The race for Cook County state's attorney has been hot and heavy in the past few weeks, with candidates taking plenty of shots at each other in a debate last week. (You can watch the debate here.) more ›

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Jim Oberweis campaign will be announcing “a major endorsement” today, and that that endorsement will be from Dennis Hastert. Oberweis is running for the 14th Congressional District seat that was vacated when former Speaker of the House resigned earlier this year. Although Hastert endorsed Oberweis for US Senator in the 2002 Republican primary, Jack Ryan won that race, later withdrawing after his (sexy) divorce files were unsealed. An... more ›

An air of unfairness permeates everything about the George Ryan trial. His fall from grace, you may remember, began with the License-for-Bribe Scandal, a scandal that involved the deaths of nearly an entire family caused by a truck driver who had effectively bought his commercial drivers license. Of the many themes that have been present in the George Ryan corruption trial, a recurring one has been forgiveness. Besides his connection to corruption in state politics,... more ›

Yesterday we talked about the fighting that has been going on between the labor movement in Chicago and the aldermen that are facing runoffs this year. On the heels of the very public sniping that is taking place between unions and aldermen whose power is being challenged comes some not-so-surprising disclosures of the First C.D. Victory PAC, a political action committee founded to finance pro-business candidates (and, generally, allies of Daley). The Chicago Tribune is... more ›

With the aldermanic runoff elections just over 2 weeks away, the drama is starting to pick up in a neighborhood not far from your own (or maybe even your own)! Reports from Ukrainian Village indicate that the 32nd Ward Regular Democratic Organization has been sending out a mailing with allegations that we only heard rumors of before February 27. Charges that candidate Scott Waguespak represented himself as an American lawyer while traveling abroad are touted... more ›

We don’t get excited about reunion tours. We’re above that. Unless of course it’s The Police, in which case we jump up and down clapping our hands like a school bus full of those girls Gwen Stefani pays to follow her around. We had been told that the revered (by us) group would be playing Soldier Field this summer as part of their 30th Anniversary / Cashin’ In / We’re In The R’N’R Hall O’... more ›

The Chicago Tribune is reporting today on plans by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce to transform itself into a piece of the machine. Citing recent developments in the city council, such as the passage of the Big Box Ordinance, the Chamber wants to make sure that its interests aren't threatented. By taking down Aldermen that work against their interests. The most shocking part of the plan isn't that business feels it needs to protect its... more ›

We have no beef with The Chicago Tribune’s primary rock critic, Greg Kot. We’ve never accused him of exactly being cutting edge, but we do believe he writes insightful and honest critiques for the most part. Unfortunately, since Matt Lurie left the paper, the Trib had been pretty devoid of anything approaching decent music coverage. They’re consistently behind the trends and most of their freelancers would be better used to compose press releases instead of... more ›

From cross-dressing bank robbers to little old ladies, bank robberies are on the rise. The Chicago Tribune reports 206 bank robberies in Chicagoland so far this year. We'll make it to about 280 robberies, past the 2005 record high of 240, if the current rate keeps up. more ›

Mayor Daley must long for the halcyon days of 2003. Back then, he didn’t have to exert himself by exercising a veto, he just got the City Council to do what he wanted with a wave of his hand. And when he wanted to close an airport, he just sent a coupla guys out ‘dere to bulldoze the t’ing. But this is 2006. And not only does he have vetos to levy and Jesse Jackson Jr. on his ass about it, but he’s also got a hefty fine to pay. more ›

Baseball’s non-waiver trading deadline passed today at 3:00pm (CDT). The Cubs and Sox were both rumored to be players in possible deals, with the Cubs likely sellers of players and the Sox looking to add those missing pieces to help them right their ship and hopefully make a return trip to the World Series. Since the Cubs fell out of the running, there had been rumors that Greg Maddux and Todd Walker would get shipped... more ›

Chicagoist has seen plenty of films that would have been improved had we not been able to understand the dialogue (we’re thinking here of most of the Brittany Murphy oeuvre). But thanks to a push over the last year by two local theater chains, more Spanish-speaking Latino moviegoers will be able to enjoy Oscar-bait films this season. more ›

One of Chicagoist’s favorite movies is Wargames. Apparently, we’re not the only ones. more ›

Ah, road trips. Fluorescent lights and prefab office furniture are no good for anybody and our favorite cure for office blahs is a few hours on the road. With Columbus Day approaching, now’s the time when we start thinking about getting out of the office for a long weekend. Summer road trips are where it’s at for some people but it’s hard to commune with the road with the windows rolled up and the A/C... more ›

The Chicago Tribune’s readers nominated “Chicago blues” as their fourteenth and final nominee for the 7 Wonders of Chicago. But Chicagoist is wondering if we’ll soon speak of the blues as an ancient wonder of the city instead of a living one. more ›

Let’s say you’re releasing your first solo album (although many folks have accused your entire recorded output up until this point as basically being solo work.) Let’s say that this album is ostensibly a chance for you to distance yourself from your previous band. Let’s say that this band had a pretty popular signature sound and, after one attempt to follow that sound up with something similar exploded upon takeoff, you’ve decided to regroup, retool and release something largely unexpected. more ›

The Chicago Tribune released a poll on Saturday showing Governor Rod Blagojevich's approval ratings at a bottom-scraping 35% among 1,200 voters polled across Illinois. The poll results, conducted between May 5-10, came only days after the Governor's proposed campaign finance reform took a dive in the General Assembly. And on same day as the poll release, Saturday, news came that Attorney General Lisa Madigan served Alderman Dick Mell (33rd) and the governor's office with subpoenas for a grand jury investigation. Mell confirmed the report, but the governor's office would neither confirm or deny the report. more ›

Chicagoist has been remiss in missing the missives on missing recycling. And so we pick up the story with Mayor Richard M. Daley's press conference yesterday: It's all your fault. Ours, the citizenry, we mean. But not the city's. And certainly not the Mayor's. Nope. more ›

Yesterday Chicagoist wondered how organizations like the Hispanic Democratic Organization might play into Mayor Richard M. Daley's new campaign contribution restrictions. The Chicago Tribune learned the answer: HDO and other political committees will face no limitations. The upshot is that while city contractors will now be limited from making direct contributions to the mayor's campaign committee, contractors now have a green light to make contributions to Daley sponsored political committees like HDO, the Coalition for... more ›

The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday that while Chicago's Chinatown North, Argyle Street (between Broadway and Sheridan) is becoming surrounded by gentrification, the core Asian population is having trouble adjusting. If you're from Chicago, and you haven't been up to that part of town in a while, it's worth a look. Chicagoist hasn't really visited Argyle for six years, and since then, the vitality -- even on the snowiest of weekends -- has really increased. At the same time, the area, which is one of the last remaining semi-affordable, El-accessible North Side neighborhoods, has seen an explosion of new housing construction and gentrification. more ›

It's big. Very big. more ›

Chicagoist stopped by the Chicago Tribune Magnificent Mile Art Festival this morning before work since it is right outside our office in Pioneer Court. We were really impressed by the quality of work displayed.. this is not your average weekend art fair! The show will be going on today through Sunday and includes sculptures, photography, jewelry, pottery, ceramics, and paintings created by over 200 award-winning artists from across the country. The festival was rated one of the top 100 art festivals in the nation by Sunshine Artist magazine, the art industry�s leading publication. It will also feature live music every day. more ›

The Chicago Tribune today notes that "green roofs", that is roofs with gardens on top, aren't quite as popular in the suburbs as they are in Chicago. Which gives Chicagoist an opportunity to talk about one of Chicago's coolest, less-known features: A garden on top of City Hall. more ›

Chicagoist is a red-blooded, law abiding American, we take our hat off at baseball games, and never jaywalk. But a new law in Naperville criminalizing the mere proximity to underage drinking for people under 21 demonstrates that it is possible for governments to violate civil rights and have a stick up their collective butt at the same time. more ›