In an attempt to save $50 million this year, the company is eliminating 40 newsroom jobs at the Sun-Times, 11 newsroom jobs at Pioneer Press papers throughout the suburbs, a three Northwest side Pioneer Press papers all together (the Jefferson Park/Portage Park/Belmont-Cragin Times, the Harlem-Irving Times, and the Edgebrook-Sauganash Times). more ›

When we placed the call for new food and drink writers last month, we had an idea of what we were looking for. Then real life interceded. Some candidates dropped out of the running. Those that remained made their case, the quality of writing so good we felt bad having to cut someone. Then we envisioned some candidates in roles we didn't expect, and someone wrote us with an offer we couldn't refuse. When the... more ›

Some of the fondest memories of our youth involved Toots Drive Thru as the setting. As adults, whenever we found ourselves in Portage or Jefferson Park (back when the Silent Film Society of Chicago's summer festival was held at the Gateway Theater), we always made it a point to find our way to Toots for a hot dog, a malt, and maybe some mac-and-cheese bites. more ›

Times must be hard out there for middle-aged women these days. Maybe increased property taxes from TIFs has got them down. Maybe they know they'll never look like Beyoncé again, if they ever did (which is a long shot). Chicagoist still has some time before we truly get into their minds, and judging from our female relatives, we can wait forever and a day. What makes us want to stop time even more is the fact that two older Chicago women committed suicide by train in two days. more ›

When you’re young, there’s always something crazy you can do, like break into old abandoned warehouses and pretend you see ghosts. When you’re a Satanist, there’s always something crazy to do, too, like go out into a park and sacrifice some chickens. more ›

Ready for a Silver Line? The CTA is chopping off the Cermak Branch from the Blue Line and will be calling it something else, tentatively the "Silver Line," starting this summer. It's hard to describe what they're doing with words, we've gotten all confused trying to figure it out, but we think we finally have this graphic right. So just look at it to see the changes. more ›

Looking for an excuse to use that new digicam? Love where you live and wish everybody else knew how amazing your neighborhood is? Or your block? Or your house? The purveyors of Turn Here want to hear from you. The recently founded site aims to chronicle every “hot” neighborhood in the country, a project promising to be overwhelmed by hip kids and realtors. Chicago’s two entries so far—from Wicker Park and the Gold Coast—chalk up... more ›

We live in an uncertain world. So once in a while, it’s nice to be reassured of certain basic truths. For instance, last night when you went to bed, you probably knew that little kids don’t like vegetables. Good news: a new day has dawned yet kids would rather eat chicken fingers, pizza, hamburgers and mac and cheese. Or at least that’s what restaurants think. A survey by Technomic Information Services said that out of... more ›

we’ll probably spend some quality time cuddled up with them in some dark, out-of-the-way place...like the movies. more ›

Wowowowow. The weekends are filling up like crazy and our summer is already running out of control. If you're like us you're already planning into August and booking flights for Labor Day weekend and watching your summer fly by! If you, by some miracle, don't have anything for this weekend check out these local fests: more ›

Have you ever sat in a tangle of tollbooth-induced gridlock, silently (or loudly) cursing the I-pass holders that whiz through the turnstyles with nary a wait and nary a care? Unless you have one of the CTA's Chicago Cards or Chicago Cards Plus, you may be resigned to a similar fate the next time you board a train or bus. more ›