TMZ reports that professional wrestling legend Randy "Macho Man" Savage died today after suffering a heart attack while driving in Florida. Savage, whose real name is Randy Poffo, grew up in suburban Downers Grove, graduated from Downers Grove North High School and Southern Illinois University. He was a baseball prospect in the White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals organizations before injuries facilitated his switch to professional wrestling, the family business. more ›

Kimberly Choate, the former stepmother of Christian Choate, also pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with the boy's death in 2009. Kimberly Choate, aka Kimberly Kubina, is charged with murder, battery, neglect and criminal confinement, along with her ex-husband and Christian's father, Riley Choate. more ›

The Sun-Times continues its series on the death of David Koschman, who was killed by a punch thrown by Richard "R.J." Vanecko, one of Mayo Daley's nephews, in 2004. Today, they used medical records obtained by Koschman's mother, Nanci, that detail the slow decline in her son's condition from the moment his head hit the pavement. more ›

The story of two bodies discovered in a fifteen-foot high pile of horse manure in a Gary, IN stable brings to our mind parallels of the Spilotro brothers ultimate fate in an Indiana corn field. A man who was boarding his horse at the stable discovered an arm sticking out of the mound of guano. Police dug out the two bodies, one of them -- a male -- was wrapped in plastic. Both bodies were bloated and it is uncertain as of now how long the two have been dead. more ›

The melting snow reveals a lot of things that were hidden. But a woman missing since late December? That's what happened when a Union Pacific rail employee discovered the body of Jeanne Pike near the railroad tracks in Winthrop Harbor this morning. The 60-year-old Pike was reported missing on Dec. 21. At the time she was reported missing, police searched the area, which was covered in snow, but found no trace of her. The Union Pacific employee found her under a tree, partially covered in snow. An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of Pike's death. more ›

Police are looking into the death last night of an infant on the North side of the city. The baby's mother called her husband to say she "did something to the baby" and "it was too late." Firefighters broke into an apartment on the 3900 block of north Ashland and found the baby unresponsive. more ›

We're stunned and saddened right now at the news that Sheffield's owner and Friend of Chicagoist Ric Hess passed away last night. Hess had a heart attack at the bar. more ›

A body discovered in a field in rural LaSalle County has been identified as that of Tanya Shannon. Shannon went missing a month ago when a vehicle driven by her husband Dale spun out and struck and hit a pole. Dale Shannon reportedly broke his back and died in the crash, but Tanya Shannon left the vehicle and went out into the elements. She left behind a footprint and a slipper, but her trail ended at the road, according to Chicago Breaking News. more ›

New Years Eve should have been a happy occasion for Michael Hilling and Jessica Woytonik, who were at the lakefront celebrating their first anniversary as a couple. The evening took a turn for the worst when Woytonik accidentally dropped her water bottle into Lake Michigan and Hilling, 19, jumped in to retrieve it and ended up drowning. more ›

Police take their oath "to serve and protect" to heart. But it still comes as a shock when we read news of a policeman killed, whether in the line of duty or not. We were shocked a lot in 2010. more ›

Edward Stringer, one of the two firefighters killed battling a blaze on the South Side last week, will be buried today. In a fitting sendoff, Stringer's casket was carried from a funeral home in Oak Lawn to St. Rita of Cascia Church on the South Side on the back of a fire truck. more ›

Shocking news from the state's capital city this afternoon as reports that Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin was found dead at his home of a gunshot wound. more ›

Strange, tragic happenings in Detroit where yesterday three runners died in a 16-minute span while participating in the Detroit Marathon. The men were identified as Daniel Langdon, 36, of Laingsburg, MI; Rick Brown, 65, of Marietta, OH, and Jon Fenlon, 26, of Waterford, MI. Weather conditions were good for running with temps around 28 degrees at the start of the race, rising to the low 40s throughout the morning. According to the Detroit Free-Press, Langdon collapsed at 9:02 a.m., near the intersection of Michigan Ave and First, between miles 11 and 12. Just 15 minutes later, Brown fell and hit his head a few blocks west of where Langdon had collapsed. A minute later, at 9:18 a.m., Fenlon collapsed just after completing the half-marathon, being run in conjunction with the full marathon. Rich Harshbarger, vice president of consumer marketing for the Detroit Media Partnership, said medical personnel had excellent response times, arriving on each scene within seconds. Autopsies on all three men were expected today. more ›

Oscar Mayer, the third chairman of the Wisconsin meat-processing company bearing his grandfather's name, died of natural causes at the age of 95, in Fitchburg, Wis. Mayer retired from the company in 1977. The group reported its first billion-dollar year shortly afterward. The Oscar Mayer company moved to Chicago in 1900 and is now a subsidiary of Kraft Foods. more ›

As we approach the end of the month, two June deaths have brought the state death toll from the N1N1 Influenza A (aka swine flu) to 12. A 54-year-old woman passed on June 10 and a 47-year-old woman passed on June 23; the older of the had a previously existing medical condition. Overall, swine flu cases in the state have topped 2,800. [WBEZ] more ›

We like to have a little fun and bitch and moan about the cold, but - sadly - there is an extremely unfortunate downside to the cold. The Cook County medical examiner's office has already reported four deaths that are at least partly related to the winter's cold. While a few of the deaths were primarily caused by other factors, autopsies showed that the deaths were aided by exposure to the cold, including one Tuesday night in which a woman fell outside her home. Please bundle up, everyone. more ›

There are two noteworthy items in this recent report about a man who died Saturday from blunt head trauma after falling out of a police wagon. The first item of interest is the story in and of itself; the suspect was handcuffed and trying to escape from police custody, but the paddy wagon was stationary, and he was not struck by another vehicle. He simply … fell on his head, and died later from his injuries at Stroger Hospital. The death is under investigation. more ›