Photo by little pretty The University of Chicago Medical Center will be opening a physicians' office downtown, which the Trib says is "another attempt to compete with Northwestern Memorial Hospital on its home turf." [Trib] A Wisconsin man found what he says is $1,700 in Depression-era currency when he tore down an old shed on his property. [AP] Lisa Van Allen testified today that she had sex with R. Kelly and an underage girl,......

Thomas Jefferson was good for lots of stuff, but Midwest state naming? Let's just say "Assenispia" isn't quite as catchy as "Illinois." This 1784 map shows Jefferson's proposed divisions of the land that eventual came our beloved region. From the amazing Strange Maps: Sylvania would have covered much of present-day Minnesota, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and some of northern Wisconsin. Michigania would have incorporated most of Wisconsin, but nothing of Michigan. Most of Michigan’s Lower......

Chicagoist hopes that IDOT has placed their orders for reinforced guard rails and extra sign posts because Lance Briggs will be remaining with the Bears after signing a 6-year, $36 million deal over the weekend. Briggs' contract ends a year-long saga for the All Pro linebacker that included a rejected $33 million offer, the Bears applying their "franchise" tag to Briggs, which limited his free agency prospects, and his threats to hold out for the......

Unlike so many political figures in Chicago, Tony Rezko didn't come from a background steeped in ward politics and clout. In fact, after he finished his degrees at IIT, did what most new immigrants to Chicago do: he got a job. In 1984, Rezko went to work for Crucial Concessions, owned by Jabir Herbert Muhammad, former manager of boxer Muhammad Ali, and son of Elijah Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam. Crucial Concessions had......

AP Photo The Chicago Blackhawks honored the NIU victims last night with above decal, which they'll wear on their helmets again tomorrow night in St. Louis and Wednesday night here against Minnesota. And Ozzie Guillen and co. were wearing NIU hats at spring training. [Blackhawks, Uniwatch] Jessica Baty, Steve Kazmierczak's girlfriend, gave an interview to CNN in which she describes him as a nice, sweet guy. She says he was on Prozac to treat......

Bulls GM John Paxson is having about as much luck these days as fellow Jerry Reinsdorf employee Kenny Williams. While the Sox have been unable to add a marquee center fielder to their roster, the Bulls keep keep coming up short when trying to land a player who can be the centerpiece of their franchise. Rumors had long linked Kevin Garnett with the Bulls, but when Minnesota finally freed the future hall of famer from......

With the race for the Democratic nomination showdown just days away, and polls showing Obama closing in on Clinton in key Super Duper Tuesday states, the Obama campaign made a huge ad buy during the Super Bowl in the Super Tuesday states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Washington, (but,......

Joe M500 shows us how much the high life costs at 35th and Morgan. Oh, Rod. No one likes tattletales. An earlier curfew for teens will make the streets at night safer for adults. Today's entry in the Daleyism canon: "A wound is in your heart." State's attorney candidate Larry Suffredin, meet Fred Barbara. Yesterday, Illinois became the first state to offer a 24-hour hotline for soldiers suffering from PTSD. Welcome back to the......

We chronicled our Saturday night earlier this week, and we need remind no one that it was colder than a witch's tit in a brass bra all day long. We arrived at Sheffield's with about twenty minutes to spare, and decided that a hearty beer was needed to both whet the appetite and warm the bones. We'd been dying to try out some selections from Minnesota's Surly Brewing for a while. The folks at Sheffield's......

We know, you're a little disappointed that your short-lived run for the presidency never included any debates. If you've been waiting for the right time to speak up in public on your views, tonight Glenn Hurowitz discusses his new book, Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party. Hurowitz proposes that Democrats are lacking in political courage, and unless they can stand up to Republicans and confront their own political downfalls, they cannot win. The book......

"Ice, Ice Baby" by JoeM500 It's cold again? In Chicago? In January? Will wonders never cease? But seriously folks, it is really effing cold outside, and it's going to be even colder tomorrow. The cold front, courtesy of Siberia, will meet warmer lake air and produce everyone's favorite meteorological delight, lake effect snow. Expect some snow later this afternoon into this evening, but not too much accumulation. Thanks, National Weather Service! At least we're......

In November we took a look at La-Van Hawkins, a Chicago-born restaurateur who made a fortune in fast food franchises. Hawkins was planning on opening a slew of Nancy's Pizza and Al's Italian Beef franchises on the South Side even as he was waiting to be sentenced to 33 months in prison on corruption charges. We should have known something was fishy in DenmarkStony Island. Hawkins' plans took a hit when he recently closed seven......

One Adrian Peterson ran for 78 yards on 20 carries while scoring two touchdowns. The other Adrian Peterson ran for 26 on 9 carries. You can probably guess which AP belongs to the Bears. While the Vikings' budding superstar had nowhere near the game he had against the Bears in Week 5 (224 yards/3 TDs), his output was more than enough for the Vikes to win the game 20-13 — helping put Minnesota in the......

Tonight, as the Bears take the field against the Minnesota Vikings, we get to witness the beginning of the second reign of Kyle Orton as Bears starting quarterback. In 2005, Orton lead the Bears to a 10-5 record in his starts as a rookie. Much like a father handing over only the valet key when his teenage son wants to borrow the Porsche, the Bears turned over only a portion of the offensive playbook to......

Chicagoist demanded it, and Lovie listened. When the Bears face the Minnesota Vikings next Monday night, Kyle Orton -- our favorite drunky QB -- will once again line up under center. With a 5-8 record and three games to play, it's time for the Bears to start planning for the future. Rex Grossman's contract is set to expire, and he's done little to make the Bears want to commit to him for the long term.......

A few tourists have swung through town over the past few weeks, and they've taken some pretty killer bean shots to prove it. Brooklynite Bao Nguyen shot this photograph while breezing through town on a road trip to Minnesota, creating a photoset called Manifest Destiny. Although a number of cool shots exist in the set, this one, despite the dirty sensor spots, gets our top vote for reminding us that the silver tourist trap......

University of Chicago econ professor Roger Myerson won the Nobel Prize in economics today for "[laying] the foundations of mechanism design theory." Myerson is the latest in a long line of U of C laureates. Myerson shares the prize with two other economists, but they're not from Chicago, so we don't care that much. Fine, fine, they're Leonid Hurwicz, emeritus econ professor at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, and Eric S. Maskin, professor at......

If you watched Sunday's Bears-Vikings game, you know — without a doubt — who the two most exciting players in the NFL are. The Bears have one of the guys on their roster, but the Vikings have the other, and he led Minnesota to a 34-31 victory. Devin Hester started the scoring by returning a punt 89 yards for a touchdown — his third return TD of the season. Hester also scored the Bears' final......

Bears fans finally got to witness Sunday night what a young QB taking it to the next level looks like. Unfortunately, it wasn't our QB. While at this time last year, Romo had yet to complete an NFL pass, last night he looked to be on his way to the Pro Bowl as he led the Cowboys to a 34-10 romp over the Bears. Grossman looked like he's on his way to the bench. At......

It's still sunny and warm outside, so it's hard to believe the NHL has taken the ice again in preparation for a new season. Last year, Chicagoist made our yearly mistake of getting excited about the offseason moves and preseason successes of the Blackhawks, only to be let down once again. So this year we have vowed not to analyze the preseason too carefully and instead to wait to see how the Blackhawks look when......

What do Brooke Shields, Grant Achatz and this Chicagoist mama have in common? All three have a professed love for the convenience and taste of HomeMade Pizza Company. HomeMade Pizza Co. sells uncooked pizzas that you then take home and pop in the oven. Twelve minutes later, you’ve got a fresh-tasting, thin-crust dinner. Voila! June Cleaver has nothing on you. Menu options include funky, artisanal options like goat cheese and herbs or a combo of......

- BREAKING: The Tribune and Sun-Times agree to a historic distribution deal where the Bright One contracts the Tribune to handle most of its delivery. More on this tomorrow after we've had time to let this one sink in. - A Dallas real estate investment firm is thisclose to signing off on an $850 million deal for four downtown office buildings, including 440 S. LaSalle, aka One Financial Place. - United Airlines files lawsuits......

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did a little research and found that Massachusetts......

As all of us watch the terrible news in Minnesota unfold, many state governments are starting to look at their own inventory of bridges. Illinois ranks in the middle of bridge condition when compared to other states, according to an AP article in The Daily Southtown, with around 10% of our bridges rated "structurally deficient" - slightly better than the national average of 12%. Yesterday Governor Rod Blagojevich ordered immediate inspections of high-volume bridges and......

After weeks of negotiations and a supposed stalemate that looked likely to end his White Sox career, Mark Buerhle and the Sox came to an agreement Sunday on a four-year, $56 million deal that will end all trade speculation about the lefty ace. Chicagoist had spent part of Saturday afternoon watching Buehrle pitch, lamenting the fact that it was likely his last start for our Sox. On the day following 20 and 12-run outbursts by......

The northbound Edens Expressway was closed for over seven hours yesterday when a semi truck carrying cooking oil, pigs feet and pig ears turned over, spilling across the three northbound lanes. The cooking oil seeped into the concrete, which was absorbed - along with the pig parts - with sand by IDOT crews, many of which had to be called in on their days off to respond to the accident. The northbound lanes were then......

We have to admit that we've had fun with this whole "readers' choice" month thing here at "BotW." And it's all because you readers who sent your suggestions were passionate about your selections. However, there were some that we wanted to include that couldn't make the cut because they're unavailable in Illinois. Some are newer brews that haven't made their way to us, like Capital Brewery's Island Wheat Ale. Brewed with wheat grown on Door......

This is not a fun time to be a baseball fan in Chicago. Whether a White Sox or Cubs fan, you no doubt have that sinking feeling about your team's prospects for the postseason after they were swept this week. The Cubs lost 9-0 to the Florida Marlins on Wednesday, following a day full of meetings. The players held one. So did management. Didn't help, at least on Wednesday. The players felt they needed to......

The Big Ten Men's Basketball Conference Tournament rolls into town on Thursday for what will be the last one hosted in Chicago until at least 2012. On Thursday, the tournament will kick off its seventh run at the United Center. Our friends in Indianapolis, not satisfied with their Super Bowl trophy earned by beating the Chicago Bears, have also outbid Chicago to host the annual Big Ten tournament from 2008 through 2012. The tournament kicks......

A local tumbling team lost two of its members in a crash this week, and the whole story is seriously pulling on our heartstrings. A van carrying the Chicago Boyz Acrobatic Team apparently crashed due to a fatigued driver and icy conditions near the Wisconsin-Minnesota border, killing tumbler Ricky Jones and his coach, Donny Samson, who were 15 and 27 years old, respectively. The advanced tumbling team has performed at Bulls games and on "The......