A man is in custody in the weekend stabbing of a schoolteacher in Naperville. more ›

An anonymous tip led police to a warehouse in West Englewood, where they found $20 million worth of marijuana more ›

A moving vehicle with a gunman firing shots from it led to a crash that involved a CTA bus in Englewood yesterday. 11 people were injured. more ›

A charter for a new elementary school in Englewood will be considered on Wednesday by the Chicago Public Schools board. The Montessori School of Englewood Charter would be located at 7033 S. Honore St.--the site of a former Catholic school--and would offer classes for 240 students from kindergarten through sixth grade. more ›

As the snow begins to melt, it's back to business as usual in Chicago. Early this morning a man was shot and robbed of a snowblower in the Englewood neighborhood, marking the first shooting since the blizzard hit on Tuesday, police said via the Chicago Tribune. There had been no shootings in the city since 3 p.m. on Tuesday when the snow first hit, according to preliminary data. more ›

Per the folks over at Fake Shore Drive, Che "Rhymefest" Smith is putting months of speculation to rest and released a brief video announcing he's running for 20th Ward Alderman. The 20th Ward encompasses parts of Englewood, New City, Back of the Yards, Woodlawn and Washington Park. Under incumbent Alderman Willie Cochran, capital improvements in the ward have been slow in coming over the years, which Rhymefest dutifully notes in his video. more ›

Chicago Police Officer Thor Soderberg, 43, was shot and killed yesterday afternoon as he was leaving a police building in the Englewood neighborhood. Officer Soderbergh was walking through the parking lot of the building, at 61st St. and S. Racine, at 3:45 p.m. yesterday when a man, a convicted felon, became "became involved in a struggle," according to a police spokesman, and in the ensuing scuffle, the man got control of Soderberg's gun and shot the officer in the head. The man fled the scene and then robbed a civilian nearby where police caught up to him, shooting and wounding him. He was reported in critical but stable condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where he is in police custody. more ›

As Police Supt. Jody Weis gave a press conference on Friday afternoon in the Englewood neighborhood to discuss the recent wave of violence that left 41 people shot and four dead, an ironic report of shots being fired several blocks away resulted in Weis cutting the interview short. Police discovered that a 25-year-old man was shot at 69th and Paulina and taken to the hospital in critical condition. more ›

We've been loving the unseasonably warm weather this week but there is a downside to the early boost in Spring temps. It's been a violent 36 hour period for the city as five people have been killed and 24 injured in a 36-hour window beginning Wednesday night. According to CBS 2, fifteen people were hurt within two hours in Englewood alone and there was even a reported shooting just after midnight in Millennium Park. more ›

Four women died around 2 a.m. this morning when the car they were traveling in smashed into a tree in the South Side neighborhood of Englewood, Chicago police said. Police and paramedics responded to the crash on the westbound side of Garfield Boulevard just west of Morgan Street, said Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro to Chicago Breaking News. The car was traveling west at a high speed when it went off the road and struck the tree, Alfaro said. more ›

• A UPS driver is in critical condition after being shot while making a delivery in the Englewood neighborhood.
• The U.S. Department of Education has ruled that the City College's debit card system is illegal.
• On the chopping block from the state Board of Education: after-school and gifted students programs.

A list of the nation's 25 most dangerous neighborhoods based on neighborhood statistics shows Chicago has landed four on the list, the most of all cities listed. The highest ranked Chicago neighborhood - well, more like "sections of larger neighborhoods" - on the list belongs to a part of Washington Park - State St. & Garfield - that comes in at number two overall. As the Sun-Times points out, that particular neighborhood formerly consisted of the well-documented Robert Taylor housing project. more ›

Yesterday, we posted the picture of Derrick Rose that's been circulating among smaller sports blog - such as Da Bullz and Black Sports Online - for a week now and that the Tribune picked up on. The photo shows Rose and former Memphis teammate Antonia Anderson flashing gang signs; we're no experts but it's alleged that Rose is flashing the pitchfork signs usually associated with Gangster Disciples Nation. As the controversy has grown, Rose finally addressed the situation via a statement (via the Tribune): more ›

• Former priest Donald McGuire was sentenced to 25 years for having sex with a minor.
• Aquan Lewis, the 10-year-old boy who was found hanging from a hook in a school bathroom and later died, was laid to rest today.
• The 3rd District Appellate Court has upheld a ruling that Drew Peterson is not the suitable person to gain control of the estate of his murdered third wife, Kathleen Savio.

William Balfour was denied bail at a hearing today by Judge Raymond Myles. His attorney, Joshua Kutnick, claims there are no witnesses and no connection between Balfour and the murder weapon. Prosecutors presented arguments that included:

• Balfour told detectives that he was home at the time of the shootings, but cell phone records showed he was in the vicinity of the Hudson family home. more ›

Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis expressed confidence that they've built a strong case against William Balfour, the suspect formally charged in the killings of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew. Police recovered the murder weapon and the SUV in which seven-year-old Julian King was killed. Said Weis, "I think if you talk to the new state's attorney [Anita Alvarez] she'll be as confident in this case as I am." Weis also says there is physical evidence putting Balfour at the scene of the shootings of Hudson's mother and brother inside their Englewood home on October 24. Balfour's attorney says his client has admitted nothing; Balfour has a bond hearing today. For Weis' sake, after a year of constant screw-ups, we hope he's right and has his shit together for once. more ›

William Balfour has been formally charged in the murders of Darnell Donerson, Jason Hudson, and Julian King, all relatives of actress/singer Jennifer Hudson. He has been charged with one count of home invasion and three counts of first-degree murder. Sources have told the Trib that most of the evidence is circumstantial, but police are confident they have done the proper legwork to secure a conviction, including motive, witnesses, cell phone records that tracked Balfour's movements the day of the shootings, and an alleged confession to his girlfriend. The Sun-Times also reported a source as saying Balfour confessed the murders to a friend, but didn't indicate whether or not this was his alleged confession to his girlfriend or an additional admission of guilt. His mother, Michele, said, "They have a botched-up investigation and they're trying to pin it on him." Balfour is set for a bond hearing tomorrow. more ›

Five weeks after the October 24 murder of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew, Chicago Police have finally arrested Hudson's former brother-in-law William Balfour in connection with the murders. He has been the prime suspect in the case since the start; he was already being held in a state corrections facility on parole violation charges stemming from a police investigation into his possible role in the murders and was transferred to Chicago Police custody once the arrest warrant was issued. more ›

A menu of my dinner tonight, by reillyandrew
• Thinking of ordering a "Choose Life" license plate? A federal appeals court ruled the state doesn't have to issue them.
• Two Englewood teens were shot dead thus putting the city past its 2007 murder total.
• The Sun-Times reported a net loss of $168.8 million during the third quarter of 2008 and it looks like more staff cuts are on the way.

The gun found yesterday in an alley a block from where the body of murdered 7-year-old Julian King was discovered matches the caliber of gun (.45) used in the murders of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew, based on comparisons with shell casings found at the murder scene. A witness reported seeing a white vehicle drive through the alley and dump something. Still, police are remaining cautious since the area has high gang activity and consider it unlikely a suspect would drop a murder weapon so close to a crime scene. more ›

As police try to piece together what happened Friday in the triple homicide that claimed the lives of actress Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother, and 7-year-old nephew, some evidence points to multiple perps involved in the killings. It appears as if someone may have driven suspect William Balfour back to the West Side the afternoon after the murders, possibly with Julian King in tow.

Witnesses said Balfour drove his teal Chrysler to the Hudsons' block Friday, arriving about 7 a.m. But later the vehicle was discovered by police parked about a mile away outside Robeson High School. Balfour's girlfriend told police that he was at her West Side home not long after the slayings of Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and the Oscar-winning actress' brother, Jason, at their Englewood home, sources said... more ›

Chicago police have asked the FBI to assist them in finding Jennifer Hudson's nephew, 7-year-old Julian King. King has not been seen since the murder of his uncle and grandmother yesterday. The FBI was called in as it's believed the boy may have been transported across state lines. more ›

Police are questioning a man suspected of killing the mother and brother of singer-actress Jennifer Hudson in an Englewood home. The Chicago Police are also searching for Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, who is missing since another relative went by the house and found the bodies of Darnell Donerson, 57, and Jason Hudson, 29, yesterday afternoon. more ›

An 18-year-old was beaten to death with a baseball bat at a party on Saturday night, making him the 23rd CPS student to be killed this year. Albert Vaughn, Jr, a student at Julian High School, was killed on the 7000 block of South Throop. more ›

Three people were apparently murdered in their home in West Englewood. A mother, father and their teenage son were found this morning on the 6100-block of South Hermitage. [S-T] more ›