Did the president of Medill use made-up quotes in a newsletter? We...barely care. What really bugs us is journalists citing the existence of Facebook group as some kind of indicator of anything--"students and alumni joined the new 'Save Journalism at Medill' group on Facebook. On Tuesday afternoon, there were nearly 90 members ...." There are 650 fulltime students at Medill. Fewer than 90 of them . Agh, not news. [Trib] more ›

On Tuesday, Chris Jones reported in the Trib that David Schwimmer was coming to Chicago to do at Lookingglass. Turns out...not so much. As apparently Schwimmer himself posted in the comments for the story. more ›

Chicagoist certainly doesn't envy White Sox GM Kenny Williams and the difficult task he has to rebuild a team that lost 90 games in 2007. On Tuesday, he once again was overmatched by the opposition and missed the ball on potential help for his club. Recent reports suggested that the Sox were close to landing third baseman Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins — a player that Ozzie Guillen referred to as his "fourth son."... more ›

On Tuesday a federal judge approved a $24.8 million deal which allows Pennsylvania-based Snyder's of Hanover to buy Jays Potato chips. The deal brings closure to the local potato chip icon's second Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in four years and speculation that a deal with Snyder's would even be allowed because of the bankruptcy filing. As part of the fallout of the deal, Jays' longtime production facility on the far south side closed yesterday, leaving... more ›

State Rep. Edward Acevedo (D-Chicago) is no stranger to the long green. As one of the chief sponsors of HB 429, the wine shipping bill that aims to bring Illinois in compliance with the 2005 Supreme Court ruling in Granholm v. Heald by limiting the ways consumers can obtain wines, Acevedo received $7,500 in campaign contributions from the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois for carrying their water. Turns out that Acevedo is also the litigious... more ›

This fall, Chicago will be the host city of the 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships. The event, which will feature nearly 700 competitors from more than 120 countries, will be the biggest international sporting event in Chicago since the 1959 Pan American Games. more ›

Chemicals — what would we do without them? Twinkies wouldn't have a shelf life of a decade. Diet Coke wouldn't be diet. And microwave popcorn wouldn't cause some weird lung disease. We just read today that diacetyl, one of the main substances used to flavor microwave popcorn*, isn't so good for the lungs. Truthfully, when we read the first article about the first consumer that is likely to have "popcorn lung" (bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, or... more ›

It's a less cumbersome title than "Your Friday Food Buffet," don't you think? Good, because that's what we're calling "YFFB" from now on. On to business: - "What is Understood Need Not Be Discussed": That about describes our opinion of Ribfest Chicago 2007 this weekend. We'll leave it at that. - Practical Applications: Printers Row Book Fair is also happening this weekend. Presenting sponsor the Tribune has a full slate of demonstrations and discussions related... more ›

It's been said that politics makes strange bedfellows, but we wonder if politics just makes you crazy instead. While Blagojevich strolls around the capital trying to convince the General Assembly to play ball with his all but dead budget, Emil Jones is taking shots Mike Madigan by proxy. On Tuesday he kicked Sen. Louis Viverito (D-Burbank) an assistant majority leader, out of a closed-door Senate Democratic leadership meeting. Viverito voted against the plan for expanded... more ›

The Chicago Wolves have a chance to advance to the 2007 Calder Cup semi-finals with a win tonight over the Iowa Stars. The winner of the series will face off against the North Division finalist, either the Manitoba Moose or the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Bulldogs lead that series 2-1. more ›

If they haven't already done so, Chicagoist would suggest that the Bears' coaching staff might want to do some more scouting of defensive tackles prior to the April 28-29 NFL Draft. And why is that? They might be a bit shorthanded at the position once the NFL deals with Tank Johnson. On Tuesday, the NFL handed down two suspensions for players who have "brought embarrassment and ridicule upon [themselves, their clubs] and the NFL, and... more ›

Man, you just can't fool anyone anymore. Try to skip out of jail using someone else's name, rob a bank with an initimidating T-shirt, or change your name to that of a famous football player, and someone always stops you. Plus, your damn five-year-old cousin won't stay out of the way when you want to audition for Girls Gone Wild. Aaaargh! On Tuesday, two sisters from Sheboygan, Wisconsin were charged with disorderly conduct after taking... more ›

The NCAA started a practice a few year back that, each year, screws over one unfortunate college basketball team. This year's victims are the Florida A&M Rattlers. While the Niagara Purple Eagles will be in Chicago this week to take on the Kansas Jayhawks at the United Center, FAMU goes home without actually getting to take in the same experiences the remaining 64 schools do — in spite of winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament. They miss out on the camaraderie of being around seven other teams over the course of 4 days. They miss out on playing in front of huge crowds and seeing how they stack up against some of the best teams in the country. more ›

We all know that gambling and the Super Bowl go hand in hand. The Vegas line on the game is available even before the clock expires in the conference championship games. There hasn't been a single Super Bowl party without "squares" since 1974. Even the opposing cities' mayors get into the fray with their wagers of local delicacies. But maybe it's not the best idea to go making your Super Bowl bets in bars. A... more ›

Let's call this one the "You Really Thought You Were Going to Get Away With That?" edition. This Week in Stupid would be nothing if it weren't for stupid criminals, but this week's crop seemed to take things to new levels. more ›

Chicago has passed another milestone in its efforts to win the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. On Tuesday, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) announced its intentions to submit a bid for the 2016 Olympics. The USOC will choose between Chicago and Los Angeles as the city of choice for the United States' bid at a board meeting scheduled for April 14. Chicago and Los Angeles are expected to submit formal plans to the USOC by... more ›

On Monday when we discussed the city's plans to step up efforts to protect pedestrians, a few commenters replied by saying that often, pedestrians are just as much to blame as vehicles for creating dangerous situations at intersections. They're right too; Chicagoist has witnessed many walkers blithely wandering into the street against no-walk signs, and let's not even start on the herds of people on Michigan Avenue who apparently skipped street safety day in grade... more ›

Chicagoist loves stories of mischief and mayhem, bizarre crimes and the like, but they tend to follow a script. For instance, when a 32-year-old man punches a 63-year-old man walking with a cane, it's usually the younger fellow who gets in trouble. But most of the time the older gentleman hasn't just slashed 18 sets of tires with a pocketknife. more ›

The Ohm Curator Series presented by the Chicago Cultural Center, a department of the City of Chicago, features DJ's, videos, and live painting. On Tuesday, December 5, at 7:00 p.m. the series will bring you video artists and performers reinventing the Classical Sonata. The performers for the event include Laura Emelianoff, J.C. Loewe, Gregg Medley, Margaret Noble, Edyta Stepien, Jeffrey Weeter, and Video Janitor. We are pretty pumped about Gregg Medley presenting an electroacoustic performance... more ›

Yee Haw, Pardner! We got us a whole mess 'a turkeys to rustle up here, so let's get these doggies rollin'! Chicago taxpayers are footing the bill for legal representation of witnesses in the Hired Truck Scandal to the tune of $595,080, for witnesses alone! This number only covers the cost of witnesses that weren't implicated in the scandal. The largest portion of this bill, $210,717, went to a single law firm that used to... more ›

On Tuesday, the CTA Transit Board passed its 2007 budget. And then promptly asked for more money. In order to remedy the slow zones throughout the system, which now make up 34 percent of the Red Line and portions of the Blue Line, the CTA estimates it needs an additional $500 million dollars over and above the state and federal dollars it already receives (the budget currently allocates $35.7 million for 2007 but nothing for... more ›

The game of Hot Potato continues as the parcel of land known as Block 37 changes hands again. On Tuesday, Mills Corp. agreed to sell the retail and transit rights on the site bordered by State, Washington and Randolph to Joseph Freed and Associates of Palatine. Freed also is developing the space currently occupied by Carson’s for future use. The Tribune quotes Freed senior vice president Steven Jacobsen as saying "We're very bullish on this... more ›

On Tuesday, the American -ists will be celebrating democracy and hitting the polls, letting politicians know what they really think. It just made us wonder: if it were up to the -ist-a-verse, what would we be voting for? Londonist votes for better skincare, alternative spaces for art, cute little birds and the men who keep them, and concrete. Lots of concrete. Shanghaiist votes for one of the Bee Gees and Air Supply (it's a double-ticket),... more ›

A Northwest Indiana woman says she was shot at this morning while driving on I-80/94 at Cline Ave. The Dyer, Ind., woman and a passenger were not injured in the attack. This is the second incident in Northwest Indiana in the past week. On Tuesday, a man reported seeing a man in a trench coat fire at his pickup truck on 169th St. near Cline Ave. more ›

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has certainly gotten himself into a bit of hot water with his derogatory comments about Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti. We called him out on it yesterdayBy last night ESPN had the story as their main feature, and today it's all over the local media. In response to all of the criticism for his remarks, Ozzie apologized for using the term he used. He tried to explain how the term has... more ›

Chicagoist has seen its share of the stupid this week, but there’s always enough stupid to go around with a little bit left over. There’s not much left over, but we do what we can. There’s always next week. more ›

Area Jewel shoppers don't need to bring a wallet to buy groceries anymore, just a fingerprint. Excuse us, not a fingerprint, just their finger, and its "hundreds of characteristics in the grooves at the end of the index finger--like spacing, size and curvature," that can identify them in seconds. Okay, that sounds a lot like a fingerprint. more ›

A couple of quick-hitters this week as most of Chicagoland kept its prize-winning material in check: more ›

The building that housed one of the most famous movie chase scenes ever, has been demolished. Again. For the last time. more ›

Some weeks the people of our fair city amaze us with the sheer quantity of forehead-slapping, spitting-coffee-all-over-the-keyboard stupid news items they produce, and some weeks we start to believe the town is inhabited by only Boy Scouts and PhDs. This week is one of the latter, but we managed to dig a few dumb tidbits out of ye ole RSS reader. more ›