• The Reader's resident investigative badasses, Mick Dumke and Ben Joravsky, do it again, explaining to us the city's shadow budget.
• The CTA wheels and deals on parking lots and vending machines to garner a little cash to close their budget hole.
• The sale of the Old Main Post Office is back on again.

A St. Charles teen is discovering that stupid acts at a young age can lead to some serious adult-level consequences. 18-year-old Piotr Rybak of St. Charles is facing three counts of child pornography after nude photos of his ex-girlfriend were found on a school library computer at St. Charles East High School. Rybak allegedly took the photos and copied them to the computer in March 2008, when Rybak was 17 and the girl was 16. The discovery was made during a "routine audit of library computers." (Obviously not too routine if it took a year to find them.) The school then went to police: more ›

Vanessa French of St. Charles has won the next best thing to actually living in American Girl Place - a ridiculous playhouse the size of many Chicago studio apartments. For several months, a replica of American Girl Kit Kitteredge's home ("Kit's Home On Abbot Place") was on display at the John Hancock Center and fans could purchase raffle tickets to win the house. The French family spent $20 on tickets and out of the 3,500 tickets sold, 2 year-old Vanessa's name was chosen. Raffle proceeds supported Project Playhouse, an event conducted by Home Aid that raises money to build homes for local homeless families. The 15-years-ago me would have been so jealous. Present day me would be annoyed at having to special order a semi-truck, operate a forklift and build a foundation for this 7,000-pound prize to be functional. Ah, the things parents do for their child's American Girl needs...[S-T] more ›