Alderman Brendan Reilly (42nd) really is the bad boy of City Council: Not only does he flout Mayor Daley's wishes, but ">he also smokes! He even believes the smoking ban was never "intended to limit artistic expression. It would be wise for us to ... allow theater productions to obtain a special waiver when smoking is a critical component of their performance." While Reilly wants the cast of Jersey Boys to be able to light......

Bar patrons in the rural Illinois town of Taylorville continue to light up in their local taverns, despite the smoking moratorium that took effect on January 1 of this year. In other words, ban shman. Refusal to comply with the smoking ban draws attention to an apparent loophole in the system: enforcement. While the law imposes fines of up to $250 for both smokers and bar owners, it provides little in the way of guidelines......

Photo by JosephP A bike-rental program may be in the works....[S-T] Police released an audio tape of the Lane Bryant killer's voice. It's tough to hear, but they're hoping someone may recognize his voice. [Trib] Should 17-year-olds be able to vote? State rep Lou Lang thinks so. [ABC 7] Lance Armstrong wants Wisconsin to be the next state to pass a smoking ban. [S-T]......

Ah, the smoking ban. Home to lots of hearty discussions. Since January, proprietors and patrons have been either meekly complying with or blatantly ignoring the ban, while some just snicker at the smokers miserably standing outside in the cold. Meanwhile, West Town Tavern owner Susan Gross collected now-obsolete ashtrays from the community’s bars and restaurants and asked Chicago artists to turn them into signature works of art. Beginning tonight the new exhibition Ashtrays to Art......

Here's something about the smoking ban that few have thought about. Now that smokers have to go outside, that stale cigarette smoke no longer masks your natural funky must. All that money you've been spending on squares could have gone toward deodorants and other notions. We're guessing that peak hours at Rainbo must be particularly unbearable.......

Love for the Hopleaf is easy to generate, despite it being one of those Yogi Berra joints - so crowded, no one goes there. This is especially true in this post-smoking ban era, now that people can actually (gasp) eat in the front section without getting choked out by massive clouds of carcinogens. It's been years since we started going to Hopleaf for Kwak and mussels, but only recently discovered the massive amounts of awesome......

SFist worried over drugstore chain Walgreens celebration of Black History Month.Gothamist was surprised that apparently New York City is the fourth most miserable city in the country, after Detroit, Stockton, CA, and Flint, MI.Shanghaiist finds out what the Chinese think of Hilary and Obama.It was with a healthy amount of schadenfreude that Phillyist reported that former Eagle, and now Cowboy (ew), Terrell Owens owes the Eagles a significant wad of cash.Torontoist is two weeks......

North Center looks like a miniature village through nickd's lens. There are "Adult Fans Of Lego" out there? Really? Actually, we find that kind of awesome. Happy Birthday Lego! Obama's nightmare is still in jail. Helen's Two Way is the first bar to be busted for violating the smoking ban in Chicago. We knew there was a reason we liked that place. It has pluck! Hillary is TOTALLY doing Dave. If you're done protesting......

So how's the smoking ban going so far? Y'know, other than cold? Well, Helen's Two Way Lounge on Fullerton nabbed the coveted title of First Bar to be Cited by a City Inspector. (The bar owner got off on a technicality.) But maybe people would be more willing to step outside if bars has "smoking shelters." Companies across our fine state are putting up these bus stop–like structures, where smokers can huddle together with a......

Photograph of the Trump Soho by Riccardo Sinti Gothamist went to the scene of the Trump Soho construction collapse, which left one construction worker dead and others injured (an indirect culprit - Manhattan's hot real estate market, causing rushed construction jobs).Shanghaiist is confused by media reports as to whether Playboy will be available in China during the year of the Olympics.LAist got fugged in an interview with the Go Fug Yourself girls.Torontoist set hearts......

So it's week three of the Statewide smoking ban. How's everyone holding up? Apparently well, since there has been a shockingly low number of violations, 54, in the city so far. We suspect that's partially due to the fact that it takes a number of complaints before the city will actually send someone out to issue a citation, but mostly we think it's because people are quick to adapt and have just moved the party......

Smokers, meet Winter. Winter, smokers. Timed perfectly with a bone-chilling cold, Illinois's smoking ban went into effect at midnight, Jan. 1. Not surprisingly, some are thrilled. The Sun-Times checks in with bartenders and finds that—shock!—they are happy to be able to work in a smoke-free environment. The Trib wonders if there will be an adverse effect on bars and restaurants, while querying if smoking bans even have an effect on the number of adults who......

The clock is winding down for drinkers who enjoy a cigarette with their booze. The Smoke-Free Illinois Act is set to go into effect at midnight on Jan. 1, 2008. Illinois will officially join the list of states that have banned smoking in almost all indoor spaces. Besides bars, Illinoisans will not be allowed to smoke in such cigarette bastions as factory floors, stadiums, casinos, and prisons. However, Chicago residents shouldn't expect John Q. Law......

Behold, Outside the Loop Radio's year in review special, featuring yours truly, Steve Rhodes of The Beachwood Reporter and Dave Schalliol of Gapers Block. The Bulls' interim head coach Jim Boylan is making changes for tonight's game. Ben Gordon will be riding the bench and Chris Duhon will be starting in his place. [Sun-Times] No, the City is not going to dispatch smoking police come 12:01am New Years Day. But put out the cigarette,......

Countdown to Smoke-Out 2008! In case you forgot, or were outside smoking when someone shared the news, come January 1 there will be no more smoking in public places, including bars, restaurants, casinos, dorms, stadiums and anywhere else that is inside, aside from personal homes and cars. No idea yet on whether there will be smoking shanties outside of bars frequented by die-hard smokers, or if bars frequented by die-hard smokers will really obey the......

...than Ed Smith's video blog? As alderman of the West Side's 28th Ward, Smith has a reputation as (sort of) an independent. Coming into office with Harold Washington in 1983, Smith was behind the smoking ban, has pushed for federal prosecution of former police commander Jon Burge, and generally annoys Mayor Daley. Now he wants to be Cook County Recorder of Deeds. As The Reader's Mick Dumke pointed out, this election may be the Year......

The smoking ban isn't just for bars anymore (well ... yet): The Chicago Park District wants to ban smoking on beaches and in playgrounds, too. And it looks like the plan will be approved by Wednesday, so run over to the playground and start puffing while you still can. The ban isn't just about keeping second-hand smoke away from the kiddies: It's environmental, too. Apparently you can collect 10,000 cigarette butts an hour cleaning up......

Oak Forest officials just realized one unseemly result of the state-wide smoking ban set to take effect January 1: throngs of angry, drunk, cold smokers loitering outside bars. In order to avoid an uprising, or at least to steer clear of unsightly smokers’ tents popping up on their well-tended streets, the local council is taking up the issue. Aldermen are looking into setting rules for would-be structures that may pop up 15 feet away from......

The Mayor's Office and the Office of Inspector General have differing opinions on who should monitor city hiring practices. A newly signed deal ensures Illinois is Pepsi country for the next ten years. Albertson's, the parent company that owns Jewel Food stores, is one of the supermarket companies involved in the recall of botulism-tainted French-cut green beans. When the statewide indoor smoking ban goes into effect in January, the "cigar-at-a-steakhouse" dudes might have to......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

Yeah, we know that this should have been weighed on yesterday, but better late than never. But you have to love the smoking ban that Governor Blagojevich signed into law Monday. If you're a non-smoker, that is. If you're a slave to the P-Funk, red apples, Camels, Virginia Slims, Newports and all others, you're probably cursing the Governor through smoky breath and receding gums. Governor Blagojevich signed the bill into law at Northwestern Memorial in......

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

State lawmakers passed a law yesterday that will ban smoking in bars, restaurants and other public workplaces across Illinois. The law passed fairly easily with a vote of 73-42, and Governor Blagojevich has said that he will likely sign the law. The ban will go into effect on January 1, 2008, making Illinois the 19th state to ban smoking. The law's intent was to clear up the random patchwork of no-smoking laws throughout Illinois (resulting......

Just in case you were outside smoking when the news came on, we wanted to remind everyone that the Cook County smoking ban took effect today. Wha..? you ask? While plenty of people are totally informed on this whole thing and are either non-smokers or those with a devil-may-care attitude, there are also quite a few who didn't even know about the ban in the first place (these were tallied in a brief, non-scientific man......

Between fake terrorist alerts and scandals big and small, this just might be the best Best of the -ists ever. We're exhausted just thinking about it. First up, SFist, who saw their little 'ole site be the center of what was a nice little scandal (even getting their editor on TV) only to find their scandal dwarfed by the even bigger scandal caused by their Mayor boffing one of his aides' wife. We're not......

Texas is thawing, the Northeast is freezing, and a sort of natural order seems almost restored to the Ist-A-Verse. Almost. Londonist HQ—that is to say, the city of London—was battered by heavy winds, making it a bad time to be a twelve-meter (nearly forty-foot) tall snowman. Still, not everyone decided to keep warmly covered. Meanwhile, back indoors, the Big Brother racism is now causing all kinds of headaches for international diplomats, and Londonist got into......

Oh, Illinois. You so crazy. Like how one minute, a smoking ban is the most important thing in the world. You can't pass it fast enough. The very next moment, though, you're thinking, "Well, the Bears did just win...." OK, maybe it's not fair to say that the reason Orland Park is now considering banning its smoking ban is strictly because of the Bears. Outraged businesses have been complaining to officials in Orland Park about......

Somehow, the world of -ists managed to make it through the week despite news that Jen & Vince broke up. - Chicagoist had fall on their mind as they made squash and fudge, read "House of Leaves," and tried to figure out what's next for the Cubs. Not fall-related, but still of utmost concern, the whole skinny black pants thing. - Torontoist fought off an evil scourge of raccoons and went to go see......

Let's say you come from a family that enjoys good conversation while sharing a bottle of wine on the holidays. Or maybe you come from a family where you need a stiff shot of Glenrothes in order to get through the unwrapping of presents. But you live in Chicago, both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on a Sunday this year, and you can't buy liquor until 11 a.m. Let's take solace in......

It seems as though not a week goes by without an alderman doing or saying something that makes Chicago look like just another parochial, hick town. If they're not banning foie gras, or passing a smoking ban that allows bars a time frame for compliance that more resembles an exit strategy from Iraq, then they're feuding with each other on the Council floor, passing salary increases for themselves, and getting caught in the occasional compromising......