Yesterday, Karl chatted with The Parking Ticket Geek in regards to the new street sweeping plan that's been put in place by the mayor and City Council. They both lamented the lack of full schedule from the city and worried that it might result in some easy ticket revenue. Worry no more: the Geek himself shares that the City has finally released the new schedule, broken down by ward. more ›

On this week's entry to the Chicagoist Podcast Series, the natural comedy of the City Council, mixed with the real comedy of Schadenfreude - so which one is funnier? One's definitely funny in a "ha-ha" sense, and the Council...well, that's just kinda funny in a civically cynical sense. more ›

The Parking Ticket Geek has tipped us off to a pair of protests happening this weekend in regards to the ongoing battle over red light cameras. The first happens in Roscoe Village tomorrow from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the intersection of Western and Addison. Sayeth the Geek: more ›

• An Amber Alert was issued today for two Zion girls taken from their mother by their father at gunpoint. The girls were found and reunited with their mother but as of late this afternoon the father was still at large.
• Police have charged a suspect in Sunday's hit-and-run in Rogers Park that killed a woman and critically injured her 6-year-old sun.
• The bad weather has settled in as has the havoc being wreaked with local travel.

With the impressive first day numbers of towing in regards to the city's winter parking ban - which went into effect in the wee hours of Tuesday morning - all eyes were on how many cars would be towed in night two. While numbers were down, as expected, it was still an impressive haul with 164 more cars towed, bringing the two-day total to just shy of 400 total cars. That breaks down to almost 50 towed per hour (the ban is in effect from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. each night) and almost 4 cars per each of the 107 miles in the ban zone. And with a minimum of $200 in fees for each car ($50 ticket plus minimum of $150 towing fee), that's at least $79,600 for the city so far. more ›

We warned you yesterday that the winter parking ban started in the wee hours of this morning and, sure enough, the towing patrol is out in full force. Our pal The Parking Ticket Geek reports that Streets & Sans towed 234 cars overnight as the ban took effect, a 40 percent increase over last year's first night haul. So be wary of the various parking zones because with the city badly in need of money, they won't hesitate to haul off any cars they can get revenue from. more ›

So as we stare down higher property tax bills and a potential transit fare hike, here's more good news: the parking meter rates are going up, too. As The Parking Ticket Geek points out, when the City Council passed that controversial parking meter lease that Mayor Daley engineered, it also included a yearly increase in rates. These annual rate increases will continue through 2013. $1/hour rates will go up to $1.50, $2/hr up to $2.50, and $3.50/hr up to $4.25. The increases hit January 1, 2010. more ›

Just when you thought it was safe to park, they're back. After being pulled off-duty back in the spring, it seems as if the parking enforcement crew of LAZ Parking are ready to take over patrolling duties of the city's parking meters. According to the Parking Ticket Geek, sources say all that's left is the official thumbs up from City Hall, a.k.a Mayor Daley who's a bit busy this week, but that the new enforcement push could begin as early as the beginning of October. more ›

Remember yesterday's issue on time discrepancy with the city's new parking meters? Well, the Parking Ticket Geek is at it again, talking to several clock, time, and GPS experts, none of whom are buying LAZ Parking's excuses. more ›

The "Parking Ticket Geek" announced on his now-ChicagoNow-located Expired Meter site that there's a "Stop the Meters" protest set for tomorrow from 10:15 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in the South Chicago neighborhood. Alderman John Pope will be facing off against angered constitutents who are trying to ensure that no more parking meters go into their neighborhood, already stretched by the bad economy. more ›