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 ›

Middle school can be a rough time. Hormones rage, cliques form, and the general craziness of living a teenager's life in the double-naughts can close in. There are bullies to dodge, nerds to befriend, and that one goth-chick with red eyes who is never seen without her crusty duct-taped headphones on. And then one of your friends comes along, gives you a hug as you say hello, and suddenly the world is OK. more ›

Dave Warwak was just another mild-mannered middle school art teacher in Anywhere, USA (actually Fox River Grove Middle School in McHenry County). Then, in January, he switched to a vegan diet, sold his boat and fishing tackle from his side job as a fishing guide, and became politicized on the issue of animal rights. Last week Warwak handed his students a book by John Robbins titled The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save... more ›

If you don't already feel like you have been violated by the wind today, just wait, there is more. This is a "winter-intensity, large-scale storm in a hot, humid, energy-rich summer environment" (Skilling's words not ours, and we found him to be pretty accurate). Overnight we could see winds in the area of 90 mph, which according to the Fujita scale that Bill Paxton taught us about, that is the same as an F1 tornado.... more ›

Illinois budgets are in trouble all over -- at a meeting with legislative leaders late Tuesday, Gov. Blagojevich warned that unless a budget deal is reached, state government could shut down next month. Selling sex toys on the side and earning a $64,000 salary wasn't enough. Karen Bailey, a top assistant to Cook County Commissioner Jerry "The Iceman" Butler, faces felony charges for allegedly stealing nearly $300,000 from an 87-year-old woman, prosecutors and police... more ›

We assume (perhaps unfairly) that when Tyrone Holloman woke up Tuesday morning and thought, "Hey, I'm going to rob a bank today," he probably didn't envision a stand-off with police as a part of the plan. What was included in the plan, though, was dressing up like a woman. Holloman walked into the LaSalle bank at 30th Street and Kedzie Avenue around noon in a black and floral print dress and a wig and carrying... more ›

Middle school was quite the awkward time for us, our memory of that time is a little hazy due to the mass amount of time we spent thinking about girls. We also had quite a crush on our Math teacher. We have gone to bat for her like these kids at Simmons Middle School in Oak Lawn did for their teachers. The only difference is, they were truly standing up for something. more ›

In what we will now rashly generalize as "The Wisecracking Kids' Reign of Terror," a second student has used his bodily functions in school to affect students and teachers in school. more ›

While Chicago churches are trading computers for guns, one suburban kid found out that turning in a pellet gun gets you expelled, instead. In Plainfield, a thirteen year-old boy allegedly discovered a pellet gun in the boys restroom of Troy Middle School and turned it in to an assistant principal, only to be kicked out of school. Several local news groups are covering the incident. The kid's parents are protesting the expulsion and they... more ›

Is it just us, or has this been a really long week? No? Just us? Well our partners in stupid sure managed to get a lot done this week. And for that we thank them for a job well done. We’re all about efficiency. Whether you’re filling out a spreadsheet or committing a felony – work smart people! A 32-year-old Rolling Meadows woman managed to raise all sorts of hell Monday evening, and during the... more ›

Chicagoist really hates it when people get paint on our clothes, and yes, it has happened more than once. But when it does, we try not to make racial slurs in front of children. We’re real humanitarians like that. more ›