Results tagged “alert”

We got some tips from readers of major delays on the Blue Line. The Trib is reporting a person was struck by a train and killed this afternoon at the Monroe station, leading to trains operating on a single track between Grand and Racine while bypassing the Monroe stop altogether.

• Legendary Chicago architect John Holabird passed away yesterday at the age of 88.
• Our pal Justin Kaufmann over at WBEZ's blog has a copy of Cook County Clerk David Orr's alleged open letter to Sen. Burris calling for Burris to resign.
• Like it or not, President Obama signed off on the $787 billion stimulus package today.

Work on the CTA Red and Blue Lines is happening this week, so be sure to plan accordingly. Work on the Sheridan Red Line stop will change where passengers will board and exit trains; the work will be from Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. As for the Blue Line, trains will run on a single track between Rosemont and O'Hare from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m., starting tonight and finishing Friday morning, to continue work on eliminating slow zones.

We thought we'd been hearing jugbands downtown recently, and now we know we have: River otters are making a comeback in Chicago waterways. According to the Chris Anchor, chief biologist for Cook County (jobs we didn't know existed: that one), "Almost all the watersheds in Cook County have otters. They're everywhere...there's definitely otters downtown." No one's sure exactly why the otters have re-emerged, but the Brookfield Zoo and Forest Preserve District will be tagging...

Northern Illinois University is closed today after police found racist threats written on a wall in a women's bathroom Saturday night. According to the university's website, Written in black ink on a restroom wall in the Grant Towers D complex were two separate entries claiming that “things will change most hastily” in the final days of the current semester. “Tell those n---ers to go home,” the first entry reads. “ME / OUT … Die...

The Holiday season is in full swing in NYC, with holiday lights in Brooklyn, a giant snow globe in Bryan Park and Chanukah specials for ham. One citizen decided to go vigilante on annoying car alarms, a murder suspect used a fake Asian accent on the stand and a video of a man being beaten up by teenage girls on a subway shocked the city. And we interviewed soon-to-be-leaving-Gawker editor Choire Sicha, who said,...

'Tis the season for free champagne tastings. Get started tonight at the Artisan Cellar (located on the first floor of the Merchandise Mart) with a sample of some rare bubblies from 4-6 p.m. Learn all about the history of smothered foods from author Wilbert Jones, the author of Smothered Southern Foods. Jones' lecture, "Smothered - Southern Style" is being held Saturday at the Chicago History Museum, sponsored by the Culinary Historians of Chicago. The lecture...

Just when we thought we were going to run out of reality shows to cover, the powers that be keep shoving them upon us. The Amazing Race This Sunday saw the return of the Energizer Bunny of reality series, The Amazing Race. The 12th season premiere had the highest ratings of any other program on Sunday, as 13.8 million viewers tuned in to see 11 teams of globetrotters being shipped off to lovely Shannon, Ireland....

Gone largely unnoticed among the other notable tax increases proposed by His Elective Majesty to plug the gaping hole in his 2K8 budget is the whopping $13.1 million increase to the liquor tax. The proposed increase will add 8¢ to a six-pack of beer, 7¢ to a bottle of wine, and 24¢ to a liter of hard liquor. Fittingly, this isn't sitting well with the beer wholesaler lobby. The Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois are...

Did you get an e-mail from the CTA a little while ago? Some customers did with a severe weather warning. Dear CTA Customer, This email is to alert you that there is currently severe weather, including heavy rain and high winds, forecasted to reach Chicago during the afternoon and evening rush-hour period today, October 18. It is possible that this severe weather could impact CTA bus and train service. Please take this into account...

We have an idea for how to end unemployment in this town forever. Just introduce everyone to Todd Stroger. He's still a big fan of hooking his pals up with jobs, like Patty Young, girlfriend of Stroger buddy Commissioner William Beavers. Once the Sun Times started sniffing around, Young left her spot in the county purchasing department. Are Illinois's state tests too easy? Depends who you ask. Lance Briggs pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor...

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King and appreciated their beautiful skyline. Chicagoist knows what it's like to like the Cubs. But naming your kid Wrigley Fields? At least they can breathe a little easier now that Grossman's out...

Here's what happened while a punk rock choir distracted us from Doomsday: Fall arts season preview season is here. If you didn’t pick up a Reader over the weekend, you can still bookmark their A & E preview online. The Trib’s writers chose their 10 most promising in theater, art, dance, music (rock and otherwise), comedy and architecture. The Bright One previews Broadway in Chicago and upcoming rock concerts and CDs (remember those?). New City...

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-A-Verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to. After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked...

Alert: This post is not about Pitchfork. We know you are disappointed. Tonight's show at the Empty Bottle is designed to get us back into club mode — where we watch bands play on small stages in small venues and are able to tie their shoelaces or count their beads of sweat if we want to. To begin, we have Empty Bottle virgins The Sharks, who have been in the middle of quite an upswing...

We've all been there. The bus is packed as it is, asses to elbows to Timbuk2 bags. We're trying not to step on the granny sitting in front of us and trying to convince the proud older man with a cane that we don't want the seat that just opened up (even though we do, we were raised right!). The bus pulls away from the stop with a jerk and a block later, jams...

Thanks for your help, Rod. Blagojevich wants to get rid of the "gift card grinch." It's a loophole that lets your gift card lose its value over time. Police on the Northwest Side have issued a community alert for a suspect in two attempted sexual assaults -- One on a 16-year-old girl, in the 3100 block of north Sawyer about 11 p.m. Sunday; the other a 23-year-old woman near the 3000 block of north...

In a series of minor news announcements yesterday, some of the city's dirty laundry was hung out to air. Although criticized for not being independent enough, the new Office of Professional Standards cleared it's first legislative hurdle on Monday, passing the City Council’s Police Committee. OPS would go further than just investigating incidents where a firearm is discharged. The new director would have broader powers to subpoena and be free to investigate allegations of verbal...

In a press conference earlier this morning, Daley announced that Cortez Trotter has resigned. The first and only disaster chief has been in place for just 14 months, but is now leaving for a job in the private sector. The position was created as a response to a lot of things, including the fatal 2003 fire at 69 W. Washington St., the abominable response to Hurricane Katrina and the threat of biological warfare or an...

We meet with liquor or wine company reps every week, so our palate gets a good workout. Occasionally these salespeople have marketing reps from specific brands' or spirits' holding companies in tow trying to sell us on the hot drink of the moment that the Parises, Britneys and Lindsays of the world — and their lemming-like cults of personality — are abusing while advertising the handiwork of their Brazilians getting out of cars. We'll invariably...

We know this is blasphemous and all, but we've gotten a little tired of hearing about global warming lately. Each passing day bombards us with another article about switching incandescent lightbulbs for the ones laced with mercury that can be disposed of as easily as, say, batteries, another "green issue" of Jane or Bop or whatever and another quote about the dire situation from a presidential candidate, we're terribly sorry, probably don't even recycle. That's...

Somebody alert the IOC – Chicago’s got another feather in its civic entertainment cap, but did anyone here even notice? Last week at the Winter Music Conference in Miami, the South by Sundance Break of the club and electronic music world, our very own SmartBar collected the 2007 Club World Awards honor for “Best Club.” Guess that winter makeover really paid off, as Club Awards representative Kerri Mason put it: “When SmartBar revealed its new...

The good news: Metra posted a single-year ridership record with approximately 80 million passengers. This was partly due to construction on the Dan Ryan, expanded rail service, and high gas prices. Amtrak also rang in with a 69 percent increase on expanded routes between Chicago and St. Louis, Carbondale and Quincy. The Chicago-to-St. Louis line showed a 95 percent increase in riders for last quarter over the same period last year. The news: The Regional...

Let's wrap up the weekend and get our snack & drink on for that Bears game! An Amber Alert was put out Saturday for four children from Elkhart, Indiana. Their father, 30-year-old Jerry D. White, abducted them and their mother, Kimberly Walker, who is White's ex-girlfriend. Authorities believe White may be headed for Chicago; he used to live here and still has relatives here. Two cars connected to the kidnapped have been found, but with...

After taking time out to witness the Bears' crushing defeat intense victory, we bring you this weekend's blotter: Two more workers were slain at a Burger King downstate. Pam Branka, 46, and Paul "P.J." Jones, 50, were found dead early Saturday morning in Momence, IL, both victims of an apparent armed robbery. No cash was taken from the registers, but blood was found near the safe. The murders call to mind Mary Hutchison's homicide in...

Will County is getting its first female black judge. A third of the shares in Jimmy John's has been sold to a San Francisco-based firm. Funds are to be used to do a national rollout. Thoughts? Ohio-based Wendy's is selling a lot of double-melt cheeseburgers. So much for the eating-healthy trend. Some guy tried to extort Oprah. Nerd Alert: Fermilab is close to discovering the "God Particle," and the U of C is simulating...

This was not a very happy week for the -ist network as one of our own, Phillyist co-editor Star C. Foster, passed away early in the week. Her wit, intelligence, and good nature shone through the site, making Phillyist an immensely fun read. She was loved by many and will be missed by all. Phillyist paid tribute to her this week with a heartfelt letter to her and an obituary. And now, the awkward...

In what seems worthy of its own Scooby Doo episode, an alert snow plow driver helped bust a crime ring that may have been responsible for up to 50 burglaries in the western suburbs, and in the process helped save Christmas for a bunch of strippers. A good samaritan was plowing snow in the parking lot outside of a business in Sandwich and spotted tracks that weren't there before, so he called its owner, eventually...

What a great week for indie-pop. We are seriously psyched to revisit some old favorites while experiencing some newer friends for the first time. Robbers on High Street have garnered a lot of buzz, and while their latest digital-only EP is not an entirely convincing justification for their acclaim, it’s certainly strong enough to pique our curiosity. Expect Subterranean to be pretty crowded as everyone tries to discern whether these cats have the legs to...

Chicagoist reader Big Bad Bob tipped us off to some 4Info.net billboards that have popped up around town. The current billboards are encouraging readers to text Bears to 44636. If you do, you will get a text reply message with the most recent Bears score in addition to a few additional pro or college football results. You are not limited to texting "Bears" to that number. The service offered by 4Info.net include sports scores (Txt...