Maybe he hasn't made Keith Olbermann's nightly list yet, but Sam Zell is quickly cementing his place among the "Worst People in Chicago" as he continues to antagonize Chicagoans since his takeover of the Tribune Co. Not content simply wanting to replace actual news with "profitable" features and celebrity news, Zell is working overtime to squeeze every last nickel out of the Cubs before he sells off the team. This week, he reiterated on CNBC's......

More fascinated by Kelis' milkshake than Daniel Plainview's? Is the only Oscar you'll watch living in a garbage can? Then this Sunday probably means nothing to you. You're burnt out on the "glitz" and "glamor" of the night, not to mention the drama surrounding that writers strike. Of course, it's never too early to make alternative plans! While all your friends and compulsive gamblers are setting up their Oscar pools and getting ready to check......

When it's this cold and icy, the last thing we can imagine doing is sitting outside at a ball game. But spring will one day arrive, and we're sure some of you will want to spend time enjoying the nicer weather at Wrigley Field. Cubs individual game tickets go on sale on Friday at 10:00 a.m. CST, which means it's almost time for the annual tradition of calling in sick or hijacking unused computers throughout......

They say Shakespeare wrote over 30,000 unique words in his complete works and his vocabulary is estimated to be about twice that. The average person today knows roughly 12,000 to 20,000 and only uses a tenth of that. Thanks in part to the Internet, those numbers are fast becoming outdated. English has always been composed of a mish-mash of different languages and other words, and now Paul Payack, who runs Global Language Monitor (GLM), estimates......

At least two people were shot during a geology class at Northern Illinois University this afternoon. As of 3:50, NIU had posted this on its website: Its has been confirmed that there has been a shooting on campus and several people have been taken away by ambulance. All classses are cancelled on the DeKalb campus. People are urged not to come to campus. More information will be posted as it becomes available. More info to......

Photo by Quantum Jedi Johanna Vera, 23, was charged with attempted murder for allegedly giving her children, 3 and 10 months, juice with rat poison and boric acid in it. Vera also apparently drank it herself. All three survived the November 29th incident, which Vera says stemmed from a domestic dispute that left her wanting to "die and take her children with her." [S-T] Mexican President Felipe Calderon was in town today on his......

Photo by MMayesPeople sure seem grumpy today. Maybe you just need a cookie. A homemade treat based on the Girl Scout cookie Samoas. We have heard people argue that Thin Mints are the best Girl Scout cookie, but that is hilariously wrong. Samoas are the best. Maybe a party would cheer you up? How about a Clue party? We are so, so jealous. A weather Channel correspondent got frostbite on air last night, reporting......

Thousands of migratory birds died in the last few months due to Type E Botulism poisoning from Lake Michigan. Scientists don't know exactly how the birds are contracting botulism, but our theory that they ate tainted canned goods—that's the most common way to human adults contract botulinum poisoning--isn't an option, apparently. The current theory blames invasive populations of zebra mussels and round gobies. Zebra mussels and their deep-water kin, quagga mussels, filter naturally occurring......

It's official for Jody Weis: He's the new superintendent of police as of today, now that the City Council has approved him. 3rd Ward Alderman Pat Dowell cast the lone dissenting vote, saying she thought Weis's answers to the Council's questions were too general. First one Weis's agenda? Picking his next-in-command, and then cleaning up the department and its internal investigation branch. He told the Trib, People usually come out of the academy very excited......

The Museum of Science and Industry announced today that a fully-functional, three-story "green" home will be built just east of the museum on its Jackson Park grounds in Hyde Park this spring. The foundation is currently being laid, and it will be open to the public from May 8, 2008 through January 4, 2009. The 2,500-square-foot home will exhibit some of the latest environmentally-friendly technologies and offer a primer on incorporating these innovations into......

A new ordinance kicking around City Council says disabled people with city-designated parking spots in front of their homes would no longer have to display a permit sign on their windshield. Apparently people often forget put the sign on their dashboard when they park, and they get tickets--and then they complain to their aldermen. 31st Ward Alderman Ray Suarez is pushing for the ordinance, saying it's unfair how often legit parkers get ticketed, joking "You......

Clayton Hauck, Chicago's everywhere-at-once nightlife photographer, has released the results of a reader's poll he ran to discern which clubs, DJs, promoters, and bands are at the top of The People's list. It's hardly a scientific poll, and Hauck even admits that when it came to the promoter results there was probably more than a little ballot box stuffing, but we find it interesting as it functions as a good peek into the indie-rock......

There's not a whole hell of a lot going on today, or hadn't you noticed? We're still thinking about that tiger attack in SF, but now we're also thinking about how telegenic Chicago can be. Por ejemplo: People are assholes at hotels! Holy lord, this ostensibly hilarious list of requests made of the concierge at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago has us absolutely stunned. A guest wanted to see the premier of the movie "Disclosure" but he......

Stella's on Broadway in Lakeview is packed to the gills for brunch every weekend. If you ask us, however, the most interesting times to eat here are Monday through Friday nights just after 5 o'clock. You'll encounter the early dinner crowd: people who just don't have the patience or inclination to wait until 7. One of the things they like to eat the most is the egg salad sandwich. The egg salad at Stella's......

Yesterday a low-pressure system swept across our region, ripping up trees, knocking out power and pulling the roof off at least one house. We're feeling Harper's Index-y, and we're giving into that feeling. 11: People killed in storm-related car crashes yesterday 88: Miles-per-hour that winds were gusting off the lake 215,000: Homes that lost power yesterday 15,000: Homes still without power as of last night 300: Flights canceled from O'Hare 100: Flights canceled from......

We're leading off today's awesome round-up by reminding everyone that, as Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier says, it's alright to cry. People seem very stressed out today — Holiday stuff? Lack of daylight? Weird diet? — but don't keep it bottled up. Let it out, and recover with some things that should cheer you up and quick: Ah, real-time graphs, how we love you. Like this one, which displays the real-time gage height of the Chicago......

Georgette Watson, the 46-year-old principal of Brentano Math and Science Academy in Logan Square, died yesterday while she was having a root canal. According to reports, she was anesthetized, but it's not clear yet if she was under general or local anesthesia. She stopped breathing 40 minutes into the procedure, and despite efforts to revive her, she died. Her autopsy is scheduled for today, but she appears to have had a heart attack. Watson, who......

Word to the wise: try to keep from talking to yourself, sweating excessively or hyperventilating the next time you pass through security at O'Hare. [Ed. note: You might want to avoid those things, oh, all the time.] In light of this fall's news that TSA screeners had missed about 60 % of hidden bomb materials that were sneaked through security by tiger teams at O'Hare, the TSA is upgrading its strategy and employing new......

With Governor Blagojevich's gambling go-to guy under indictment and state lawmakers struggling to figure out if they can trust him with expanded gambling, (and trying to decide how they'll split the pie up among themselves), that other guy in the state's executive branch, Lt Governor Pat Quinn, called for a statewide referendum on gambling yesterday. In a press conference at the State of Illinois Building Monday, Quinn said "I think this is a perfect example......

While some grumps were complaining about all the snow this weekend, other people were using the icy stuff to fashion random acts of kindness. Our friend Danielle found this little guy on top of her car and decided to name him Steve. How about you? Did any of you find any unique surprises built out of this weekend's accumulation of flakes and drifts?......

We’re big fans of the Helvetica Typeface here at Chicagoist. It’s everywhere here on our site. But we’re not sure about an 80-minute documentary, Helvetica, celebrating the typeface and it’s proliferation in society. The film is currently being screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center, now through the 20th. 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the font, and the movie pieces together designers and fans of the font, who explain where the font came from......

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......

Given that it gets pitch-black at, oh, 2pm, we always find ourselves staring at the clock right around 5:30pm screaming "Time is standing still!" Anyway, we enjoyed this ode to the "regular, everyday normal guy." Lyrics include, "My parents are really nice people, motherfucka! I'm somewhat afraid of heights, motherfucka!"......

Sen. Dick Durbin sent out an email appeal today urging people to celebrate "A Plumpynut Holiday." Our senior sentator wants his constituents to spend $20 this holiday season on Plumpynuts, a "sweetened mixture of peanuts, essential vitamins, minerals and milk served in foil pouches [that] has become a high-nutrient, high-energy weapon in fighting malnutrition." Plumpynuts really are a great way to spend $20. Durbin tells us that the nutritional pouches were developed by researchers in......

This week's installment of Project Runway played out like a roller coaster of emotions. The designers were given the challenge of clothing for real people (yay!), retooling "fat clothes" from women who had lost significant amounts of weight, ranging from 45 to 160 pounds. Although the contestants tend to bitch and moan every time they're forced to design for, gasp, a non-stick frame, we always enjoy seeing what they have to offer. After all, while......

Today Steve Johnson decided to gripe about Google's request for Gmail stories about users' experiences with the service. We actually have to admit we were with Johnson for most of his piece, since the idea of people having Gmail stories worth sharing seemed pretty dubious. What, are you going to go over how you chatted with you future mate through Gtalk? Or how you couldn't remember where that really rad party was happening so you......

After months of investigating, former Senator George Mitchell released the results of his investigation into the use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs by major league ballplayers. With a number of players testing positive for substances banned in recent years, and others exposed as customers via criminal investigations, commissioner Bud Selig tasked Mitchell with determining the extent of the problem, so that baseball can move forward. Because it wasn't a criminal investigation, people couldn't......

The CTA may be getting slightly greener (assuming it can get its hands on some green). Yes, our beleagured transit authority is looking to by hybrid buses for its fleet if Springfield works out a funding structure. The diesel/electric buses get an extra 2 miles per gallon, and they're priced to move because the King County Metro System in Seattle didn't exercise its option to by the articulated (read: accordion) buses, plus they'd save......

In quick succession, the Cook County Board shot down a series of tax hikes yesterday, including proposed increases on electricity and natural gas. Five other increases backed by Democrat Roberto Maldanado, including taxes on SUVs, hotel stays, jet fuel and liquor sold in bars, died without support from any commissioners. The 2-14 vote against the electricity and natural gas taxes, proposed by Stroger ally Bill Beavers, signaled the unofficial death of Board President Todd Stroger's......

The Chicago City Council held off on voting on a controversial ban on urban chickens yesterday. Since urban chickens are all the rage, it seems like a perfect time to ban them, right? Southwest Side Alderman Lona Lane (18th), who proposed the ban, said she didn't know why the vote on the ban was held up. Maybe it is, as the Sun-TImes suggests, because Mayor Daley has a thing for urban poultry: "Let's be realistic,"......