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

The FBI finally caught the Kangol Bandit. [Trib] more ›

Violent crime is up 1.9 percent nationally, but locally, it's down 3 percent. The city owes all of us noncriminals a pizza party. Crime dropped statewide as well. Uh, do we smell two pizza parties? The FBI released its yearly roundup of crime in the United States, and it's a real gold mine for info nerds like us. But the first thing we noticed was most of the tables say Illinois has "limited data... more ›

The FBI's Chicago office is one of the places where agents abused power of the Patriot Act. Our aldermen have advanced a plan to back the city's Olympic bid with a $500 million financial guarantee. Michelle Obama is cutting her hours at her regular job at the University of Chicago so that she can participate more in Barack's campaign. People are still debating about Chief Illiniwek. Elementary schools may be posting record high gains... more ›

Cold and crime and Bears, oh my! Three teenagers were killed and another injured in a fatal car accident on the West Side early Sunday morning. A 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix carrying the four slammed into a CTA support at a high rate of speed near the Cicero Green Line stop (the Trib says Blue Line, but considering the info provided, that doesn't add up). Two of the passengers were thrown from the car. The... more ›

If there is one thing Alderman Arenda Troutman doesn't know how to do, it's lay low. You might remember Troutman, who made news earlier this month when the FBI raided her South Side home on suspicion of taking bribes. You may also remember that this didn't come out of nowhere — Troutman has been under suspicion for a while now, after allegations that she was not only dating a Black Disciple, but was leaking information about the Chicago police to him. If we were all over the papers for something like that, we wouldn't be making noise in the press about it, that's for sure. And we sure as hell wouldn't be (allegedly) accepting bribes. more ›

"pals" via marinaro500. more ›

"Metal Children at Play" by pantagrapher in Contribute. more ›

It seems we can't go a day anymore without hearing about increased airport security, grounded flights or flustered men who can't explain why they have a pump in their luggage. Welp, Chicagoist has never been one to shun jumping on a fun bandwagon, so on with the post! 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 ›

The FBI has been searching for the reputed mob boss Joey "The Clown" Lombardo for 9 months, ever since he and 13 others were charged with plotting at least 18 Chicago murders dating back to the early 1970s. Last night Lombardo was captured in Elmwood Park and taken into custody without incident. The FBI doesn't know where Lombardo has been for the last 9 months, but they've been looking all over the world for him.... more ›

More than 50 customers of a US Bank branch in Highwood found a huge lump of coal in their stockings this week. They reported that money is missing from their accounts, some losing up to $40,000. One man told the Tribune that the bank had no records of his accounts, and others said that their CDs had fake account numbers. The FBI and US Bank are investigating. Most of the victims are Mexican immigrants who... more ›

A bank robbery on the Far Northwest Side has brought the number of holdups in the Chicago metro area to 195 for the year, tying the 1995 record for bank robberies in a year. Just one more robbery in the month of December will make this a record year. Think we can do it? The FBI says "You Can Dooo It" and points out that at the pace that robberies occurred this year we're likely... more ›

A Chicago FBI agent who was almost fired for criticizing the bureau's counterterrorism efforts got his job back, but he seems a little skittish. "I look forward to going back to my squad," Robert Wright told the Tribune. "I look forward to doing my job. That's all I'm going to say." Though he will still be punished for his actions, he didn't discuss the conditions of his return because the part of his brain the... more ›

This weekend we read about some robberies around town. In two of them, the suspects were caught. In the most serious, a string of bank robberies, the suspect is still on the loose. First off is a robbery that's the most strange of the three. Earlier this month 22-year-old Robert Johnston broke into Pop's Italian Beef on the South Side and stole a donation jar meant to help those serving in Iraq. He made about... more ›

The number of bank robberies in the 5-county Chicago area is on pace to break a record for heists pulled off in a single year. The FBI said yesterday that there have been 165 bank robberies in the area - 14 more than last year. And we only need 31 more to break the record set in 1995. more ›

If you're one to give out your bank account number over e-mail to unknown Nigerians, Libyans or Cote d' Ivoirians in exchange for a cut of their father's $28 million fortune, watch out you gullible sucker because now they have FBI letterhead. more ›

An American Airlines flight from Chicago (ORD) to New York City (LGA) was was diverted to Pittsburgh (PIT) last night after a passenger discovered a bomb threat on a fold-out tray table. more ›