"Legoland." Just feeling the word roll off your tongue should be enough to send you into shivers of delight. But news that some in Joliet are pushing for a Legoland that close to home? That is leaving us a quivering mess on the floor. Legoland! Right here in Illinois! Please, nerd overlords. Please. more ›

It was pretty much inevitable that discussions about the NIU shooting would turn to gun control. And turn they have. more ›

So it's week three of the Statewide smoking ban. How's everyone holding up? Apparently well, since there has been a shockingly low number of violations, 54, in the city so far. We suspect that's partially due to the fact that it takes a number of complaints before the city will actually send someone out to issue a citation, but mostly we think it's because people are quick to adapt and have just moved the party outdoors. At some point things will loosen up, and much like New York, some bars will begin to quietly allow smoking. Certain establishments with covered patios have already begun allowing folks to smoke in those spaces since they're technically outdoors. So look for more loosening of the rules along those lines. more ›

Countdown to Smoke-Out 2008! In case you forgot, or were outside smoking when someone shared the news, come January 1 there will be no more smoking in public places, including bars, restaurants, casinos, dorms, stadiums and anywhere else that is inside, aside from personal homes and cars. more ›

After months of investigating, former Senator George Mitchell released the results of his investigation into the use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs by major league ballplayers. With a number of players testing positive for substances banned in recent years, and others exposed as customers via criminal investigations, commissioner Bud Selig tasked Mitchell with determining the extent of the problem, so that baseball can move forward. more ›

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Jim Oberweis campaign will be announcing “a major endorsement” today, and that that endorsement will be from Dennis Hastert. Oberweis is running for the 14th Congressional District seat that was vacated when former Speaker of the House resigned earlier this year. Although Hastert endorsed Oberweis for US Senator in the 2002 Republican primary, Jack Ryan won that race, later withdrawing after his (sexy) divorce files were unsealed. An... more ›

In a situation only slightly less disgusting and tragically hilarious than the time Dave Matthews Band's waste landed on that tour boat, mysterious "splotches" over a three block radius in Lisle may be human poop and pee. Police in the western suburb are investigating a substance that landed on and often stained roofs, lawns, streets, cars, etc. The yellow and brown stains were described as "the size of the palm of [a] hand." While there's... more ›

We'd just like to point out that for the price of one Hannah Montana ticket, you could feed a starving indie rock band for a year. For reals. Conrad Black got a 6 1/2 year sentence today. Oddly enough, we're not feeling sorry for him. Cheryl Lavin continues to dispense awesome advice. In this case she tells a woman who is upset at only having sex 4 times a week to tell her boyfriend... more ›

Is Mike Madigan ready to take a gamble? So it seems from a letter he wrote today to state legislators. He said today that he'd endorse a bill proposed by Democratic reps Lou Lang and Bob Molaro that expands gambling—gaming, sorry—and uses that money for roads and schools. From the AP: The new proposal includes many of the elements that already passed the Senate in September, including a huge, land-based casino in Chicago and... more ›

There isn't much sadder than this: Blythe Ann O'Sullivan, a 25-year-old Bloomingdale native, died on Thursday while serving in the Peace Corps. more ›

Northern Illinois University is closed today after police found racist threats written on a wall in a women's bathroom Saturday night. According to the university's website, Written in black ink on a restroom wall in the Grant Towers D complex were two separate entries claiming that “things will change most hastily” in the final days of the current semester. “Tell those n---ers to go home,” the first entry reads. “ME / OUT … Die... more ›

Looks like Blago's at it again. State legislative leaders are meeting again tomorrow to continue working on transit/casino/construction/dick-wagging, with the plan to head back to Springfield next week for--all together now--a special session. Maybe they could have a Very Special Session in which we learn about molestation or suicide or teen pregnancy. Blagojevich met with three legislative bigwigs today, but Mike Madigan wasn't one of them. Schedulig conflicts, says Madigan's camp. Never RSVPed to... more ›

Not a joke: A Hoffman Estates man was actually dragged by a car while defending his Christmas lawn decorations from vandals. more ›

Transit funding has stalled yet again, this time with the added bonus of absurdity: Blagojevich wasn't even in Springfield during the special session vote. No, he was at the Blackhawks game. The vote was 57-53 in favor of the moving gasoline money around plan--except the bill needed 71 votes to pass. And even if it had passed, Emil Jones had said it would die in the senate. So what we're looking at is a... more ›

Thanksgiving came at the perfect time for Topps Beef. Two months after the second-largest beef recall in history (over 21 million pounds), the company filed for bankruptcy protection in New Jersey last week; any other time and the news would have been bigger. In the filing, Topps listed assets and debts totaling nearly $100 million each, and over 10,000 creditors lining up for what's theirs, including high-ranking executives at Topps. Seeing as how the recall... more ›

Seven months ago, 55 percent of the people living loosely packed together in a space of about 20 square miles voted to incorporate as Campton Hills village in Kane County. There was a lot of back and forth, and harsh words were bandied. Now, in a startling upset, those opposing the village's creation and continued existence may have found a way to shoo away the winds of change. more ›

We were initially trying to believe Drew Peterson could somehow be innocent of any wrongdoing in his wife's disappearance, yet it's becoming increasingly difficult to think anything good about the Bolingbrook policeman. At best, he's a chronic philanderer, a domestic abuser, and a bad cop. At worst... the man's been married four times, and wife #3, Kathleen Savio, turned up dead, wife #4, Stacy Peterson, is missing, and wife #2, Vicki Connolly, has finally spoken... more ›

Drew Peterson was on the Today Show this morning, chatting with Matt Lauer about his wife Stacy's disappearance and his former wife Kathleen Savio's exhumation. (Anyone know how to embed that video?) "I can look you right in the eye and tell you I had nothing to do with either of those instances. I’m not afraid of law enforcement. I’m afraid of the media," he said. Maybe because he works in law enforcement, and Savio's... more ›

Expanding on a program already used by over 2,000 companies in the Chicago area, the IRS is increasing breaks offered to income tax payers on commuting costs. more ›

We now join another one of our irregular weekend crime & punishment updates, already in progress. more ›

Well, it wouldn't be a real week if we didn't have a least one troubling post about the state of the CTA, so here goes: One-fourth of the buses are 16 years old, and one-fifth of the tracks are "slow-zones." And it would cost $6 billion to fix this. Recall that the CTA budget has two sections: Capital and Operating. Most of the Doomsday talk is about operating costs, which means we've all been... more ›

Today's New York Times has a profile of Tom Nauman, a mushroom hunter in downstate Magnolia who also owns a store dedicated to morels with his wife. The story tracked the Nauman as he searched the woods in search of edible mushrooms. It wasn't really news that edible mushrooms grow in Illinois. The story did prompt us to ask why we don't hunt for mushrooms ourselves, with the Forest Preserves nearby? A couple calls to... more ›

The note says "To Inspector of Buildings: Meet me next door at the restaurant. Harry Sometimes the coziness of local politics can be infuriating, like when Children's Memorial Hospital is represented by the law firm "Daley & George, whose partners once included Mayor Daley and still include the mayor's brother, Michael." Gah, that's no good. Or that a Blagojevich donor and associate was apparently able to buy a vacant Aurora hospital on the DL,... more ›

Things were jumping at the Will County Court House. Lisa Stebic's children testified in front of a grand jury yesterday about their mother's disappearance six months ago. Craig Stebic, Lisa's estranged husband and person of interest in the case, hasn't allowed the police to interview his kids, even though they're two of the last people to see her. Lisa's family says they wanted the kids to be interviewed at a child advocacy center instead,... more ›

Two students from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville were arrested for torturing a teenager by burning him with freshly baked cookies. Is nothing sacred? more ›

George Ryan starts his prison sentence today, and the Sun-Times and Trib have helpfully chronicled every move the former governor has made since last night. You know what that means: time for a Ryan Round Up! Olé! Yesterday, the 73-year-old released this statement to the public, again claiming innocence and thanking his family and legal team. At 5:50 this morning, Ryan left his home in Kankakee in a van driven by his son, George Ryan... more ›

For real this time. While it's not exactly direct, he's not passing go and he's not collecting $200: Justice John Paul Stevens denied Ryan's request to remain out on bail while awaiting his appeal. Ryan, 73, is scheduled to go to prison on Wednesday. more ›

Stacy Peterson, a 23-year-old Bolingbrook woman, has now been missing for five days. Though police are still calling their investigation a missing person search (and not a homicide investigation,) it can't be good that they are searching a nearby pond. Today's news has three main parts: The actual investigation: Two days before she disappeared, Stacy Peterson told husband Drew Peterson that she wanted a divorce, according to her aunt, Suzan Robison. The next day, Peterson... more ›

NBC5 is trotting out a sweeps special they've named "The Woman Who Knew Too Much" (video), an exclusive interview with Anne Lockett, a key witness in the 1993 Brown's Chicken massacre. Lockett waited nine years to tell police that her ex-boyfriend James Degorksi and his friend Juan Luna told her about committing the crime, and in these interviews attempts to explain what took her so long. Degorski is still awaiting trial, but his alleged accomplice Luna was convicted and sentenced to life in prison earlier this year. Degorski's trial is scheduled to begin in February. Lockett was 17 in 1993, and was in the hospital following her fifth suicide attempt when the murders occurred; she says Degorski was abusive, but she was so depressed she stayed with him for two years. more ›

George Ryan is edging ever closer to the big house after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals denied today yet another request from the Ryan camp. This go-round, Ryan was trying to stay out on bail until the Supreme Court could hear his case, but the 7th said no. That leaves Ryan with just one option left: Ask the Supreme Court to extend his bail. If they decline, Ryan will head to the clink... more ›