Law enforcement officials announced on Thursday that 55 people were arrested on state and federal charges after a series of successful investigations that targeted narcotics, gangs, and guns probes in Chicago. Members of six street gangs and several drug wholesalers were among those charged. more ›

While authorities in Chicago have shown a knack for how not to handle feuds with street gangs, authorities in Kane County are going a different route: a civil lawsuit. No, really. Since the police can't seem to keep them in check, they've decided to throw THE POWER OF LITIGATION at them. The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office has filed a civil lawsuit against 79 members of a particular Elgin street gang they hope will legally prevent the gang members from, well, being gang members. According to WBBM 780: more ›

The fallout from Police Superintendent Jody Weis's meeting with gang leaders two weeks ago, where Weis let them know that they would be charged under RICO statutes if they don't work to stop killings by their foot soldiers, continued yesterday. Gang leaders held a press conference yesterday condemning Weis's actions as not being fair to them. John Kass's account of the press conference painted a portrait of a group of men who tried to deflect responsibility everywhere but on themselves. It was almost surreal, like when the titular character in "Black Dynamite" declares war on people who sell drugs to the community and one of the other gang leaders answers, "But Black Dynamite! I sell drugs to the community! " more ›

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn chimed in on Police Superintendent Jody Weis's recent sit down with Chicago gang leaders, telling reporters that he doesn't support the strategy. “I don’t think that’s a particularly good strategy. … I just don’t think those are the people you want to be talking to,” Quinn told the Sun-Times. “I think it’s better to be fighting against assault weapons and protecting our officers and our communities against gang bangers who have assault weapons that are perpetrating mayhem and terrorism on the streets of Chicago. ... I’m running against somebody who supports assault weapons. Sen. [Bill] Brady, every chance he gets, votes with the guns. I don’t think that’s the way to go.” more ›

Police Superintendent Jody Weis's recent tete a tete with local gang leaders has angered some aldermen, who say that Chicago's top cop shouldn't be "negotiating with urban terrorists." 2nd Ward Ald. Bob Fioretti, who is rumored to be considering a run against Daley for mayor, lashed out at Weis Monday for his mid-August meeting. "I can't believe we're sitting down and negotiating with urban terrorists who are killing our kids with guns and drugs on the streets," Fioretti told the Sun-Times. "These are not people the superintendent ought to be negotiating with. They've now been elevated to equals. They're not equals. They belong in jail. It's an admission that the Police Department can't control the streets." Fioretti also questioned Weis's threat of going at gang leaders with federal racketeering charges if they don't back down, wondering why the police superintendent hadn't already applied that tactic. "We ought to be working hard with the feds and U.S. Attorney's office to start applying these RICO statutes now instead of giving them a warning that says, 'If you kill somebody.' That didn't help this weekend." 49th Ward Ald. Joe Moore, a longtime Daley critic, wondered if a crisis of leadership in the department was to blame. "What would accomplish more is to have a Police Department with good morale that believed in their leadership and believed in their mayor. We haven't had a Police Department with that kind of leadership in 22 years," Moore said. more ›

A more appropriate term for the newly resurgent investigation might be frozen case, but that isn't stopping Chicago police from trying to solve the gang-style murder of Edward J. O'Hare in 1939. O'Hare--father to "Butch" O'Hare, the WWII hero for whom our lovely airport is named--had ties to the infamous Al Capone and was later an informant that eventually led to Capone's arrest for tax evasion. The case has been brought to the forefront of the cold case division at the request of Alderman Edward Burke of the 14th Ward, who felt that O'Hare never quite got the credit he deserved for helping put Capone behind bars. According to the Sun-Times, "They'll investigate until it's solved or until they determine there's nowhere to take the 70-year-old case." Good luck. more ›

Six African American seniors from Washington University in St. Louis filed a civil rights complaint with the Illinois attorney general's office against Mother's Night Club Original bar after allegedly being denied entry to the club. Students claim they were told it was due to their failure to comply with the bar's "baggy jeans" policy; however, white students who had already been admitted came out to demonstrate that their jeans were more "baggy". more ›

Two 911 emergency center employees have been suspended without pay for their part in a "dispatch delay" that left an off-duty Chicago cop alone to defend himself against a car full of alleged gang members, the Sun-Times reports. more ›

After a failed attempt to shoot and kill an off-duty cop believed to be a rival, four gang members were charged with attempted first-degree murder, Chicago Breaking News reports. more ›

An increase in robberies and gang members hanging out in various parts of Rogers Park has area residents worried. more ›

The city's violent July has now extended into August. A gang-related shooting broke out at a funeral yesterday afternoon on city's West Side injuring six. The funeral was for admitted gang member Cornelius Antwon Robinson who had died of a heart attack. A man walked up to the crowd of mourners on the sidewalk and open fire on one man in particular and then began shooting those around him. Police say the shooting was gang-related and indicated that while most witnesses weren't cooperating, a few were. They're also using surveillance video from two nearby pod cameras to help sift out details. [CBS 2] more ›

Vicente Garcia, the man alleged to be the Chicago Latin Kings' supreme regional officer was arrested in late December in the town of Tamazula, Mexico. Garcia was originally charged with federal drug and firearms offenses last fall as a result of Operation Pesadilla but had succeeded in side-stepping authorities. Four others remain at large. According to the Trib, the FBI alleged Garcia oversaw "the distribution of cocaine and firearms throughout the Chicago area." more ›

FBI agents have conducted a major sweep in Little Village this morning, arresting almost 40 gang members, in an effort to put the kibosh on a major drug ring and gang violence. The gang members are all reportedly Latin Kings. A press conference is scheduled for later this afternoon in which it's likely major drug charges will be announced. The sweep follows this summer's conviction of Latin King leader Fernando King. more ›

Today, a federal jury convicted Fernando King, the "chief operating officer" of the Chicago Latin Kings street gang, of drug conspiracy and attempted cocaine distribution. King, also referred to as the "supreme Inca," is the reputed number two in the Latin King chain of command. King has been in custody since December 2006 and is scheduled to be sentenced December 3. He faces a minimum of 20 years in prison. The jury caused a bit of stir because the note they handed the judge with their verdict also expressed concern for their own "security and safety," causing the defense to motion for a mistrial which was denied by the judge.

After court, King's lawyer, Joseph Lopez, said the note raised concerns that the jury may have been influenced by evidence that wasn't part of the trial. more ›

"It's not entertainment when a child loses his life," Daley said, drawing shouts and applause. "This child should not have lost his life. more ›

We love to read and write, and not just our own posts here on the World Wide Webs. We’ve been working on our first novel for years. It’s a love story involving time-traveling unicorns and so far we have about 850 pages of it written, but we don’t know when we’ll get it published (fingers crossed!). As such, we have a soft spot in our heart for local writers who have been a tad more successful. Luckily we live in a city that gives us a chance to here these talented scribes read! more ›

This afternoon, gangs of Chicago artists are out to change the way you think about Independence Day, slaying sacred cows and cherished myths. Myth #1: July 4 is a time to put politics aside and celebrate America. For Feel Tank Chicago, the personal is political. And that includes how we celebrate The Fourth. Rather than marching lockstep with Team USA cheerleaders, loving their country right or wrong, the artistic collective has planned this afternoon’s Fifth... more ›

If the kid living with you joins a gang, gets a gun, and shoots a thirteen year old girl, you might look to yourself and try to determine what went wrong. You might. Or, you might take that anger and frustration and send it right back to Mayor Daley for calling suspect Tony Serrano a "nineteen year old punk." Serrano is accused of firing the shots that killed Schanna Gayden on the orders of gang... more ›

Schanna Gayden, a thirteen-year-old honors student and innocent bystander, was killed yesterday as she bought watermelon at a vendor's cart in a park just blocks from her home. This morning, charges are pending against a 19-year-old gang member likely from either the Imperial Gangsters and Spanish Cobras, the two gangs that have previously sparred over the turf in Logan Square As a press conference yesterday, a visibly upset Mayor Daley said yesterday, "Parents have to... more ›

All ready for the CTA charley-foxtrot tomorrow, Chicago? Us neither. more ›

"baile 18" via City of Progress more ›

We like highlights, we like getting them, doing them and giving them. There’s a ton of cool stuff going on this week, check out the quick highlights, and let us know which author is going to get your attention. First off, it’s the closing night party for the Literary Gangs. They’ll finish up with a finale including Andy Ross and Jonathan Messinger. You can see the Literary Gangs on Tues., May 16th, 6:30PM, at the... more ›

El photo via Minneapolis Red Sox more ›

We’re looking forward to checking out Bookslut’s reading at The MCA Literary Gangs of Chicago tomorrow night. We love Bookslut, we love the MCA, and literary gangs are the only ones that let us wear our colors (pink and blue! Pretty.) without beating us up. But alright, okay, we’ll admit it, we’re going so we can see Hottie McHotsalot, Marisha Pessl. more ›

Five months after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, the future of New Orleans remains mired in doubt and bureaucracy. When the mainstream media shelves substantive debate over the city’s rebuilding to decipher Mayor Nagin’s “Chocolate City” speech, the art world picks up the slack. Two local exhibits and a new play examine The Big Easy, the city and the idea. more ›

The quarterly comedy writing and performance showcase Funny Ha-Ha rumbles into the Museum of Contemporary Art tonight, the December offering of the MCA’s Literary Gangs of Chicago series. Chicagoist was lucky enough to catch up with the Funny people last spring and was treated to host Claire Zulkey’s Cosmo Quiz satire, Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s musings on everyday life, a revival of Aaron Friedman's before-our-time ‘Council Wars’ routine, and comedy troupe Schadenfreude’s equal-opportunity hating on FM radio personalities. more ›

• Some Chicago teens created "Hamlet in the Hood," an urban teenage version of the Shakespearean play.
• A 31-year-old businessman and expectant father was in town for a conference, was out at a bar Tuesday night, and that's the last anyone's seen of him.
• IL is joining 38 other states in January when it begins tracking HIV cases using infected patients names. Some think it will deter people from being tested and treated.

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. more ›

We know soyouwanna.com has been around a while so maybe we've just missed this article on how to find an apartment in Chicago all those times when we were looking for info on donating sperm. It's just as well because it's as useless as your appendix. Most of what's presented here is generic information to consider when renting: how much you want to spend, how to find a roommate, questions to ask the landlord, etc.... more ›

Dewone McClendon celebrated his 17th birthday Tuesday. Little did he know he'd catch his death that night. Six to eight males (the Sun-Times says as many as 20) attacked McClendon and a friend near 104th Street (the Sun-Times says 103rd) and Indiana Avenue on the South Side. McClendon fell to the ground unconscious and the friend escaped. Witnesses say the mob continued beating the unconscious McClendon and then one member of the group smashed a beer bottle on his head. People called the police, but the assailants fled before police and paramedics arrived. Officials pronounced McClendon dead an hour later at the hospital. more ›