It’s about goddamn time. Perhaps someone should organize a swear-in to formally inaugurate the policy. more ›

• The severe weather is rolling in just at the thick of rush hour. Be safe.
• Break up the Blackhawks, literally? Rumors are flying that Dustin Byfulgien, Brent Sopel, and Ben Eager could be part of a huge trade sending the trio to Atlanta.
• A big head carp has been found in Chicago's waterway beyond the electric barriers.

To curb teen drinking, northwest suburban Park Ridge has started the Parent Party Patrol program, which teams parents up with police officers to be on call between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. in search of parties that could possibly involve underage alcohol consumption. Once a call comes over the police radio notifying them of a party in progress, the patrol members will head to the scene, observe police actions, and wait until they are potentially called on to explain procedures to parents or help officers notify parents of the underage drinkers. more ›

Kristina Rodriguez, 13, was crossing an intersection in Lake Zurich with another girl, 12, on Thursday when one of them dropped a cell phone. As Rodriguez leaned down to pick up the phone, she was struck by a van driven by a 60-year-old Barrington man, police said. Rodriguez died of her injuries early Saturday at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said. more ›

Shane T. Collymore, 18, Skokie, was charged with three felony counts of armed robbery, three felony counts of aggravated unlawful restraint, and three felony counts of aggravated kidnapping in connection with robbery of MB Financial Bank, 1014 Busse Hwy. in Park Ridge, on Aug. 13, 2008. Police said that in the robbery, a man wearing a black-and-pink dress, white gloves, sandals, and a woman's sun hat walked into the bank at closing time and pulled out a black handgun from the purse he was carrying. more ›

The new O'Hare runway opened to much fanfare (and controversy) last fall, but officials are learning it's now all rainbows and lollipops as residents of Park Ridge are complaining of worsening noise issues. In response, a commission of eight residents and an alderman was formed, called the O'Hare Airport Commission. According to the Tribune, the group, "will monitor noise, advocate for fewer flights over Park Ridge, examine environmental issues, and make recommendations for reducing airplane noise in homes and schools." [Tribune] more ›

The FBI is offering up to $10,000 in reward money for tips leading to the arrest of a bank robber dubbed The Cross-Dressing Bandit. The robbery took place last August at a MB Financial Bank branch in Park Ridge. The robber was wearing "a black and pink floral-print dress, pink wide-brimmed sun hat, long white cloth gloves and white sandals" and also carried "an oversized black purse" from which he produced a large, black handgun. As for the robber's description, he's a black male between the ages of 18 and 20 years old, 5-foot-10 and 150 pounds. Our favorite part? "Despite his choice of outfit, the man is considered armed and dangerous." As if the gun wasn't a clue... more ›

Photo by Katie Scully
• In case you missed any speeches today, WBEZ has you covered. Listen to Blago's press conference, The Mighty Quinn's response, and Illinois Sec. of State Jesse White's statement.
• Bob Benson, director of internal audit for the City of Chicago, and who came on after the Hired Trucks scandal, has been fired.
• Two Park Ridge teenagers have been arrested over a series of drive-by BB gun shootings that have left two people hospitalized; the teens have cited "boredom" as a motive.

Park Ridge officials are puzzled by the sudden appearance of signs at the intersection of Prospect Avenue, Touhy Avenue and Northwest Highway declaring the thoroughfare "Honorary Jim Hendry Way." Hendry, the general manager of the Chicago Cubs, is a Park Ridge resident. Park Ridge director of public works Wayne Zingsheim said a Illinois Department of Transportation rep told him the signs were installed based on an ''executive order from the governor's office.'' The city's mayor, Howard Frimark, and aldermen are also clueless as to the story surrounding the signs and when they went up. The rub? The City Council was preparing to vote on a measure that would prohibit such designations of honorary streets, but since the poles on which the "Hendry Way" signs appeared are property of IDOT, the city has no say. What Hendry did to deserve the designation is anybody's guess (Blago is a confessed Cubs fan), but we have two ideas: either a big campaign donation or he's being honored for his propensity to overpay outfielders. [via] more ›

Father Carl Morello, the priest at St. Paul of the Cross in Park Ridge, recently suggested turning the school's gymnasium into shelter on Sunday nights, from October through April, as part of the PADS ("public action to deliver shelter") program, a network of faith-based shelters throughout Cook County. And his plan hasn't gone over so well. more ›

We've gone around and about a lot of times about a couple key subjects: How relevant losing Marshall Fields is in the grand scheme of things, Hipster/Yuppie, where does Whole Foods play into the life of a person looking to eat healthy and live on a budget? But another topic that never fails to get someone's ire up is that of biker vs. driver vs. pedestrian vs. driver vs. biker. Most people realize that there... more ›

This week, just for "guest", Chicagoist decided to tie this installment of the "Buffet" into Lollapalooza. We also have an update on Bell's, some other newsworthy items, and the usual complement of events. - A forum thread started at Beer Advocate earlier this week asked the million-dollar question: When is Bell's coming back to Illinois? Standing out among the speculation was a reply from Larry Bell himself. Bell told the forum that he's been talking... more ›

World Sport Chicago, an organization that has helped spearhead Chicago's 2016 OIympic Bid, is working hard to bring international sporting events to Chicago to strengthen that bid. This weekend is an example of that effort; the U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team will take on Italy here in Chicago as part of the FIVB World League. The World League is composed of the top 16 men's volleyball teams in the world divided into four pools. The... more ›

Eggs. Seriously, haven't they caused us enough trouble? One day (in the 80s) they're good for you. The next day (in the 90s) they're bad, and also represented your brain. Then we find they were good all along. The egg's latest offense? Causing an entire state national embarrassment. Okay, okay, so we guess it wasn't really the egg's fault, persay, but the egg advocates. The Egg Board in Park Ridge started it all by... more ›

Here we are, less than two years away from the next contest for the White House. This time next year, hopefuls, shoo-ins, and also-rans will be in a mad dash around the country, having pancakes in New Hampshire, talking milk prices and manufacturing in Iowa, and hoping to make it to Super Tuesday. On the Democratic side of the coin, more than a few people have already thrown their hats into the ring, and some... more ›

Tony Kerasotes, of Kerasotes Theatres, said he didn't want to show Stomp the Yard in any of his Springfield thaters because it could attract gang members. He's since had a change of heart and will show the movie starting on Friday at more than 40 Kerasotes-owned locations. If you couldn't afford Chicago's most expensive restaurants before, you really won't be able to afford them now. The Chicago-based Johnson and Lee architecture firm will be... more ›

Before we tell you about two local, movie-related events happening this weekend, let us first dispense with the Da Vinci-sized elephant in the room. If you have yet to jump on The Da Vinci Code bandwagon, you probably never will, though you’ll likely live a full and rewarding life without having done so. For research purposes, Chicagoist delved into the book this week and the experience was a bit like trying to run through 10... more ›

• In Park Ridge they're adding signs below some stop signs that say "Stop Means Stop." If that doesn't work then maybe they can add another sign under that saying "Dammit, we mean it, STOP!!"
• A Charlotte news station did an article about all the Chicago restaurants in their town as the Panthers look to the Bears playoff game this weekend.
• A couple local art gallery owners are in deep doo for smuggling protected artifacts - you know like carved elephant tusks and ceremonial headdresses made from feathers of endangered birds and a carved shell of an endangered sea turtle.

It's the June before an election year, and that means Congressional candidate wannabes are making some hard choices about whether or not they toss their hat into the ring. Why June 2005? Because June 30 is the first important Federal Election Commission's fundraising reporting deadline. The reports, filed in July, are carefully scrutinized by political donors and party bosses across the country. If you don't have enough cheddar in the bank, you're labeled "not viable"... more ›

Continuing today's "Fun With Drugs in Schools" theme, Chicagoist just had to let you know about the suburban dad that is using the time-honored method of newspaper advertising to allege hard drug sales in the halls of a local school. Park Ridge's Dominic Vecchio, whose grammar school-age children attend schools within the Maine Township High School District, spent $900 of his own cash to publish an ad in last Thursday's Park Ridge Herald-Advocate (a Pioneer... more ›

Chicago Firefighter Jeffrey "Matches" Boyle was charged with eight felony arson counts yesterday for a string of arsons dating back to 1998. He's charged with setting four fires in Chicago and four in Park Ridge and is a suspect in at least 4 other fires (NBC5 says he's a suspect in 36 other arson cases). The break in the case was surveillance video of a man setting two of the fires set early Monday that... more ›