The military's Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) policy on openly gay and lesbian employees again feels increasingly subjective and complicated, if ridiculous, judging on the Air Force's recent decision to discharge Lt. Robin R. Chaurasiya, a lesbian officer from Chicago. more ›

More details are emerging about the Tinley Park murders from this weekend. In addition to the five women who died, one woman was shot but survived and gave police a description of the gunman, who is still at large. Lane Bryant is offering $50,000 reward for information that leads to the shooter's arrest. more ›

Sunday's Chicago Air & Water Show was canceled midway through the show due to deteriorating weather conditions. The show began during a light rain at 11am but as the day progressed, more rain came in and the visibility and cloud ceiling diminished to the point that officials canceled the show for safety’s sake. Attendees on Sunday were able to see some acts, including the U.S. Army Golden Knights, Aeroshell, the F-15 Strike Eagle Demonstration team... more ›

The most popular museum in the world is the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., which sees nearly 9 million visitors come through its doors each year. So it is no surprise that Chicago's Annual Air & Water Show is the largest two-day spectator event in the United States, with audience numbers reaching nearly 2.5 million. The free annual event is back for its 49th edition and has a great line-up ready to... more ›

NPR Host Peter Sagal — Again
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The Pentagon confirmed last week that in the mid-90s, they had considered developing a “gay bomb.” The Air Force’s Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio (of course, Ohio), had proposed developing an aphrodisiac so strong, it would incapacitate the enemy troops by making them more interested in making love with each other, not war. The implication that an army of men could turn gay under the power of a pheromone or some other chemical alteration was... more ›

The DePaul Blue Demons (20-13) are flying high after defeating Kansas State 70-65 last night in the second round of the NIT tournament. The Blue Demons were led by Wilson Chandler and Sammy Mejia, each netting 18 points en route to the victory. But the Blue Demons have their work cut out for them as they are being targeted by the number one seeded team in the West Region, the Air Force Falcons. Air Force... more ›

This isn't a local story, but nothing, and we mean nothing, can top the strange case of astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak. She was arrested Monday at Orlando International Airport after attacking Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, who she thought was trying to steal her would-be boyfriend and fellow astronaut, Cmdr. William Oefelein. Aren't astronauts supposed to be our best and brightest? This makes that episode of the Simpsons where Barney lays off the sauce and... more ›

Chicagoist enjoys getting inverted so when the opportunity came about to check out an advance screening of the award-winning IMAX Film, Fighter Pilot Operation Red Flag, that debuts in Chicago this Friday, we jumped on it. The movie follows Captain John "Otter Stratton", pilot of a U.S. Air Force F-15, through his experience at the Red Flag Training program at Nellis Air Force Base outside of Las Vegas. Red Flag is a two-week, realistic combat... more ›

Unless you've been under a rock, or a piece of a plane, you probably heard that part of a cargo plane headed for Midway fell into a woman's bedroom at her home on the 5100 block of South Tripp. more ›

The Sun-Times is reporting that one of Chicago's own will be heading out to space for twelve days next week on the Discovery. The lucky astronaut is one Joan Higginbotham, a South Side native who will be the third African American woman to take a trip out there. The launch is planned for December 7. We've wanted to be an astronaut since watching Space Camp back in the Eighties. We never got around to joining... more ›

The Northern Illinois Huskies have accepted a bid to the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. This bowl holds the honor of being the first bowl game of the year in addition having the longest and most ridiculous name of any bowl. The NIU Huskies will take on the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs on December 19 at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium. Although the Huskies lost five games during the 2006 campaign, four of... more ›

Chicagoist has been watching Geoffrey Baer’s tours on Channel 11 for a while now, but when we sat down to preview his latest tour of the Fox River Valley and Chain O’ Lakes, we weren’t sure what to expect. We haven’t spent much time in this area, and we weren’t sure we cared much about it. But, true to form, Baer kept us interested all the way from the rowdy Blarney Island bar to Mies... more ›

Yesterday's Bonoprah event at the Michigan Avenue Gap might have been a bust, but it won't be the last time Chicagoans will be seeing red. The talk show queen and the world's rockingest philanthropist were supposed to appear yesterday as part of the Product Red campaign, which involves a number of big-name brands organized to fight AIDS in Africa. Along with Gap's new line of Red t-shirts, Motorola introduced a new red Razr phone, and... more ›

Pretty soon you'll have to empty out your backpack and wipe all the C4 residue off your clothes before you get on the El, because the CTA is deploying more bomb-sniffing dogs. Chicago is one of nine cities receiving additional canine units to patrol mass-transit systems in hopes of preventing bombings like those in Madrid and London. more ›

Do not be alarmed. That loud-ass noise you're hearing.. it's just the annual Air and Water show. The water portion of the show is held along the lakefront between Oak Street Beach and the Fullerton Parkway from 9am to 11am this Saturday and Sunday. Then the air show follows each day from 11am to 4pm. The Air and Water Show is Chicago's most popular event of the summer and is expected to draw more than... more ›

Chicagoist doesn't quite understand why our City Council gets involved with national matters when there's corruption in City Hall and pot holes on Clark. Nonetheless, yesterday they passed a resolution calling on Congress (that'd be the one in Washington, D.C.) to pass The Military Readiness Enhancement Act. The Act would repeal the Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on allowing openly gay and lesbian individuals from serving in the military. The local resolution was introduced... more ›

Over the past few days there have been 2 big, local news stories about a basketball shoes, one tragic, one bizzare. And we're not talking about just any basketball shoes.. we mean the kind that will set you back $100+ and that are endorsed by celebrity basketball stars. First the tragic - Yesterday Eduain Foster, a 19-year-old from Minneapolis, and an unidentified 15-year-old from Calumet City were charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery in... more ›

Imagine, you're caught in an extramarital affair and it becomes public. Urk! Then, because your company's code of conduct bars that sort of behavior, you lose your job. D'oh! And finally, because you run one of the world's biggest aircraft manufacturers, the whole thing is front page news across the world -- including a front-page Wall Street Journal stipple-drawing. Ack! That's the kind of day Harry Stonecipher is having today. Not that he didn't get... more ›