One of Chicagoist’s few lingering memories of grade school was dental hygiene films. Those things scared the bejeezus out of us. Rotten teeth loomed large in darkened rooms, while Vincent Price’s voice double warned us of the horrors of plaque. Keep that shit up long enough, we were taught, and you get zero teeth. Oddly enough, that’s what a local dental practice’s patrons ended up with, as well as mountains of debt. Rosewood Dental, a......

What does the MSM do when faced with a slow news day? They trot out pictures of puppies and ask you to vote on them. Man, are we glad there's nothing like an impending CTA shutdown, a grossly exaggerated tax hike, complaints of police department misbehavior, or anything like that going on.* Thank God for puppies. * The above snark is meant in no way to imply that we don't love puppies. In fact we......

We cannot wait for tomorrow. Not just because it's the season premieres of The Office and Ugly Betty, but also because there's an even more important show debuting. On the internet. We write, of course, of City Council Meetings, which, starting tomorrow, will be streamed online. Clear your calendars; the meeting starts at 10 a.m. These meetings were supposed to be broadcast back in 2004, but aldermen are pretty pretty princesses. "Some aldermen complained that......

Every day, we walk along a stretch of Madison Street in order to get to work. Outside a certain Dunkin Donuts west of Wells, we frequently spot a bike with a trailer on it filled with blankets and newspapers. That particular bike belongs to an aging, mild-mannered man and his large yellowish dog, who squat in alcoves and under awnings, looking for handouts. We’ve seen plenty of people who take a couple minutes out of......

Chicagoans have been relatively blasé lately about the fates of our most cherished icons. For example, fans adjusted fairly quickly to the renaming of old Comiskey Park, christening the field with a snappy new nickname faster than you can say boo. And even though people still lament the passing of Marshall Field's, it's not as if Macy’s ruined State Street’s mojo. But what would happen if everything were up for grabs? The idea is not......

Now that Conrad Black has been convicted of mail fraud and obstruction of justice the real fun begins. With prosecutors asking that Black's $21 million bond be revoked, fearing the Lord of Crossharbour to be a flight risk, Black has voluntarily turned in his passport while he awaits sentencing from Judge Amy St. Eve on November 30th. Now the search for his money begins. Of course, government offices here and in Canada are in front......

Sorry, Chicago, no Troutman news on this weekend's blotter. But there's always next week, right? An 84-year-old man was charged with killing his 89-year-old wife early Saturday morning in Englewood. The couple were engaged in a domestic dispute shortly after midnight when Betty Smith, who had Alzheimer's disease, threw a picture frame at her husband, Charles. He then allegedly shot in her in face. Police say the two had been arguing more lately due to......

Filmmaker Brian Jun...

There is no reason to beat around the bush: Ilan kicked the foie gras out of Marcel in last night's "Top Chef" finale. Ilan, who works in Mario Batali's Spanish outpost Casa Mono had help from former contenders Elia and Betty, while Marcel, who works with Joel Robuchon at the Mansion in Las Vegas, worked with Sam and Mikey (the "manimal"). We thought the outcome was fair; Marcel seemed to dig his own grave with......

Remember back in September when we warned you about the impending rate increase from ComEd, and everyone talked about TV shows instead? That was awesome. But you might want to think about switching off the telly every now and then; ComEd's 24 percent rate hike goes into effect this week, meaning that the "Ugly Betty" marathon you watched this weekend just cost you approximately $485. The Attorney General has sued to reverse the increase, which......

In the last five years or so, we've heard a lot more about people travelling to Alaska in the summer, and taking cruises and vacations which always sound incredible. At least our friends and acquaintances always come back laden with amazing pictures. And even though we're fairly sure we'd get suicidal or become a major drunken addict through the winter months, the people who make Alaska their home were given one more reason to leave......

You remember that poll in the Sun-Times yesterday? Yeah, that one. Well the race for Cook County Board President got a little, well, hot yesterday. In a noon debate at Chicago's Union League Club, the once and future king of Cook County took shots at Peraica, trying to paint him as both a right-winger and a crook associated with disgraced (and convicted) former Cicero town president Betty Loren-Maltese; Peraica accused Stroger of being absent for......

September is traditionally the start of Chicago’s theater season. But since there’s no real off-season, we can simply take heart that local houses big and small are rolling out their big guns and, for the next few months, we’ll never have an excuse not to get our butts in the seats. The theater community has all sorts of personalities, here are just a few: This weekend The Grand Dame: Shakespeare Theatre Hamlet by You Know......

Remember Betty Loren-Maltese? She was the mayor of Cicero who was convicted for a whole buffet’s worth of corruption. A long-time associate of the former mayor has just had the book thrown at him. Vincent Iaccino pleaded guilty to charges arising out of allegations that he stole $346,000 of the town's money in a scheme involving his dog. Now none of this seems particularly unusual (for Chicago, at least), until you get to the details.......

Chicagoist is a huge fan of our own homegrown media industry. We like the original stuff that comes out of this city and telling our folks things like how we walk through Gotham City on our way to work and visit County General every time we have a boo-boo. So, as always, it was a lot of fun to sit in on last night's taping of "Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me". Host Peter Sagal informed......

Metromix’s annual Rock ‘n’ Vote contest is on again with ten local bands vying for a chance to play a show at Metro. Voting continues now through midnight Sunday. Currently leading the vote tallies are The Lifeline, The Emerald Lizards, and Otter Petter (which sounds like it would be nice work if you could get it). One of the bands we’re hoping gets a few more votes thrown its way is Reptoids. They’re a four-person......

Spanish-language radio station La Ley (“¡cientosietepuntonuevelaley!”) some months ago put up racy ads all over the city that skate close to the line and might even go right the hell over it. Dawn Turner Trice at the Trib wrote about the ad and the fall-out yesterday. Chicagoist is humbly reproducing La Ley's ad here: You can also see a copy of the Trib's photo of a billboard featuring the ad here. And, why, yes, you’re......

Have you ever had one of those moments like in the movies, where everything suddenly starts moving in slow motion and you can’t believe what you’ve just heard? Like when the call is coming from inside the house? That was me, when our mother recently told us she procured a KitchenAid mixer. That she got. For $60.00. Retail. Through a series of events we won’t go into here. Since our parents were in town......

Perhaps Chicagoist made a bit too much of a stink yesterday about how boring municipal primary elections can be, because Tuesday's voting brought out a stunner for the Village of Cicero that could be one of the most encouraging signs for American democracy yet: The crooked Town President Ramiro Gonzales lost to newcomer Larry Dominick. The win was by only 157 votes out of 11,000 cast, and could portend a new era for the beleagured......

We were going to ignore the upcoming suburban village elections, but then Chicagoist saw one of these shirts from a couple of years ago -- Free Betty Loren-Maltese, the jailed former town president of Cicero, Illinois. Oh yeah, village elections can be fun! As you probably know, Chicagoist loves Cicero, and this year's village elections are already quite the hoot! The new town president, Ramiro Gonzalez, has done his best to make sure he runs......

Cicero, Illinois, located just west of Chicago, right by I-290, is a generally well-swept town of about 85,000 with a storied history. Once known as the "Italian suburb", Once a center of Al Capone's activities, Cicero to this day has rumored ties to "The Outfit". In recent years the demographics have changed somewhat, with second-generation Mexicans replacing Italians. But the nature of Cicero politics remains somewhat murky -- and this year there's been plenty to......

A recent article in Business 2.0 announced the opening of a Cerality: Cereal Bar & Cafe in Chicago this month. At this restaurant we'll be able to mix and match more than 30 brand-name cereals, more than 30 toppings, and different flavors of milk. Pajama-wearing "Cereologists" will then make the concoction and serve it up in a 32-ounce leak-proof container filled with 2 cups of cereal, the topping and the milk. All for under......