Image by pantagrapher. Obama arrived in Kabul today for a ‘surprise’ visit. Didn’t we all know he’s be showing up there sometime soon? [S-T] Sailors began the Chicago Yacht Club’s annual race to Mackinac today. You can track boats on-line here. [Trib] A man who lost his leg in a meat grinder is now suing the meat factory where he worked. [WBBM] Mya Lyons, the nine-year-old girl killed earlier this week, was laid to......

Police are talking to a "person of interest" in Mya Lyons's death this afternoon. The person of interest, a man in his 30s or 40s, was arrested sometime between 8 and 10 p.m. Thursday after possibly telling his friends he had been in the alley where Mya was found. He told investigators he is a "scrapper"—someone who collects scrap metal -to sell. He allegedly admitted to police he was in the alley and said that......

As Police Supt. Weis and G-Rod spar over bringing in the National Guard and State Police to quell the rise in violence, crime continues and makes us wonder if we'd be better off with the Man of the Moment. A shooting in West Humboldt Park left three men injured. The shooting occurred shortly before 9 p.m. in the 800 block of North Keeler Avenue. Two men, 23 and 22 years-old, were treated at Stroger Hospital......

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......

Governor Blagojevich is offering to dispatch the Illinois State Police to help stem what he called "out of control" violence in Chicago. "Something is wrong, and this violence has to stop. And we have to do something constructively to try and make that violence stop," he said. "Maybe, we can play a role and provide more manpower so that the mayor doesn’t have to make that choice between taking a police officer from, let’s say,......

Just when you thought you were safe from anything Drew Peterson-related, Bolingbrook's most notorious ex-husband is back in the news. Last week, a grand jury indicted Peterson on two counts of unlawful use of a weapon stemming from a supposedly illegal transfer of his shortened assault rifle to his son. On Monday, Will County Judge Richard Schoenstedt heard arguments over dismissing all felony gun charges. Peterson's attorneys insist that he carried the weapon while working......

More details are emerging in Mya Lyons's murder today. Her autopsy showed that she was not sexually assaulted, and police say her father, Richard Lyons, is not a suspect. The 9-year-old had gone to bed about 11 p.m. Monday after telling her grandmother she was tired and wanted to sleep. About 10 minutes later, the family heard a door shut. The noise drew the girl's father downstairs to investigate, relatives said. After quickly discovering Mya......

After yesterday's tragic news of a murdered 9 year-old girl, this is not the way we wanted to start the morning. Jose Callabero, a 16 year-old Logan Square boy, was shot in the head and killed in his home (located in the 2700 block of North Fairfield Ave.) early Wednesday morning. The shooting occurred around 3:45 a.m. Police have not released any more information, though there are no suspects and no known motives at this......

Mya Lyons, 9, was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death last night. Lyons was found in the alley behind her father's apartment on the 8400 block of South Gilbert Court. Lyons (no relation) lived with her mother in Addison most of the time and was an honor student Stanley Hall school in Glendale Heights. Relatives said Mya's father discovered the little girl was not in the house around midnight Monday night, prompting him to wake......

A man wearing a fake mustache has been robbing banks on the North Side, and the FBI is asking anyone with information to call (312) 421-6700. Thanks a lot, "Groucho Bandit," for taking a good thing and using its powers for evil instead of awesome. I freaking love fake mustaches. I want this Tom Selleck cake, and this mustache key holder. And this no-longer-available mustache mirror. I like mustache Wednesdays. I have purchased both this......

Soccer Triptch by ZachStern. In the town of Morris, just south of Joliet, a soccer dad has been jailed for trying to choke the referee of a game involving 6- ad 7-year-olds. William Favretto has been sentenced to 14 days in jail, 2 years of probation, pay a $500 fine, seek anger-management counseling, stay away from the victim, and apologize to the referee and the Morris Soccer Association. The incident began when Favretto's wife......

North Avenue beach house by RUNFAR. Take that! A Grayslake man has been hospitalized after he fell and broke his hip while stabbing his wife! His wife ran to a neighbors for help. She’s doing okay. During the investigation, police found, “an Uzi semiautomatic submachine gun and a Beretta pistol in the home.” [WBBM] Two boats in Belmont Harbor were destroyed late Friday when they caught fire. People aboard the 42-foot boat had to......

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about Daley's public support of under-fire Police Superintendent Jody Weis...because it was. Behind closed doors, however, it's a different story entirely. Mayor Daley reportedly raked Weis over the coals in a closed door meeting over the alleged mistakes made during the Taste that led to violence and the overall rise in the city's violent crime this year. One source told the Sun-Times, "It wasn't quiet." Weis was......

Just as Alderman Isaac Carothers is calling out top Cop Jody Weis, Chicago saw Thursday morning open with more shootings. The first happened on the North Side, in the Edgewater Beach neighborhood, around 3 a.m. A 24 year-old man was shot in the 5600 block of North Winthrop Avenue following what witnesses described as an argument with another man. The victim is currently in critical condition at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. A pair of......

In the wake of the recent uptick in violence, including last week's Taste of Chicago shootings, Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis is being called to face the music by Alderman (29th) and Police Committee Chairman Isaac Carothers. "He's inexperienced, and it's his first Taste," Carothers said. "I want to see what his response is going to be to deal with this violence, not only at the Taste, but with this unprecedented violence in this city—13......

It is weird dudes day here at Chicagoist--don't spank it on the El, don't take upskirt shots at streetfests, and seriously, don't break into people's homes to steal women's socks. James Dowdy, 36 of Belleville, has already been to prison three times for burglary, but he's never hurt anyone, nor has he taken anything other than socks. His mother wants the court to sentence him to live-in psychiatric treatment. "I'd like for somebody to look......

An executive for the MacArthur Foundation was charged last week for taking upskirt shots of women at Frontier Days and the Fourth of July Parade in Arlington Heights. Timothy J. Hoeppner, 47, is facing at least one count of unauthorized videotaping, which is a misdemeanor. Plain clothes police officers caught Hoeppner after a man told them Hoeppner was trying to photograph his wife without her knowledge or permission. Arlington Heights Police Sgt. Tom Seleski said,......

James Plante Jr., 39, has been charged with felonious robbery and attempted robbery for holding up a Hammond, Indiana bar this weekend not with a gun, not with a knife, but with a cheese grater. [A bar] patron realized Plante didn't have a gun and used a bar stool to push him out of the bar, court records state. Plante fled, dropping a cheese grater on the ground, court records allege. NBC already used a......

Two men were sentenced to two years probation today for raping a 14-year-old girl. Tony Pacheco (left), 17 at the time of the 2006 crime, and Angel Alverio (right), then 18, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count each of aggravated battery and criminal sexual abuse. The were sentenced to 24 months probation and both have to register as sex offenders for 10 years. From an NBC 5 story from August, 2006: After Alverio and Pacheco......

The pufferfish toxin guy from last week turns out to be nuttier than a squirrel on spring break. Edward F. Bachner IV had been stockpiling tetrodotoxin and weapons, and had tried to hire a contract killer to murder his wife back in 2005. The FBI investigated the attempts then, but no charges were ever filed. Bachner also had a $5 million life insurance policy on his wife that included a special terrorism rider. This week,......

Hundreds of citizens, firefighters, politicians, and police officers from the Chicago-metro area attended a wake yesterday at Cooney Funeral Home on Irving Park Road in honor of Chicago Police Officer Richard Francis. Francis was killed in the line of duty last week, the first such police death in Chicago in six years. A funeral procession and service at St. Monica Church were held this morning. Among those who showed up to the wake were former......

Glenview 4th of July Parade photo by Kudzuplanet. It’s been a busy weekend for crime and violence, unfortunately. So busy that we’ve had a hard time keeping track of the shootings and stabbings. WBBM has a tally: two police-involved shootings and several fatalities. A woman was stabbed to death in Lincolnshire yesterday. It was the first murder for the affluent suburb in 20 years. [Trib] UPDATE: Lincolnshire police have named the husband of the......

The city continues to lose its ever-lovin' mind as four people were shot in the Loop Thursday night, one fatally, as roughly a million people left Grant Park following the city's annual lakefront fireworks display. The gunshots sent the crowd of celebrators scattering for cover behind cars. The first shooting happened near Dearborn and Van Buren. Courtney Thomas, 20, was shot in the head around 10:40 p.m. and pronounced dead shortly thereafter at Northwestern Memorial......

G-Rod is calling lawmakers back to Springfield to work on that pesky, still unsigned state budget. [Trib, S-T] Something we realize all too well: the murder rate in Chicago is up 13% over last year. Alderman Sandi Jackson is claiming that new airline baggage charges are illegal since they are "discriminatory" by applying only to economy/coach travelers. A federal judge dismissed attorney Blake Horwitz's lawsuit challenging Chicago's three-year-old ban on using handheld cell phones while......

Not a big surprise here: authorities say that bike theft tends to pick up during the summer months. Although trends are not different than those from previous years, there are ways to detain thievery, like investing in a good lock, locking your bike through both the wheels and the frame, and always locking your bike when not in use (seriously). This won’t altogether prevent theft, but registering your bike with the city of Chicago can......

Photo by nvaughn Sorry to start the day as a Debbie Downer, but it was a bad night for violent crime in the city. Yeesh. A 27-year Chicago Police veteran was killed early this morning just outside the police station at Belmont and Western. Belmont District Officer Richard Francis, 60, responded to a call of a street disturbance across the street from the station. He was confronted by a woman and a struggle ensued,......

Nicholas Sheley of Sterling, Illinois is wanted by Illinois State Police in connection to eight recent murders in Illinois and Missouri. A $25,000 reward has been offered for his arrest. Sheley is considered a "person of interest" in a quadruple homicide in Rock Falls, Illinois as well as a murder in Galesburg, Illinois and two homicides in St. Louis suburb Festus, Missouri. On Monday, the bodies of two men, a woman and a child......

A 14-year-old Chicago runaway stole a charter bus yesterday and drove down I-80. Drove erratically, of course, weaving in and out of lanes, dragging the bus's muffler, and then hitting a construction wall. The teen has been charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, and luckily no one was hurt. [AP]......

A Lake in the Hills man was arrested yesterday for possessing enough pufferfish toxin to kill about 100 people, according to the FBI. Tetrodotoxin possession without federal approval is a felony. Edward F. Bachner IV allegedly posed as a doctor ("Dr. Edmund Backer," real creative) and tried to buy 98 milligrams of tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin that causes paralysis, from a New Jersey chemical company. But 98 milligrams is a lot of—researchers who legally use tetrodotoxin......

Photo by kookybites Police are still investigating what they think is a drug-related triple homicide that occurred last night in the 7800 block of South Kingston Avenue. [Trib, S-T, CBS2] An unnamed person was arrested in McHenry County today by the FBI for possession of illegal toxins. [Trib, S-T] Now this is Pulitzer-worthy investigative journalism: What does Obama do on his day off? We were going to say "practice Guitar Hero skills" but, alas,......