Chicago Tea Party Director Stevan Stevlic decided to skip TeaCon 2011 in Schaumburg this weekend after Gawker dug up evidence of his June 2010 arrest for soliciting prostitution. more ›

When police questioned him, he told them he was "cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs." more ›

By now it should surprise no one that The Dog Stop's principals are also connected to Cicero Town government. more ›

Five students cited the same Archer Heights residence in Sandoval's district to be eligible for tuition waivers. more ›

The former home of Cicero Town President Betty Loren Maltese sold for only a mere $87,000 at auction yesterday. more ›

Looking for a home in Cicero. The house of former Town President Betty Loren-Maltese, complete with lavender drapes, can be yours. The home goes up for auction this week. more ›

Looks like a different kind of snow was left on the streets of Cicero. more ›

• Todd Stroger, still stirring up trouble.
• The men accused of starting February's fire in Cicero that killed seven both pleaded not guilty.
• Stephen Hawking tells us to avoid contact with aliens. We agree.

In an effort to "boost enforcement without increasing municipal spending" the town of Cicero has now given its seven trustees the power to issue parking tickets. The trustees will receive training from police and can write up infractions ranging from parking in a handicap space to blocking crosswalks. Town President Larry Dominick said in a statement: "It’s a good idea because all of the members of the board live here in the community and spend a lot of their time monitoring conditions in the town. They are aware of everything. This will help increase the response time and also crack down on motorists who violate parking and traffic laws but escape punishment." God help us if Mayor Daley ever enlists the City Council for similar help. more ›

The landlord and building manager of the Cicero building where seven people were killed in a Valentine's Day fire will each be charged with seven counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated arson, officials announced last night. Three fire-fighters were also hurt battling the blaze. Cicero Town President Larry Dominick said via a statement, "I'm very angry about this. The lives of seven innocent people were taken so cruelly and with clear malice. This is a heinous crime." All seven people killed were under the age of 21: Byron Reed, 20, Sallie Gist, 19, their sons Rayshawn Reed, 3, and Brian Reed, 3 days old, Sallie's twin brother and sister, Elijah Gist and Elisha Gist, both 16, and family friend Tiera Davidson, 18. more ›

An apartment fire in Cicero yesterday killed seven people, four of them children. No cause has been determined but investigators promise "close examination." Three firefighters were also injured, one seriously; two have since been released. Also under investigation is the building's occupancy. The Tribune reports that the building "has two, two-bedroom apartments and two, three-bedroom apartments." But Cicero Township spokesman Ray Hanania indicated there may have been as many as 40 people living in the building at the time of the fire. The Sun-Times has more on Allison Gist, who lost three children and two grandchildren in the fire. more ›

• Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan filed suit today against Crestwood mayor Robert Stranczek and his father for lying to the state and their community over tainted cancer-causing water coming from a nearby well.
• The Sun-Times has the story of Mark Clements, a man convicted of four arson-related deaths from a 1981 incident, and his appeal for a new trial.
• There's trouble in Cicero where town president Larry Dominick has been accused of sexual assault and harassment by four former female employees.

Mayoral and municipal primaries are being held in some Chicago 'burbs today. Don't forget to vote if you live in Cicero, Berwyn, Calumet City, Waukegan, North Chicago, Elgin and Dolton. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. more ›

Seeing as how it's looking worse and worse for the auto bailout, we thought we'd take this particular Flashback to the late 40s, when Chicago had its very own automotive industry failure. It was in 1946 that Preston Tucker came to the Southwest side on Cicero Avenue, leased an old B29 engine plant and went to work. He finally put together a whole 51 cars - not 51 models, not 51 lines, 51 individual cars - before going under in 1949. more ›

Regis, a 13-year-old mixed breed dog, is recovering from a fire that claimed the life of his owner. John Petrik, 68, died from a heart attack and smoke inhalation as a result of the fire after rescuers had to forcibly remove him from his home; Petrik refused to leave without his dog. Firefighters managed to rescue the 55-pound dog, who suffered burns to his tail and smoke inhalation. The Oak Park vet treating Regis said, "He's much better, but he's not 100 percent yet." As for Petrik, his brother Joe described his brother's dedication to the dog.

Petrik's brother, Joe, described him as a private man who never married. About 12 years ago, John Petrik rescued Regis at a Cicero intersection after watching the dog get thrown out of the car in front of him at a stop sign. He had cared for the dog ever since, rarely leaving the house because he didn't want to leave the dog alone, Joe Petrik said.

There's trouble brewing in Cicero over a flag. Besides the U.S. and Illinois flags, as well as what the Trib refers to as "sports flags," a community park has recently displayed the Mexican flag. Over recent years, Cicero's population has shifted from Eastern European to a majority of Latino residents (80 percent, according to a Town Trustee). Still, the non-Latino residents weren't happy about it. Helen Brave saw the flag at a recent park opening and said, "You know, it really hurts me...There were a lot of different people at the park, including Polish, Lithuanian and Italian people. Yet they were flying the Mexican flag?" She also suggested an ordinance to ban flying foreign flags on public property. Resident Susan Masek had harsher words at a recent town meeting, saying, "We are at war and you're flying a foreign flag? We want that flag down. This is the United States. Only the American flag should be there." more ›

A Cicero woman was found stabbed to death in her apartment and authorities are searching for her husband, who may have also abducted the couple's baby daughter, as a "person of interest" in the crime. Yesenia Villalba-Honorato, 21, was found stabbed in her apartment in the 5500 block of West 18th Street Wednesday evening and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 8 p.m. It's unclear how long ago the crime may have taken place. Neighbors entered the home after not having seen Yesenia for several days and found her in the bathroom with multiple stab wounds. Police are searching for her husband, Mario Puente, 29, who was reportedly seen in the Denver area on Tuesday. Police believe Puente has their daughter, 11-month-old Leslie Puente, with him and an Amber Alert may be issued at some point today; as of this morning, one had not been issued. According to Cicero police, Puente (pictured right) is listed as a 5-foot-9 to 6-foot, 185-pound Hispanic man. He may be traveling in a grey or green 1999 Ford Explorer with Illinois plates X143269 or X143266. [Trib, S-T] more ›

Belle Diablo, Windy City Roller more ›

Felipe Rivera of Cicero has been charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated battery and a hate crime for allegedly beating, raping and sodomizing a man. Rivera and the victim met at a party on 1200 block of South 50th Avenue, and Rivera thought the victim winked at him. more ›