A dog in the south suburb of Park Forest licked the top of a paper-shredder, which caused his tongue to get caught in the machine. His tongue "was 3 inches into it when I pulled the plug," said Pat Taylor to the Chicago Sun-Times, who was watching her daughter's dog, Caine, over New Year's weekend when the accident occurred. Caine's cry and the noise of the blood splattering upset Taylor's own dogs who began barking at Caine. "It was complete chaos," Taylor said. "The place looked like a crime scene." Caine unexpectedly bit through his own tongue to release the machine's hold on it. more ›

Good Lord, what a pair of sad stories. First, there's the Park Forest incident where a police officer tracking a burglary suspect wound up shooting and killing a family's dog. Two officers, a detective, and the police dog passed the yard of the Walker family tracking a suspect. The Walker's dog, Princess (a pit bull/shepherd mix), began scratching at the door and, thinking the dog just needed to go out, a boy in the family opened the door for Princess. Princess, however, was reacting to the scent of the police dog and made a fateful move.

Park Forest Deputy Police Chief Mike McNamara said the dog ran toward the detective. more ›

No one drew the winning combination for the Mega Millions last night, so the jackpot has now grown to $163 million. Folks, that’s winning “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire” 163 times! Illinois is just one of twelve states where we can play the Mega Millions. Twenty-one second prizes were drawn last night, though, each person winning $250,000 for matching five of the winning numbers. Two of those tickets were sold in Illinois -- one in Niles, and the other in Park Forest. 83 people picked four of the numbers, each winning $10,000. Six sold in Illinois. more ›

Last night, the American Institute of Architects’ Illinois chapter announced their “150 Greatest Places in Illinois.” And no, your bedroom’s not on the list. Commemorating 150 years of highlighting our state’s “built environment,” the AIAIL 150 is a what’s-what of places historically significant, uniquely designed, or really frickin’ cool. Chicagoland’s dominion extends beyond safe, popular choices like Wrigley Field, Sears Tower and Navy Pier to include the northwest side’s Schurz High School (a Prairie School... more ›

Surprisingly little St. Patty's related fare for the blotter this weekend. Hooray! more ›

Yesterday in Park Forest 43 sixth-graders and four kingergarteners were sickened by their school’s food. more ›