• Former DuPage prosecutor, state attorney general, and current gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan apologized today for the prosecutions of Rolando Cruz and Alex Hernandez, the men originally convicted and sentenced to death for the 1983 murder of Jeanine Nicarico. He claimed the prosecution “acted in good faith...and still came up with the wrong result."
• Swine Flu's toll so far, according to the CDC: 22 million sick, 4,000 dead.
• Police in Cleveland have arrested a woman from Chicago who's been using her children to help her shoplift.

You know what we've been craving? Roller derby. Thank Heavens, there's more on the way. The ladies of the Windy City Roller All-Star squad have their work cut out for them against the Baltimore's Charm City All-Stars. According to the WCR: more ›

Does a bear scat in the woods? Not if he's made of cardboard. more ›

Just squeaking in before the NBA's Thursday afternoon trading deadline, the Bulls made a big move by moving Big Ben. more ›

Sha na na na, Ben Wallace. The Bulls traded Wallace in a three-team deal with Cleveland and Seattle. more ›

• Londonist pondered who might be the next sponsors of the London Eye and whether or not readers would be willing to donate £1,000 each for a Londonist Eye.
• Shanghaiist was shocked to find a cameltoe in the city's only English-language paper.
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Last Call Cleveland will be at Sketchfest Friday and Saturday at 9pm. more ›

The "nation's report card" for public schools came out yesterday, and Chicago ranks behind other urban areas on reading and math for 4th and 8th graders. about 16 percent of the 2,400 4th graders who took the reading exam showed proficiency, compared with an average of 22 percent in cities as a whole. In math, 16 percent of Chicago pupils were proficient, compared with an average of 28 percent in other cities. About 17... more ›

Gothamist learned about the craziest urban nightmare come true: A huge python found in the bathroom pipes. It was also a nightmare for some Yankees fans, as manger Joe Torre declined to come back and manage the Bronx Bombers. At least the city's attempt to give some direction to subway riders was interesting, pranksters went shirtless at the Fifth Avenue Abercrombie & Fitch and the I Heart Brooklyn Girls calendars came out. And just... more ›

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in... more ›

The Empty Bottle, in conjunction with Britain's The Wire magazine, will host this weekend's fifth annual Adventures in Modern Music festival, a self-described "celebration of 'outsider sounds.'" The festival promises to pack 'em into the Bottle for sets by groundbreaking artists both new and historic. Daily lineups, with highlights: TONIGHT (Wednesday): White Magic, Badawi, Holy Fuck, and Graveyards & Zac Davis Drag City's White Magic is fronted by the smoky-voiced Mira Bilotte, who channels a... more ›

Happy Labor Day Chicago! Although for many this is a day of picnics and playing, Labor Day has a bit more history behind it, and a significant role in its creation was played by people right here in Chicago. In the midst of the Industrial Revolution, with workers putting in 12 hour days and seven day weeks and child labor rampant, a small slice of our city lived in relative labor peace for a good... more ›

The Bears wrapped up their preseason schedule on Thursday night by hosting the Cleveland Browns. The Browns beat the Bears 19-9, giving the Bears a 3-1 record for the preseason. With the regular season opening in nine days, the goals for the final tune-up were to evaluate the talent of the guys still trying to make the squad, and to keep the starters healthy. Unfortunately for the Bears, coach Lovie Smith kept at least one... more ›

Those of us who pledge allegiance to a certain South Side baseball team have had precious few bright spots this season. Mark Buehrle's no-hitter and ... well, that about it. Another bright spot may come soon courtesy of Sox closer Bobby Jenks, who on Sunday tied a major league record by retiring his 41st straight batter faced. The last batter to reach base against Jenks was Ryan Garko of the Cleveland Indians back on July... more ›

- Craig Stebic had his divorce petition dismissed. We're guessing he got no argument from his wife. more ›

Watching the White Sox this year has been downright stomach churning. All too often they fall behind due to their anemic hitting, yet even when the team has had the lead we can never feel secure that they won't blow it. more ›

We know this is blasphemous and all, but we've gotten a little tired of hearing about global warming lately. Each passing day bombards us with another article about switching incandescent lightbulbs for the ones laced with mercury that can be disposed of as easily as, say, batteries, another "green issue" of Jane or Bop or whatever and another quote about the dire situation from a presidential candidate, we're terribly sorry, probably don't even recycle. That's... more ›

One night, one game, but three seeds lost on the final night of the NBA's regular season for the Bulls. Heading into the final game, the Bulls had the upper hand in winning the second seed in the Eastern Conference. All they had to do was win. Or Cleveland had to lose. But neither came to fruition. more ›

Chicagoist wants to know where exactly the White Sox offense has been. Did they leave it down in Arizona? Because for a team to hold an opponent to one hit yet lose the game is quite an impressive feat! In fact, only 10 times in the past 15 seasons have teams with fewer than two hits won a game. more ›

Injured prior to the All Star Break, Bulls forward Andres Nocioni finally returned to the court this weekend, scoring three points in 10 minutes against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. more ›

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Here we are, less than two years away from the next contest for the White House. This time next year, hopefuls, shoo-ins, and also-rans will be in a mad dash around the country, having pancakes in New Hampshire, talking milk prices and manufacturing in Iowa, and hoping to make it to Super Tuesday. On the Democratic side of the coin, more than a few people have already thrown their hats into the ring, and some... more ›

We here at Chicagoist love good ideas. We’re so joyful when a simple idea benefits almost everyone, and even more joyful when that good idea benefits historic architecture. more ›

Grade school kids are still taking loads of tests beyond the ones required to graduate. Chicagoist remembers the IOWA, IGAP, ISAT….etc. Those were the days... A study of the nation’s science knowledge was recently released by the National Center for Education Statistics based on one such standardized test. more ›

Continuing on our Halloween theme for "BotW", we turn our eyes east to the Cleveland-based Great Lakes Brewing Company. The folks at Great Lakes take great pride in being from Cleveland and knowing the history of Northeast Ohio, having named their beers after shipwrecks immortalized in song by Gordon Lightfoot, Prohibition-era G-men, and rivers so polluted they catch fire. Either that, or they have a very self-deprecating sense of humor, which we imagine one needs... more ›

Sure, this city's sports scene is all Bears, all the time right now, but Chicagoist can find a way to make you care about the World Series. As Tommy Lasorda has been telling that poor Cubs fan up in the tree "since his team was eliminated from the postseason" in those playoff promos (they should have done some fact-checking on that one though--what, he's been up there since May?), it doesn't matter who's in the... more ›

We'd known this day was coming, yet we remained in denial. We distracted ourselves with the Bears and hoped we'd suddenly hear some pleasantly unexpected news. Instead, we learn that the White Sox are offically out of the playoff hunt on account of their 14-1 loss to Cleveland Monday night. Earlier in the evening, the Minnesota Twins beat the KC Royals 8-1, cutting their magic number to one. The Sox loss changed it to... more ›

Chicagoist hopes you’re busy celebrating Labor Day the way most folks do: by sitting around on your fat ass and drinking some beer (BBQ called on account of rain). Admit it: you deserve a break. Even though Federal, state, city and county offices will be closed along with banks and the post office, many people are spending the day working in our fair city, so it’s only right that we take a brief look at... more ›

Chicagoist knows better than to read too much into the preseason games. The starters play only a couple of possessions and don't suit up at all if nursing even minor injuries. The guys getting the bulk of the plays are those just looking to make the roster. So we take whatever happens with more than a grain of salt. Nonetheless, we certainly do prefer to see the Bears win, even when it is meaningless. They... more ›