We mentioned last week President Obama is making a brief return visit to town today to speak to the annual meeting of the American Medical Association House of Delegates. Most pundits see the address as the first in what will be a growing and ongoing tussle over Obama's new health care package. But others, including the Tribune, are focusing more on the cost of Obama's trip home than what he has to say to the AMA. President Obama won't stay long, flying back to D.C. later this afternoon after making his appearance. According to the Tribune, the cost of the round-trip on Air Force One will cost around $236,000. And, as the Trib points out, "that does not include such expenses as Secret Service protection, motorcades and helicopter transports." It's believed that Obama will travel by helicopter from O'Hare to a location close to the hotel where he'll be speaking so as not to completely snarl traffic. Of course, buried in the Trib story are concessions that Obama's trips to Chicago are much shorter - and thereby cheaper - than trips taken by previous presidents to their home bases. 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 ›