The specter of NATO-related chaos has been impossible to ignore since the summit was first announced more than a year ago. At one South Loop church Thursday, residents and activists bristled at the prospect of living in the summit’s shadow.
26th Street Priest Invites NATO Protesters To Camp On Church Lawn
Restaurant News: Goosefoot Best In Chicago, Crofton On Wells Closes
Today in restaurant news: Crofton on Wells closes, Chicago Magazine surprises everyone by naming Goosefoot the best new restaurant of the year and Chicago police may be tracking food trucks through social media.
Man Accused Of Gouging Uncle's Eyes Out Over TV Remote
Plenty of TV shows make us want to gouge our eyes out. But a Joliet area man took it a bit further when he allegedly tried to pry out his uncle’s eyeballs with his thumbs.
Police Release Vanecko Lineup Photos
Photos from a 2004 lineup, long-sought by the Sun-Times, renew scrutiny of an unsolved murder case involving then-Mayor Daley's newphew, Richard "R.J." Vanecko.
Chicago Cops Accused of Robbing People on Behalf of Latin Kings
The two officers also were accused of stealing guns and drugs and receiving monetary compensation for their efforts.
Schaumburg Math Teacher Fired for Masturbating in Class
Police interviewed several students who said 75-year-old LaDuke unzipped his pants while seated behind his podium and proceeded to masturbate.
Police Arrest 21 Protesters for Trespassing
Police arrested 21 protesters for trespassing Tuesday, as grassroots demonstrations against economic inequality continue to gain momentum in Chicago and around the U.S.
"Let Them Cook" Launches Video Petition Drive for Food Trucks
If you care about cooking on food trucks, you can lend your voice to Let Them Cook.
Council Committee Approves Police Board Reform
2nd Ward Ald. Robert Fioretti’s ordinance would expose the disciplinary board’s largely secretive decision-making process to public review.
Rahm Asks McCarthy for $190 Million Cut to Police Budget
The police department accounts for about one-third of the city’s corporate budget. But cuts have long been politically thorny in a city struggling with street violence.
Man Tried to Enter Willis Tower With a Handgun
Yesterday, police stated that a man with a semiautomatic handgun and several rounds of ammunition attempted to go up to the skydeck at Willis Tower late Friday afternoon. The man, Christopher Irving, was carrying the gun and ammunition along with some magazines in a backpack when security officers searched through his belongings and prevented the man from entering Willis Tower.
Security Detail Cuts for Alderman Burke (and Others)
By cutting security detail for several top officials, new "Top Cop" McCarthy cut costs by $650,000 and likely pissed off Ald. Ed Burke.
Monday Deadliest Day of 2011 So Far
With all the hype and hoopla surrounding "flash mobs" (or not) attacking and robbing people, it somehow doesn't come as a shock to hear that Monday, June 6th was the deadliest day of 2011, at least so far as homicides are concerned. The Redeye reports that 6 people were murdered on Monday, in incidents scattered throughout the city. However, none of the killings took place anywhere near Streeterville, the Gold Coast or any of the sites of the better-publicized assaults.
Winnetka SWAT Team Responds to Butt-Dialing
Here's a story that seems lifted from a sitcom. A woman reacted to an accidental phone call from her husband and called Winnetka police, believing that he was being held hostage at the school district offices where he worked. Let's recap: Winnetka sent a SWAT team to a man's place of employment because the man's wife overreacted to a butt-dialing.
Chicago Police Shoot and Kill Man on South Side
It's not a secret that the Chicago Police Department had a rough year last year, and news of this fatal incident is definitely not a happy way for the Chicago Police Department to ring in the new year.
Cab Driver Factors in Unwitting Arrest, Still Wants His Two Dollars
It's safe to assume a few of us have passed out in a cab before. But how many of us were taken to a police station by the cabbie? And how many of us were holding when said cabbie pulled up to the police station? In short, we're glad we weren't 25-year-old Joseph Andrew Hoffman on Christmas Day.
Man Charged With Selling More Than $40K In Counterfeit Items
Bo Hyun Nam, 46, was arrested and charged with four felony counts and one misdemeanor count of selling counterfeit merchandise after police seized more than $40,000 in counterfeit Casio watches, Nike shoes, and professional sports merchandise from his store on Thursday, police said via the Chicago Tribune. Nam was arrested on Saturday afternoon after police carried out a search warrant at his store, A-One Trading, located at 4536 N. Clark Street.
Former Murder Suspect Files Lawsuit Against Police
Don't know what it is about Illinois and wrongful convictions, but it seems to happen with frequency here. Jerry Hobbs, was in jail for four years on charges of murdering his daughter and a friend in a Zion park before DNA evidence exonerated him, filed a civil rights lawsuit against the police who took his confession yesterday. Hobbs was arrested in 2005 in the murder of his 8-year-old daughter Laura and her friend, 9-year-old Krystal Tobias, and he served time awaiting trial for the murders until August, when DNA evidence implicated Jorge Torrez, a former Marine who grew up in Zion. Prosecutors knew about the DNA evidence linking Torrez as early as 2006, and the evidence didn't become public knowledge until 2008. Yet they still focused their investigation on Hobbs.
Elderly Man Dies After Beating
World War II veteran Stanley Letkiewicz passed away the day before Thanksgiving from injuries sustained from a beating allegedly by a homeless person he tried to help. Letkiewicz befriended the homeless man last winter and as an act of kindness, Letkiewicz invited the man to stay in his basement in exchange for household chores and general company.
Man Charged with NIU Student's Murder
A 34-year old DeKalb man named William Curl has been charged in the death of NIU student Antinette "Toni" Keller. Curl was a person of interest to the police because he was a frequent visitor to Prairie Park, where Keller's remains were found, and also possibly because he reported a fire in the woods near the park where Keller told her friends she would be.
Oak Brook Police Chief: Fire Drew Peterson's Son
While Drew Peterson is doing whatever in Will County Jail probably writing another letter for Michael Sneed to run as a column Oak Brook police chief Thomas Sheahan has filed charges with the village police and fire commission to have Peterson's son, Stephen Peterson, removed from the force.
Will Chicago's CeaseFire Model Work in Cape Town?
Recently, authorities in Cape Town met with Dr. Gary Slutkin, the founder of CeaseFire, in order to figure out a way to quell gang violence in and around Cape Town. Members of the South African community attended workshops to discuss bringing a "pilot project" to Cape Town in the near future that would be modeled after Chicago's own methods.
Man Faces Charges After Allegedly Trying To Run Down Cops
Alvin Herbert, 50, of the 500 block of Des Plaines in Forest Park, was charged and cited with a dozen different counts after he allegedly tried to run over police officers around 12:40 a.m. early Saturday morning on the 100 block of East 95th Street. Police shot at the tire of Herbert's vehicle as he drove towards them, but no one was hit by gunfire or injured, police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Gang And Drug Probes Yield 55 Arrests
Law enforcement officials announced on Thursday that 55 people were arrested on state and federal charges after a series of successful investigations that targeted narcotics, gangs, and guns probes in Chicago. Members of six street gangs and several drug wholesalers were among those charged.
Bob Fioretti Circulating Mayoral Petitions
2nd Ward Ald. Bob Fioretti, who unseated Madeline Haithcock in a hotly contested race in 2007 is now circulating petitions around the city to get on the February ballot for mayor. “Petitions will be circulated in all 50 wards in the next couple of days,” Fioretti told the Tribune. “We are starting a fund-raising campaign.” He's also actively seeking re-election to his aldermanic seat, just in case.
Many Categories Of Crime Drop, But Murder Is Still Up
Although crime overall may be down in the city, the murder rate is still rising. This year between January and the end of August, 313 people were killed, which is five more people during the same time period in 2009, Chicago Police officials said via the Chicago Sun-Times. During the same time period, crime decreases occurred in the following categories: sexual assaults (10.1 percent), robbery (14.1 percent), aggravated battery (6.1 percent), and aggravated assault (12.9 percent). Unfortunately, motor vehicle theft increased by 21.2 percent. Police also seized 5,679 weapons--189 more than they seized at this time last year.
Cop Charged In Plot To Rob Drug Dealers
Randy J. Caudill, 34, a Downers Grove police officer, who was charged with official misconduct, also allegedly schemed with another man of a way to improperly run license plate numbers to identify suspected drug dealers, and then steal money from them, DuPage County authorities said on Friday. Caudill was charged on Thursday for the crimes and is currently in jail on a $200,000 bail.
Police Announce Big Heroin Bust
Police announced today a major bust on the Northwest Side that involved $5 million in cash and $1.5 million of heroin in what one official called, "definitely the biggest bust of the year for heroin." According to the Tribune:
Teen Struck and Dragged By Car In Galewood Dies
On Monday, Nakella Harper, 18, was due to start her first day at Triton Community College in River Grove, but her life was unfortunately cut short when she was hit by a car and dragged late Saturday in the Galewood neighborhood. Harper, of the 1000 block of Cernan Drive in Bellwood, was pronounced dead at 11:44 p.m. on Saturday at the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.
Police Arrest 20 In Prostitution Sting
On Thursday night, 20 people were arrested in a prostitution sting in Joliet, after the "numerous" complaints that police had received about prostitutes working near Joliet Central High School, according to Cmdr. Al Roechner. "We were concerned about this activity and have spent the last few weeks making arrests and shooing away suspected prostitutes," he said to the Chicago Sun-Times. Between 8:30 p.m. and 1 a.m., undercover police posed as prostitutes and arrested 20 people who stopped to solicit sex. "Stopping this kind of activity is a quality of life issue," Roechner said to the Sun-Times. A list of the arrested individuals can be found here.

