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Langdon Neal, chairman of the Chicago Board of Elections, told the press last night, "We are headed for very low turnout today, we'll be lucky to get 30 percent." He also indicated that it could be below 24 percent, which he said, "would be embarrassing." As of this post, Neal can breathe a small sigh of relief as the Board of Elections is reporting a turnout of around 26 percent. Not that that's really any better. Democrats made up 90.7 percent of the city's vote, Republicans made up 8.8 percent, and Green party voters the final half percent. If these numbers hold, that means 74 percent of city voters don't get to complain about last night's results.

Tuesday is National Pizza Pie Day. That's separate from National Pizza Week which happened last month, or the Great American Pizza Bake next week, or National Cheese Pizza Day (September 5), or National Pizza Festival Month in October, or National Sausage Pizza Day (October 11), or National Pizza with Everything Except Anchovies Day (November 12). We point this out to emphasize the inanity of national "food holidays" and to ask for the idiots who created each of these individual days to incorporate these all under one National Pizza Pie Day. But we digress.

The Chicago Transit Authority's "Doomsday" schedule was implemented yesterday, but today is supposedly the day where riders will feel the cuts in service. I'm of the opinion CTA wasn't doing a bang-up job maintaining its bus routes and schedules when they had a full service schedule — a friend Saturday called CTA the "Chicago Tardiness Authority" — but I have to say that my trip from Bridgeport to my day job in Evanston was none the worse for wear. Now ask me again after the return trip home.

There were fewer trains and buses and the ones that did run were more crowded, but CTA President Richard Rodriguez called the first full work day with reduced CTA services a "typical Monday" and the CTA reported "no major delays."

Mad Max says no but the video below seems to indicate otherwise. WGN's Dean Richards was interviewing Gibson about a new movie and asked some personal - yet perfectly legitimate - questions relating to Gibson's infamous arrest and rant. Gibson didn't seem altogether happy with the question and, as the feed ended, uttered the word, "asshole." Gibson now insists he was talking to his publicist who was making faces at him off-camera. Either way, it'll probably be the last time we hear "asshole" uttered on WGN, at least until the next Ozzie Guillen press conference.

After we reported earlier this week on People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals's request that Forest Park pub Doc Ryan's remove the Lobster Zone machine from its restaurant, PETA reached out to Chicagoist to report that Brian Sullivan, owner of the establishment, has agreed to remove the machine. Sullivan spoke with a local PETA activist this week and, noting that he loves animals, told the activist that he doesn't want a machine in his business that tortures animals.

Dear Megan,

The Scott Cohen clusterfuss is only going to grow. He and ex-wife Debra York-Cohen took to WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" to discuss the charges that came to light yesterday in the wake of his primary win.

We've had a love / wince relationship with I Fight Dragons from the get-go.The band writes really enjoyably punchy pop-rock tunes straight out of the Rivers Cuomo school of music. But they diluted it with cheesy onstage superhero theatrics (that they claim to have since dropped). We really respect their grassroots marketing and excellent grasp of social media -- in no small thanks to consulting services from Natiiv Arts & Media -- and do not begrudge them the success they've received.

The parking meter lease saga continues, as CBS 2 reports that under the city’s lease agreement with Chicago Parking Meter LLC, it could be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to the company for revenues lost when the city closes metered spaces for street construction, fairs, block parties or other projects. Critics opposed to the lease pointed this fact out as well as 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack, who voted against the lease. However, this makes of us think of 33rd Alderman Dick Mell‘s remarks during the original vote on the lease about how could he be expected to read the small print. Did those voting for the lease not bother to do just that?

The day has finally come. No, not the Super Bowl, but CTA service cut day. Starting today, nine express buses will be eliminated, 41 bus routes will see their start and/or end times change, and 78 buses will see less frequent service. All rail lines except for the Yellow Line will also see less frequent service. In addition, 1,057 CTA employees--including 903 bus drivers and 116 rail operators--will be laid off.

Ugh, this is not the kind of story we like hearing about. Niles Police officer William Christie has been charged with with theft and official misconduct for allegedly taking money off a man who was found dead at a YMCA. Christie responded to the call when the man was found dead and began acting suspiciously to staff, sealing the room and yet attempting to access the room himself over several days. According to ABC 7:

The Pichtfork Music Festival has gotten in the habit of releasing its festival acts in fits and spurts that constantly one-up each other, ostensibly to keep fans excited for the impending summer weekend it inhabits, but after today's initial line-up announcement we're curious how they're going to keep the momentum going to top this.

Finalists for the 2010 James Beard Foundation awards won't be announced until late next month, but it can be told with certainty that Chicago will be home to one Beard Award winner this year. Calumet Fisheries, home to the best smoked fish on the South Side, is one of five recipients of the Beard Foundation's American Classics award. The award is given to smaller, casual restaurants that leave an impression on their respective areas and the Beard Award committee.

Okay, so, we've covered how to roast a chicken. But what if you're dumb? Here are the cliff notes: Buy chicken. Salt chicken. Put in 450 degree oven for an hour. Done.

It's on! The Pitchfork Music Festival will take up residence in Union Park this summer from July 16 to 18. Tickets go on sale THIS Friday, February 5, through their website with single-day tickets selling for $40 and three-day passes selling for $90. Who's playing? You'll have to wait until Friday to find THAT out since they're holding off the announcent of the first round of bands until then.

Five years ago, a woman smashed through the glass ceiling of comedy with her debut stand-up performance. She drunkenly slurred her words. She appeared to have peed her pants on stage. She was told never to pursue comedy again.

We're already chatting at WBEZ here.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee took a swing at Alexi Giannoulias the day after the primaries, launching an ad accusing Giannoulias of alleged mob ties at his families bank, as well as Rod Blagojevich and Tony Rezko. The ad, which played off popular notions of American mafioso lore (with a dash of the Sopranos thrown in for a laugh) caught the attention of the media, and showed what both Kirk and the NRSC had in mind in terms of the tone of this race.

Tankboy here. I am a huge David Bowie fan, and I've had a longstanding beef with Vanilla Ice ever since seeing him on MTV denying that "Ice Ice Baby" used the same bass line as "Under Pressure." So my head just about exploded when I discovered X Factor protegees Jedward were mashing the two songs together. My blood boiled. My head exploded. And then I found I couldn't stop watching and listening over and over and over again.

Rahm, kicking ass through Andy Samberg.

A new website backed by MSN Money, Citibank, and Morningstar is using data from the U.S. government, from anonymous and aggregated spending transactions from Citi, and from third party data providers, to give users a snapshot of spending data across the United States. Users can look at data by state, county, city, and ZIP code, and can also narrow results down by demographic (age, household status and income). We thought it would interesting to take a look at a (small) selection of ZIP codes in Chicago, on the North, West and South sides of the city.

Light snow coupled with light turnout kicked off the 2010 election season as Illinois closed the first primary of 2010. With the exception of the governors race, the most closely watched races have been settled.

As if you needed another excuse for a beer, Revolution Brewing (2323 N. Milwaukee, 773-227-2739) opens officially in about twenty minutes. The brewpub from Handlebar owner Josh Deth will feature brews from Deth and brewmaster Jim Cibak. The food menu won't be as vegan-friendly as Handlebar's menu; no menu that starts off with bacon fat popcorn can.

And we mean huge. Yesterday, police arrested a Cicero man who 220 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle; the amount has a street value of over $1.5 million. But that's not all they found. The investigation took the officers to a nearby garage at 26th and Kildare where they found 25 kilos of coke (street value: $3.1 million), four pounds of methamphetamine (street value: $600,000), and a 9mm handgun. Herrera wasn't charged with the Scarface-esque coke discovery in the garage and police say the investigation is ongoing. [Tribune]

A tearful Democratic Lt. Governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen announced his withdrawal from the Democratic ticket last night amidst increasing calls for him to remove himself from the ticket. Last week's revelations of Cohen's use of anabolic steroids, allegations of domestic abuse, and owing nine months in back child support payments while he pumped $2 million of his pawnbroker's fortune into his successful primary victory had party leaders fearing Cohen's presence could jeopardize the election chances of Governor Pat Quinn and Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias. Cohen came to his decision after a Friday meeting with State House Michael Madigan, who's also state Democratic Party Chairman. According to the Tribune, Madigan told Cohen "very direct and very frank" way to step down from the ticket. Governor Quinn's office released a statement following Cohen's announcement which read Cohen "made the right decision for the Democratic Party and the people of Illinois. Now we can continue to focus our efforts on putting our economy back on track and working to bring good jobs to Illinois."

It's been a while since we've seen snow fall like this around these parts. A winter storm advisory is in effect until 9 a.m. tomorrow. The National Weather Service is projecting 6-10 inches of snow to fall in that span, and it's gonna fall hard this afternoon and evening. The high temperature? You're looking at it right now at 28°F.

With Scott Lee Cohen now out of the race for Lt. Governor, the question remains: who will replace him? Speculation is already focusing on Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth, who lost a 2006 run at Congress, is apparently a favorite with Gov. Pat Quinn. But what about the other candidates who finished behind Cohen? And what of others interested in the position? Dems are in a delicate position of trying to find someone who can win while not hurting feelings but it seems like things are already getting a bit heated. Per the Tribune:

Settle in, folks, it's gonna be a while. We tracked the main races last night and here were are, the next morning, and one is still too close to call. The race for the Governor's mansion remains heated and while the Dems race is close, the GOP race is deadlocked and a recount seems inevitable.