Mayor Daley is preparing to propose a series of new protections for renters and condo buyers in the city of Chicago. Acknowledging that his proposal is too late to help most Chicagoans with housing troubles, the mayor said, nonetheless, that the housing market would come back and the city needs to be prepared for that. "It's gonna come back, and we want to be able to learn by mistakes, let's be realistic, things that did not take place in order to protect people, simple as that," he told the Tribune. "These proposals will serve residents and neighborhoods now, and when the housing market begins to rebound, so there's no better time to enact them into law," he added. more ›

Governor Quinn is putting together a "high-level" task force in response to a three-part Tribune investigation which showed how Illinois more than any other state relies on nursing homes as a place to house mentally ill patients or convicted felons with mental illness or physical disability. The Tribune story exposed cases where elderly or disabled nursing home residents were allegedly assaulted or raped by mentally ill criminals living in the same facility. more ›

Here's what our local ne'erdowells have been up to while waiting in eager anticipation for tonight's Oscars: more ›

On a weekend where gratefulness is foremost on our minds, it’s unfortunate that crime keeps moving forward. We’ll lead off with one story for which we can be thankful is not all bad news:Remember Nicolas Orbovich, the concert violist whose 1892 instrument worth $100,000 was stolen from the back seat of his unlocked car in a Michigan City, Indiana, Wal-Mart parking lot? It’s been found, with the help of Lake Station, Indiana, pawn shop, Orbovich’s... more ›

The Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force announced yesterday that the mortality rate for black women diagnosed with breast cancer is 68 percent higher than for white women. And that gap has widened: In 1980, white women and black women had similar cancer mortality rates, but over the last 30 years, while white women's survival rate has improved, black women's has not. According to the report, these disparities can't be chalked up to "biological... more ›

In March of 2006 the National Organization on Disability announced its finalists for the Accessibly America Awards. The announcement of the winners came on Thursday. Coming in first place was Berkeley, CA and our fair city came in second. Receiving a $10,000 award from Wal-Mart, our city was recognized for incorporating and continuing to promote the assimilation of the disabled into community life. more ›

Several Illinois women’s health groups got a boost from the state last Friday when Gov. Blagojevich announced nearly $400,000 in Women’s Health Initiative Grants. The recipients are non-profit organizations, health departments and service agencies. more ›

A Civic Federation study released today makes recommendations that promise relief for major cultural institutions in fiscal decline since 2001 and overburdened property owners who have been whining for even longer. The study tracked a dozen major cultural organizations linked to Museums in the Park and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, including the Field Museum, the Shedd, the Brookfield Zoo, and the DuSable Museum, and discovered a major economic engine whose 2004 attendance was almost twice that of Chicago’s six major sports teams (note: the NHL was idle that year and debate persists whether the Blackhawks really matter anymore). But rising costs and declining attendance came as state and local subsidies were cut considerably. Between 2001-2004, the Museums in the Park saw subsidies from the Chicago Park District cut by more than 13% and from the State cut by 9%. more ›

Seven-vehicle accidents that kill two people and shut down a freeway for six hours usually make big headlines. But when one of the victims was traveling in a car with $2 million in cash and checks and a bunch of unused credit cards and IDs, well that's when the feds get involved. The crash happened yesterday at about 1 PM on the southbound lanes of the Stevenson Expressway near the Harlem Avenue exit. Apparently a... more ›

Everyone's eaten airline food that tastes like shit, but no one really expected this: Mayor Daley's Dumpster Task Force reportedly shuttered an O'Hare warehouse containing snacks and beverages, intended for airline passengers, due to fecal contamination. Yum! more ›

Chicagoist was about to write a post about our bucking the national trend of rising syphilis rates when we noticed on Gapers Block that Chicago ranks really low on the list of the most literate cities . So now we must sit back and ask ourselves: "What's more important? Being able to read or being clean? The University of WI - Whitewater released "America's Most Literate Cities 2004," a report that ranks 79 US cities... more ›

» Alderman has ties to the Black Disciples more ›

Yeah, the EPA has a way ghetto website. For fancier info on the Great Lizzakes, check out the Great Lakes Information Network. more ›