What happens when you combine too much unsupervised time, a one- and three-year-old, and a five pound bag of flour? A good time that's almost too scary to contemplate. more ›

• The City Council Transportation Committee O.K.'d a plan to allow companies to display holiday-themed displays on bridge houses even if specifics like the actual size of the displays haven't yet been determined.
• Cocaine and PCP were found in the bloodstream of a local one-year-old boy after he apparently chewed on a piece of tinfoil laced with the drugs.
• While flooding clean-up continues here, our neighbors to the north in Milwaukee are facing their own post-flooding hardships.

Cynia Cole, the 20-month-old girl who was shot in the head last night, died around noon today at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital. Her mother told media that doctors had been trying to reduce brain swelling before she passed away. Police still believe her father, Jerome Hendricks, was the target of the attack. more ›

Jayla Ray, a two-year-old of the 1100 block of San Francisco Avenue, died of smoke inhalation after a fire on Friday night in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side, officials reported to the Chicago Tribune. more ›

No. Seriously. Cook County Board President Todd Stroger blamed his late tax issue (sorta) on the residents of Cook County, and the press, specifically the newspapers. Don't believe us? It seems the lien the IRS put on his house was because Todd was late filing an amended tax return and the reason he was late? Well, here's what he told WBBM's Craig Dellimore about the over $11,000 he owes in taxes. more ›

It's been quite a week for Tony Peraica. His live-twittering of the Cook County Board's vote to repeal the one-percent tax increase put him front and center in the ongoing Saga of the Toddler. Then his house was the intended target of gunshots fired into a neighbor's home instead. Undeterred, Peraica has ventured on, leading the fight against the Toddler's veto threat (or lack thereof). And just because it's the weekend, don't think Peraica is resting. Early this morning, Peraica played Woodward & Bernstein and tweeted, "Inside Stroger Admin. sources indicate that Todd will NOT veto sales tax repeal on Monday." We'll have to wait and see if Peraica's correct, but at this point we're inclined to think his scoop is probably dead on. more ›

• Cook County Board President Todd Stroger says he won't fight a war of secession against the towns that voted to leave Cook County, mainly to avoid county taxes, and create their own county. Stroger warned, though, that Barrington, Hanover and Palatine townships might be in over their heads. "But, what they do need to know is when they do that, they will have to have their own jail," he said. "They'll have to have their own elected officials; clerk, sheriff and all that. It's not going to save them money, it's going to cost them more money." [Daily Herald]
• Stroger fired human resources assistant and former University of Georgia basketball player Tony Cole, after finding out that Cole neglected to mention a felony conviction for writing bad checks. Stroger personally hired Cole in October 2008, overlooking his various misdemeanor and felony offenses in the past, since Cole vowed to get his life back on track. He was hired as an administrative assistant in the budget department and had already been promoted to the HR position in the highway department and given a raise. Employees are worried now, since he had access to their personal information. [Sun-Times]
• The Todd-ler wants your vote again. He announced (again) that he plans to run for re-election in 2010.

While most of the news swirls around the disappearance of Julian King, another child abduction appears to have taken place over the weekend. Toddler Nadin S. Ayesh has gone missing, the probable victim of a kidnapping by her own father, Said Ayesh. Nadin's mother alerted police when Said failed to bring Nadin to a pre-determined location in Orland Park following a court-order visit. According to the mother, Said had previously threatened to leave the country with Nadin and return to his native Jordan. Nadin's parents were never married and the custody battle commenced a year ago with a decision made in January. Said was last seen driving a silver silver-colored 2003 Saturn Ion (Dealer plate tag - 2056 DL). more ›

Jose Antonio Mendoza, 28, of Hammond, Indiana has been charged with murder in connection to the death of his girlfriend's 17-month-old daughter, Savannah Fullgraf.

The Cook County medical examiner's office ruled her death was from multiple injuries due to child abuse. Doctors at St. Margaret Mercy Hospital in Hammond reported she had extensive bruises, as well as burns and broken bones.

Cook County officials have decided to shelve a publication that would have less readers than our grandma's blog, . Why? Do they want to deny us a peek into the great mind of our elite county leader, Todd Stroger, or the "mouthwatering" recipe for orange crab salad? Is it because the county spent nearly $25,000 to launch the magazine, and were only able to sell three ads for the inaugural issue? No, it's because -- as with most things coming out of Stroger's office -- there was a bit of a quality control issue. One of the vast minions of Stroger spokespeople Eugene Mullins said the magazine is riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, and the 5,000 issues printed are going straight into the garbage. more ›

Baby-on-Board is a few weeks away from its one year anniversary at Chicagoist. Many months ago, we first set the criteria for a baby-friendly restaurant as one that boasted “clean high chairs, a place to stow your car seat, attentive service, and food good enough“. While all that is still true, dining out with our toddler has morphed our dining experiences into something resembling a cross between a Joey Chestnut exhibition and a clown bit. We took this opportunity to look back at the restaurants we’ve reviewed to add a couple of tidbits that may interest the toddler-toting parent. more ›

Jane’s Place is a partnership between (among other institutions) Jane Adams’ Hull House and Nettlehorst School in Lakeview. They offer classes for kids ages 20 months through 8th grade throughout the day and in the afternoon. Prices, on the expensive side, range between $100 and $200 for six, nine and ten week programs. Titles include “Toddler French”, “Unabridged Story”, “Knitting” and “World Music Drumming”. They even offer adult classes in Yoga, Jewelry Making and Egyptian Dance (hip scarf optional). Although our kid is too young to sign up, we're happy to see local public schools offering alternatives for kids this winter. more ›