For starters, don't do like on 14-year-old Geneva student and list "arson, anarchy, vandalism and mischief" as interests on your MySpace page. The teen told police that when the night the incident happened - Dec. 20, 2008 - "he got a sudden urge to do something crazy." He got some matches and set out for Western Avenue School.

Upon his arrival, the teen set fire to a can filled with papers, which was located next to the garbage Dumpster, records state. He then walked to the back of the school, broke a window with the scraper and climbed into the building, records state. While inside, he lit pages of books on fire in one classroom, and lit papers inside desks on fire in another classroom, records state. In a third classroom, the teen lit fire to papers sitting on a teacher's desk before exiting out the window, records state.

Two men were sentenced to two years probation today for raping a 14-year-old girl. Tony Pacheco (left), 17 at the time of the 2006 crime, and Angel Alverio (right), then 18, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count each of aggravated battery and criminal sexual abuse. The were sentenced to 24 months probation and both have to register as sex offenders for 10 years. more ›

The 2006 MySpace suicide case has prompted the Illinois House to draft new legislation on “cyberbullying.” The Cyberbullying Law amends the existing Criminal Code and The Harassing and Obscene Communications Act to ban threats, harassment, and stalking done through the means of electronic communication, and makes violations punishable by up to three years in prison. more ›

An Aurora teen was sentenced to 27 days in jail for posting what prosecutors called threats on his MySpace page. The 15-year-old East Aurora High School student agreed to a plea bargain today, having already served that time. He was also sentenced to 21 days of electronic home monitoring and a year of probation, during which he's only allowed to use the internet for homework. more ›

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Way back before she became Avrilized, Chicago musician Liz Phair wowed the indie music scene with her stunning full-length debut, Exile in Guyville, an alleged song-for-song response to the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street. Fifteen years after Exile on Guyville's release, Phair finds herself listed as one of the greatest female guitarists by Venus Zine. The Chicago-based "leading source for coverage of women in music, art, film, fashion, and DIY culture" recently released a list of their top female guitarists of all time, itself a response to Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the top 100 guitarists of all time, a list that only included two females (Joni Mitchell and Joan Jett). more ›

Eight Chicago Public School students were shot this weekend, three of whom died. So far, 17 CPS students have died from gun violence this school year; last year, 27 students died as a result of gunshots. That was a tragic high, and this year is on pace for the same number of young people dying--Mayor Daley? How's that gun control stuff going? Mr. Governor? We know you want to build a new building at NIU, and that's great and everything, but children in Chicago are being murdered. Frequently. Maybe there's something we could do about that, too. more ›

Time to lock and load this week's list of hometown shows, SXSW style. more ›

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One could be forgiven for the overwhelming feeling that there are just too many disco-dance rock hybrid bands out there. Because, well, there are, and like any other oversaturated genre the majority of groups copping the dance-rock sound are doing so in truly generic fashion. more ›

Ah, late February in Chicago. Cubs tickets go on sale today, there's a forecast for a high temperature above 35 degrees next week, and thousands of indie rock kids around Chicago will soon be shedding their parkas for high-priced hoodies bought from Wicker Park boutiques (tip: ours cost us $12 at Target!) for several worthwhile shows around the Chicago area. Lots of tickets go on sale this weekend. So, despite this crappy weather, there is, in the words of Spoon, "something to look forward to." more ›

The Silent Years play Schubas tonight as part of UR Chicago's monthly AMPLIFY series. We dig these kids from Detroit, but you don't need to take our word for it since the band is offering it's debut online, totally for free. If you like folksy and rockin' pop, we highly recommend it. more ›

It's a Bottle edition of Local Options to reduce, reuse, and recycle this week. more ›

The Holy Fuck, A Place To Bury Strangers, and Airiel show this coming Sunday at Schubas sold out quite a while ago, but we've got a pair of tickets to give away to some lucky Chicagoist reader. more ›

Here we go again ... The Police are coming back to town, playing Allstate Arena, with Elvis Costello opening. We enjoyed them immensely last time they came through town, but we'll probably pass on seeing them again, although Costello is a much more enticing opening act than Sting's son. But we reckon Costello was brought in to counter the fact that the immediate mix of nostalgia and excitement will probably make it harder to move tickets this time. more ›

We're celebrating by making you a list of things that are awesome. more ›

Baby, it's cold outside ... but Chicago's brightest musical talent is on display at a cozy venue near you. Here are some solid bets for this week: more ›

At the risk of feeding the hype machine, we still have to offer a congratulations to Mr. Kanye West for pulling in some Grammy gold last night. While we still don't buy the Grammys as an accurate barometer of the music industry and what's actually, you know, good in music these days, it's still the industry's main award show so there's something to be said for coming away with multiple trophies. While the night's big winner was Amy Winehouse, Kanye still managed to pull in four awards, as well as one of the night's most memorable acceptance speeches (surprise!) when he gave producers the verbal smack-down for trying to run him off in the middle of a tribute to his mother. more ›

Remember Adorable? If you do you're probably old like us, so let's go for a slightly more culturally relevant (read: Sofia Coppola approved) touchstone and namedrop My Bloody Valentine. Hell, we could check any number of Britpoppers with huge guitar rigs. more ›

Let's take a look at some of the best live & local music in our fair city this week: more ›

And you thought the Spice Girls had all the fun? Portland, Oregon's Uncle Earl, an all-woman string band, knows how have a good time banging out the bluegrass and old-time music. Closer to The Be Good Tanyas or The Yonder Mountain String Band than anything to do with Mrs. David Beckham, the ladies (or "g'Earls") of Uncle Earl have been touring in support of their latest release, Waterloo, Tennessee, produced by Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. more ›

Oprah is getting her a cable network, OWN ("Oprah Winfrey Network"), which will--gasp--replace the Discovery Health Network. Noooo! We all know what Oprah wants, Oprah gets, but we freaking love the Discovery Health Network. [Trib] more ›

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MarkLanegan is, to us, a a marvel of nature. His distinctive voice first soared above The Screaming trees before splintering off to pursue both a solo career, and a long string of high-profile cameos with like minded souls, the two most recent being with Queens Of The Stone Age and Soulsavers. Greg Dulli led The Afghan Whigs, penning Gentleman -- one of the best albums of the '90s -- before pursuing his own brand of gutter-soul with The Twilight Singers. more ›

Some years before making a cameo appearance in The Break-Up, the Fireside was the kind of place that Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston wouldn't have been caught dead in. Or actually, maybe they would have. Ultra-late hours and ultra-loud bands were the two prime ingredients in Brian Peterson's makeover of the vintage bowling alley. If you were under thirty, with lots of time on your hands but little money in your pockets, the Fireside was the ne plus ultra of Chicago nighttime adventure. more ›

All week, Chicagoist will be breaking down the Schubas Tomorrow Never Knows Festival by day to take a look at the sometimes raw, always promising talent that's creating some of most deafening buzz on the independent music horizon. more ›

Bad behavior cranks up on the weekends, so here's a quick heads-up on all the horrible, terrible no-good things going on in our little world. more ›

Chicago's own Rhymefest just dropped a pretty awesome mixtape, Mark Ronson presents Rhymefest: MAN IN THE MIRROR, wherein he takes on Michael Jackson and does the impossible. more ›

The Von Bondies play the Abbey Pub tomorrow night with SSM and Freer, 9:00 p.m., $12 advance/$15 day of. more ›

The Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival kicked off last night and continues through January 13, a smörgåsbord of comedy stylings from 99 troupes from across the U.S. and Canada. Intrepid performers leave the comfort of California and Texas, brave delays at O’Hare, and risk negative comments on their MySpace pages—all to entertain you. Organizers estimate 10,000 of you attended last year’s event and, with fest favorites like Elephant Larry, Canadian Content, Cool Table, and Big News returning, this year’s crowds will likely be just as huge. more ›