The Illinois Railway Musuem in Union has all kinds of vintage treasures, including dozens of old rail cars and street cars, some of which sport amazing vintage ads. Photo by Strannick45, used with permission Tell me more about this "happiness swing".........

The police board released documentation yesterday of officers who'd been reprimanded, one of whom is ex-Sergeant Nicholas M. Ortega, who was fired for having sex in his office and wearing his uniform in a bar. Turns out it was one big incident, and the woman Ortega slept with was a rookie cop's wife. From the S-T: Ortega was in uniform toward the end of his shift when he stopped in the Grand Central Station bar......

John Edwards told to ABC News's Bob Woodruff that he had an affair with Rielle Hunter, "but said that he did not love her." Edwards denies that he's the father of Hunter's baby, though. [ABC, Slate with the background]......

An executive for the MacArthur Foundation was charged last week for taking upskirt shots of women at Frontier Days and the Fourth of July Parade in Arlington Heights. Timothy J. Hoeppner, 47, is facing at least one count of unauthorized videotaping, which is a misdemeanor. Plain clothes police officers caught Hoeppner after a man told them Hoeppner was trying to photograph his wife without her knowledge or permission. Arlington Heights Police Sgt. Tom Seleski said,......

I recently found myself on a nearly-empty Brown Line car during the early evening, when I realized that a man sitting next to me was masturbating. I kicked him and yelled at him to stop, which he did, and he left the train at the next stop. My immediate reaction was to feel relieved that I had so quickly recognized and taken control of the situation. And although I was grossed out, my prevailing feeling......

Newsflash: Teenagers like drugs and fucking! Sun hot, water wet, Jolie attractive, Hawking smart. And so on. But seriously folks, this year's Youth Risk Behavior Study says that 56.9 percent of Chicago teenagers have had sex, 4 in 10 are currently sexually active*, and 44 percent have tried smoking pot. Other stats: 18.7 percent of boys report having intercourse for the first time before age 13; 5.8 percent of girls say they have 17.8 percent......

For the second time in six months, a city worker has been arrested for allegedly soliciting sex while on the job. Glendale James, who works for Streets and Sanitation, has been placed on administrative leave after he was arrested on Thursday morning when the “hooker” turned out to be an undercover cop. In a city where cops beat their citizens, a public worker arranging hook-ups on the clock is not all that shocking. But what......

Stella Foster's column in the Sun-Times continues to defy reason. We know, we know, what do we expect, but: A RANDOM THOUGHT: Introducing sex education in schools was not a bright idea. . . . it interferes and distracts a young person from thinking about education to just thinking about doing the nasty. Self-esteem classes should be taught instead. The ellipses is from the column, not us cutting anything out. It's not a random......

May is National Masturbation Month, so in honor of what we like to think of as our real national pastime (plenty of people find baseball boring), we've compiled a list of things about Chicago that turn us, and the friends we polled, on. You know, for when you need to take a drive down Wacker.........

If you've been longing to hear a writer talk about ghosts, cadavers, and sex, today is your lucky day. Author Mary Roach is blessing the Chicago area with her expertise in all three arenas. Roach first grabbed our attention with her excellent book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, in which she explored what happens with our bodies after we shuffle off our mortal coils. Medical school, cadaver farms, organ donations; she covered it......

George Turner was held in lieu of $275,000 bond yesterday after being charged with the sexual assault of one teenage girl and the sexual abuse of another. Turner was until Feb 29 the boys varsity basketball coach at Walter Payton College Prep. According to Assistant State's Attorney Kathleen Muldoon, Turner began assaulting his first victim at the end of December in the school's athletic director's office. The victim says that on other occasions, he assaulted......

Just when it seemed like the CPD was getting its act together (atcha, J-Fed!), a local man who was acquitted of murder is now suing the police, alleging that they tried to beat a confession out him, while also soliciting his wife for sex. Robinson was arrested in September 2004 on a domestic battery charge, and over the course of three days he was allegedly beaten by detective Jack Boock in an attempt to force......

At least one Chicago teenager believes that aluminum foil is a fine substitute for a condom. It's ok, go scream and think about how you don't even like when aluminum foil is in your mouth. That and other tidbits of misinformation came up during a forum discussion at Alternatives, a youth and family agency. It's almost hard to believe that one in four teenage girls has an STD, what with no statewide standards for comprehensive......

It’s cold. And you need something hot to spice up your weekend, don’t you? If so then make your way to the Funky Buddha Lounge, where this Saturday night the club will play host to the Sex Workers' Art Show, a traveling sextravaganza that features a variety of visual and performing arts produced entirely by sex workers. But drooling porn-mongers need not apply - they won’t find gratuitous boob flashes or money shots here. These......

Blackhawks coach Denis Savard read his team the riot act last week and dropped the phrase "Commit to the Indian"--and it's making a meme of itself. Enough so that team prez John McDonough said he'd consider using it in an official capacity. [Trib] The Blackhawks' current slogan is "Red Rising." Bleeeh. So far, Chicagoist writers and associates have thought "Red Rising" was.... ++ Racist ++ Something about periods ++ A horrible Soviet revolution ++ "I......

The above study in irresponsible parenting, "CARMICHAEL & shane" by Alex Weinress and Rob Carlton, is just one of the finalists to make it into the Chicago Short Film Brigade's Best of 2007 lineup that will be screening tonight at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Thirteen films have been selected from the 52 shorts that were screened in the Short Film Brigade's four 2007 episodes, and one lucky winner will walk away at the......

There's not a whole hell of a lot going on today, or hadn't you noticed? We're still thinking about that tiger attack in SF, but now we're also thinking about how telegenic Chicago can be. Por ejemplo: People are assholes at hotels! Holy lord, this ostensibly hilarious list of requests made of the concierge at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago has us absolutely stunned. A guest wanted to see the premier of the movie "Disclosure" but he......

Many of the parents we’ve talked to told us that they will go “China-free” this Christmas, refusing to purchase toys constructed in China. This, in large part, is due to the massive number of Chinese-made recalled toys this year (like those beads that turn into GHB when ingested). Toxic toys and poor oversight is a company issue and not necessarily a country-specific one, but patronizing local small businesses, regardless of impetus, should be applauded. For......

The City's settlement in the Burge case has stalled again. Again. Really cute profile of a children's television production company based right here. "Well, the shit really hit the fan last night. And it was the CEILING fan. Maybe I should find a new taqueria." Nothing to do with anything, but we just lost 20 minutes going through the entire archive, and we loved every second. Hey, ladies, don't forget to have a bunch......

Former Chicago Police sergeant John Herman faces a minimum of 24 years in prison after he was convicted of rape this week. Herman had a bench trial rather than a jury trial, and Judge Joseph Claps not only found Herman guilty, he also had some additional harsh words for the rapist. "The defendant's testimony is unreasonable and nothing short of perjury," Claps said. Claps also didn't believe two officers who testified on Herman's behalf, saying......

Timothy Krajcir, a currently incarcerated repeat violent sex offender, pleaded guilty yesterday to killing Deborah Sheppard, an SIU student who was murdered in 1982. And then he confessed to eight other murders in Missouri and another area police haven't disclosed yet (possibly Kentucky). So far, he's been charged with five counts of murder and three counts of rape, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison for Sheppard's murder. Krajcir is 63. Krajcir's rap sheet......

We'd just like to point out that for the price of one Hannah Montana ticket, you could feed a starving indie rock band for a year. For reals. Conrad Black got a 6 1/2 year sentence today. Oddly enough, we're not feeling sorry for him. Cheryl Lavin continues to dispense awesome advice. In this case she tells a woman who is upset at only having sex 4 times a week to tell her boyfriend......

Eeeeheeeheeehehehe. More snow is on the way tonight--maybe another four inches. Anybody got some good boot recommendations? Mama needs a new pair of shoes. Speaking of shoe shopping, Anthropolgie? We vehemently disapprove of the term "shootie." Please join us in this protest. "Shooties" appears to be catching on, so the time to act is now. No to shooties! The term and the shoes, now that we think about it. Loyola is buying Gottlieb Memorial......

Talk about buzz. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is at the top of everybody's to-see list (it opens Dec 21), but you can catch something even better than a just sneak peak. John C Reilly is performing in person, in character as Dewey Cox, complete with back-up band The Hard Walkers, at the Cubby Bear tonight as part of the Cox Across America tour. The Coxtacular starts with a screening at 7pm and......

The cold weather - and holiday festivities - descended upon Gothamist. The Rockefeller Christmas tree was lit, Broadway stagehand finally ended their strike, and NASCAR decided to run their victory lap through Times Square. There were disturbing photographs revealing the working conditions in which many city manholes are produced and ninjas were also a hot topic, either robbing homes or entering into alibis. But the city was really rocked by how Rudy Giuliani's visits......

The cover story of the Red Eye today is the age-old topic of public smooching. The article itself is nothing special, but some of the quote are too good to pass up: "Licking each other's fingers and making out on a packed train is too much." "No one wants to see that...Everyone likes to get their groove on, but come on." "Back where I'm from, in nightclubs you can basically do what you want. I......

The Board meeting we went to a few weeks ago was excruciatingly boring, but some parts got cattier than a sorority house during period week. Looks like that was the theme yesterday, too, when things really got ugly at and after the meeting, with Bill Beavers leading the charge. But he wasn't the only one--lots of people got in on the action. Liz Gorman on Tony Peraica: "loser," "pathetic, pathological liar," "abusive weasel," "no man,"......

So we picked up this morning's Onion, we're sorry, we mean RedEye, and spit our coffee after reading Dustin J. Seibert's column. Who is Dustin J. Seibert you ask? Yeah, we didn't know either, but his theory about women has absolutely entranced us. His theory? Women who aren't much to look at (and aren't bitter because of it) tend to compensate with solid personalities. And some beautiful ladies don't really need personalities to get what......

An armed suspect ran into an elementary school this afternoon in an attempt to evade the police. It didn't work. The police caught him, and luckily no one was injured. Women of Chicago, we're "73 percent more likely than average to contract a sexually transmitted disease" according to Self Magazine. Aaaah, time to go boil our vaginas. The Beachwood Reporter has some good ideas for the Blackhawks marketing department. Our favorite: "George Ryan will......

There are lots of places to get advice in this town. Ladies, are you wondering what to do with jewelry an ex gave you? We say wear it — it's a necklace, not a sex promise — but Ask Ellie says to talk about it with your new fiancé. What should you do if you spot someone else's potentially cancerous mole? Tell them — discreetly, obvs. And hey, how do you put on a......