Things are getting rough for Donald Trump as the lead lender on his tower going up downtown has filed suit, seeking to collect $40 million in guarantees Trump made about the building. The suit was filed Friday by Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas, claiming Trump has defaulted on the $640 million loan when he didn't pay off the remaining $334.2 million to the bank and other lenders by November 7. Trump has previously filed suit against the lenders in which he "asked a judge to uphold a so-called force majeure clause in the loan agreement, which permits an extension due to an extraordinary event — in this case, the global financial crisis, according to the complaint." more ›

It's always a busy day in the world of Donald Trump, but it's a little bit busier around our very own Trump Tower as of late. First, Crain's Chicago has scoured the real-estate listings to find that the Editor-In-Chief of the Chicago Sun-Times, Michael Cooke, flipped his condo for a tidy profit recently. Hey, good for him - at least the newspaper industry is on a paying basis for somebody.* Maybe he can get a show on A&E now. more ›

My favorite part is at 1:29. From our pals Mark Bazer and Steve Delahoyde, with the vocal stylings of Kate James. more ›

Shake-ups and oustings continue at the Trib. The latest casualty: Tribune Interactive President Tim Landon. [Trib] more ›

If you're looking for a peaceful night's rest in a still-under-construction downtown Chicago skyscraper, then lucky you! The Trump International Hotel and Towers opens its doors today. Guest rooms are available now, with the restaurant opening early next month and both the spa and the hotel bar slated to open in March. more ›

State lawmakers are back in session, attempting to solve the little nightmare we call transit fundin. Things...are not looking so good, though. What's the governor doing? Watch for yourself! [AP] more ›

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig must have choked on his frozen custard when he found out that Mark Cuban has officially thrown his hat into the ring to buy the Cubs. On Thursday Cuban made public that he had submitted his application to buy the storied ball club. Bud, of course, has other ideas about who shall buy the Cubs. He has been lobbying for longtime friend John Canning Jr. to purchase the team from the... more ›

Donald Trump presents himself as a successful businessman. Indeed, it takes a lot of business know-how to attach your name to everything you can for a buck, including vodka. Even had he not inherited the family construction business, odds are that the Donald would have made a fortune in sales. Apparently, he'll pimp anything. more ›

Even before the team was officially up for sale, there has been a great deal of speculation about who the next owner of the Cubs might be. While the media -- Chicagoist included -- has focused on the likes of Donald Trump, Ernie Banks and Mark Cuban as possible new team owners, if MLB commissioner Bud Selig gets his way the new owner will be less well known to most of us. Fortune magazine is... more ›

This week, the Cubs announced plans to build a statue of Ernie Banks outside Wrigley Field, honoring Mr. Cub himself. The new statue will be in place before the 2008 season. While discussions about erecting a statue honoring perhaps the greatest Cubs player ever had been going on for a while, Jess Jackson recently got the ball rolling with a public petition, appearances on the Mike North morning show, and a publicized meetings with Tribune... more ›

Scientists announced that they have found a 4-mile-square fossilized rain forest near Danville, IL. They say it was preserved by a major ancient earthquake and that it has a bunch of big leaf impressions, trunks of extinct trees, and tree-sized horsetail plants. LaSalle Bank getting bought by Bank of America? Not so fast... HowToOpenThings is a new local online venture where site members have contests to get videos created that demonstrate how to open... more ›

After months of speculation that the Cubs might be put up for sale as part of a restructuring or sale of Tribune Co., almost immediately after the board's approval of Chicago billionaire Sam Zell's offer, news came that the team would in fact be sold. Now the handicapping can begin on who the new owner will be. There has certainly been no shortage of potential bidders mentioned. Of course, that was before the Cubs went... more ›

According to the Sun-Times, according to The View, the ladies at the show read the Sun-Times! Anyone who subjects themselves to the show would have heard Rosie "Captain Coo-Coo Bananas" O'Donnell referring to her horoscope, which she plucked from the pages of the Chicago newspaper. more ›

Do you have a business idea? If you ran into Donald Trump on an elevator, could you sell it to him before the doors open on the 23rd floor? You can practice your pitch for a chance to win $5,000 in prize money in the inaugural FAST PITCH competition, part of Entrepreneurship Week Chicago. That's enough cash to buy quite a few Foosball tables for your startup office (OK, so maybe you should pay the rent first). A panel of experienced business owners, investors, and other high muckety-mucks will critique your pitch and select a winner, and, of course, it's all preceded by a networking reception. more ›

We find Donald Trump to be a tragic figure, what with the ceaseless self-promotion, the infantile manner in which he responds to criticism, his unsolicited advice to politicians, the way he adopts the facial gestures of his succubi consorts, all those skyscrapers rising to the heavens like modern-day Towers of Babel, and the general bad behavior that stems from his misogyny. What next for a man who lives by the motto that if you paint... more ›

Seriously, is there anybody in this town's upper tax bracket who hasn't thrown their hat into the ring of interested buyers, should the beleagured Tribune Company decide to sell the Cubs as part of their fire sale? Even before the Trib's latest troubles, some notable bidders went on record expressing interest in buying the team — including the likes of Ernie Banks, Mark Cuban and Donald Trump. While Chicagoist would be all for a Cuban... more ›

A few weeks ago, we noted that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban expressed an interest in buying the Cubs. But he's not the only billionaire who could imagine himself in the owner's box at Wrigley. Donald Trump would also be interested! The brash real estate tycoon and reality show star said that he'd like to own the team. When asked by Mike North on 670 the Score, the Donald responded, "I would be interested, yeah.... more ›

Chicagoist leapt for joy a while back when we heard that superstar architect Santiago Calatrava was working on Lake Shore Drive residential highrises - but we had no idea just how high those rises would be. The Fordham Company, the developer of high-end residential real estate properties that is pushing this project forward, is expected to announce today a proposed $500 million building that would be the country's tallest, nearing 1,500 feet at its habitable... more ›

Last night was the last debate before Obama takes Illinois Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald's seat in the Senate. It got a bit heated, but overall it was more of the same. Sunday, the Tribune reported on a recent Tribune/WGN-TV poll that put Obama at 66% and Keyes at 19%. You've heard it here first. Chicagoist predicts that Barack Obama will win the 2004 Senate race. So since that race isn't really even fun anymore [see... more ›