Make your own Obama logo. This isn't an endorsement. Think of this more as a challenge. Get creative. more ›

After months of spying and accounts of shooting around town, Bravo finally announced the contestants for the next season of "Top Chef" today (you can read the release here). While the lineup of chefs vying to impress Padma and company are largely from the coasts, three of the contestants have Chicago ties: 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 ›

Behold: An unedited video of the Complaints Choir of Chicago. Whee! If anyone knows why the free knife-fighting class for women got flagged and removed from Craigslist, we're dying to know what the deal is. Also dying to take a free knife fighting class, holy hell. A Chicago Police officer caught a little girl who was thrown out of the window of a burning house today, cartoon-style. The girl, her mother and her brother... more ›

Is it just us, or does it seem like there's been a huge increase in the number of missing persons stories? This can't all be the Sun-Times' doing, right? A Chicago Heights woman has been missing since Sunday afternoon. Alma Mendez went jogging in the forest preserve in South Chicago Heights and hasn't been heard from since. The Southtown says Mendez is 5 foot 4, but the Trib says she's 4 foot 11. If you've... more ›

A dog named Miss Pickles was rescued from the Chicago River last night. Miss Pickles's owner Claude was walking her and his three other pooches—yes, on leashes, according to reports—near Chicago and Halsted when Miss Pickles, a bullmastiff, started chasing a rat. She wound up running right into the water, so Claude called 911. After falling in the water, Miss Pickles began to paddle eastbound underneath the bridge, before heading north around the Goose Island... more ›

As the week winds down, here are some things of note while we go out and find a fuck lion. Mayor Daley presses Springfield to approve a sales tax increase for the Chicago area to stave off the proposed Doomsday scenarios of CTA and Pace. Bank of America’s pending acquisition of LaSalle Bank could cost the metropolitan Chicago area over 10,000 jobs over the next two years when completed. Chicago Public School teachers voted... more ›

Edward Kearns spent Father's Day in jail Sunday. Kearns, who owes more than $112,000 in child support for three kids, was among 130 deadbeat dads who were arrested by Cook County Sheriff's Police during a week-long "Operation Father's Pay." Pretty bizarre: An off-duty Chicago police officer has been found dead in a gangway near his home in Pilsen; They think he possibly fell off his deck. Businesses are making way for Barney's and those... more ›

A Chicago Police officer pleaded not guilty Wednesday to new charges alleging that he and two other officers from the elite Special Operations Section stole $450,000 from a man's South Side home in 2004. A Geneva man is trying to clear his reputation after a nasty prank. Someone mailed out fake flyers to the man's neighbors and co-workers claiming he was a convicted sex offender. Classy. A new exhibit tells how former Japanese internees... more ›

All safety measures appear to have been working when a bicyclist was hit by a Brown Line train on the 4600 block of North Rockwell. Because we don't have enough to worry about -- the idea of a direct rail link from the Gary/Chicago International Airport to downtown Chicago is gaining steam and giving a push to other dormant rail. Those warnings before DVDs are no joke: Federal authorities have charged a Chicago man... more ›

"walk16" via bluekale. more ›

Hey, we just had an idea — don't spray pepper spray in a school filled with young children! (Or, incidentally, at a party filled with drunk college students dressed in 80s fashion; we speak from personal experience.) more ›

Wow. Snow. That's messed up! A virus has killed a bunch of fish in the eastern Great Lakes and it seems to be heading this way. Chicagoland mayors think that the state should pick up more of the bill for public schools. Abbott Labs has more than halved the price of its HIV drug to poor countries. The state wants to get its mitts on some Abe Lincoln artifacts, including a stovepipe hat valued... more ›

After months of speculation that the Cubs might be put up for sale as part of a restructuring or sale of Tribune Co., almost immediately after the board's approval of Chicago billionaire Sam Zell's offer, news came that the team would in fact be sold. Now the handicapping can begin on who the new owner will be. There has certainly been no shortage of potential bidders mentioned. Of course, that was before the Cubs went... more ›

Playing a little catch-up this week after our first round of reader contributions. There's no overriding theme this time other than a general lack of foresight. To paraphrase Gov. Rod's campaign commercials, "What were they thinking?" The municipal elections offered their fair share of the ridiculous. We'd like to thank Arenda Troutman, the campaign volunteers in the 16th and 24th wards, and supporters of Bernard Stone for their special contributions. (Thanks Jerry) A Chicago man... more ›

Wikipedia has truly grown into the little public encyclopedia that could. After six years of existence, the collaborative site has a myriad number of articles in 250 languages and is one of the top information destinations on the Web. Chicagoist swears by it ourselves, often using it as a research hub for unexplored subjects or to expound on facts and trivia we already knew. But using Wikipedia as cold, hard fact in a legal sense?... more ›

Last night a bevy of Chicagoistas were at Schuba’s for the Tomorrow Never Knows mid-winter fest. There were about an equal number of bands. TNK is giving us those hardworking bands, like minor leaguers, who are practicing the fundamentals in the hopes of one day making the big time. Starting the night off were Eagle Seagull out of Lincoln, Nebraska. They have been likened to Arcade Fire and those comparisons are dead on. As we... more ›

Blago's office is being sued to release any subpoenas related to corruption. The Chicago Department of Human Survices (CDHS) needs volunteers to help them conduct a one night, point-in-time count of the homeless in shelters and on the street on January 25, 2007 from 9PM to 2AM. For more information or to volunteer, Dominique Bell at 312-742-1552 or DH0608@cityofchicago.org. A Chicago woman is suing for court costs after she was robbed by a police... more ›

"Festive Geese" via speedy1469. more ›

Streets around 2 East Randolph are closed after a pedestrian was hit by concrete falling off the building after 4 p.m. A Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman did not know the woman’s condition. She did say no one has been taken to the hospital. A pedestrian was injured this afternoon when she was hit by concrete falling off a building under construction in the Loop, a Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman said. Concrete is reportedly falling from... more ›

A Chicago judge dismissed a lawsuit against online ad service Craigslist, filed by the lengthily-named Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law because of discriminatory rental ads. more ›

How many cops does it take to bust into a house and shoot a couple of dogs? 30? A Chicago man apologized for spreading his shit (literally!) around a courtroom during his trial. The Chicago teacher's union doesn't want public funds to be used for an online school. Remember those storms we had a few days ago? Some people still do not have power. It's Chicago's biggest blackout in 3 years. Mayor Daley announced... more ›

What is it that drives people to be stupid? It’s something Chicagoist often wonders about. Perhaps stupid comes from the same place that drives the rest of humanity to do more productive, or at least less illegal, things – family, fortune, fame, hormones. Maybe the road to stupid is paved with good intentions. After all, it’s a pretty heavily traveled road, and traffic can make anyone crazy. A couple from north suburban Winthrop Harbor faces... more ›

If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that stupid is an equal opportunity employer. Stupid doesn’t care how old you are, where you live or how much money is in your bank account. Stupid comes in all shapes and sizes. more ›

Things sure have changed since Chicagoist was a kid. In our day, creepy old men tried to lure children with candy and, later, booze and cigarettes. more ›

Chicagoist is a big believer in human rights. In fact, we think us humans should have more rights. For one, every living soul should have the right to visit Wisconsin Dells at least once and bask in its wonderful tackiness. Two, everyone should have the right to walk on a sidewalk without falling through giant holes. We're frivolous like that. Lastly, one should be able to go through life without looking like a celebrity because, really, what kind of life could that possibly be? more ›

This week was a little light on the stupid, but we know it’s just because you’re saving it all up for the big holiday weekend. Grills, beer, fireworks – the possibilities are endless. No, seriously, we want you to be safe and commit no crazy crimes. Really, we do. more ›

We’ll admit, you had us a little worried last week, people. But you met our challenge head on and brought your stupid A game this week. We knew you had it in you. more ›

Over a hundred people who ate at the Drake last weekend got sick from food contaminated with a norovirus that caused both technicolor yawning and Hershey squirting. Double whammy! The Shubert Theater is getting redone and then it will become the LaSalle Bank Theater. Wonder who's footing the bill for that makeover. Did you know that the firefighter sliding pole was invented in Chicago? And also that the snorkel was invented here? A group... more ›

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