The apparent outpouring of community support in favor of school closings seemed fishy to many from the start. When beneficiaries of city-funded programs say they aren’t acting on behalf of the administration, critics find that hard to reconcile with efforts to drum up support for City Hall’s agenda. more ›

The council approved tighter restrictions on parade organizers, give authority to Chicago Police Superintendent Gary McCarthy to deputize law enforcement from other states and closes parks to the public for an extra two hours. The City Council also approved blanket spending authority to the Mayor for the events. more ›

Aldermen did not get much time to review the newest set of proposals, which were handed out mere minutes before the start of the meeting to approve them. more ›

We continue our recap of the top stories of the year by looking back at Occupy Chicago. more ›

If you like yours uncut, there's an impromptu farmers market Dec. 8 aimed at celebrating unpasteurized moo juice and pissing off the FDA. more ›

In stark contrast with demonstrations in New York and Oakland, where police violently assaulted demonstrators and made hundreds of arrests, Chicago's demonstrations have been completely peaceful. more ›

About fifty members of the group Jane Addams Senior Caucus sat in the intersection near Federal Plaza and chanted "The people, united, will never be defeated." more ›

In their own act of civil disobedience, someone at CBOT made personal use of an office copier and ignored littering laws to fling flyers out the window which read “We Are the 1% Paying For This.” more ›

Police arrested 21 protesters for trespassing Tuesday, as grassroots demonstrations against economic inequality continue to gain momentum in Chicago and around the U.S. more ›

A screening of The Crowd tonight outside the Federal Reserve is intended to put the Occupy Chicago protests in context and inspire the protestors. more ›

The Occupy Chicago protests are still going strong downtown. Here are some photos of the protests we gathered from the Chicagoist Photos Flickr pool. more ›

The deal reached between Chicago Public Schools and parents of Whittier Elementary School students earlier this year doesn't look like it's being carried over to Jean-Claude Brizard and the new School Board. more ›

Here are some photos from Saturday's World Naked Bike Ride as the procession rounded Wrigley Field. more ›

On Saturday, hundreds of people rallied downtown for Slutwalk Chicago with a united message - it's ridiculous to believe a victim of sexual assault or violence could be somehow at fault for the crime. more ›

Greenpeace activists got busy yesterday protesting coal pollution in Chicago. more ›

Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, based on Nikos Kazantzakis's novel of the same name, looked at the life of Christ from the main character's perspective and posited that, although Christ was without sin, he wasn't immune to temptation. The film was met with a flurry of protests when it was released in 1988 because it depicted Christ imagining himself engaged in sexual activity, which naturally outraged more than a few Christians. The film's release in 1988 sparked a rash of protests across the country. Chicago was no exception. more ›

It looks as though two of the three anti-abortion ads featuring President Obama's face and the tagline "Every 21 minutes our next possible leader is aborted" have been covered by opponents to the billboards less than a week after they were erected. The Tribune received a statement from a loose coalition of "social workers and community members" who didn't want their names used, claiming responsibility. more ›

While the nation's eyes are fixed on the protesters in Madison, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker pleads his case to the morning network news shows, it occurs to us that the legislators on the downlow might need some help when it comes to killing time as they hide out in our fair state. more ›

Last night we decided to hit the Rahm Emanuel rally outside the Board of Elections offices in the Loop. Some on the Chicagoist Twitter feed questioned the wisdom of the Emanuel campaign organizing this rally despite yesterday's court ruling tossing him off the ballot. But Emanuel himself once said, "Never let a good crisis go to waste;" for his campaign, this certainly qualifies. more ›

Rahm Emanuel is finding out how difficult it can be as mayor of Chicago this week - and he's not even officially a candidate yet. While news broke yesterday that Rob Halpin, who is renting Rahm's house in Ravenswood, is considering a bid for mayor, Emanuel almost got popped in the face with an egg during a stop on his "Listening Tour" in Little Village. According to Politico, Emanuel was telling a resident of La Villita about "strong leadership and principle" when someone in the crowd hurled an egg at him. Although a member of the press that was covering the stop got hit with the egg, the candidate cut the conversation short. more ›

Yesterday, nearly 1,500 people massed at the Thompson Center to protest the killing of more than 60 people in a church in central Baghdad. more ›

The sit-in at Pilsen's Whittier Elementary appears to be reaching its endgame. Chicago Public Schools agreed to lease the fieldhouse where parents have staged a sit-in for over a month to a non-profit community group for $1, who would convert the fieldhouse into a library for Whittier that's the focus of the sit-in. CPS CEO Ron Huberman said the agreement "is a good-faith effort to continue the work we have completed on behalf of Whittier students." more ›

A planned Oct. 9 performance by Jamaican reggae performer Capleton at The Kinetic Playground, 1113 W. Lawrence, has set the Gay Liberation Network (GLN) in motion against the singer's controversial, anti-gay lyrics. The LGBT organization is currently in negotiations with the Uptown venue to either cancel the gig or face community protest. more ›

As the (manufactured) national debate on the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero rages on and our own politicians have already opined, two mosques in the Chicagoland area have been denied permits. CBS2 reports the city denied the permit for a mosque in West Rogers Park on the location of the now vacant U Lucky Dawg restaurant. The local chamber of commerce opposed the construction of the mosque based on economic concerns. The vacant hot dog stand sits near the corner of Western Ave and Pratt Blvd, which the chamber feels should be used to spur economic growth. more ›

Things have turned violent up in Toronto surrounding the G20 summit. Our sister site Torontoist has some amazing photos here and you can check out their full coverage of the summit here. more ›

Arrests at an immigration reform protest in Broadview this morning highlight a busy week of stories across the nation surrounding the issue. more ›

Yesterday was, of course, Tax Day, the deadline for us to settle up our taxes with the government. But it's also the day on which the new Tea Party movement has chosen to hold rallies and protests against having a black president high taxes, government spending, and healthcare reform (we - and our pal Eric Zorn - think). While protests and rallies were held across the country, the Chicago rally was held in Daley Plaza, attracting a crowd estimated at over 1,500. Local political figures, including Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica, local Congressional candidate Joe Pollak, and former gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski were in attendance to support the Tea Partiers. more ›

If you attended yesterday's Cubs home opener or at least walked by Wrigley during the game, you might have noticed several dozen protesters decked out in bright yellow shirts protesting the proposed Toyota sign that team owner Tom Ricketts wants to put up in left field. Well, as Time Out Chicago notes, it turns out those protesters weren't there just out of the goodness of their heart, but because they were paid. Jake Malooley quizzed a few of the protesters, who were paid $25 for two hours of "work." 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 ›

It seems we spoke too soon last week when we defended Cardinal Francis George, Chicago Archbishop and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops top dog, against gay activists' call for protest of the Holy Name Cathedral Sunday. more ›