A plan proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel would charge downtown motorists a $2-a-day "congestion fee" to help fund a new CTA Green Line station near McCormick Place and establish express bus lanes downtown. more ›

Beware our city's most dangerous invader since "Baby's Day Out." more ›

Yesterday, police stated that a man with a semiautomatic handgun and several rounds of ammunition attempted to go up to the skydeck at Willis Tower late Friday afternoon. The man, Christopher Irving, was carrying the gun and ammunition along with some magazines in a backpack when security officers searched through his belongings and prevented the man from entering Willis Tower. more ›

While most of us normal people were sleeping soundly in our respective homes early Sunday morning, Rahm Emanuel and thousands of others competed in the 2011 Life Time Chicago Triathlon downtown. more ›

As Evanston faces its multi-million dollar budget deficit in 2012, officials are looking into new ways to raise money for the city. Case in point: slapping advertisements along structures on the lakefront as a quick means to raise money. This week, the city council gave approval for staff to seek out proposals from third-party advertising vendors, who would be in charge of soliciting advertisements for different city assets in the downtown area and along the lakefront. Evanston residents could eventually see ads on recycling or trash cans in the downtown area, or on lifeguard stands or beach houses on the lakefront. more ›

Looks like the on-again, off-again Wacker Drive construction project will be on-again, weather permitting. more ›

Hint for "Around Town" contributors: photographs of the Harold Washington Library will always be considered for inclusion. It's certainly one of our favorite photography subjects. We just find the building from the architecture firm of Hammond, Beeby and Babka (now known as Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge, Inc.) to be one of the underrated gems of downtown. We can pass by the Washington Library twice a day and find something new about it we hadn't noticed before. more ›

With the return of the cold weather comes the return of another, newer, local favorite - Pedway tours! Hosted by former Chicagoista Margaret Hicks, these tours are a great opportunity to become familiar with a part of the city that many people don't know exist or have misconceptions as to how the pedway works. “I think a lot of locals really fear the Pedway, but they shouldn’t, it’s awesome, and now it’s very holiday-ish.” The writer and local comedienne normally gives a guided walking tour of the Pedway Monday and Thursday at 10:30 a.m, but for Thanksgiving Hicks is adding tours on November 24th and November 26th, both at 10:30 a.m. “I added the tours for Thanksgiving because there are so many great holiday things to see from the Pedway, like the tree in Macy’s, the beautiful Cultural Center with all of its decorations, heck, even Lane Bryant has done up their windows down there. It’s a great thing to do with your office too, learn something and have a great time” more ›

Fifty years ago next Monday ground was broken on a three acre parcel of land overlooking the Chicago River downtown. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by construction workers, GE employees, local politicians and President-elect John F. Kennedy (via telephone). more ›

Vacancy rates for retail stores are (ever so slowly) on the rise in Chicago, with the most interesting new tenants coming in the form of pop-up art galleries and work spaces. The Chicago Loop Alliance’s initiative, Pop-Up Art Loop, is kicking off another strong (and temporary) exhibition, Love Flows Both Ways: Street Culture x Contemporary Art curated by Oliver Hild of Maxwell Colette Gallery. more ›

If you've got an extra $1 billion lying around, then you might be in luck. Chicago's Merchandise Mart, a noted landmark, is rumored to be up for sale. According to Crain's, Merch Mart's future sale has been an idea that has been floating around for some time:

Parent company Vornado Realty Trust has been dropping hints along Wall Street and with potential buyers that it wants to sell the subsidiary, including the fortress-like structure along the Chicago River. The New York real estate investment trust purchased it from the Kennedy family in 1998 for $630 million. Vornado's efforts already have yielded a $1.25-billion offer, but that deal died last month, people familiar with the negotiations say.

Stretches of downtown were closed to the public this weekend as local filming began on the action-film-blockbuster-to-be Transfomers 3. Friend of Chicagoist Emily Tillack sent in a few photos she snapped of the filmed action. If you got any photos of Optimus Prime and the like zooming around town, feel free to share them in our Flickr pool. more ›

The Blackhawks are already back and taking the Stanley Cup around town which means it's time for the party. The team and city have set the victory parade and rally for tomorrow morning, meaning it's going to be a pretty short work day for a lot of people in the Loop. The parade itself kicks off at 10:30 a.m. at Washington and Wacker and then will head east along Washington, taking a turn north on Michigan. The parade will end at Michigan and Wacker - where the parade will hopefully proceed single-file - and that's where the rally will begin at 11:30 a.m. The Tribune has a handy map in case you're more visually-oriented when getting directions. We'll have several staff members there soaking in the fun. If you're there, feel free to share your photos in our Flickr Pool for possible posting here on the site! more ›

Few things are cozier than a good afternoon tea service. Most Chicagoans think of afternoon tea as a formal affair at the Palm Court at the Drake, or perhaps at the top of the Ritz Carlton in the formal lobby. For those who want a less formal (and much cheaper!) version of the ritual, Russian Tea Time is the place for you. Great tea, great food and a comfortable atmosphere, plus the chance to order vodka flights - what more could a person want? more ›

A downtown McDonald's located inside 233 N. Michigan has started offering a catering service to its building and other adjoining office buildings at 111 E. Wacker and 205 and 225 N. Michigan. Although their delivery selection is less extensive than their regular menu, they will deliver such fast food favorites as Big Macs and Egg McMuffins to your conference room with white-tablecloth service included, for a minimum of 10 people. "It's not like a lot of the fast-food restaurants in the building that say they cater," says Darren Remmer, catering manager of the McDonald's, to the Chicago Sun-Times. "There's a difference between catering and delivery." more ›

Two big restaurant openings are set to happen in the next four days. Well, one of the openings is more of a re-launch, but we're still stoked. Let's talk about that one first. more ›

Police closed a portion of 330 N. Stetson Ave. on Saturday afternoon because of falling concrete. At about 3 p.m., police responded to reports of concrete falling from the upper level onto the mid-level of the multi-level street. Stetson Avenue was promptly closed between East South Water Street and East Wacker Drive, police said. more ›

Thanks to Chicago Flickr Pool member ambjorn for sharing this awesome time lapse of downtown Chicago as a new day dawns. more ›

Missed this year's Thanksgiving Day Parade? Check out some great shots of bands, Globetrotters, and floats above. [via Flickr] more ›

On Saturday, Chicagoist decided to play tourist and take some photos of life in the Loop. Our favorite subject of the day was this man (pictured), who with CD player in hand and dance moves in motion turned a N. Michigan Ave. median strip into his own stage from which to entertain pedestrians and traffic. We don't know your name or your mission, Mr. Dancer, but your moxie makes you our new hero. more ›

As promised, we got up very very early to hit the Daley Plaza Farmer's Market as soon as it opened on Thursday morning. In future entries, we'll be visiting a varieties of farmer's markets around the city, but for the first day of the season, we returned to our old standby. more ›

Block 37 is a black hole where money and plans go to die, and when you combine those forces with the CTA's money-guzzling abilities, well, it's the financial equivalent of a a shark riding on an elephant's back, just trampling and eating everything they see. Time to call City Hall for a bail-out. more ›

Lunchtime in the Loop is a beautiful thing. Like an elaborate dance sequence, busy downtown hot spots service customers with a graceful efficiency, and businessmen rub elbows with the bike messengers for an “everyman’s meal” – fries and a dog, Italian beef, or a back-to-basics deli sandwich. more ›

Like many Chicagoans, we cried a little in 2006 when the Berghoff restaurant closed its doors after 108 years in the loop. While the Berghoff was never known for its “gourmet” cuisine, it did serve up hearty portions of German cooking and nostalgia for old Chicago. We were delighted to see that part of the Berghoff legacy would carry on “17/West at the Berghoff.” more ›

The Chicago City Council held off on voting on a controversial ban on urban chickens yesterday. Since urban chickens are all the rage, it seems like a perfect time to ban them, right? Southwest Side Alderman Lona Lane (18th), who proposed the ban, said she didn't know why the vote on the ban was held up. Maybe it is, as the Sun-TImes suggests, because Mayor Daley has a thing for urban poultry: "Let's be realistic,"... more ›

We thought we'd been hearing jugbands downtown recently, and now we know we have: River otters are making a comeback in Chicago waterways. According to the Chris Anchor, chief biologist for Cook County (jobs we didn't know existed: that one), "Almost all the watersheds in Cook County have otters. They're everywhere...there's definitely otters downtown." No one's sure exactly why the otters have re-emerged, but the Brookfield Zoo and Forest Preserve District will be tagging... more ›

Although the cover story to yesterday's Sun-Times said that diners shouldn't be alarmed, it's hard to not be after reading the sensationalized cover story which listed 21 restaurants whose ice had more bacteria than a toilet in the Sun-Times men's room. A note for downtown workers looking for lunch this afternoon: you may want to buy a bottled drink. The testing of ice cubes from 49 area restaurants found that the unlucky 21 tested for... more ›

This week has been all about finding a good turkey, ordering that dinner to go, or cooking at home. But Chicago's intrepid food bloggers were still all over the place this week. Bridget Houlihan and Tammy "Zesmerelda" Green at Chicago Bites took the time to head to Devon Seafood Grill in the Gold Coast. Both of the ladies enjoyed the meal immensely, but to get the full effect, you should listen to their podcast. Meanwhile,... more ›

We were downtown at work yesterday when a co-worker said "What's with the protest outside? There's someone chanting for justice or something." Knowing from the "Saturday Plans" post that The Lady herself, Paula Deen was appearing, this was a head-scratcher. Who could be so upset at a TV chef? Besides the obvious, of course. more ›

Flurries possible tonight, but this weekend shouldn't be too, too chilly. Which is good because there's a ton of fun stuff going on tomorrow: Paula Deen has two live shows at the Chicago Theater tomorrow. BYO sticks of butter, we're guessing. Tickets start at $45 and are still available for both the 11am and 4pm shows. Not in the mood for angioplasty? Head over to the DIY Trunk Show, at Pulaski Park auditorium. We're starting... more ›