If this is the route the Tribune is taking, it would be counter to the paywall systems adopted by newspapers such as the Sun-Times, Daily Herald and Peoria Journal Star, which is the metered paywall system, more ›

Congratulations to Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich who won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary today. more ›

It is not unusual to hear Chicagoans whining about their local media options, especially the Trib. But some interesting new online data points in a different direction. Illinoisans love the Chicago Tribune. Hoosiers do too. more ›

Illinois led the nation with 404 new wind turbines installed last year, but the wind industry here is in big trouble as Congress whiffs on re-upping a tax credit that had buoyed the blowing boom. more ›

There's no denying that Mayor Rahm Emanuel has made great strides to increase transparency in the city government, but the Tribune says his office has shut reporters out from crucial information. more ›

Both the Daily Herald and the Sun-Times have made the switch to metered paywalls for their content. We were wondering if the Tribune would follow suit. Editor Gerould Kern told a group during a Q&A at the Niagara Foundation that day will come soon. more ›

A Trib expose shows that nowhere in Chicago makes clearer pollution's local and global impact than Pilsen and Little Village, where the smokestacks for two of the nation’s oldest coal plants loom. more ›

A new restaurant is coming to the ground floor of the Tribune Tower, but we doubt it'll be anything fantastic. more ›

Did you know that in order to print the Chicago Tribune, the company bought huge tracts of land and created entire communities in Canada? more ›

We tried to bite our tongues. But the Trib’s head-scratcher decision to run a cheap shot Op-Ed targeting Derrick Rose has had us stewing all week. more ›

The mayor’s office refused to produce more than 2,000combined emails the city identified as relevant to the speed camera, water rate and vehicle sticker issues, saying it would’ve been problematic to remove opinions or deliberations it can withhold from the public. more ›

Sometimes riding a cab in this Chicago is like riding a roller coaster at Great America without a safety harness. We know not every cab driver is trying out for the 24 hours of LeMans; it only seems that way. These drivers, who are frequently ticketed by police, are the proverbial bad apples who spoil the bushel. So why aren't they separated from the good apples? more ›

In going back to a broadsheet, the Tribune not only begins to look like itself again, but goes to a uniform format for both subscribers and newsstand sales. more ›

The Tribune cited gas prices as the reason for cutting the Saturday edition, which was distributed solely through home delivery. more ›

15 years after Sapphire made a literary splash with Push (which inspired the film Precious, author Sapphire returns with a new book. more ›

Are you a Chicago purist? Or a "live and let live" eater? If you're the former, you're going to be annoyed with Kevin Pang, food writer for the Chicago Tribune. Pang has been teasing the twitter-sphere, saying that this week's article would create more mail than anything else written in the Tribune food section. When he said that, we expected something of consequence, like poisoning, or industrial animal abuse perhaps. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised - the story is about ketchup on hot dogs. more ›

The Tribune and Sun-Times have reached an agreement in which the Trib will begin printing the Sun-Times and seven sister publications in September. more ›

Looking good, Tribune! more ›

One of the most repeated pieces of advice we hear from writers is “If you want to be a writer, you must write. Every single day.” Right. Many recommend dedicating a certain amount of time each day for writing or setting a word count goal. Your writing will get better the more you practice the craft, but it will improve significantly with some mentored guidance and prompts. We love that some of the events at this weekend’s Printers Row Lit Fest are free writing workshops. Yesterday was the last day to reserve tickets to these events, but if you show up early to the events themselves, it’s likely you can still replace the spot of a no-show. more ›

Here’s a panel jam-packed with really smart people for you: Cathy J. Cohen, who wrote Democracy Remixed : Black Youth and the Future of American Politics, will speaking with Natalie Moore and Lance Williams, co-authors of The Almighty Black P Stone Nation: The Rise, Fall, and Resurgence of an American Gang on a panel moderated by Tracye Matthews, associate director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago. more ›

Printers Row Lit Fest is this weekend. As usual, there’s not a second of free time in this weekend’s schedule. No one person can see and do it all, so it just depends on what you’re interested in. If you’re planning on attending this weekend, you’ve probably already reserved tickets for events you’re interested in. But if you’re looking for some direction, we’ll be serving up some suggestions throughout the week. A lot of events are full, but there’s still some good stuff. Up first: Pitchapalooza more ›

In October, ran a feature story examining the possibility of "Chicago Without Coal" in the coming years. But only six months later, dramatic events throughout the region seem to be moving up the time-line on the questions the story raised. The announcement this week that the State Line Power Station could close as soon as next year, paired with recent announcements in NW Indiana and Milwaukee, as well as growing support for the Clean Power Ordinance in the City Council seems to reinforce the idea that the little black rocks' days are numbered in our neck of the woods. more ›

The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board is back at it again, fighting off the food fascists desperate to make the nanny state do all the cooking in Chicago. Today's oddly conflicted editorial about an Illinois General Assembly bill that would ban trans fats reads like a stream of consciousness debate. more ›

We know that Chicago's population declined by 200,000 people over the past decade. The Tribune has a nifty interactive map showing the population shifts in the greater Chicago area between 2000 and 2010. You can use it to search the shifts down to your own neighborhood. more ›

Music journalist/critic/author Jessica Hopper has had a long-time presence in Chicago's critical community, and for good reason. Her columns and writings have always been provocative food-for-thought, whether it's tackling the sexism of modern-day emo, or talking faith (or lack thereof) with former Pedro The Lion frontman David Bazan. more ›

With a month to go before next month's mayoral election, a new poll conducted by the Tribune shows Rahm Emanuel expanding his lead. Emanuel had the support of 44 percent of those surveyed. Which means, at this point, Carol Moseley Braun and Gery Chico are battling not only for second place, but to force Emanuel into an April runoff. more ›

OK, we admit it. Our bellies, rather than our lungs, are the reason for the continued interest in the filth-spewing diesel engines on Metra’s trains. We don't take light commuter rail regularly, but our daily walk through the Ogilvie train shed on the way to yummy lunch at the French Market is hold-your-breath-foul from the diesel haze of idling trains. Earlier this year, the Trib confirmed what anyone who walks past Metra’s downtown tracks had probably already guessed---those choking fumes ain’t healthy! more ›

The Sun-Times dipped deep into its archives Monday to dredge up Gery Chico's time as chairman of the law firm Altheimer & Gray when he was running for Senate, and how that contrasts with his "Gery Chico's story is a Chicago story" narrative he's been pushing in his mayoral campaign. Turns out over at the Tribune, Eric Zorn was also drilling down to look back at Rahm Emanuel's time as a board member at the now-infamous mortgage giant Freddie Mac. more ›

Folks interested in seeing politicians sling BS should pencil January 27 into their calendars. That's when the Tribune and the City Club of Chicago will host a debate between Rahm Emanuel, Gery Chico, Carol Moseley Braun and Miguel del Valle. more ›

The Trib’s editorial board stepped away from the weightier issues of the day to profess their love of flash mobs. Yup, that wacky fad of freezing or performing for the cameras that swept the nation…quite some time ago… As the Trib sees it, “They're delightful, for now.” more ›