As debate raged on late last week about whether a 14-year-old Ecuadorian girl was rightfully denied admission to Elmwood Park High School, the girl in question was busy not giving a shit. The Tribune caught up with the girl’s family in South Florida, where she has been living since the ordeal began last fall. After a relative told her the school had finally given in and she could now be an Elmwood Park Tiger, she said, “Like I would want to go back there.” more ›

Some arty-farty Chicago stories we’ve been checking out on the internets today: * The National Endowment for the arts awarded $1.1 million in grants to various people, places and things that make life worth living in Illinois. Recipients include some Chicago heavyweights like the Lyric Opera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as well as the Mexican Fine Arts Center and Tribune columnist Dawn Turner Trice. To our mind, the Chicago Jazz Orchestra Association is putting... more ›

Eight to 10 members of the infamous Hyde Park monk parakeets gang were kicked out of three nests they'd constructed on power-line poles in the 5000 block of South Dorchester on Tuesday. ComEd said the parakeets' early-morning screeching parties and attempts to pay rent with holly berries and bird seed were just a couple of many reasons for the eviction. more ›

With hurricanes battering Florida on a seemingly daily basis, the Florida Marlins have found a home away from home here in Chicago. Over the weekend, the Marlins played four games against the Cubs at Wrigley Field -- including one originally scheduled for Miami. more ›