We thought finding hair in our food was bad enough, but it looks like things always could be worse: a woman sued McDonald's yesterday after she bit into and chewed on a glass shard in her McChicken sandwich. The woman, Vjollca Lecaj, had dined at a McDonald's restaurant in Oak Lawn on August 5 of last year when the incident occurred. more ›

Residents in south suburban Oak Lawn needing medical assistance may find themselves surprised when instead of an ambulance rolling up to their aid, they might get a paramedic utilizing a more unconventional vehicle -- a bicycle. more ›

It's becoming as constant as death, taxes, and another Cubs-less World Series: the ongoing red light camera drama across the suburbs. Here are two more recent developments. more ›

The police don’t really care about your stance on drug legalization or what health problems you have: when you’ve got 170 marijuana plants growing in your backyard, it’s a problem. more ›

Oak Lawn is gearing up for its local version of the annual National Night Out block party, but hold the beer and barbeque. In lieu of a typical neighborhood bash, this southwest suburb is opening up its police and fire stations and letting the public play with all their big-boy toys. more ›

Sorry, cheeky mayor of Oak Lawn. Your cheesy stop signs that say "In the Name of Love" and "Right There Pilgrim" under the traditional "STOP" are apparently a violation of federal rules about road signs. more ›

We guess this is what happens when you live in the suburbs. Oak Lawn has recently had a rash of theft. The object, manhole covers. There's been eight stolen since mid March, but authorities think it's more than just a prank. more ›

In an interview in today's Sun-Times the Reverend Donald McGuire, who was convicted of molesting two boys at Loyola Academy in the 1960s and now faces federal charges of traveling overseas with a minor to engage in sexual conduct, said that he's appealing an expulsion decree levied by Chicago Jesuits to the Vatican and that, regardless of Rome's final say, he will "always be a priest." This despite criticism from numerous people, including a nephew representing McGuire's accusers. more ›

Lotsa burgling going on: Two gunmen robbed the AMC Rivers East this morning, tying up but not injuring four employees. And yet another North Community Bank was robbed yesterday, bringing the total to five robberies at North Community banks in the last two weeks. Another story of animal hoarding, this time a little closer to Chicago but a lot less severe: An Oak Lawn woman had at least 30 cats and 2 dogs in her... more ›

Forced to choose between stepping inside Macy's or taking a bullet to the head, some of the more retentive opponents of the department store giant would wrap their mouths around the barrel like John Malkovich in In the Line of Fire. With the confirmation on last night's WGN Evening News and in this morning's Sun-Times that Macy's and Oak Lawn-based Cupid Candies have reached an agreement to manufacture one-pound boxes of Frango mints for local... more ›

In order to avoid a very scary riot involving grown men dressed up in Santa Claus costumes, Oak Lawn school officials have backed off from their proposal to stop celebrating Christmas and Halloween in the classrooms. The Christmas controversy started when a parent brought to light the fact that Muslim holidays were neglected by the school system. In the spirit of Christmas, board members offered a compromise — holidays for no one! They decreed that... more ›

Where drivers in Oak Lawn once ignored octagonal red signs demanding they halt, they will now encounter little addendums to make them take notice and, well, stop. At least, that’s what mayor Dave Heilmann is hoping since he went balls-out with ironic nerdery by implementing a new plan to install signs with wacky messages underneath official stop signs. more ›

Chicagoist hopes you're healthier than we are, and that you're more law-abiding than these folks: A mugger set himself upon former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun Friday night. Braun was returning to her Hyde Park residence just before midnight when an assailant jumped her from the bushes and tried to cut her purse strap. Two passing U of Chicago students came to her aid: Zachary Trayes-Gibson, 21, gave chase to the mugger, while his 19-year-old... 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 ›

Playing a little catch-up this week after our first round of reader contributions. There's no overriding theme this time other than a general lack of foresight. To paraphrase Gov. Rod's campaign commercials, "What were they thinking?" The municipal elections offered their fair share of the ridiculous. We'd like to thank Arenda Troutman, the campaign volunteers in the 16th and 24th wards, and supporters of Bernard Stone for their special contributions. (Thanks Jerry) A Chicago man... more ›

Del Taco has a restaurant in Oak Lawn now. Researchers at UIC did a medical study that shows that smoking in workplaces increases the risk of lung cancer in non-smokers. Critical Mass is planning shenanigans at the Chicago Auto Show. Chicago Wonk is a website that offers a daily poll on Chicago, Illinois, or US policy. Readers vote yes or no each day. A Fresh Squeeze is a company devoted to making it easier... more ›

As we nurse a post-club bodyache, we offer you this weekend's crime rundown: more ›

Go ahead and look it up if you're not familiar with this old school weapon. We didn't know what the name of this thing was until we saw good old Matt Roloff decide to up and build one on a manic whim on "Little People, Big World." more ›

Before Chicagoist moved to the city, we used to take Metra from the middle of nowhere to the Loop. While the ride was generally less than inspiring, our interest was often piqued by the seemingly out of place campus of Chicago State University. Whenever college application season rolled around, our friends applied to a gamut of public and private universities. But never Chicago State University. more ›

Chicagoist has spent some time in the hospital, and we can assure you, even in the nicest ward, you'd still rather be at home. If, say, you tried to make an escape, we could sympathize. But of course, we would put our clothes on first before leaving. more ›

It is believed that Bubba died of natural causes due to his age and rough medical history. more ›

Sorry for the title, but we had to get it out of our system. We predict that saying "(some kind of creepy-crawly animal) on a (some kind of uncomfortable place)" will be the new Bud Light "Wasabi/Wazzup" from a few years ago. Before the summer is over, the next time you hear some jackass say, "_blank_ on a _blank_" while giggling to himself, you'll want to slap the taste out of his mouth, so we... 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 ›

One of Chicagoist’s favorite movies is Wargames. Apparently, we’re not the only ones. more ›

Oak Lawn (southwest of Chicago) Police Chief Bob Smith sent letters this week to five businesses within his jurisdiction telling them that they could be prosecuted for selling adult videos and magazines. In the letter, sent to one video store and four convenience stores, Smith notified the businesses' proprietors that he was working with prosecutors to determine whether the dirty mags and videos break local obscenity laws. more ›

Because we needed a bit more evidence that the No Child Left Behind law is counterintuitive, the feds have ordered 11 Illinois school districts to suspend their after-school tutoring programs because their schools are not meeting standards set by the NCLB. The following Illinois school districts must either provide private tutoring or pay for district-wide tutoring without federal money: North Chicago School District 187 School District U-46, Elgin Community Unit School District 200 Wheaton Chicago... more ›

8 months ago Fannie May was shut down after 84 years in business when their parent company, Archibald Candy, went bankrupt. But never fear: Alpine Confections, based in Utah, bought the Fannie May and Fanny Farmer brands in federal bankruptcy court last April for a mere $38.9 million. Under new ownership, Chicago-based Fannie May candy stores are reopening for business. more ›