Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market... more ›

Joshua Kuhl of Madison, Wis., and Simon Brown of Rockford, Ill., were charged with felony burglary on Tuesday for allegedly breaking into the Smashing Pumpkins’ rehearsal space and taking various items including publicity photos for the group’s next album. more ›

McDonald's recently added a Third Pounder Burger to their menu here in Chicago. The new burger is a third of pound (duh) of Angus beef topped with restaurant-choice toppings such as bacon or mushrooms and, as always, cheese. Southern California was the first test market for the burgers, and Chicago is serving as the second. Should they catch on, expect an increase in arterial clogs throughout the country. McDonald's joins Burger King with the Angus... more ›

The approximately 20 million people of Mexican origin in the United States create a larger domestic product than the entire county of Mexico. The dollars that are sent to Mexico from around the world amounts to around $20 billion per year, which is sparking mass development and an increased standard of living across the county. The interesting issue is that of population, even as the country is receiving these funds (which are second only to oil revenues) the population continues to remain stagnant. As Matthew Quirk put it in his article in the April issue of The Atlantic, this influx of cash is good for both economies involved, but at the same time, “It’s also a sign of workers stuck between two worlds.” more ›

One provision of President Bush's proposed budget could affect Chicagoans and city-dwellers all over the country. Bush is proposing a "congestion initiative" that would award federal grants to cities and states for building toll systems that charge drivers new or increased tolls for traveling in and out of cities during peak times. Congestion pricing could take the form of "cordon tolls," charges to enter the city proper, or monthly/annual fees for using High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV)... more ›

Before we begin, we'd like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of James Kim. We are not, by any means, trying to discount that tragedy by juxtaposing posts about the Kims with more light-hearted posts. It's the nature of doing a compilation such as this one: we're trying to give a full slice of the goings-on in the Ist-a-Verse: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Londonist wants you to know where to... more ›

Only a couple of days after launch, the Chicagoist Editorial Staff have been bombarded with demands from our über-hip friends demanding to know if we've seen Singularist. The answer, yes we have, and WE think, at least in Chicago, that it's pretty damn funny and inventive. more ›