Photo by johnsadowskiii That cab fare increase we mentioned yesterday? Looks like it will happen next year. A judge froze $150,000 belonging to Tony Rezko in case he's ordered to forfeit some of his assets stemming from his recent conviction. State Senator James Meeks was able to get 1,500 people to participate in his protest outside of Wrigley Field yesterday. Meeks hoped to draw attention to what he calls inequality in school funding. More......

Photo by doug.siefken Chicago Police Officer Richard Francis, tragically killed in the line of duty early Wednesday morning, is remembered. [Trib, S-T] If you already are or are looking to attend graduate school at the University of Chicago, take note: the school has cut ties with Illinois' student loan agency, leaving students scrambling for other loan opportunities. [S-T, CBS2] A reason to revive public stockades: Patrick Kolman of Arlington Heights was arrested on his......

Illinois is joining five other states with first-offense mandatory ignition-lock breathalyzers starting January 1. Currently, Illinois drivers who are repeat DUI offenders who want to drive with a suspended suspended license can have the locks installed, and about 3,000 have. The locks cost $150 to install and around $100 a month thereafter, all of which is paid for by the drunk driver. According to a spokeswoman for Illinois MADD, the dashboard devices are "90 percent......

Following his DUI arrest, Walter Jacobson told the Trib that "I believe, and my attorney believes, that I am innocent." According to Jacobson's attorney, "Our investigation to this point shows that Walter hasn't hit anybody and didn't cause any accident. He wasn't driving a car while under the influence." Oh, Skippy. [Trib, S-T]......

Beloved local newsman and father of our favorite doc on House Walter Jacobson was caught driving drunk last night in Lincoln Park. Police responded to a call that someone was driving erratically and had hit a parked car, and lo and behold, the offending driver was the 70-year-old Jacobson. Police say a Breathalyzer test showed Jacobson's BAL was over the legal limit. [Trib]......

It's been just over a month since Bears running back Cedric Benson was arrested for boating while intoxicated, and now Benson's in trouble with Austin, Texas law enforcement once again -- he was arrested last night and charged with drunk driving and was released from the Travis County jail this morning. Police pulled Benson over after he allegedly ran a red light, and based on the results of a field sobriety test cops hauled him......

Chicago cops protecting and (ob)serving by TheeErin Here's what our local ne'erdowells have been up to while waiting in eager anticipation for tonight's Oscars: A man who robbed a downtown bank on Thursday told the teller he was "drunk" and was arrested minutes later. Personally, we prefer meth when robbing banks -- keeps us "on edge". [S-T] A gas station argument escalated into murder on the South Side. [S-T] The FBI Joint Terrorism Task......

About 40 local Red Cross volunteers are in California helping evacuees. Look, Chicagoist loves dolls as much as anyone--and there may or may not be a few American Girl dolls in our staff's past--but you've got to be effing kidding about the reaction to a 9-year-old losing her Marisol doll when it fell off a Delta jet. Parents, the words you're looking for are: "Marisol learned an important lesson about atmospheric pressure, and now......

Well, isn't that convenient? After being cut by the Bears following his arrest for suspected DUI, Tank Johnson has signed on with a new team. And that new team just happens to be the Dallas Cowboys, who face the Bears this Sunday night. Maybe it's truly coincidental, but the timing of Tank's signing sure does seem particularly beneficial for the Cowboys. As they head into their week of practice in preparation for this Sunday's game,......

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,......

We're happy to report that mayors across the state are having a pretty good week. That is, if you think "pretty good" means "pretty good for people watching their crazy antics," which, of course, is why we are so happy to report it. Let's see what we have for them, shall we? Romeoville mayor Fred Dewald will be taking home our "Really Didn't Think That, or Anything, Through" award this week, as well as a......

A speeding ticket. That's what ended Tank Johnson's career with the Chicago Bears. On Thursday, Gilbert, Arizona authorities notified Johnson that they declined to press any charges against him following his arrest last month for suspicion of DUI. Just days after the event, the Bears cut Tank. That move began to look a little premature as authorities revealed earlier this week that Tank's BAC was .072 -- under the .08 limit for DUI. They could......

See, they should have waited! The Bears cut defensive tackle Tank Johnson last week following his arrest in Arizona on suspicion of DUI, before even getting all of the facts in the case. At the time, we suggested that maybe they should have waited until the blood alcohol content results came back rather than making such a hasty decision. On Monday, the results came back and showed that Tank's BAC was .072 — below the......

Following his arrest early Friday morning on suspicion of DUI, the Bears waived Tank Johnson on Monday. In the team's release to the media, GM Jerry Angelo said, "We are upset and embarrassed by Tank's actions last week. He compromised the credibility of our organization." So what great crime ultimately lead to Tank's dismissal from the Bears? He was stopped for driving 40 mph in a 25mph zone at 3:30am in Gilbert, Arizona and cited......

Following Lindsay Lohan's lead, a Cook County man (FINALLY) agreed to plead guilty to driving with a suspended license after his 25th offense. Just want to make sure that sunk in: his 25th offense. Among other things he ran red lights, a DUI, a second DUI and, last but not least, drove around town with a suspended license. While Florida's oddballs still have him beat, it is nevertheless baffling that the man told the judge......

In light of the death of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock, who was driving drunk at the time of his fatal accident, many baseball teams have re-addressed their alcohol policies for players. The Cards were the first team to ban alcohol from their clubhouse in the wake of this tragedy, with the Nationals following suit. The Yankees, who already banned alcohol in the home locker room, have now banned it in the visitors' locker......

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

In this day and age of the media destroying politicians, it's become par for the course for the press to dig up something embarrassing about a candidate to try and discredit them. In some cases, it's worked (like with Jack Ryan). In others, it hasn't been so effective (remember the breathless media reports that Dubya had a DUI? We didn't think so.) Barack Obama isn't immune to this either. First it was the erroneous and......

In a week where Wisconsin earned its first ever #1 ranking for Men's Basketball and then quickly tossed it aside, losing to the Spartans of Michigan State, the next night it is the Illini who are getting all the press. The end of the 80+ year tradition of Chief Illiniwek has garnered a ton of local and national coverage this week. By retiring the Chief, the University of Illinois is likely to see an NCAA......

The guy who's accused of killing Tank Johnson's friend/bodyguard is pleading not guilty. This is silly. "The Sun-Times is putting the Tribune on trial. The charge: The Trib has ruined the Cubs." Would the Sun-Times be attacking the Trib so virulently if they weren't a major competitor? We think not. In CTA news: Two more downtown Metra stations will get CTA transit-card vending machines. Also, the CTA said they're going to start flooding the......

It must be easy for the writers of "My Name is Earl" to find ideas for the show, because all they have to do follow the local police blotters. A couple of these stories are ripe for an "Earl" episode, right down to the roles tailor-made for Joy and Crab Man. We wonder how many of these idiots believe in karma. Police in Madison, Wisconsin called lawyer Rick Petri to come pick up his client......

While we love our Winter weather here at Chicagoist, driving this time of year is by far one of our least favorite aspects of the lady in white. The Coalition to End Needless Death on Our Roadways, a coalition of doctors, released a study on Friday that ranks Illinois in the top 15 states for DUI related crashes. This is the third year the state has ranked in the top 15 and the coalition is......

Given his litany of DUI's and drunken television appearances with Johnny Morris during the "Super Bowl Shuffle" years, that answer would be "whaddaya got?" But if you're "Da Coach" as a marketing brand, you'd probably partner with a proven wine company. Say, Mendocino Wine Company, which lists Parducci, Zingaro, and Big Yellow Cabernet Sauvignon among their brands, to create Mike Ditka Wines. Then you'd drink a lot of your signature wine, pass out in the......

Chicagoist is an animal lover, which is why it makes us sad when bad things happen to animals. We don’t like to see any animal harmed, even the fake plastic ones. And we also don’t like it when stupid people act like animals. It gives the animals a bad name, and they don’t deserve it. You thought three strikes was bad? How about 10? A Lake County man is facing up to 30 years in......

Last week we learned that the jurors in the George Ryan corruption trial were not getting along. Then one of the jurors was being investigated for lying on his pretrial questionnaire about a DUI conviction. On Thursday Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer sent the jury home early so she could mull over how to handle the juror in question. As if that wasn’t enough, on Friday a second juror was accused of lying on her questionnaire about......

This week we have a couple criminals who just can't get enough jail time, a nurse who must like R. Kelly, a scene straight out of the Dukes of Hazzard, and what may be our first nominee for This Year in Stupid: On Wednesday, police arrested a man and charged him with rape, kidnapping, and carjacking just one day after he had gotten out of jail. On Thursday, the Cook County Sheriff's office realized they......

Medical mishaps, alcoholics, our own episode of Cops, and panties, glorious panties in this week's edition: St. Francis Hospital in Blue Island lost Donald Gray's dentures after he had surgery. When Gray complained, hospital administrators reminded him that he had signed a waiver stating that the hospital is not responsible for lost personal property. Uh, we think that usually means things like wallets, clothing, you know, stuff that isn't normally attached to your body. On......

Forgery, felonies, and fauna abound this week. We're just wondering why we don't get a job at the Water Department, those guys are living it up: State Rep. Patricia Bailey was found guilty of multiple counts of felony forgery and perjury for using a fake address on her voter and candidate registration documents. A judge said she couldn't find any evidence that Bailey lived in the district she represents when she ran for office. Bailey......

Chicagoist always hears conservative political pundits say that money won’t solve the problems of the inner city. That giving more money to failing public schools – schools where teachers have to provide their own chalk and where the actual buildings are falling into disrepair – is not the solution to rising violence, falling test scores, and a system that seems to be falling apart before our very eyes. The pundits say that it is the......

Michael L. Jackson, director of communication and policy for the STD/HIV/AIDS division of the Health Department, has been charged with murder for repeatedly driving a cab over Haroon Paryani, the cab's 61-year-old driver, last Thursday night in 500 block of West Briar Place in the Lakeview neighborhood. Jackson turned himself into police on Friday. Witnesses and police say Jackson and Paryani appeared to be arguing over a fare and Paryani fell down in front of......