Conventional wisdom says that we should not speak ill of the deceased, but that's a tall endeavor if we're to take the pundits' criticisms of William Wirtz as law, although one has surprised us with his restraint. The longtime Blackhawks owner and liquor magnate passed away early this morning at the age of 77 from cancer. It's easy to say that Mr. Wirtz was stuck in a bygone era, treating his beloved hockey franchise as... more ›

Chicagoist was an English major and while we don’t really get science too much, we’re sure as hell glad it’s out there. And we’re guessing so is Claudia Mitchell, the world’s first “bionic woman” (not counting Jaime Sommers). Today, the Sun-Times reported Mitchell has been fitted with a “bionic arm” at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. She lost her left arm in a 2004 motorcycle accident. The device allows Mitchell to move her robotic arm... more ›

So we all know that Cook County Board President John Stroger suffered a serious stroke in March, still won the Democratic primary against Commissioner Forrest Claypool, is recovering at the Rehabilitation Institute, and will decide if he wants to remain on the ballot sometime in July. But yesterday Claypool publicly raised a question many have been wondering for weeks: With Stroger out recovering, who is running county government? Even though officials insist Stroger is still... more ›

Cook County Board President John Stroger has been moved from Rush University Medical Center to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago as he continues to recover from his stroke. Not a lot of details about his condition and recovery have been released, but his son, Alderman Todd Stroger, says his father's impatience and improved speech and mobility is a good sign. We're very happy to hear Stroger is on the mend. But CBS 2 has a... more ›

With the media's around the clock coverage of the Schiavo debacle (YAWN, anyone?), the talk around the Chicagoist offices has tended towards what we would want if we were in a persistent vegetative state. Then, talk inevitably leads to cryopreservation. We've decided our living will will include language like "freeze our head" and "thaw it" and "give us a robot body". more ›