Shortly after 6 p.m. local CDT yesterday, another hydrogen explosion was reported from the Fukushima Dai-ichi in Japan, which was ravaged by last week's magnitude 9.0 earthquake. The radiation leaking from the plant has now reached levels dangerous enough that Japanese officials have ordered 140,000 residents near the plant to seal themselves indoors. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in a nationally televised statement that radiation had spread. Plant officials told the International Atomic Energy Agency the radiation was coming from a reactor fire in a storage pond and that radiation was being released directly into the atmosphere. That pool, which is used to cool spent nuclear fuel, may be boiling. more ›

As Japanese citizens are digging out from the wreckage caused by yesterday's 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, local Japanese Americans are awaiting word from their relatives in Japan to ensure they're alright. more ›

I managed to make my way downtown and back yesterday while most of the city collectively huddled under their quilt. If you've ever been in the Loop on a major holiday like Christmas Day you know how eerie and silent it can be down there when there's a near-total absence of humanity. That's what it was like yesterday, and the scene on trains and buses (at least from my anecdotal experience) was similarly vacant, and I have to add, pretty smoothly run. I did have to trudge over to Western to shuffle onto a Brown line, but when I got on there, it was fairly smooth sailing all the way to the Loop and back even as the storm refused to slow. more ›

Losing the 2016 Summer Olympic bid was shocking enough to many Chicagoans; coming in last place was a blow to the ego of a city with a chip on its big shoulders. After two years of wrangling, six months of hype, arm-twisting in the city council and literally millions of dollars in private contributions to pull the bid off, Mayor Daley is coming back to Chicago empty handed, and many people (including those inside City Hall) are asking what went wrong. more ›

It's time for the internal rhyme. At midnight. That's right, Metro has announced a special midnight show this Saturday featuring the legendary Rakim, with support from Chicago outfits Primeridian, Que B.I.L.L.A.H., and DJ Intel. more ›