On Tuesday a federal judge approved a $24.8 million deal which allows Pennsylvania-based Snyder's of Hanover to buy Jays Potato chips. The deal brings closure to the local potato chip icon's second Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in four years and speculation that a deal with Snyder's would even be allowed because of the bankruptcy filing. As part of the fallout of the deal, Jays' longtime production facility on the far south side closed yesterday, leaving......

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The Reeling Film Festival is in its last days, but there's still time to catch what's sure to be one of the most fascinating movies in the program. Quearborn & Perversion, a new documentary by Columbia College alum Ron Pajak, tells stories of lesbian/gay Chicago life spanning the years 1924-1974. It's surely a beautiful irony of history: what is today the epicenter of the Viagra Triangle was, in the 50's, the epicenter of gay life;......

LAist began the month with a new food series exploring the popular and unknown late night eats around town. If a Top Chef winner opened up a late night spot in Los Angeles, denizens would flock it, yet the LA Times and other media might be wary. Turning to sports, the Dodger season was quite memorable in the way that it imploded and the LA County Sheriff's Department made some games of their own......

We recently heard a joke of an urban legend, stating that women who swim in Lake Michigan get mysteriously pregnant. Obviously a falsehood, but just the thought of those words being even half true have made us even less likely to go for a dive in the not-so-pristine waters of our beaches' shores. That said, we love taking a stroll along the paths of the lake, getting in a bit of exercise and enjoying......

That Mayor Daley. What a guy! When he isn't busy saving us from being the next Detroit, he's addressing the media with frustration and consternation. After a 48 - 0 vote in the council yesterday, Daley's plan to divorce the Office of Professional Standards from the Police Department was approved. As part of his new plan to "restore public confidence", Da Mare will be bringing Los Angeles attorney Ilana B.R. Rosenzweig in to be the......

This is not a fun time to be a baseball fan in Chicago. Whether a White Sox or Cubs fan, you no doubt have that sinking feeling about your team's prospects for the postseason after they were swept this week. The Cubs lost 9-0 to the Florida Marlins on Wednesday, following a day full of meetings. The players held one. So did management. Didn't help, at least on Wednesday. The players felt they needed to......

We've only cried twice at rock shows. Once was when the Flaming Lips opened for Beck, and something about "Lightning Strikes The Postman" (was it the strobes? the bullhorn? the crowd's empathic explosion? we don't know) caused our tear ducts to let loose and lose control. The other time was Friday's Arcade Fire show at the Chicago Theatre, as we were surrounded by as unlikely a crowd as we ever expected to see rejoicing in......

While thumbing through the morning paper, we couldn't help but chuckle (read: guffaw) at the Tribune headline, "Streeterville relic - history or just junk?" Apparently, while some dude was toolin' around under the corner of Illinois St. and McClurg Court, he found an anchor that he joked probably belonged to Captain George Streeter. He researched the anchor for fun and found, to his surprise, that there was a distinct possibility it may have actually belonged......

McDonald's espresso for everyone! G-Rod proposing a new payroll tax. Two U of I football players caught stealing laptops. Ben Gordon drops 48 points on the Bucks, still not the game's top scorer. Speed skater Shani Davis breaks his own world record. Do you have State Farm auto insurance? You could be getting a $25 dividend on your policy. Pritzkers selling Presidential Towers. Was it the bed bugs? "Fire & Ice" via e.q.......

While the Bears have known for weeks now that they'd be hosting their first playoff game, they finally know their opponent. The Bears will host the Seattle Seahawks at noon on Sunday following Seattle's miracle win over the Dallas Cowboys. When the Bears and Seahawks faced off in Week 4, Chicagoist was jumping off our couch in excitement as the Bears trounced the 'Hawks 37-6. But does that October win give any indication of how......

Here's something to waste your time, and the remaining good areas of your livers, without getting Trivial Pursuit answers wrong. The premise of "365-Beer" is a simple one: participants attempt to drink 365 different beers in 365 days. For those of us with some common sense, there are lower targets available. Every beer logged then enters a larger database, giving participants an idea of the range and scope of breweries that they may have......

In an unusual move yesterday, a federal judge allowed convicted former Governor George Ryan to remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction on charges of corruption while in office. He has already been stripped of his pension. While we here at Chicagoist happily applaud the efforts of anyone fighting corruption in our political system, we think that really there are no winners in this case. A family lost six children, a trucker lost......

After being sent back to the drawing board following its proposed dual-stadium opening ceremonies, the group organizing Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics have unveiled their revised stadium plan. Rather than a temporary stadium immediately south of Soldier Field, the new proposal calls for a stadium to be built in Washington Park, just west of the University of Chicago on the city's South Side. This plan seems to make a lot more sense.......

College football season kicks off this weekend, and that means that across the city, fans will be flocking to countless bars to watch their favorite teams. Chicago is second to none when it comes to its school pride, as nearly every sports bar and neighborhood tap affiliates itself with some college team -- at least in Lincoln Park and Lakeview. If you're trying to find the hideout for a particular school, keep your eyes peeled......

While Chicago will never become a Tigers town, for this weekend anyway it could become a Tiger town. As in Woods. Tiger Woods joins dozens of other PGA golfers in town this week, as the Medinah Country Club in suburban Medina, IL plays host to this year's PGA Championship -- the final of the four major tournaments. This is the first time that Medinah has hosted the PGA Championship since 1999. Coming off his......

Chicagoist is clearly proud of our city. We love showing it off when out-of-town friends and family. vist. And we'd love to see the whole world learn about its beauty, cultural institutions and people. That's why we want to see the summer Olympics come to chicago in 2016. The city learned that it has made the first cut -- competing with two other cities to be chosen as the United State's bid to the Olympic......

The Chicago Yacht Club's 98th annual Race to Mackinac kicks off this Saturday, as about 300 boats set sail up Lake Michigan to Mackinac Island, Michigan. The longest freshwater sailing race in the world, the Chicago - Mackinac Island course covers 333 miles. Chicagoist is often mocked by our colleagues for our "beaches" and "fresh water," as if Lake Michigan is some fishin' hole. But that coastal bias against the Great Lakes has proven......

There haven't been very many highlights at Wrigley this season, other than some of the scenery in the bleachers. Tonight, however, those attending the Cubs-Astros game will have a chance to experience history. The pitching match-up features the Cubs' Greg Maddux going against Roger Clemens, arguably the top two pitchers of a generation. Between them, they have a combined 667 wins and 11 Cy Young awards. Clemens currently has 342 wins and 7 Cy......

Should the White Sox again find themselves in the World Series this October -- and why shouldn't they? -- they now know they'll have home field advantage, on account of the American League's 3-2 victory in last night's All Star Game. It didn't look quite so promising for a while, however. The AL remained down 2-1 entering the 9th inning. Paul Konerko started the rally with a two-out single, before being replaced with a......

Man, what a crazy night at Madison Square Garden for the NBA Draft. As we predicted, there were a flurry of trades -- although mostly just draft picks moving around, along with throw-in future 2nd round picks and the like. The Bulls were among the early traders, drafting Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge, then shipping him to the Portland Trailblazers in return for Tyrus Thomas (picked 4th) and third year player Viktor Khryapa. Later in the......

Throughout Spring Training, the discussions concerning our two baseball teams' pitching staffs took decidedly differing tones. While Sox fans relished a rotation that was likely the best in baseball with 5 pitchers capable of winning 15 games, Cubs fans worried themselves with the health of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, and a rotation anchored by a rapidly fading legend. Things haven't gone exactly as most expected. Sure, the White Sox rotation has been extremely......

The winter sports doldrums from which Chicagoist has suffered since the Super Bowl are almost over. Sunday's announcement of the NCAA Tournament field kick off the beginning of the new sports season, as college basketball leads us into baseball, which leads us back into football. Illinois is represented by three teams in the field of 65. Southern Illinois made the field as an 11th seed after winning the Missouri Valley Conference. Bradley is a......

If grandma, a teenage boy and a sports fan all joined forces to decorate a bar, the result would be Bridget McNeill’s . Travel through the sliding doors of the Bel Harbor condominiums at 420 W. Belmont. Go straight and you’ll find yourself in the condo's lobby, but hook a left and the world Bridget McNeill’s lays before you. Calling itself an Irish pub, Bridget McNeill’s boasts some of the most eclectic décor in the......

Construction began on Block 37 in November, but it was still uncertain as to who would be filling the space. CBS 2 confirmed it was headed there and the CTA was building an underground station for express lines to the airports, but other than that, no solid plans. Now we know that Morningstar has signed a 15-year lease with The Mills Corp. (the Block 37 developer) for office space. Morningstar will occupy 210,000 square......

At halftime of tonight's Bulls-Lakers game, the Bulls will retire Scottie Pippen’s Number 33, raising it to the rafters among those of other Bulls greats. In attendance at the ceremony will be Michael Jordan and former coach Phil Jackson among others who played along side Pip during his 12 years with the Bulls. Overshadowed by MJ during most of his tenure with the Bulls, Scottie Pippen nonetheless established himself as one of the greats......

The Bears came into this weekend with a surprising 6-3 record, which placed them atop the NFC North. But the division and the Bears schedule in general was pretty weak through the first 9 games of the seaon. The Bears wins came against the likes of the New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions. Lots of questions remained about how the team would fare when opposing one of the league's top......

So a bunch of Jews and Indians decide to play some football... Yeah, kind of sounds like the set up for a joke (and there are plenty about this game on Fark). But in suburban Skokie, it's an annual tradition. The Indo Jew Bowl started out as a way for a tight-knit bunch of Niles North High School grads to catch up during the Thanksgiving weekend, by facing off in a friendly game of......

Chicagoist is more than a little bleary eyed this morning and we're having trouble not falling asleep at our desk despite 40oz. of coffee and counting. The White Sox and Astros kept us awake for way too long last night playing the longest game in World Series history. The game clocked in at 5 hours 41 minutes and spanned 14 innings, but the White Sox ultimately prevailed 7-5. The Astros jumped out to a......

Chicagoist thought the cold and wet weather forecast might give the Sox an edge in this weekend's World Series games. How often does Houston deal with 45 degrees or rain inside their retractable roof stadium? And the hail that fell prior to each game? Maybe Hell really has frozen over! That positive premonition was right, as the White Sox won both games at the Cell this weekend! They took Game 1 5-3 Saturday night......