We're going to be doing a special Valentine's Day version of the Buffet next week. Until then, here are some events to tie you over. more ›

A couple of weeks ago Chicagoist wrote about Sean Chercover’s new book Big City, Bad Blood. Tomorrow night, Chercover and fellow crime writers Marcus Sakey and Teresa Schwegel, will be doing readings from their Chicago-based crime books. more ›

Sean Chercover definitely writes what he knows. In his debut novel, Big City, Bad Blood, Chercover takes us on a ride with private investigator Ray Dudgeon. Dudgeon is hired to protect a Hollywood patsy, Bob Loniski, who saw something he shouldn’t have and is now being hunted by the Chicago Outfit. Chercover himself was a private eye, and obviously a lover of Chicago, and his knowledge of both make for an enjoyable read. more ›

You can be sure that every pol in Illinois is talking about Time Magazine naming Mayor Richard M. Daley as one of the top five mayors in the nation. Much like a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed about Daley a couple of months ago, Time Magazine brushes aside the numerous recent city government scandals and entirely focuses on how good Daley is at the mechanics of providing city services. Naturally the Tribune and Sun Times grouse... more ›

So the puritans in Antioch won. For what he called personal reasons, Tony Liotta canceled his plan to open a Bad Ass Coffee franchise in Antioch. As we told you last week the Antioch Village board passed a resolution labeling the name of the shop as "repugnant to the entire concept of family values." more ›

This story cracked us up bigtime. We sometimes forget that we live in The Big City and that our horrible potty mouth might offend people (sorry, by the way) and that the word "ass" is like a total abomination. Wait, what? Ass? Not a big deal? Yeah, for us either. They don't even bleep ass on network TV, do they? more ›