A disabled Oak Forest man was rescued from his burning home yesterday morning but later died due to injuries suffered during the blaze. James Wheeler, 77, was rescued by firefighters and taken, unconscious, to Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest where he was revived. Wheeler was later transported to Loyola University Medical Center where he passed away late yesterday afternoon. A male caregiver escaped from the fire with minor injuries and Wheeler's wife wasn't......

While Chicago architecture is perhaps best known for its skyscrapers -- old and new -- the area has an equally rich tradition of residential architecture, too. And nobody is better known in that arena than Frank Lloyd Wright. Once each year, the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust expands beyond their stewardship of the Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park and Hyde Park's Robie House to give architecture fans a bigger taste of Oak Park......

Chicagoist has a list of places to visit and experiences we'd like to have before we die. We've hopefully got a few decades left to keep checking these items off, but some are certainly a bit more improbable than others -- like our dream of owning and living in a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece. The Arthur Heurtley house -- just down the street from Wright's own home and studio in suburban Oak Park --......

If you’re lucky, your toddler will be asleep, blissfully unaware when the last minutes of 2007 tick by. An earlier bed time doesn’t mean that he or she has to miss out on the festivities, though; a handful of places in and around Chicago are hosting New Year’s Eve parties for the little ones, with dancing, snacks and party favors at an earlier countdown. Rosedale Park on the northwest side is hosting their third annual......

Everyone knows puberty is the #1 most awkward and mortifying stage of growing up, but what if it hit you before you were even 8 years old? According to today's Sun Times, kids as young as 4 are experiencing early-onset puberty. Precocious puberty, which is not as fun as it sounds, is more common than you'd think. According to the Oak Park-based Magic Foundation, between 1 in 5,000 and 1 in 10,000 kids become gangly......

One of Chicagoist’s few lingering memories of grade school was dental hygiene films. Those things scared the bejeezus out of us. Rotten teeth loomed large in darkened rooms, while Vincent Price’s voice double warned us of the horrors of plaque. Keep that shit up long enough, we were taught, and you get zero teeth. Oddly enough, that’s what a local dental practice’s patrons ended up with, as well as mountains of debt. Rosewood Dental, a......

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. But not......

Although we're not usually huge supporters of ye olde credit card companies, American Express is doing well by us in its effort to help restore historical sites in a partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. From 2006 to 2011, the Partners in Preservation program will be dishing out $5 million dollars to specially selected historical sites across the country. This year, preservation efforts are focused on Chicago and four surrounding counties, where 25......

As part of the old Brach's legacy was being blown up for Batman, intentionally causing a blaze, there have been several other fire related bits in the news as well. The police Bomb and Arson Section and Chicago Fire Department are conducting an ongoing investigation of a warehouse fire that started Thursday night in Bridgeport. Just before 10 p.m., a fire was reported at a building near Halsted and 36th Streets in the 3600 block......

- Say hello to Cuppy's. Another coffee chain opens its first Chicago location. - Taking parenting advice from Britney Spears, a 26-year-old woman left her kids in the car with the windows up and hot air blowing while she went to Cook County Criminal Court on the south side. - Oak Park/River Forest High School alumni Charles Simic was named poet laureate by the Library of Congress. - Keep drinking your beer, Cubs fans.......

In the mid 90's we were television addicts. From soaps to sitcoms, we soaked up nearly everything the tube could offer. Our collection of VHS tapes at the time was chock full of good stuff. But in some cases it was the commercials that we loved most. One of our favorites featured Judy Tenuta drinking Diet Dr. Pepper while "working out" at the gym. The moment she proclaiming "You can't get a body like mine......

There's no love lost here between Chicagoist and Cook County government. In fact, not only has Todd Stroger (as well as the other comedians that pass for "Commissioners" on the county board) been a target for our anger, frustration, and disappointment, they've been fodder for our ridicule and a symbol of what's wrong with local government here. Looking back at the news from last week, we've been following the story of Sally Lemke, the nurse......

We're jetting off this weekend to see some family away from our dear Chicago, but if we were here, this is where you'd find us. Tonight is the Printer's Ball. Always fun, free, and there's plenty of swag available. Zhou B. Art Center, 1029 W. 35th. Friday, 8 p.m.-2 a.m. Free. But first we'd duck in to see Chicagoist alum Scott Smith read with the Machine Media Fest at Quimby's. Quimby's, 1854 N Ave. Friday,......

Faced with declining revenues, the Tribune plans on placing advertisements on the bottom of its front page. Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons isn't the only person charged with running a dog-fighting ring. So is 29-year-old South Holland resident Kevin Taylor. Like he needs the money: Oprah's throwing a fundraiser for Barack Obama at her California estate. Chicago Public Schools chief Arne Duncan makes his case for money from Springfield. Oak Park supports same-sex......

Both Kraft and McDonald's have been busy recently with business moves. Tuesday Crain's reported that Kraft placed a $7.2 billion bid for French snack food giant Danone. Danone, makers of Dannon and Stonyfield yogurts, and Evian bottled water, is the world volume leader in bottled water, fresh dairy, and biscuit (cookies) and cereal products. If the deal goes through, it would give Kraft a foot in the door of emerging snack food markets in Russia......

Duplicate shootings in triplicate? At least three people are shot and wounded early today; one critically, during a party at a private motorcycle club, on Chicago's South Side. AND ... Three people are shot and wounded this morning near the Cabrini-Green public housing project on the Near North Side. Calm down, Chicagoistas, they're definitely NOT talking about Vince. (Christopher) Vaughn, the guy who went berserk and killed his family gave up on hanging out......

Just yesterday, we told you that the cicadas were terrorizing the suburbs. Funny that, because some people haven't seen a one. We're in that camp, and lord-a-mighty, we are so happy. We were talking about these babies way back in April, and they were actually making it sort of okay when the temperatures would dip back down into winter mode, because we thought it would delay the onslaught of the plague. Turns out that due......

Here at Chicagoist, we're all about the science. Heck, we tend to use it every day. Of course, due to time restraints, we're usually unaware of which scientists brought what various inventions into our daily lives. That's okay, for the suburb of Franklin Park and PBS's "Nova" have refreshed our collective memory about one chemist whose achievements, in the field and in his life, would have otherwise been lost to history. Percy Julian had a......

When we placed the call for new food and drink writers last month, we had an idea of what we were looking for. Then real life interceded. Some candidates dropped out of the running. Those that remained made their case, the quality of writing so good we felt bad having to cut someone. Then we envisioned some candidates in roles we didn't expect, and someone wrote us with an offer we couldn't refuse. When the......

Anyone expecting to get their usual dose of local music videos via JBTV was sorely disappointed, as the show was pre-empted on WJYS Channel 62 for one of the many ministries broadcast on the station (though it did air on its sister station WEDE Channel 34). Then today we saw this on JBTV’s MySpace blog: At 11pm this Wednesday night WJYS Did NOT air JBTV. We have NO reason why, as it is airing on......

The NFL changed the time of the Bears/Packers game on NYE from noon to 7:15 p.m., just to mess with all of our party plans. It's possible there may be a teachers strike in 2007. Why's everyone fighting at the movies? Union guys are mad at Stroger for saying he'll lay people off. After almost 30 years, Jim's In, a bar located in Tinley Park, is closing. Police are making progress in the hunt......

Chicagoist loves us some comics. So we were particularly pleased to see one of Chicago’s most famous practitioners of the art form, Chris Ware, receive a $50,000 grant for his work along with local artist Nick Cave (not that one) and 11 other visual artists. Technically a resident of Oak Park, Ware is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received acclaim for his Acme Novelty Library, that’s not quite......

Who needs the cold? We're basking in our radiators and skimming the events of the past weekend: Former Burger King employee James Ealy was arrested and held without bond Friday for the Nov. 27 murder of Mary Hutchison, 45. Ealy, 42, robbed the Lindenhurst BK early that morning; to eliminate witnesses, he strangled and stabbed manager Hutchison, his former boss. Police found money from the safe in Ealy's apartment, as well as blood-stained clothing. Hutchison......

Chicagoist remembers many years ago we sat cross-legged on the floor, poring through a picture book that boasted a real hidden treasure. All we had to do was decipher the clues in the pastel-colored pages. We’ve never forgotten that book and sometimes even thought it might be a dream. Of course, it was no dream, it was Kit William’s Masquerade, and once we remembered, we fell in love with the idea all over again. Kit......

There are some things in life you just need to know. Basic truths, if you will. For instance, tollbooths, gas stations and nuclear power plants are all very different things and serve very different purposes. Also, firework stores are flammable, don’t run from the cops smelling like tasty food, and the brake is on the left. Just some things to keep in mind. An Oak Park man faces charges after confusing the Braidwood nuclear power......

Jane Hamilton’s new book, “When Madeline Was Young,” begins with the unfortunate knowledge that there is no more waiting, the other shoe has definitely dropped. Hamilton, a native of Oak Park, gives us the ill-fated story of Madeline. Shortly after her marriage to Aaron Maciver, Madeline has a bicycle accident and is brain-damaged. She is taken in and taken care of by Aaron and his new wife. Their children are led to believe that Madeline......

The Bad At Sports Podcast, an informed and often irreverent take on the Chicago art scene, celebrates its birthday next week. Over the last 50 episodes, hosts Richard Holland and Duncan MacKenzie and frequent co-host Amanda Browder have discussed everything from the merits of outsider art to the merits of campy, low-budget viral videos, sliding effortlessly between serious debate and hilarious schoolyard asides. As the acclaim piled on, they amassed a stable of correspondents from......

A few Chicago theaters are on vacation but this summer’s slowdown is much subtler than past years. The Reader lists over a dozen shows opening this weekend and, between now and autumn, more than a dozen local outdoor productions may indulge our insatiable need to slather on the SPF65, don our big floppy hat, and watch actors sweat in the great outdoors. Performing Shakespeare in the park remains a rite of passage for thousands of......

Roger Ebert is recovering well from his recent surgery. Not exactly news to us, but you can spend less than $20 at Taste of Chicago and be quite satisfied. The village of Oak Park turned down a clothing store for plus-sized women, now they’re being sued. Jessa Crispin (a.k.a. “The Bookslut”) explains why summer can be rough for a book lover. O’Hare is on pace to reclaim the “World’s Busiest Airport” moniker. Barenboim and......

First of all, how many people knew that there was a plant on the West Side that made delicious corporate chocolate delights? Maybe many of you. But we can’t see you raising your hands eagerly in the air, so you’ll just have to bear with us and all the other poor saps who like to laugh at others’ misfortunes (especially corporate otherses) while we get our kicks. Fact: A factory producing M&Ms and Snickers Bars......