The battle for a Wal-Mart seems to be reaching its endgame with the news that the world's largest retailer will open a "Wal-Mart Express" store in the Chatham Market at 83rd Street and Stewart Avenue. The planned 10,000 square-foot store will focus on selling "convenience-minded" foodstuffs. more ›

Mayor Daley is fond of telling city residents that the Chicago Police Department needs help and that citizens, too, need to be responsible for cleaning up crime on the city streets and helping to curb violence. One group took those words into action last night on the South Side, where they conducted a campout in Nat King Cole Park at 85th Street & King Drive in honor of slain police officer Thomas Wortham. more ›

With the wheels of local government all greased up after churning the proposal for a Wal-Mart in Pullman Park through, the City Council today gave the thumbs up for a third store in the city set to go up in Chatham by a vote of 45-4. According to the Sun-Times, Aldermen Toni Preckwinkle (4th), Ricardo Munoz (22nd), Eugene Schulter (47th) and Joe Moore (49th) were the 'no' votes. more ›

• The City Council Transportation Committee O.K.'d a plan to allow companies to display holiday-themed displays on bridge houses even if specifics like the actual size of the displays haven't yet been determined.
• Cocaine and PCP were found in the bloodstream of a local one-year-old boy after he apparently chewed on a piece of tinfoil laced with the drugs.
• While flooding clean-up continues here, our neighbors to the north in Milwaukee are facing their own post-flooding hardships.

Cynia Cole, the 20-month-old girl who was shot in the head last night, died around noon today at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital. Her mother told media that doctors had been trying to reduce brain swelling before she passed away. Police still believe her father, Jerome Hendricks, was the target of the attack. more ›

A pair of violent, grisly incidents happened last night on the South Side. more ›

Chicago native Anthony McGill made it to the top of his profession in a hurry. He graduated from the elite Curtis Institute of Music at age 20, immediately won a position with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and four years later became the principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Now 30, McGill is one of the most sought-after classical clarinetists. more ›

Perhaps doing an end run around community opposition to Wal-Mart's plans to expand into Chatham, Ald. Anthony Beale told Fran Spielman that he has the votes to bring Wal-Mart into the Pullman neighborhood. "I'm confident I have the votes. I'm floating around 34 or 35," Beale told the Sun-Times. The Chicago Plan Commission will vote on the matter in March, and the full council will vote in April. “We will be voting on a development — not just a store. It’s a bigger issue than just Wal-Mart. My site will create 4,000 permanent jobs, generate hundreds of millions in new revenue and keep union people working. It’ll create 1,200 homes and a dozen stores. In this climate, how can you vote against that?” more ›

Part of the argument in favor of bringing a second Wal-Mart into Chicago, at 83rd and Stewart in Chatham, is that the neighborhood is a "food desert". This argument has been bandied about a lot lately, most recently by a certain Sun-Times columnist. But if you've spent any time around Chatham, you'll know that it isn't the desperately poor black neighborhood that much of the South side is characterized as. In fact, as Rich Miller over at Capitol Fax and this Google map show, there are quite a few food stores near the proposed location. more ›

Wal-Mart certainly raised the stakes this week in its bid to open a second store in the city. But the results of the push-poll notwithstanding, setting up shop in Chatham may not be the slam dunk the Arkansas-based mega-retailer thinks it will be. That's because, as the city council was passing the buck on the Wal-Mart vote by sending it from the Rules Committee to the Finance Committee, committee chair Alderman Ed Burke (of the 14th Ward) told the Sun-Times that Wal-Mart would have to step up to the plate to play ball in Chicago. more ›

It seems like the controversy over Wal-Mart's attempts to open a second store in Chicago won't go away. And it seems like the massive retailer is helping to fan the flames of contention. From the Chicagoist tipline: "I just got what I think was a 'push-poll' about building a Wal-Mart at 83rd & Stewart. Basically, it only asked one question (a true sign of a political push-poll) and was heavily weighted in language towards Wal-Mart and Mayor Daley. It was something similar to the following: 'Mayor Daley says that a Wal-Mart at 83rd & Stewart would bring 400+ jobs to the city and make fresh food available to the neighborhood; others believe jobs are not enough. Press 1 if you believe a Wal-Mart should be allowed to be built or Press 2 if you believe it should not." A quick check of the phone number the calls are originating from - and a check of that tipline inbox - indicated that quite a few Chicagoans got the same call, as well. more ›

Although it seemed that Da Mare wasn’t about to step into the fray of (yet another) Wal-Mart in Chicago a few months ago, he’s come out behind Howard Brookins and his efforts to bring the massive retailer into the South side’s Chatham neighborhood. Claiming that Wal-Mart jobs are aren’t meant to provide long-term stable employment in a community, he took a shot at the United Food and Commercial Workers union, who’s members work at Jewel and Dominick’s stores across the region. “When they hire, you know, a couple of thousand people - you know, these are beginning jobs,” the mayor told WBEZ. “People want to just start some place,” he said, adding that he doesn’t understand why unions get upset when Wal-Mart wants to open in Chicago, but not in the suburbs. Mayor Daley’s staff may be updating his YouTube page, but they don’t seem to be checking the rest of the internet much. more ›

Walmart will be hosting a “Fresh Farmer’s Market” Saturday at the site of their proposed store in Chatham, at 83rd and Stewart. Press releases were sent to local news outlets, and the Tribune’s story on the market remained on their site’s front page all day yesterday. Could it be true? Could Walmart actually be getting involved with the community and promoting products grown here, rather than in China or Mexico? Or is this just another shot in the ongoing battle between Walmart and the City Council? (Ed. Note: A Sun-Times op-ed today weighs in favor of a Walmart in Chatham. — CS) more ›

It's been six months since the Lane Bryant murders in Tinley Park, and the investigation continues. Apparently police are pursuing two different theories, at least according to stories in the news today. One theory is that the quintuple murder may be linked to the Chatham murders, in which five people were also killed—and police have made arrests. The other theory has sent police to Texas to investigate possible financial wrongdoings within a defunct church where store manager Rhoda McFarland had been an associate pastor. McFarland was one of the five victims. more ›

A 22-year-old South Sid man has been charged with killingfive people in Chatham in April. Police say Torolan Williams was overheard talking about the murders, and they found a TV stolen from the scene of the crime in Williams's house. more ›

Planning and Development Commissioner Arnold Randall told the developers of the 50-acre Chatham Market on the South Side that the city would not approve plans for a Wal-Mart. It's weird that they even asked, because the city zoned the area for retail development only after "then-developer Monroe Investment Partners LLC stated in a letter to city officials that Wal-Mart would not be a part of the shopping center." The City Council then passed an ordinance that the city commissioner would have to approve any retailer who wanted to occupy more than 100,000 square feet of the property. more ›

Chicagoist's general rule toward our vegetarian tendencies is, if we wanted a dish-chock full of meat, we'd eat it. As such, plates full of fake meat masquerading as juicy animal parts (a vegan Reuben sandwich, for instance) generally hold little appeal, and we instead opt for dishes full of clearly identifiable veggies or simple marinated tofu. more ›