In an update from yesterday, police have charged Irvin Brown, 56, of the 4000 block of South Lake Shore Drive, for allegedly throwing the brick from a Lake Shore Drive overpass that smashed a CTA bus window and resulted in two women being hospitalized on Friday night. Brown--who is homeless--was convicted two years ago of throwing a brick at a moving vehicle, and is being charged in this case with two counts of aggravated battery and one count of unlawful use of a weapon for a knife, after police found him with an illegal knife when he was arrested, police News Affair Officer Daniel O'Brien said to the Chicago Sun-Times. Brown is scheduled to appear in bond court on Sunday. more ›

A 60-year-old woman and a 40-year-old woman were both hospitalized on Friday evening after a brick thrown from the Oakwood Boulevard overpass shattered a window on the X28 Stony Island Express CTA bus that they were both traveling on. The incident occurred on Lake Shore Drive near 39th, as the bus was traveling south on Lake Shore Drive, police said. more ›

A man who had been stabbed when he stepped between two fighting friends on Saturday morning was reported to be in "stable" condition, after he boarded a CTA bus on the South Side. At 5:52 a.m., a CTA bus driver contacted police about a rider who had stab wounds in his arm and chest, according to police News Affairs officer Robert Perez. The victim claimed he was drinking with friends in the 5300 block of South Paulina when his friends got in an argument and he attempted to break up their fight and was stabbed in the process. The man was taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County in "stable" condition, according to Perez. [Chicago Sun-Times] more ›

Coming a few days after a report showed that victims of robberies and assaults on CTA buses and trains are on the rise, Tribune transportation columnist Jon Hilkevitch points out that riders aren't the only ones dealing with crime. CTA union officials say that nearly a dozen bus drivers are assaulted each month, and to try and increase the safety of their employees the CTA is considering adding Lexan shields to all 2,000 city buses. Lexan is stronger and more impact resistant than Plexiglass, but it's also more expensive -- $400,000 has already been spent to equip 500 buses with the shields, and an additional $1.2 million would be needed to put them in the rest of the fleet. Not everybody is a fan -- Carlos J. Acevedo from Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241 said that he estimates 80 percent of drivers aren't happy with the shields: more ›

When he tried to use his CTA card, it came back "invalid,'' Harroun said. He told the driver CTA personnel had told him in the past that if he encountered problems with the card, he should ask the driver to call a supervisor. more ›

We've all probably witnessed cars that drive recklessly around CTA buses, especially the classic move of darting in front of one at a red light. (Hell, many of us are guilty of doing it ourselves.) So it's not a big surprise to hear that there was an accident between a CTA bus and a car on the West Side -- except in this case, the car was parked. The accident took place on Pulaski just north of Lake Street, and wound up sending the driver and 9 passengers to the hospital. Four were reporter to be in serious condition. We're sure several other passengers will experience "mysterious neck pain" within the next few days -- most likely at their personal injury attorney's office. [Trib] more ›