happened in late October. According to Hebron Police Chief Dale Egland:

"He asked her if she was still doing some modeling work to which she said yes," Egland said. "He told her there was more money to be made in the adult film business."

Continue reading "Creep of the Month: School Employee Solicits Teen For Homemade Porn"

The Saga of Jason Austin continues. The West Side man was originally charged with the murders of off-duty Chicago Police Officer Robert Soto and social worker Kathryn Romberg only to later have the charges dropped. Following his release, he decided to sue the city for mistreatment. One of the reasons given for the dismissal of charges was that witnesses recanting. Now comes an admission of guilt by a teenager who was charged with beating a witness who talked to police about Austin and the murders.

During the investigation, two teenage girls – Tashianda Howland, 18, and a 16-year-old relatives, were charged with beating and intimidating a female witness.

Continue reading "Witness Intimidation Admission in Soto-Austin Case"

Yesterday, we looked at the Chicago Police Department's efforts with President-Elect Barack Obama's security team and the cost (covered by the federal government) of the extra man hours. Looking to deflect the whisperings of criticism, Mayor Daley took to the press to defend the work being done to protect Obama and the benefit to Chicago. As usual, we can't do his words justice so we'll let him speak for himself:

This is a great honor…We’re excited about him being here. This is his transition. He could go to Washington, D.C…He’s not going to buy right into Washington. He’s here and he has people from all walks of life coming here. It is putting us on a global map more than anything else...

Continue reading "Daley Responds To Obama Security Criticism, Weis' Misstep"

The Chicago City Council is preparing to vote on Mayor Daley’s 2009 budget plan today and you can watch a live stream of the council meeting through the city clerk’s website. The Daley administration hopes to close a $469 million budget shortfall by cutting no more than 770 city jobs, enacting more furlough days, and also raising a slew of taxes, which includes increasing the daily garage parking tax to $3 from $2.25 and increasing the amusement tax by one percent. The Daley administration also wants to impose an annual fee on private dumpsters for businesses and larger condos. That measure is estimated to bring in $8 million next year. The Denver boot will also be used on cars with two unpaid tickets that are a year or more old. Earlier this week, a deal was reached between the city's labor unions and Mayor Daley that will reduce the number of city worker layoffs.

The 'Hawks snapped a three-game skid and earned their second shoot-out win of the year, beating the Coyotes 3-2 to start their lengthy road trip. Kris Versteeg and Patrick Sharp scored goals a minute apart at the end of the first period to put the Blackhawks up 2-0, but the Coyotes managed a goal in each of the remaining periods to force overtime. Nikolai Khabibulin made 36 saves in all, including two in the shootout, to help the 'Hawks hold on for the win; Sharp and Jonathan Toews scored in the shoot-out for Chicago. While it's a long road trip for the team, Sharp seemed optimistic about it, saying, "It's good for us to get out on the road. We like playing at the United Center, but it's good to be around each other quite a bit and build some chemistry."

So that very brief and very light dusting of snow on Monday evening was all just a tease. Those annoying southwest winds that are buffeting you on your morning commute? They'll actually be "boosting" temps to seasonable levels - mid 40s - and the sun will make a cameo. The gusty winds will blow through the day and into the evening and lows will drop to around 30 tonight as a new round of cold air will make its way to town. Flurries become a part of the forecast again as the week goes on, but no accumulation, unlike our friends in northern Indiana who will be dealing with more lake effect snow. Apropos of nothing, today is World Toilet Day.