Results tagged “jeffcagle”

The number of homicides in Chicago is decreasing, but there's another number that's dropping, too: Fewer murders are being solved. Of Chicago's 443 murders last year, only 162 were solved. The police also solved 102 cases from previous years. This year's clearance rate of 36.6 percent is about the same as last year, but 42 percent of 2005 and 47 percent of 2004 murders were cleared.

Jeff Cagle and SceenUnseen both get into the spooky tree game....

What a great contrast of motion and stillness, by Jeff Cagle....

Yesterday's big storm? Well, not as big as we had thought it would be. But 2,300 ComEd customers are without power on the South Side, there was some property damage downstate, and an 11-year-old on the West Side was struck by lightning. He's listed as being in good condition. Maybe they should take him to UIC's Lightning Injury Lab? We cannot recommend this reading list highly enough. What happens when people are struck by lightning?...

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, it's morning in Chicago, but not for long. The storms that wreaked havoc throughout the area are a faint memory, and we're left to clean up the mess as we wait for more storms to come today. The north and northwest sides of the city felt the brunt of the storm, with reports of trees being split by the high winds. Over 300,000 businesses and residents were left without electricity...

With the news reports of the Taser death of Gefery Johnson not even a few days old, this was the last thing the Chicago Police Department needed. Police shot and killed a recent Manley High School graduate last night in the North Lawndale neighborhood and wound up having to quell a near riot as residents took to the streets in protest. Witnesses to the shooting said that 18-year-old Aaron Harrison was just hanging out with...

It's been a while since a blotter, eh? Let's get right into it, shall we? A Calumet City man was denied bond after being arrested for beating his girlfriend's 4-year-old son to death. Cameron Smith was found dead Thursday in the apartment that he shared with his 7- and 8-year old siblings, as well as 23-year-old Donell Parker. Parker was in charge of the kids since their mother and Parker's girlfriend, Sgt. Lavada Smith, was...

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...

Chicago police officers don't exactly have a perfect track record. Actually, the force is beginning to look like they are using the script from Training Day. Torture, drugs, weapons, intimidation, etc. We understand that there are over 15,000 officers on the force, and most of the recent problems involve a small number of cops, but things aren't looking good. Obviously, the national headliner is the bartender beating by a liquored-up, off-duty officer. The video...

Whenever Chicago gets overcast skies, our mind drifts to highfalutin' aspirations and rainy afternoons spent cuddled in an old bookstore like After-words or a creepy museum like The International Museum of Surgical Science. Here are a couple of places we'll be shedding off our rainy day blues this weekend. Chicagoist really wants more tattoos. Even if we can't afford them right now, we can drool over Mitch O'Connell's aptly named new book Mitch O'Connell's Tattoos....

Thirty years ago when they were both teens, Fred Rogers stabbed Kenneth Hellstrom to death then disappeared. After a routine traffic stop, he's back in police custody and charged with the murder, although it's up to a judge as to whether he should be charged as a juvenile or adult. A hacker broke into a state government site and accessed personal information for 7,100 health-care workers. The Trib has a new CTA blog. Remember...

We hope you're reading this weekend's blotter on a laptop outside somewhere. A homeless woman is being questioned concerning a fatal fire in Wrigleyville Saturday morning. Around 7 a.m. a fire broke out in a three-story apartment building at 3553 N. Fremont in a stairwell, quickly spreading throughout the structure. Three unidentified men and one woman, 24-year-old Jennifer Carlson, were found dead. Witnesses saw an unkempt woman hovering around three smaller fires the previous night...

How 'bout that weather, Chicago? OK, we'll shut up now. A armed 19-year-old man holed himself up in his mother's apartment overnight with four hostages, but let them go without incident Sunday morning. Police responded to reports of a man with a gun at a four-unit building in the South Shore neighborhood around 1 a.m. The man in question gained access to his mother's place and locked himself in with three of his siblings, two...

We feel like everyone and their mother is insanely busy this time of the year. Between work, volunteer commitments, and having to entertain out of town guests, we sure could use a vacation. Flickr user Jeff Cagle looks like he may have done just that, posting a few lovely photos of O'Hare. We're currently dying to take a quick jaunt to Estonia or Mexico. What about you? What is your ideal locale to get...

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....

Jason Pisarik, an accountant from Lombard, defended his title as the Ultimate Couch Potato and won. People are mad about a political ad from Las Palmas, the Mexican restaurant in Wicker Park. With a mural like this, what do people expect? A baby boy in Evanston and a baby girl in Naperville were born at the same time and tied for the Chicagoland's First Baby in 2007 designation. Almost a million people have visited...