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 ›

Politicians using a tragedy as an opportunity to reinforce their at-home credentials — "we are in this together" — is as American as apple pie and cheating on your taxes. In Chicago, it's as natural as choosing which baseball team to root for. Still, an e-mail blast from Rahm Emanuel's camp expressing solidarity with the tragic loss of two firefighters on the South Side yesterday struck the wrong note with some of us here in the Chicagoist offices. more ›

We know that City Council has been a rubber stamp for MayDay throughout his time in office. One of the reasons for that is because, whenever they do leave the circle and take a look around, they approve ordinances without much discussion or ordinances that should not have been discussed in the first place. more ›

Not only does Oak Brook’s crankiest resident hate libraries, he also has issues with police and firefighters. In a heated Village Board meeting, Constantine Xinos, enemy of library loving children everywhere, suggested the village fire one firefighter a month until an agreement was reached regarding pensions. Xinos stated “Firemen, like cops, are street people. They only understand civilized force. That’s what they understand. You fire ‘em!” Connie, hoping that pressure from family would cause firefighters to back down, continued (while presumably twisting an evil looking mustache): “Maybe they'll sue us. Maybe they'll win something three years from now. She'll leave him. He'll be out of the house. The dog will be dead and the kids will be out on the streets.” more ›

In a newly issued report [PDF], Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson says that a recently completed audit of overtime pay for the 50 exempt positions in the fire department show that Chicago is "hemorrhaging" cash. Exempt positions are those that not governed by city and federal hiring oversight - essentially formalized political appointments. Ferguson says that overtime payments have "skyrocketed," from $18,516 in 2008 to $311,180 in 2009 and $191,293 during the first three months of this year. If payments continue at the current pace, it will cost Chicago $765,174, an increase of almost 250 percent over last year's already inflated numbers. The surge in increased payments coincides with Daley's recent mandate that city workers take furlough days to help close the city's budget hole. Those savings have been wiped out as the mayor's top brass take "liberal" overtime payments from the city. more ›

A firehouse on the South Side is going to be converted into the Chicago Fire Department African-American Firefighter Museum. The firehouse? Engine 100, home of the infamous, racial-slur–filled 1990 retirement party. [S-T] more ›

Corruption in Chicago has evolved, according to federal hiring monitor Noelle Brennan. According to the annual report Brennan released yesterday, blatant abuses and manipulation of the hiring system in the city is no longer a problem. But patronage has moved to "more subtle types of manipulations of the hiring process." Brennan has been the hiring monitor since August of 2005, when federal prosecutors uncovered a fraudulent hiring scheme that led to Daley's former patronage chief Robert Sorich in prison being sentenced to 46 months in prison. more ›

Two little boys, ages 2 and 3, died in a Southwest Side fire this morning, where two adults were also seriously injured. The cause of the fire is still unknown. At least 10 people were living in the 1 1/2-story single-family house on 66th Place and Kedzie, and so far the fire department can't tell if the smoke alarms in the house were operational or not. Remember: Get smoke alarms! According to the Illinois State... more ›

Breaking news: An Amtrak train and a freight train collided at 48th and South Shields Ave about an hour ago, and passengers are being pulled out as we write this. Developing. UPDATE 12:27: Don Rashid from Stroger Hospital is on NBC5 saying that Stroger is in a "stage 3 disaster." The footage is showing color-coded triage areas, and so far the green zone is empty. 12:30 Witnesses are describing a sound "like an explosion" when... more ›

It's all gray and misty out, and today's essentially just a waiting day until vacation time, plus people are on edge about traveling and family and blahblahblah, we know what we need to do. Brace yourself. Get ready. Gird your loins. Did you? Time for some things that are awesome! This weird old TV from the 50s! It costs $500, which puts it out of our price range, but still, the TV itself is... more ›

Three men died last night after the sailboat they were on in Lake Michigan capsized in Indiana waters near 95th and Lakeshore. A fourth man survived, but all were in the water for close to 45 minutes, and spokesman for the fire department says the rescue was exceptionally difficult. Authorities still aren't sure what the four men were doing out on the lake, given that the National Weather Service had issued a small craft advisory.... more ›

Security at O'Hare missed about 60 percent of bomb-making materials. more ›

A dog named Miss Pickles was rescued from the Chicago River last night. Miss Pickles's owner Claude was walking her and his three other pooches—yes, on leashes, according to reports—near Chicago and Halsted when Miss Pickles, a bullmastiff, started chasing a rat. She wound up running right into the water, so Claude called 911. After falling in the water, Miss Pickles began to paddle eastbound underneath the bridge, before heading north around the Goose Island... more ›

As part of the old Brach's legacy was being blown up for Batman, intentionally causing a blaze, there have been several other fire related bits in the news as well. The police Bomb and Arson Section and Chicago Fire Department are conducting an ongoing investigation of a warehouse fire that started Thursday night in Bridgeport. Just before 10 p.m., a fire was reported at a building near Halsted and 36th Streets in the 3600 block... more ›

This is Officer Coates. When we first saw him at approximately 4 p.m. this afternoon, he was standing on a Segway (instant annoying!) and appeared to be telling some dudes with big signs announcing a 50% off sale on tuxedos (?) on Michigan Avenue that they couldn't stand there or something. This was right out front of 535 N. Michigan Ave. just south of the Intercontinental Hotel. We thought, "Who cares? Leave them alone!"... more ›

Thanks for your help, Rod. Blagojevich wants to get rid of the "gift card grinch." It's a loophole that lets your gift card lose its value over time. Police on the Northwest Side have issued a community alert for a suspect in two attempted sexual assaults -- One on a 16-year-old girl, in the 3100 block of north Sawyer about 11 p.m. Sunday; the other a 23-year-old woman near the 3000 block of north... more ›

Le Francais, the Wheeling restaurant that was the gold standard of fine dining in the Chicago area during its heyday, closed down during Memorial Day. The Sun-Times reports today that the restaurant filed a notice with the Wheeling fire department that it was no longer operating. A busboy and food runner who requested anonymity said that owner Michael Moran did not tell his staff of the closing ahead of time, and that he only found... more ›

We all know how much money the CTA doesn't have, but they won't let us forget that it is about 110 million. Now Chicagoist struggled through accounting classes in college, but that seems like a lot of money. Mayor Daley and CTA president Ron Huberman are on their second trip to Springfield in search of a bailout, and they are throwing out every possible worst case scenario they could come up with. Though Huberman... more ›

We know you guys aren't sitting around pining for us, nor do you really care about our personal lives, but we got caught up in some personal things, and our lives were a whirlwind for a couple of weeks. We're caught up now, and people were being pretty dumb whilst we were away. Welcome to a week (or two) in wtupid roundup. We're pretty sure this is the plot of a movie — A firefighter... more ›

It's all in the timing. Chicagoist stayed a little later at work yesterday to get some exercise time in (believe it!), so we ended up taking the Purple Line home at around 6:45 p.m. As we traveled through the Loop, the conductor informed us that we wouldn't be stopping at Adams & Wabash. When we got there, it was easy to see why. Fire trucks galore were piled up back to the Art Institute. A CTA operative on the platform was quite insistent that the station was closed "by order of the fire department." Intrigue, she wrote! We hoped this didn't mean the station itself was on fire, or that it would be closed for a long amount of time. Per usual, information on the scene was very scanty. more ›

Donald Walsh, the high-ranking paramedic who has been in the midst of a racial brouhaha in the Fire Department, has been fired. He's not too upset about the dismissal considering he wasn't planning on coming back anyway, but he is unhappy about the circumstances in which he was let go. Walsh feels that he is being "railroaded" by Fire Commissioner Ray Orozco. In 1995, when Orozco's father was Commish, Walsh was a member of an... more ›

We do more than just report on negative cop news around here. Really, we do. So! Today we bring you (drumroll, please) news about some controversy rumbling over in the Chicago Fire Department. An assistant deputy chief paramedic, Donald Walsh, is accused of asking the race of a paramedic requesting time off to care for a sick child. The paramedic asked a supervisor for the time off, the supervisor then went to Walsh, who allegedly... more ›

Last Friday, Chicago firefighter William Grant was killed when Truck No. 51, en route to a reported fire, was struck by a school bus. Yesterday, close to 1000 mourners gathered to pay tribute to Grant at his viewing, funeral and burial. In the wake of all of the negative cop coverage as of late, it was refreshing to read about a dedicated, good man who was loyal to both his family at home as... more ›

The Chicago Shamrox indoor lacrosse team will be hosting the New York Titans this Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Sears Centre. Prior to the game, the New York Police Department (NYPD) will take on the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) in a game of indoor lacrosse. The doors open at 11:30 a.m. with the benefit match taking place at noon followed by the Shamrox game at 3 p.m. There is a strong tradition... more ›

There was finally one thing we heard President Bush did that we could get behind: he signed a bill changing Daylight Saving* Time (DST) so that it was longer. We get so excited for Daylight Saving Time to come and start to relieve our S.A.D., that anything that would hasten this process sounded great to us. Under the new Daylight Saving Time, DST will start March 11, 2007, (holy early!) and end November 4, 2007.... more ›

Way back in July, Chicagoist brought you glad tidings of a vital upgrade for city firefighters. After decades of wearing outdated equipment, the Chicago Fire Department was finally on track to get new protective gear like most major cities in the U.S., worth $10 million. Thighs and groins of firefighters citywide rejoiced, for they would now be heavily protected, compared to their current unwelcome exposure in a fire. Everything, it seemed, would be all right.... more ›

On Wednesday it was discovered that an Orland Park firefighter was arrested for felony theft for falsely claiming he was fighting for the military in Iraq. Lawrence Masa was actually working for a private security firm in Iraq and was being paid quite well. During this time Masa made approximately $190,000 as a firefighter and $200,000 as a private security worker. Yesterday, Steven Slawinski, a Lemont Firefighter, was accused of the same crime. Slawinski, a... more ›

Streets around 2 East Randolph are closed after a pedestrian was hit by concrete falling off the building after 4 p.m. A Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman did not know the woman’s condition. She did say no one has been taken to the hospital. A pedestrian was injured this afternoon when she was hit by concrete falling off a building under construction in the Loop, a Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman said. Concrete is reportedly falling from... more ›

It hasn’t been all that long since Chicagoist was in high school, but a lot has changed. Instead of passing notes to arrange fights, students now use their MySpace accounts. Then again, a lot has stayed the same. Bad things still happen in the lunchroom, and principals can still be total creeps. Either way, we’re just glad we’re out of there. more ›

Chicagoist has a huge sciencey streak in us. One of our favorite experiments in high school chemistry occurred when our teacher put flammable liquids with progressively higher numbers of carbons (propane, pentane, even nonane!) into an empty water cooler bottle, which he proceeded to light on fire. Man, was that cool, seeing those licks of flame kick around the bottle like a pyro's wet dream. We all knew it was a potentially dangerous situation, making it all the more savory. Studies in fire are precious indeed. more ›