Cook County Judge Kathy Flanigan today denied a motion from media conglomerate Clear Channel requesting a summary judgment that would have removed it from dozens of lawsuits stemming from the 2003 E2 nightclub stampede. Clear Channel's inclusion as a defendant in the wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits — one of the disc jockeys accused of inciting the stampede was a Clear Channel employee — means that lawyers representing victims of the 21 dead and over 50 injured can now ask for more damages or make movements for quick settlements. Last November E2 owners Dwain Kyles and Calvin Hollins were sentenced to two years in prison for criminal contempt after refusing to comply with city orders to close the club for building code violations. [Chicago Breaking News] more ›

The Trib has a reader update page for Black Friday craziness but things seem...relatively tame. Police were called early Friday morning (like, 2:40 a.m. early) to Gurnee Mills Malls to take care of a rowdy bunch of shoppers waiting on the early morning store openings. Still, nothing can compare to the tragedy in Long Island where a Wal Mart worker was killed in a stampede of early morning shoppers and a crush of customers at the same store also injured a pregnant woman. Earlier reports said she suffered a miscarriage but those have been retracted. more ›

We don't know about you, but if we managed to escape 63 counts of involuntary manslaughter after being hanged in the court of public opinion, we might try to go back to our lives, shut the hell up, and count our lucky stars. more ›