While some union members are saying that the three dissident elementary schools were coerced -- or even bribed -- into saying 'yes' to longer school days, CPS maintains that no forceful prodding was involved more ›

The campaign for healthier school lunches at Chicago Public Schools has taken a "my way or the highway" position at one West Side elementary school. The Tribune reported yesterday of the policy at Little Village Academy that doesn't allow students to bring their own lunches or specific snacks, in an effort to get students to eat healthier. more ›

Chicago's local food community was buzzing with excitement in early February when then-candidate Rahm Emanuel announced the food policies for his potential administration. Now that he has taken the mayor's office, it's time to revisit those policy statements and see what is in store for Chicago's urban food scene under the new Emanuel administration. If he is able to enact his plans, we could see a dramatic transformation; a city where food trucks are legal, produce is sold directly to consumers, urban agriculture is promoted, and food deserts are eliminated. more ›

Huge, positively shocking news from the LGBT desk today. Equality Illinois cut ties with its longtime director of public policy and co-founder, Rick Garcia. Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasov confirmed the announcement to Windy City Times, after a meeting today with Equality Illinois stakeholders the night before. more ›

Tonight is the mayoral candidate forum on educational policy sponsored by the Illinois Policy Forum and Northside Democracy for America. One notable candidate won't be there, but if you're a policy wonk, curious about how the other 15 or so candidates would fix the school system, or just want to spend some time online listening to moderator Andy Shaw make them squirm, the Better Government Association will be live streaming the forum starting at 7 p.m. more ›

Food trucks throughout Chicago have thousands of followers, and the number of fans on facebook are growing every day. Newspapers and magazines alike can’t stop raving about these new “foodie” destinations. And we are delighted with Chicago food trucks’ new food offerings. Is this a unanimous chorus of welcomes for food trucks? Not quite yet. more ›

Last week, the attention of many political junkies was fully occupied - in Illinois, by the passage of the law allowing same-sex civil unions and at the federal level, by the debate over the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts. At the same time, two major pieces of food-related legislation made it through congress that some may have missed. The Child Nutrition Bill and the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act both passed, with the former just awaiting a presidential signature and the latter needing house approval and reconciliation. Both bills contain provisions that the slow food and anti-poverty activist communities have been fighting for, but some analysts have argued that the bills have serious problems. Food writers care about politics too; belly up to our breakfast table and discuss. more ›

Metropulse Chicago, a joint effort of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and the Chicago Community Trust that serves as the lynch pin for their Regional Indicators Project, launched today. Metropulse intends to serve as an open source portal for media, government officials and concerned citizens interested in tracking the regional quality of life of the greater Chicago area. more ›

While Chicago waits for various aldermen to review the food truck legislation proposed by Alderman Scott Waugespack and Gaztro-Wagon's Matt Maroni and ask, "Ubi est mea?", one of our neighbors to the north could be on the verge of having fully fledged food trucks on their streets first. One of the agenda items for tonight's Evanston City Council meeting is the subject of food trucks. more ›

In a chilling report, Chi-Town Daily News found a loophole that allows some of the city’s mentally ill population to live in unlicensed group homes. This discovery has led state legislators to push for eliminating the loophole and adding more regulation and oversight for these types of homes which claim to provide services for the mentally and physically disabled. State Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock) said he wanted Gov. Pat Quinn to take steps necessary to ending the loophole, Chi-Town Daily reported. more ›

According to a story in the Huffington Post, the seemingly random home burglary in California of Republican Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon March 4 may have some Chicago ties - and some political ones as well. more ›

The CTA is creating a stink with some with new signs that are aimed at "continuous riders" that critics say are aimed at the city's homeless. The signs have gone up recently and some, like Chicago Carless' Mike Doyle, suggest the signs are aimed at curbing the number of homeless people who take to the warm train cars during Chicago's harsh winters.

Any regular ‘L’ rider can attest to the wave of homeless Chicagoans who take to the warm interiors of CTA rail cars during the city’s brutal winter months. Although generally a benign presence in the system, their downtrodden visual appearance–and in many cases odor–earns them the ire of many fellow, more fortunate passengers. more ›