Is Illinois heading towards legalized medical marijuana? State Senator John Cullerton (pretty website!) hopes so. He's sponsoring a bill that the Senate Public Health Committee approved 6-4 yesterday. A similar measure failed in the Senate last year, but try, try again. The Alternative Treatment for Serious Diseases Causing Chronic Pain and Debilitating Conditions bill would allow some patients to possess "no more than 8 plants and two and one-half ounces of usable marijuana." The bill......

Photo of our police vehicle of choice if we were on the force by Steven Crane The warm weather seems to have kept some of our naughty citizens somewhat at bay this weekend, but there was still some activity in Chicago's criminal justice world: Ex-alderman Dorothy Tillman was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama after a confrontation at her aunt's hospital. Be sure to click on the story for a rare photo of Ms. Tillman sans......

"Legoland." Just feeling the word roll off your tongue should be enough to send you into shivers of delight. But news that some in Joliet are pushing for a Legoland that close to home? That is leaving us a quivering mess on the floor. Legoland! Right here in Illinois! Please, nerd overlords. Please. Joliet City Councilman Anthony Uremovic is pushing for a Legoland to be built by the northwest corner of Interstates 55 and 80,......

The clock is ticking for Diann Burns, one of Chicago's top-paid news anchors. WBBM announced yesterday that starting April 21, six months before her $2 million contract is up, they're replacing Burns for the 5pm weekday news with California anchor Anne State. Burns will continue to coanchor the 6pm and 10pm newscasts with Rob Johnson, and State will report for the 10pm broadcast as well. CBS 2 continues to lag far behind ABC 7's......

It should be a lighter than normal traffic day tomorrow, President’s Day. No mail delivery. Most banks, federal offices, city offices and state offices will be closed. School will be out. Courts will not be in session, and you won’t be able to pick up something to read at the library. The third Monday of February is the day we recognize the men (and hopefully one day, women) who have served our country as president.......

An unrelated mystery has been solved as police investigate the Tinley Park murders. A con woman, evading police for years, was apprehended this weekend because police tracked down the owners of the cars parked near the Lane Bryant, where the fugitive Esther Reed had left her car, which was registered under an assumed identity. Reed, aka Brooke Henson among other names, disappeared from Washington State in 1999, and over the next eight years went through......

John McCain won big in last night's Republican primaries, winning nine states and pushing his delegate count up to 559--not enough to win the nomination, but big enough to secure his standing as the front runner. Mike Huckabee got a boost last night as well, winning a string of upsets in the Southern states, enough to justify his continued candidacy. Mitt Romney, however, has bigger problems, winning only a handful of states, and with Huckabee......

Today's the big day. Along with 24 other states, we're voting in Super Duper Tuesday. Up for grabs are 1688 pledged Democratic delegates, and 900 Republican delegates. Delegate-heavy states such as California, New Jersey, New York, Illinois and Georgia could play a deciding role in the outcome of both races. But with polling showing a tight Democratic race, and Obama working overtime to split votes in odd-numbered districts, tonight's results won't produce a nominee for......

With the race for the Democratic nomination showdown just days away, and polls showing Obama closing in on Clinton in key Super Duper Tuesday states, the Obama campaign made a huge ad buy during the Super Bowl in the Super Tuesday states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Washington, (but,......

If you were wondering what happened to Oprama, you don't have to worry anymore: They're back. Even though Obama will be in St. Louis and Illinois, he's sending Oprah, Caroline Kennedy and his wife, Michelle, to California. That's quite a trifecta of women....watch out, Hillary. In more hilarious news, we learned from our friends at SFist that the sculptor, Daniel Edwards -- the artist best known for making the "Britney giving birth" sculpture -- has......

SFist worried over drugstore chain Walgreens celebration of Black History Month.Gothamist was surprised that apparently New York City is the fourth most miserable city in the country, after Detroit, Stockton, CA, and Flint, MI.Shanghaiist finds out what the Chinese think of Hilary and Obama.It was with a healthy amount of schadenfreude that Phillyist reported that former Eagle, and now Cowboy (ew), Terrell Owens owes the Eagles a significant wad of cash.Torontoist is two weeks......

John McCain changed careers last night, from the candidate who was almost out of money (and the race) last summer to quite possibly the Republican presidential nominee. He's now the man to beat. The close but critical win in Florida gave him 57 delegates and a solid lead going into Super Duper Tuesday, (there are no superdelegates at the Republican National Convention). Hillary Clinton won the non-binding Florida race, a largely symbolic victory that featured......

First things first: If you haven't read about it elsewhere, Anthony Bourdain taped an appearance on Sound Opinions when he was in town in November. The episode airs this evening at 8 p.m. The Artisan Cellar in the Merchandise Mart is hosting an appearance by Evert Nijzink, head winemaker of Paritua winery, makers of Stone Paddock wines. The meet-and-greet runs from 3-6 this afternoon. ChicaGourmets and the local chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier is......

The CTA bailout passed, and now we can move on to that other chronic political problem: Governor Blagojevich. Just how much of Mr. Testicular Virility are Illinois residents willing to take? Judging by a new Chicago magazine article about the embattled gov, "Mr. Un-Popularity," not much. In that article, the Capital Fax Blog's Rich Miller suggests that Blago is the most unpopular governor in the country, with approval ratings that have sunk as low as......

Last week, both houses of the Illinois General Assembly passed a law that would enable Illinois to bypass the Electoral College in future presidential elections. The move came just before New Jersey Governor John S. Corzine signed similar legislation on Sunday that would eliminate New Jersey's participation in the Electoral College. The only other state to have passed a similar law is Maryland, which was the first state to take up the cause. Beginning in......

Grapevines, like everything else in nature, have a limited life span. The older a vine becomes, the less fruit it produces. But the fruit that these vines yield is bursting with flavor and character that like fruit from younger vines lack. It takes a patient winemaker to make a quality wine from this fruit. The Gnarly Head vineyard in Lodi, California is highly regarded for the quality of their old vine zinfandel. Before trellising......

Like a lot of you, we took advantage of yesterday's weather, donned some shorts and ate brunch (Vella). On the way home we decided to make a detour and taste some wines. The weekly tasting at Lush focused on the staff picks for 2007. Our favorite of the lot was a monster blended red from Twisted Oak Winery in Calaveras County, California. In a unique coincidence, we recently re-read Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog......

The Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival kicked off last night and continues through January 13, a smörgåsbord of comedy stylings from 99 troupes from across the U.S. and Canada. Intrepid performers leave the comfort of California and Texas, brave delays at O’Hare, and risk negative comments on their MySpace pages—all to entertain you. Organizers estimate 10,000 of you attended last year’s event and, with fest favorites like Elephant Larry, Canadian Content, Cool Table, and Big News......

Only the biggest of dreamers gave Illinois a chance of beating the semi-professional USC Trojans in yesterday's 94th annual Rose Bowl. Unfortunately, USC beat the Illini like the proverbial red-headed stepchild 49-17. The academic conclusion to the game also led to some wonderful entendre-laden headlines in the dailies: "Case of California Creamin'", "Too Much Booty Puts Illini on the Defensive", and "Trojans Pull Out All the Stops" are some of our favorites. The loss also......

Smokers, meet Winter. Winter, smokers. Timed perfectly with a bone-chilling cold, Illinois's smoking ban went into effect at midnight, Jan. 1. Not surprisingly, some are thrilled. The Sun-Times checks in with bartenders and finds that—shock!—they are happy to be able to work in a smoke-free environment. The Trib wonders if there will be an adverse effect on bars and restaurants, while querying if smoking bans even have an effect on the number of adults who......

Were you on flight 293 from Delhi to O'Hare to San Francisco on December 13th? Have you developed a bit of a cough? It could be because officials learned on Friday that a woman who had the drug-resistant form of tuberculosis was a passenger on your flight. A 30-year-old resident of Sunnyvale, California, she was diagnosed in India this past August and according to reports, she was not in the dark about her condition:......

Police announced today that they believe Anu Solanki is alive and with a male companion. Investigators used her cell phone records to connect her to 23-year-old Karan Jani of California. Solanki, who hasn't been heard from since Monday, was in contact with Jani several times the day she disappeared, and police say they think the two are in a rental car. If you see Solanki or Jani, give the Cook County Sheriff's office a jingle......

With the Bears' season over before it started, what better way to celebrate the end of the regular football season than remembering the good years (roughly 1985 to 1988) over a glass of vino? Well, here's your chance. Ex-Bears Coach Mike Ditka has partnered with the Mendocino Wine Company in California to create a line of premium wines that bear his name (get it? "Bear" his name?). The sparkling new South Loop Binny's at 1132......

The jibarito is a cross-cultural gem with a very American story. It was invented in Chicago (circa 1993) at Humboldt Park’s Borinquen Restaurant, a tricked-out plantain sandwich inspired by Puerto Rican culture and named after its peasant class, then embraced across strata at local Cuban, Mexican, and South American joints. We’re hardly the first to praise the luscious mix of thinly sliced and spiced steak, stringy onions with a touch of lettuce, tomato and condiments......

A 14-year-old Illinois girl was on a cruise off the coast of California with her family when her appendix burst. The USS Ronald Reagan was dispatched to rescue her, and they did--including a helicopter transport between the ships. [Trib] Mayor Daley says he had no idea his son Patrick had invested in a sewer company that did work for the City. Reading from a prepared statement, the Mayor said "I did not know about......

Carey Primeau posted these photos to Flickr last week, and we can't stop looking at them. Primeau tells us that the building was the Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, 135 S. Sangamon. According to Preservation Chicago, The building is executed in a highly unusual Mayan style, perhaps the only of its kind in Chicago. The basic form of the building can be described as Art Deco, with low relief ornament, upward thrust, pronounced......

If green is the new black and localvore is the word of the year, then what does it mean when eating locally is not only not necessarily better for the environment, but could actually be worse? An article in the NYT challenges the notion that "fresh" and "local" add up to "green." The article presents data from UC Davis's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. Tom Tomich, director of the program, told the NYT that......

What do you get when you combine an elaborate set design, rock and roll magicians, acoustic custom poetry, and a melange of feel-good local bands? A whole lotta awesome, that's what. Tomorrow night, newly created local label Comptroller Records debuts its new bimonthly showcase, nay, REVUE, at Ronny's, proving it represents more than just a collection of local musical acts. The show promises to include a debut set by the Spectacles, raw tracks from the......

SFist witnessed a new apartment building tszuj the skyline with spectacular, gaudy turquoise aplomb, the (informal) renaming of the Mission/SOMA neighborhood border, the return of the Maltese Falcon, the Mayor Gavin Newsom mea culpa-ing over his Hawaiian getaway during the oil spill, and double-decker buses hitting the streets of San Francisco. Oh, and some baseball player named Barry Bonds is a liar whose pants, it seems, are totally on fire. LAist continues to cover the......

Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without an operator provoking a response from the transport authorities. Elsewhere, London's answer to Central Station is about to open for business, and Londonist got a sneak preview. Meanwhile, spooky goings-on beneath London Bridge, where a cache of skeletons provided an apt story for Hallowe'en.......