When it comes to car manufacturing it’s a common assumption that it’s a man’s world. But behind the new Ford Explorer was a design team of four female engineers. One of their contributions was the MyFord Touch. The voice recognition system allows drivers to customize GPS instructions, set climate controls and perform most radio functions. Their goal of the Explorer program is to redefine what a SUV is. One of the engineers is a mother of two who drives 50 miles each way to work. During the commute she was able to focus on things to improve upon. Julie Levine told the Sun times, “I didn’t want to drive an ostentatious gas guzzler. I call the new Explorer a ‘smart’ SUV, not just a sport SUV.” more ›

State Senate President John Cullerton has returned the SUV that his son, Garritt Cullerton, was driving when he was arrested in April for DUI. The SUV was a 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid, one of three state-owned cars Cullerton is responsible for, and was transferred to the state's Department of Central Management Services today. In a statement, Cullerton's office said: “It is our hope that the vehicle can be obtained by one of the many state agencies that has expressed a need for a vehicle but has been unable to proceed due to the state budget crisis." more ›

Police are on the look-out for a suspect driving a dark colored SUV in connection with a shooting that injured a man early Sunday at North LaSalle and West Ontario streets in River North. At 1:02 a.m., police responded to a man who had been shot in the abdomen while he was sitting in his own vehicle, according to police News Affairs Officer Ron Gaines. The man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and listed in "guarded condition," Gaines said. The shooter was known by the victim and no one is in custody as of 4 a.m., Gaines said. Belmont Area detectives are investigating. [Chicago Sun-Times] more ›

Ford Motor Company is expected to announce today that it will add a second shift at its Torrence Ave plant, on Chicago's South side. The auto manufacturer will shift production of the redesigned Ford Explorer from Louisville, Kentucky to Chicago, adding some 1,200 jobs to the under-utilized assembly plant. That likely means adding a second shift to production at the plant, as well as increased work at the Chicago Heights stamping plant. The downsized and more fuel-efficient SUV is expected to be on the market by this year's fourth quarter. Auto industry experts say the new redesigned Explorer, which will be built on a car platform, and getting 20 to 25 percent better gas mileage than it's predecessor, which was built on a truck platform. John Wolkonowicz, an analyst with IHS Global Insight said that the new Explorer will be a "high-volume, high-profit, car-based crossover." more ›

• They should have never given him that brain: beware the Scarecrow Bandit.
• Bail has been set for the man who intentionally rammed an SUV in a case of mistaken identity/revenge.
• Confusion reigns for area car dealers over the "Cash for Clunkers" program.

In one of the more mind-bending announcements to come out of City Hall as of late (which is saying something), the City of Chicago has signed a $59.2 million deal with Advantage Chevrolet to provide the Chicago Police Department with 2,000 SUVs over the next three years. All this could possibly mean that by 2011, squad cars would be replaced by Chevy Tahoes, which is a car that CPD Superintendent Jody Weis likes. What gets us is this Sun-Times article, which focuses on the fact that the City went to a suburban dealership instead of a city dealership. Hugh Clark, vice president of special accounts for Advantage Chevrolet "acknowledged the city would have preferred to award the lucrative contract to a Chicago dealership at a time when dealerships across the city are struggling to stay in business." more ›

Matthew Mager, a 29 year old who lived on the 1400 block of West Lill Ave., was riding along with a group of cyclists this morning when he was struck by an SUV at the intersection of Lincoln, Damen and Irving Park. Mager was rushed to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, but he could not be saved. more ›

If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Still, if someone says something mean to you, don't shoot them 16 times in the legs and back.* more ›

Two people have been arrested and police are looking for a third in connection to the dismembered body in Matteson and Alsip. more ›

The recent debate over the Chicago Children’s Museum’s relocation has overshadowed the opening of a new hands-on kids area at The Field Museum. The Crown Family Playlab, opened on September 14, is 7,500 square feet of wonderfully messy interactive history. Separated into six different themes, the Playlab aims to make the highlights of the Field Museum accessible to a younger audience. Kids can become a part of two dioramas, donning a coyote costume to cavort... more ›

Just so you know, nobody is going to let you forget about global warming for more than five minutes. Whether it's Al Gore's tears, your alderman's lightbulbs, or Blackle, somebody's always got some new way to save the earth and they want to bend your ear about it while they are driving home. The newest thing you should be worried about? How global warming is going to affect your health. more ›

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and... more ›

We've gone around and about a lot of times about a couple key subjects: How relevant losing Marshall Fields is in the grand scheme of things, Hipster/Yuppie, where does Whole Foods play into the life of a person looking to eat healthy and live on a budget? But another topic that never fails to get someone's ire up is that of biker vs. driver vs. pedestrian vs. driver vs. biker. Most people realize that there... more ›

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did a little research and found that Massachusetts... more ›

Two lawyers split four season tickets to the Bears, held in one lawyer's name. The friendship sours, and the other believes he might lose his access to Bears tickets. So what does he do? Sue, of course. more ›

Chicagoist hopes you're healthier than we are, and that you're more law-abiding than these folks: A mugger set himself upon former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun Friday night. Braun was returning to her Hyde Park residence just before midnight when an assailant jumped her from the bushes and tried to cut her purse strap. Two passing U of Chicago students came to her aid: Zachary Trayes-Gibson, 21, gave chase to the mugger, while his 19-year-old... more ›

With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay... more ›

If they haven't already done so, Chicagoist would suggest that the Bears' coaching staff might want to do some more scouting of defensive tackles prior to the April 28-29 NFL Draft. And why is that? They might be a bit shorthanded at the position once the NFL deals with Tank Johnson. On Tuesday, the NFL handed down two suspensions for players who have "brought embarrassment and ridicule upon [themselves, their clubs] and the NFL, and... more ›

This photo shows what you do not want to see when you look out the CTA train's window. There was a "small track fire" on the Brown Line tonight. More» more ›

Motorola settled a sex discrimination suit right before Ed Zander was supposed to testify. If ComEd can raise your rates, People's Gas can too. U of I has scaled back an MBA scholarship program for veterans. Four people, including a firefighter, were hospitalized after a fire at 3550 N. Lake Shore Drive. Two women were killed in Gary when a South Shore train hit their SUV. The historic Montgomery Ward Catalog House on the... more ›

A weird, gruesome murder stemming from a potential robbery occurred yesterday in the suburb of Schaumburg. 40-year-old Keith Daugherty was killed when he opened his door to someone wielding a knife who stabbed him to death. more ›

Now that the feds have led 20th Ward Alderman Arenda Troutman away in handcuffs, can we really say that as many as 15 seats in the city council are in play this election year? After she was arraigned in court and released on a $10,000 bond, her attorney, Sam Adam Jr., suggested that she was being punished for helping a constituent out with a "favor." It seems that in the 20th Ward, favors can cost... more ›

Huzzah, the holidays are over and the blotter is back! An SUV rolled off the Skyway at around 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning and caught on fire. Driving the vehicle was an unidentified 18-year-old female; she had with her three male passengers, two of them 22 years of age and one 20. Her GMC Envoy hit a guardrail at the 67th Street exit, rolled off the ramp, and burst into flames. All passengers were taken to... more ›

Chicagoist is starting to understand how Tank Johnson got his nickname. Could it be his fascination with weapons? While some people would learn from past experiences involving guns that could jeopardize one's freedom and multi-million dollar contract, others just don't seem to put two and two together. Tank Johnson apparently falls into the later category. The Chicago Bears' defensive tackle was charged yet again yesterday, this time with "six misdemeanor counts of unlawful possession of... more ›

A weekend sampling of gobbling-induced madness: more ›

Look, we know violent crime happens in the big city, and for every murder we read about in the news, we never hear about a dozen others that happen. But some stories, like two more from an already murderous past weekend, are disturbing and gruesome enough to make even the most jaded city-dweller sit up and take notice. more ›

We all know cell phones and driving go together like nitro and glycerin. That's why Chicago enacted the infamous (some would say useless) cell phone driving ban. "Yeah, big deal, I see 20 people yammering away on cells in their cars every day," you say. And it may not be that big a deal, since so many other things can distract drivers besides phones. Since the ordinance went into effect, no fatalities have occurred as a result of hands-on phone usage while in the car. That is, until now. A man was killed and two family members seriously injured when another driver reached for his cell phone, causing a crash on the Dan Ryan Thursday morning. more ›

Building, Antennae, Span, Earth -- and other crap like construction cranes. This is the sport of BASE jumping. Every time we hear about people getting all crazy Bond and jumping off of high stuff, parachuting down and then cruising away as fast as possible to avoid criminal charges, we are entirely nonplussed. Not only do we admit to having a little fear of heights, but we also get a little vertigo just by walking a little too close to the edge of the el platform. more ›