It's been just over a month since Bears running back Cedric Benson was arrested for boating while intoxicated, and now Benson's in trouble with Austin, Texas law enforcement once again -- he was arrested last night and charged with drunk driving and was released from the Travis County jail this morning. Police pulled Benson over after he allegedly ran a red light, and based on the results of a field sobriety test cops hauled him......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music Tonight's Gutter twins show at Metro tonight is easily our most anticipated concert so far this year. The paring of Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli was electrifying when they Lanegan toured with The Twilight Singers last year, but the time the two shared on-stage was far too brief. The group's long-awaited first disc, Saturnalia,......

The Life of Reilly, an adaptation of the late Charles Nelson Reilly’s one-man stage show, is finally screening in Chicago. After making the rounds on the film festival circuit, a limited theatrical release run began last November, hitting Austin, New York City and Washington D.C., and eliciting very positive reviews along the way. Directors Barry Poltermann and Frank Anderson championed the idea for the movie, convinced Reilly to perform his retired stage act a final......

Time to lock and load this week's list of hometown shows, SXSW style. Monday 3/3: Catfish Haven, Brighton, MA, Tall Dark Stranger at the Empty Bottle, 9:00 p.m., FREE! Catfish Haven have the distinction of being the subject of one of our great music debates here on Chicagoist, but offline one constant has always been the loyal following of their frenetic, stomp-along swamp folk throwdowns. Catch one of Chicago's most recognized indie acts for free......

One could be forgiven for the overwhelming feeling that there are just too many disco-dance rock hybrid bands out there. Because, well, there are, and like any other oversaturated genre the majority of groups copping the dance-rock sound are doing so in truly generic fashion. That's why when singular voices rise above the din created by so much mediocrity, the ears prick in grateful alarm. Such is the case with Austin's Ghostland Observatory as......

Photo by RBabiera Michigan Avenue, a new luxury magazine, has set a new launch date: September 17. Dan Uslan, most recently of Where Chicago magazine, was named the publisher today. There's a Where Chicago magazine? Live and learn. [Crain's] A Cook County assistant state's attorney has been charged drug possession. Chad Sabora, who has been an assistant state's attorney since 2005, is accused of having about $50 worth of heroin on him after police......

Forgotten Chicago spotlights three abandoned movie "palaces" they hope make the preservation cut: The Colony Theater on 59th and Kedzie, the Ramova Theater on 35th and Halsted, and the Patio Theater on Irving Park and Austin. "Someone, somewhere, has to come up with the necessary means to save and restore these places," they write. "It would be wonderful if they remained as movie theaters, but just saving the interior space would be great as......

Music: The Jazz Institute of Chicago is sponsoring a jazz guitar summit at Austin Town Hall this evening. Featured performers will be John Moulder, Buddy Fambro, Jeff Parker, and Curtis Robinson. 5610 W. Lake St., 8 p.m. Theater: "How I Spent My Last Night on Earth", playing at DCA Storefront Theater, is a play based on the book of the same name. This funny, fast-paced, fascinating tale will have you laughing in the face of......

SXSW just released their full band list and the number of Chicago bands is really encouraging as far as supporting the national impact of our little scene. It's also a good indicator of just how genre-less Chicago is, since the bands range from punk, hip-hop, pop, math-rock, metal, and good ol' fashioned "college rock." It could haave easily been predicted that bands like OFFICE, The Redwalls, Sybris, and The 1900s were in, but big ups......

An Austin man was killed in a car crash Wednesday, just hours before his home and business went up in flames. James Phillips called 911 yesterday morning from behind the wheel, saying he was having an asthma attack. Around 10:30, he lost control of his Escalade, crashed into a pole and died. Then nine hours later, his barbecue restaurant and catering business Phillips Ribs and his home above the restaurant on 5048 W Chicago Ave......

Photograph of memorial outside Heath Ledger's NYC apartment Gothamist learned that actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his SoHo apartment, cause of death unknown so far (but apparently the masseuse who found him called Mary-Kate Olsen before 911).Bostonist considered sending a link about the Super Bowl, but damn! The New Kids are reuniting!Although Sylvester Stallone is a native of New York City, his Rocky character lets many Philadelphians consider him a native son......

Brooklyn-by-way-of-Boston quartet Via Audio is no stranger to serendipity. A couple of years back, singer Jessica Martins passed Spoon drummer Jim Eno a disc of demos at one of the iconic indie band's Boston shows, and Eno immediately invited the young foursome to record at his studio in Austin. That's a tale of near epic proportions, but critical praise for the group's soothing, bedroom-meets-radio-ready pop in the vein of the Decemberists or Snow Patrol has......

Photograph of the Trump Soho by Riccardo Sinti Gothamist went to the scene of the Trump Soho construction collapse, which left one construction worker dead and others injured (an indirect culprit - Manhattan's hot real estate market, causing rushed construction jobs).Shanghaiist is confused by media reports as to whether Playboy will be available in China during the year of the Olympics.LAist got fugged in an interview with the Go Fug Yourself girls.Torontoist set hearts......

It's the end of the line in our pre-coverage of the Tomorrow Never Knows festival, which can only mean one thing: you're well-prepared for the weekend rockness. The Walkmen keep throwing it back to the original foundations of rock music: gravel-coated riffs, fuzzy ballads, and lots and lots of sweat on stage. While they have yet to come up with anything as strutting, ballsy, and soul shaking as 2004's Bows and Arrows (and especially first......

The "nation's report card" for public schools came out yesterday, and Chicago ranks behind other urban areas on reading and math for 4th and 8th graders. about 16 percent of the 2,400 4th graders who took the reading exam showed proficiency, compared with an average of 22 percent in cities as a whole. In math, 16 percent of Chicago pupils were proficient, compared with an average of 28 percent in other cities. About 17......

Judge Joan Lefkow handed 28 aldermen their asses today, denying their request to force the City to disclose the names of the police officers accused of brutality. Lefkow said that the case is currently being appealed (busy day at the 7th Circuit), but if the aldermen want to sue the City, they can. Have you been wondering which 28 aldermen signed the petition? We sure have. We called Manny Flores's office and were told there......

You’ve got to hand it to the University of Chicago for releasing the findings of a study that calls out the City of Chicago for not nurturing its hometown music scene, right on the heels of the most lucrative 3 days on the city’s annual music calendar. The study examined the economic impact of the music industry on the 50 most populous metro areas of America, pulling together data like number of jobs related to......

From a public relations standpoint this has not been a banner couple weeks for the Chicago Police Department. First, the Reverend Al Sharpton opens a Chicago office for his National Action Network in order to address the issue of police brutality in Chicago. Days after Sharpton opened his office, 42-year-old Gefery Johnson died from injuries sustained after police Tasered and forcibly arrested him. Days after that, 18-year-old Aaron Harrison was shot to death by police......

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

There's no love lost here between Chicagoist and Cook County government. In fact, not only has Todd Stroger (as well as the other comedians that pass for "Commissioners" on the county board) been a target for our anger, frustration, and disappointment, they've been fodder for our ridicule and a symbol of what's wrong with local government here. Looking back at the news from last week, we've been following the story of Sally Lemke, the nurse......

As music writers, we get the opportunity to hear a lot of stuff that flies under the radar for the average fan. There’s a little sense of pride in having a friend stop cold in the middle of a sentence, point to our car stereo, and ask “Who is this? This is really cool!” Never have we had that happen more often than when playing Jim Bianco’s 2004 release, Handsome Devil. Recorded with a 19-piece......

Would you like flies with that? More than 250 eateries in the city have been closed in the last six months due to failing city health inspections. This year, the Department of Streets and Sanitation has closed 135 establishments. Whether it comes from the sky (flies and other insects) or from the ground (no Ratatouille in our local restaurants, please), the violations are enough for us to stay inside and make our own food. Violators......

A relative newcomer to Chicago's art gallery scene, 40000 (119 N. Peoria) has received a great deal of buzz since its start in 2005. After living and working in New Mexico and Austin TX, gallery owner/curator Britton Bertran set down roots in Chicago after receiving a Master's in Arts Administration from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2002. Bertran made the leap to full-time gallery owner after several years of working in......

Summer officially began yesterday, so we're gonna dedicate this edition of the Buffet to that staple of summertime in Chicago, the block party. Being born and raised in Chicago, we've certainly seen the evolution of the block party from something that brings neighbors together to, well, the monstrosities some of them are today. However, even in this day and age they're great ways to explore the city's neighborhoods, after you finish haranguing with the festivals'......

Same story, different magazine. The July issue of Paste Magazine contains a list of what readers have deemed the country's best music venues. When Playboy had their say back in January, the editorial powers-that-be decided The Empty Bottle was in the top 10 best venues in the entire country. However, the readers of Paste beg to differ and have chosen Schubas as one of the best music venues in the Midwest. The list, which is......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA......

Humor us. Let's say - and this is purely hypothetical - that you were on the wrong side of the law. What lengths would you go to to relieve your targets of their hard-earned money? You could take the impersonal approach with a bank robbery or armored truck jacking. Or you could go hands-on, forcefully coercing individuals to give up whatever cash is on their person or in their back account. Now supposed you were......

With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay......