On March 4, 1837, Chicago officially became a city, first mayor William B. Ogden presiding. Fast forward 171 years later, and we're still kicking. In honor of our fine city's birthday, the Chicago History Museum is throwing a party tomorrow complete with Eli's cheesecake, Chicago style hot dogs, the Chicago Children's Choir, and "historical re-enactors". Admission to the museum is free between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Also if tomorrow happens to be your birthday,......

Happy St. Patty’s Day, folks! We are taking off a little early this morning, for what we hope will be a long drunken day filled with debauchery in celebration of wanting to be Irish. At about 10:45 a.m. the Chicago River will be full of Fluorescein, the chemical used in the annual dyeing of the river. The magnificent green can be seen from the Wacker Bridge on Michigan Ave and it should last about 30......

It feels a bit like Alaska outside, but there probably isn’t enough snow on the streets to go dog sledding (it won’t stop us from trying). Luckily, for those who really want to scream “MUSH!” at a couple of dogs or friends, there is the Chiditarod. On March 3, over 100 participants will go tearing through the streets of Chicago in shopping carts pulled by a four of their best friends, or worst enemies depending......

Starting this Sunday, Snake Punch Union will play for 3 Sundays at The Playground Theater. Nicky Hilton is getting sued by a Chicago development group for breach of contract. Interficio (Mobile Assassins) are coming to Chicago. Knowing our luck, we'd be targeted by someone with a real gun! What else could we sell to make some money for the city? Oh, how about Midway airport? On March 25 from 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.,......

On March 3, teams will compete in the 2007 Chiditarod, an homage to the Iditarod dogsled race across Alaska. The Chiditarod tweaks the race by replacing dogs with costumed humans and replacing the dogsled with a shopping cart. Teams of five compete in a race to checkpoints throughout the Ukrainian Village, Wicker Park, and Bucktown neighborhoods — covering nearly four miles — before reaching the finish line. To keep the teams nourished, they will be......

There's simply no other way to say it: this story is really horrible. Squeamish readers may wish to skip reading this post and instead gaze at the pretty, pretty weather forecast to the left. On March 3, 52-year-old James R. Griggs, of Chicago, was found in Manville, IL, decapitated in the driver's seat of his car. The car was stopped in the middle of the road, with brake lights on and the engine still running.......

A Chicago Tribune article on patronage within Mayor Daley's administration reported on Sunday that "Organizations, unions still hold sway for city jobs." Yeah, we know, duh. But what caught our attention was a statement that straddled the jump from the front page of the Metro section to page five. It said, "The current flap over city hiring practices comes as Daley is battling in court to overturn a 21-year-old decree prohibiting political hiring of employees."......