While us Chicagoans like poking fun at those NASCAR loving rubes from the south like our editor-in-chief (), the Chicago area has some auto racing history of its own, namely the Meadowdale International Raceway in the northwest suburbs. Located in Carpentersville along Route 31, the Meadowdale opened in 1958 and was originally financed by local developer Leonard W. Besinger, and operated for 11 years on over 300 acres. It featured a 3.27 mile long track with a 3/4 mile straightaway that cars spilled into after coming out of a steep 180 degree curve that was known as the "Monza Wall." Cars on that stretch of the track would sometimes reach speeds of over 170 miles per hour. more ›

Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, the Carpentersville woman who was accused of racism for comparing two African-American children climbing a tree to monkeys, was told today she would be allowed to keep her position as an Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention. After it initially appeared as though Ramirez-Sliwinski, also a village trustee, would "voluntarily" step aside, it seems that the campaign actually, you know, examined the facts and cooler heads prevailed. Obama spokesman Ben Labolt said, “It is clear that the incident was a misunderstanding." No kidding. Still no word yet on the $75 disorderly conduct ticket, which Ramirez-Sliwinski said she will challenge. [Trib] more ›

A Carpentersville woman who serves as a village trustee was asked to step down as an Obama delegate over an incident in which she called the children of her African-American neighbors "monkeys." Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski was fined $75 and ticketed for disorderly conduct for the incident, which happened last Saturday.

Ramirez-Sliwinski "came outside and told the children to quit playing in the tree like monkeys. The tree was not on Ramirez-Sliwinski's property," Carpentersville Police Commander Michael Kilbourne said. more ›