One of the city's top schools, Lane Tech, is thinking of opening a gifted middle-school program similar to the one at Whitney Young High School as early as the fall. The program is referred to as an "academic center" and would accept seventh-graders, giving them a chance to get early admission to the selective high school enrollment system. The opportunity would also give North Siders a selective enrollment option closer to their home. There are currently six academic centers in the city, but only two of them feed into a selective enrollment high school: Whitney Young on the West Side and Lindblom Math and Science Academy on the South Side. more ›

The Cubs and the Chicago Park District are in negotiations to build a $2 million replica of Wrigley Field for high school baseball teams to use just two miles west of the actual Wrigley. The replica--complete with ivy-covered brick walls, a Wrigley-style roofline, and a turf field--would be located at Addison and Rockwell near Lane Tech High School. It would also be modeled after a similar Wrigley lookalike that opened in Humboldt Park last year and is used by Little League teams. more ›

The US House subcommittee on highways and transit will conduct a hearing here on October 29 to determine what kinds of transit improvements Chicago would need before we could host the Olympics. Why yes, October 29 is a mere 6 days before our public transit system starts collapsing into itself like a dying star! "Mayor Richard Daley, Blagojevich, officials from the Regional Transportation Authority, the three transit agencies and the U.S. Olympic Committee will... more ›

In case some of you may have forgotten, that's Emmy in the picture. Depending on the time of day she's the smartest mammal in our household. She's unusually happy today, because yesterday the City Council inched closer to allowing her the right to join us for meals at outdoor cafés, a notion that flies in the face of common sense, sanitary concerns, arguments posited by a former alderman and the director of food protection for... more ›

"this is ultimate." by davidhwang. more ›

Sorry, we started thinking about the Genesis tour.... But in all seriousness, the first of the public CTA community meetings regarding the three-track freakout is tonight. It's from 6 to 8 p.m., at Lane Tech High School auditorium, 2501 W. Addison. more ›

Alinea Chef/Owner Grant Achatz more ›

The good news: Metra posted a single-year ridership record with approximately 80 million passengers. This was partly due to construction on the Dan Ryan, expanded rail service, and high gas prices. Amtrak also rang in with a 69 percent increase on expanded routes between Chicago and St. Louis, Carbondale and Quincy. The Chicago-to-St. Louis line showed a 95 percent increase in riders for last quarter over the same period last year. The news: The Regional... more ›

Platteville, WI is planning a Chicago Bears training-camp museum. Thanks to a $200,000 grant from the NFL Grassroots field program, the grass football field at Lane Tech will be replaced with a synthetic playing service. People are loving this idea: For $150 you can get a customized South Side Irish St. Patrick's day parade street banner. They're green and have shamrocks and white lettering and you can put family names and memorial tributes on... more ›

Long before there was a League of Chicago Music Venues or a Hawk Winter Music Festival, the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs (under the guidance of program director – and fellow Lane Tech grad – Michael Orlove) was bringing together the city’s club scene via the World Music Festival. After seven years, the festival has earned a place beside both Blues and Jazz Fest as one of Chicago’s premier music showcases. WMF is also one... more ›