This is not a fun time to be a baseball fan in Chicago. Whether a White Sox or Cubs fan, you no doubt have that sinking feeling about your team's prospects for the postseason after they were swept this week. The Cubs lost 9-0 to the Florida Marlins on Wednesday, following a day full of meetings. The players held one. So did management. Didn't help, at least on Wednesday. The players felt they needed to... more ›

First Governor Blagojevich irritated his political opponents with his All Kids Insurance program, and now he is back at it with his Preschool for All program, which would allow all three and four year olds in the state to attend state-funded preschools. Blago estimates Preschool for All will cost $135 million over the next three years and would enroll around 140,000 students. Blago estimates closing corporate tax loopholes and money from Illinois’ special purpose... more ›

Chicagoist's Bridgeport Correspondent earns his keep as a bartender. When we're on the clock we adopt the motto of "bizarro-world" Nick from "It's A Wonderful Life": "We serve hard drinks here for folks who wanna get drunk fast. And we ain't got room for 'characters' who give the joint 'atmosphere'." Actually, we've loosened up a bit over the years as we discovered the hard way that those same "characters" tend to tip very, very, very,... more ›

At $2.02, gasoline prices have hit an all-time record in Illinois. The average price in Chicagoland is $2.10, which is four cents short of the record set in June 2000. Alaron Trading Senior Vice President and market analyst Phil Flynn said he expects prices to increase an additional 15 to 20 cents a gallon by Memorial Day, drop a bit, and then surge again around the Fourth of July. The Illinois average price is seven cents higher than the national average of $1.95 a gallon. more ›