We might have an enduring fascination with the Asian Carp Takeover of 2010, but we also care about the presence of other crazy animals in and around Illinois as well. Lake County Health Officials have found a rabid bat in the bedroom of a Lake County home on June 27. It is unclear how these rabid bats have become infected, but this not-so-auspicious bat discovered last weekend is the sixth rabid bat found in Lake County this year. more ›

Last summer there was an issue with rabid bats in the Will and McHenry Counties. This year is Lake County's turn. So far this year, three rabid bats have been reported found in Lake County, including one found in a Fox Lake home last week. The couple was ordered to get post-exposure vaccinations to keep with CDC guidelines. Anyone who has contact with bats or sees bats behaving un-bat-like, for whatever that's worth, is asked to call the Lake Co. Health Department at 847-949-9925. more ›

The Lake County Health Department will begin a new inspection program on May 18, investigating tattoo and body piercing shops. According to a release from the department, the program is being funded by the Illinois Department of Public Health with an initial grant of $5,675. Out of all the tattoo and piercing establishments in Lake County, only 11 have currently applied for permits, the release also revealed. more ›

Joseph Hubbard, assistant chief of the Newport Township Fire Department, was arrested today and charged with possession of child pornography. Per the Tribune:

A relative of Hubbard's notified authorities there were pornographic images of children on Hubbard's home computer, said Mary Stanton, chief of the Lake County state's attorney's cyber crimes unit. more ›

There's trouble in Lake County where a pair of drunk off-duty sheriff's correctional officers were apparently trying to pick fights at Richard's Chicken and Ribs early Thursday morning. While they didn't succeed, witnesses told police one of the officers pulled out a knife and told patrons of the bar, "you can't touch us," while patrons shouted insults back, including, "You're just a glorified security guard." Sheriff Mark Curran said, "It's the same old story, alcohol and arrogance." Interestingly, no arrests were made because, according to police, none of the witnesses would "make formal statements or sign complaints against the officers." Both of the officers have been with the sheriff's department less than a year and have been placed on paid administrative leave while an investigation takes place. [Chicago Breaking News] more ›

A suburban motorcyclist died Saturday night when another driver, painting her fingernails behind the wheel, slammed into her stopped bike at a yellow light in Lake Zurich. According to Lake County Coroner Richard Keller, the biker, Anita Zaffke, died of chest and abdominal injuries sustained in the incident at the intersection of Route 12 and Old McHenry Road (pictured right) when a Chevrolet Impala rear ended her bike around 5:30 p.m. Zaffke was wearing a helmet, and was taken to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, where she was pronounced dead an hour later. more ›

A Lake County grand jury has ruled the shooting of an alleged robber by a grocery store clerk was justified and the clerk will not face any charges. The incident occurred on October 13 when the alleged robber, Brandon Starks, held up People's Market, using a gun. Once Starks fled on a bicycle, according to police, the clerk - who remains unnamed by authorities - followed Starks outside and shot him twice in the torso. Starks, who was on parole for a previous burglary conviciton, was pronounced dead shortly after the shooting. more ›

Although Michael Mermel is head of the Criminal Division at the Lake County state’s attorney’s office, he does not seem to understand what DNA is. The Tribune looks at three different cases where Mermel continues to prosecute the suspect, even though DNA evidence indicates that the person is not a viable suspect. more ›

The suit also claims that Harvey has a criminal record, having twice violated a domestic violence protection order taken out against him. Doe feels that the station should have done more due diligence as to who they were trying to hook women up with, and that the station was negligent. more ›

In the wake of the ACORN debacle, voter registration is coming under more scrutiny than ever before. And now the Illinois and Lake County Republican Party have filed suit against Clerk Willard Helander, Citizen Action/Illinois and Terrance LeNoir over allegations of voter registration improprieties in Lake County. The suit, which seeks an emergency injunction, claims that LeNoir, working on behalf of Citizen Action/Illinois, "delivered hundreds of 'fraudulent, incomplete or illegitimate' voter registrations." Citizen Action/Illinois has denied any wrongdoing. more ›

"Sometimes . . . people think it's funny to get a magazine addressed to their cat or their dog, and when they do that, their cat or dog ends up on the list," Johnson said. "But we're just trying to make it as easy as possible for people to register and vote."

Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran says rising crime is due to Chicago's role as a "sanctuary" for illegal immigrants. He says there's only so much he can do to stop "the terror inflicted by many of these illegal aliens." And then the fun started. more ›

President Bush declared Lake County a federal disaster area today after preliminary assessments showed that 408 structures have been damaged by flooding. And in case you've always wondered, here's how the disaster declaration process works. [S-T, AP] more ›

A third rabid bat was found in Waukegan last Sunday, and a fourth bat found in Deerfield, resulting in the Lake County Health Department urging residents to avoid contact with bats. So not cuddling of bats, people! more ›

A 57-year-old Zion school bus driver and artist has changed his name to In God We Trust, the request granted by a Lake County Circuit Court judge yesterday. The artist formerly known as Steven Kreuscher has already started signing paintings with the new moniker, which We Trust (In God is his new first name) thinks will help to make him stand out. more ›

A misprint in the Lake County Yellow Pages resulted in the wrong number being published for the sheriff's department. Instead, Paulsen Productions Inc.'s phone number is listed as the sheriff's non-emergency line, and the company gets about 20 calls a day looking for the sheriff, not the "personal and professional development"(warning: makes noise) company. The sheriff's line is 847-549-5200, and Paulsen's is 847-529-5200. Confusing! more ›

Tuesday we gave you the rundown of who is running for a Green Party nomination in Illinois, but among the candidates, one in particular stands out. Richard B. Mayers, a white supremacist connected with Matt Hale's Creativity Movement is running against Jerome "Jerry" Pohlen in the 3rd Congressional District. This isn't the first time Mayers has run for office. In 2002 he was removed from the ballot in the 9th Congressional District, leaving Jan Schakowsky... more ›

The Lake County Sheriff says the crash that killed 14 horses was "completely avoidable and inexcusable." The driver, James E. Anderson, 34 of North Dakota, was hauling 59 Belgian draft horses in a double-decker semi truck. He's been charged with disobeying a traffic control device and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, and he may face additional charges. Apparently 59 horses is way too many to pack in one truck; according to one... more ›

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... more ›

After serving 60 days of his 120-day sentence, the Bears' Tank Johnson was released from Cook County Jail early Sunday morning. His sentence was reduced for "good behavior" during his time incarcerated, which included a private cell and nearly 100 visits from family, friends and teammates. Maybe Tank could call up Paris Hilton and tell her jail ain't so bad! While serving his time for probation violations, Johnson pleaded guilty to the gun charges that... more ›

In the latest episode of the ongoing Tank Johnson saga, the Bears' defensive tackle finally went before a Lake County judge on the gun-related charges that stemmed from the December raid on his Gurnee home and subsequent arrest. Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a firearm without an owner's identification and was sentenced to 45 days in jail. However, the presiding judge will allow Johnson to serve the sentence concurrently with the four-month... more ›

"Palm Terrace" via kookybites. more ›

Man, you just can't fool anyone anymore. Try to skip out of jail using someone else's name, rob a bank with an initimidating T-shirt, or change your name to that of a famous football player, and someone always stops you. Plus, your damn five-year-old cousin won't stay out of the way when you want to audition for Girls Gone Wild. Aaaargh! On Tuesday, two sisters from Sheboygan, Wisconsin were charged with disorderly conduct after taking... more ›

Having plead guilty to probation violations last month stemming from his December arrest on guns charges, Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson faced sentencing on Thursday. In a Skokie courtroom, Cook County Circuit Court Judge John Moran sentenced Johnson to 120 days in jail and fined him $2,500. Bears head coach Lovie Smith and Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher spoke on Johnson's behalf prior to sentencing. Imagine how long he'd be incarcerated if they hadn't! Speaking... more ›

After months upon months of nothing but terrible to mediocre information, there's good news for public transportation users! more ›

Is it just us, or is it still exceptionally creepy when you hear that a teacher was having sexual relations with an underage student? Better yet, isn't it still exceptionally creepy when you see the picture of the teacher that was having sex with the underage student? Well, we've got two more in the Chicago area to add on our road to desensitization. more ›

Playing a little catch-up this week after our first round of reader contributions. There's no overriding theme this time other than a general lack of foresight. To paraphrase Gov. Rod's campaign commercials, "What were they thinking?" The municipal elections offered their fair share of the ridiculous. We'd like to thank Arenda Troutman, the campaign volunteers in the 16th and 24th wards, and supporters of Bernard Stone for their special contributions. (Thanks Jerry) A Chicago man... more ›

• The local film DIMENSION is screening tomorrow at the prestigious Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose. In the film, three lonely residents of a Chicago neighborhood are divinely granted a wish. But it comes with a condition: they can only change exactly three inches about themselves. The movie was shot in Chicago during the summer of 2005, and it's one of only fourteen movies in competition in the festival's Maverick Narrative Category. Let's hope a Chicago screening is on the horizon.
• On Saturday, the really cool Intuit Center concludes their ELUSIVE Evidence series of film screenings about extraterrestrials with John Carpenter's cult classic They Live. And 80's WWF wrestler "Rowdy" Roddy Piper plays a drifter who stumbles upon a weird set of sunglasses; when he dons them he's able to see the truth: evil aliens have disguised themselves as businessmen and politicians, keeping the earth's population docile through the use of subliminal messages. This flick has always been a favorite of ours, fondly remembered from countless Saturday afternoon showings on a local low-powered UHF channel. The Intuit Gallery is at 756 N. Milwaukee Ave.; the show begins at 2 p.m., and admission is free (donation suggested).
• Saturday night at Chicago Filmmakers you can see what Dick's Staff Shot. (Get your minds out of the gutter!) "The Nixon White House Staff Super-8 Films" consists of ultrarare "home movies" from the Nixon Administration! The footage was shot by Tricky Dick's staffers between 1969 and 1974 and later confiscated from John Erlichman's office by the FBI. Included are scenes from a performance of the musical 1776; Nixon visiting a Washington Redskins football practice; and appearances by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, Indira Ghandi, Bob Hope, and Pat Boone. Admission is $8; more info at the Chicago Filmmakers site.

We know you've been writing to Blagojevich, Daley and all the CTA members faithfully each day, pleading for more money for the CTA (ahem). You haven't wanted to give in to your addiction to oil and drive a car, despite all of the ways lawmakers are trying to ease congestion. You may just start hopping around on jets if you get your passenger's bill of rights, but until then, you need some hope that your transportation woes will be addressed. more ›

Now that the Super Bowl is history, Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson will be busy dealing with his numerous legal issues stemming from his December arrest. On Thursday, Johnson plead guilty to probation violations in a Cook County courtroom. He has been on probation as a result of gun-related guilty plea dating back to 2005. Judge John Moran delayed Tank's sentencing until March 15 so that a presentencing investigation can be done. In the meantime,... more ›