Results tagged “affairs”

Sure, you may be hungry like the wolf for the Duran Duran show tonight (get it? Hungry like the wolf? Duran Duran? No? Nothing?), but the big show we're excited about this weekend is taking place at The Metro Saturday night. Hip-hop legends The Wu-Tang Clan hit the stage in support of their new record, The 8 Diagrams, their first record since 2001's Iron Flag and since the 2004 death of ubiquitous member Ol' Dirty Bastard (RIP).

In the mood for a beer and debate about the war tonight? Considering some of our comment threads on politics, we thought so.

Looks like we're not the only ones with a case of the Mondays: Things aren't looking so great for Blagojevich today, either. Over the weekend, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn blamed Blago for the firing of 17 veterans from security jobs within the Illinois Department of Military Affairs. "The governor proclaimed this 'Hire a Veteran Month.' He didn't say 'Fire a Veteran,'" said Quinn. All together now: Oh, snap! Blagojevich says it's a matter of federal...

Jerome Finnigan, the allegedly corrupt cop at the center of the SOS debacle, is cooperating with authorities by apparently dishing on his higher-ups. Finnigan faces a series of kidnapping, home invasion and robbery accusations, plus he's been indicted on murder-for-hire charges.

Where Do Cows Go to Retire?

As part of the old Brach's legacy was being blown up for Batman, intentionally causing a blaze, there have been several other fire related bits in the news as well. The police Bomb and Arson Section and Chicago Fire Department are conducting an ongoing investigation of a warehouse fire that started Thursday night in Bridgeport. Just before 10 p.m., a fire was reported at a building near Halsted and 36th Streets in the 3600 block...

The anger North Lawndale residents are feeling over the killing of 18-year-old Aaron Harrison by police is not going away. At least not as long as activists help them keep the heat on the Chicago Police Department. Nearly 50 protesters disrupted last night's Police board meeting at police headquarters at 35th and Michigan, leading the board and interim police superintendent Dana Starks to adjourn the meeting after 15 minutes, saying that the protesters "harassed" them....

The Chicago Tribune reported on Friday that the 11,000 people who drive taxi cabs in Chicago are considering organizing a union. Based on the organizing model that led to the successful Taxi Workers Alliance in New York City, organizers here are hoping to duplicate those achievements here in Chicago as well. As the price of gasoline has soared, taxi drivers have been hit hardest on their bottom line - take home income. Cab drivers have...

Once in a great while, Chicagoist has one of those moments of social and moral awareness that we like to call “maturity,” when we take a quick glance outside of ourselves and think about how our lives could be different under less auspicious circumstances. Not to get too existential on your asses this fine Friday morning, but there’s a big world out there, and sometimes it’s not a bad idea to take a peek. Luckily you can do it from the comfort of a neighborhood bar, thanks to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ GOAt (Globally Occupied Attention) series.

According to an unnamed "top official," the Sun-Times reported yesterday that Wal-Mart is prepared to build as many as five South Side supercenters in six to twelve months, maybe sooner, but is also scouting sites in neighboring wards in case local aldermen resist. "We're making an active effort to speak with [the local] aldermen. We can't move forward without them. If it is proven in the near future they're not interested — maybe they don't...

We took a break from our Dungeons and Dragons to check out the competitive gaming taking place at the Chicago Cultural Center this weekend, which played host to the 2007 U.S. Open. We’re not talking about tennis here. We’re talking about the Rubik’s Cube Championship, where the winner of the 3x3x3 Speed Solve gets an all-expense-paid trip to the 2007 World Rubik’s Cube Championship in Budapest. The competition was was sanctioned by the World Cube...

Although the week is shorter, that doesn't mean that there hasn't been political news out there to round up! This week, we're making a special dedication to Chicagoist's favorite bad guy, the man that makes us the national butt of every political joke in town, the guy that represents everything that is wrong with our local political system, Todd "The Toddler" Stroger. Without further ado, let's take a gander at his follies and foibles, and...

There may be no visual aids to prove how sad we all get when we close the fortieth day with no sun in Chicago. Still, we don't think anyone will argue that our long, drawn-out winters are what makes summer in this city so brilliant—which is why we're wearing shorts when its 50 degrees and throwing open our windows when its 55.

By now it comes as no surprise to followers of politics that one of the most valuable assets in Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign is his wife Michelle. Her demeanor, accessibility and professional pedigree are invaluable to her husband's aspirations. As the Senator's campaign has shifted into higher gear, Mrs. Obama has gradually trained her energies on helping her husband win the Democratic nomination next year. She's taken a leave of absence from her job as Vice President for Community and External Affairs for the University of Chicago Hospitals. But it was her resignation from the board of directors at Treehouse Foods yesterday that may help her husband further in the campaign.

"spring" via ten-nine.

Rep. Bobby Rush and two co-sponsors introduced a bill to the U.S. House of Representatives in January that would allow groups to hand out condoms to inmates. The Tribune reports that inmates are 5 times more likely to contract HIV than others. A similar bill was struck down by an Illinois State House committee 6-5 on Thursday, leaving the controversial and unpopular issue in the hands of the U.S. Senate. The AIDS foundation of Chicago,...

If you're looking for a quick way to score an easy 20% on the AlderTrack Challenge, here's your crib sheet. Yesterday we told you about five of the ten aldermen who, through luck, the will of the community, or (more likely) legal wrangling, have the political good fortune of running unopposed. Today, let's take a look at the rest of the bunch. Much has been written about how Alderman Mary Ann Smith skillfully removed her...

You remember back in November, when the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce announced that it was going to develop some clout of its own. Claiming that they wanted to make sure they could protect their interests and take out aldermen that threatened those interests, they had announced that they were going to build their own political machine, including having employees of their members canvass neighborhoods. Now it seems that the ghost of corruption past has found...

Although it's pretty much a given that Daley will coast to re-election at the end of next month, by no means does it mean that his time is office has been an unmitigated success. In a report card scheduled to be issued today by a coalition of interest groups and local activists called "Developing Government Accountability to the People," Daley received low grades in many areas, including economic development, transportation, education, criminal justice and ethics....

Though I’m a staunch defender of Chicagoist’s editorial we, and abhor anything that smacks of grandstanding, I’m also not without an ego. So permit me a brief indulgence as (per precedent) I take a moment to rock some first-person singular and say goodbye.

Greg Kot drops two scoops in today's Tribune. The Pitchfork Music Festival will return to Chicago's Union Park July 14th and 15th. In addition, Girl Talk will be on the bill. As someone on the Sound Opinions message board said: "Finally, a Girl Talk show I can get into." Girl Talk last appeared in Chicago for a much-anticipated, much-talked about New Year's Eve show at Empty Bottle. Last year's Pitchfork Music Festival was a first...

Tonight, Detectives Green and Cassady (oh, how we wish it was still Briscoe or Fontana) investigate the twisted case of fallen U.S. Marshal John Thomas Ambrose. Ambrose was tracked down by FBI agents in connection with a deadly case involving brotherhood, the Chicago mob, the witness protection program, the Marquette 10, and that most dire of elements: murder.

Are you an artist? Do you really wish you could be one? Do you want the City to give you some money so you can quit your crappy job waiting tables and make "art" all day? Well good news! Artists in all disciplines can apply now for grants of up to $1,000 through the Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP) for the year 2007 for professional, artistic, and organizational development projects. Information on where to get applications, as well as where the City is holding workshops on how to make the most of your application can be found here. Workshops start Jan 4, and go through the 22nd, so make sure you cover that dinner shift!

After playing the part of the stern nanny to the entire city of Chicago for most of last year, the City Council is making it easier to booze it up over the holidays. The Daily Southtown reports that businesses throughout Chicago will be allowed to start selling alcohol at 8 a.m. on Christmas and New Year’s eves. Both holidays fall on a Sunday this year, a day when alcohol sales are prohibited before 11 a.m....

It is that time of year again. Lights go up on the houses, department stores start making money, presents are picked out, wrapped, and then returned on the 26th. In other words, the holidays have arrived, which bring with them one additional bundle of joy (besides baby Jesus): The office holiday party!

Chicagoist's grandfather loves telling this joke: When is a door not a door? When it's ajar!

Besides appointing Tammy Duckworth to the state Department of Veteran's Affairs, Rod Blagojevich has made the news again recently for some other, not-so-sexy reasons lately, too. Blago gave the boot to two East Coast law firms that had made large donations to the Governor. A third firm had been removed from the state's list of preferred law firms in May. The Sun-Times is reporting that the preferred list kept by the state (which is a...

Yee Haw, Pardner! We got us a whole mess 'a turkeys to rustle up here, so let's get these doggies rollin'! Chicago taxpayers are footing the bill for legal representation of witnesses in the Hired Truck Scandal to the tune of $595,080, for witnesses alone! This number only covers the cost of witnesses that weren't implicated in the scandal. The largest portion of this bill, $210,717, went to a single law firm that used to...

Chicagoist hasn't been shy about our skepticism of an Obama run in 2008 for the White House. Besides the incredibly arduous task that overcoming his very real lack of experience, the amount of mud that will be slung is considerable; we believe that Tony Rezko is only the beginning. Add that to his public commitment to serve his full term in the Senate, and the table is set to attack the junior Senator from Illinois....

With its brand new capitalist outlook — don't tell them that's what it is — China is gobbling up shares of American investments at a "torrid pace" (the Trib's $5 word for the day). Where in the past businesses would have run at a steady pace away from the behemoth country, most are now scrambling to make sure Chinese investors are watching them, and Chicago's are no exception. World Business Chicago and the Chicago Council...