Both Northern Illinois University and Truman College were evacuated today due to bomb threats, but both are back to business as usual now. more ›

46th Ward Ald. Helen Shiller is a lame duck alderman. The candidates to succeed her in the runoff election, James Cappleman and Molly Phelan, are running as much against Shiller's record as each other. Shiller is (wisely) not endorsing either of them, and a Shiller endorsement may be seen by the candidates and some voters in the 46th Ward as an albatross they don't want around their necks. But Shiller is co-moderating (with 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney) a forum between Cappleman and Phelan March 28 at Truman College that we're going to make a note to attend, and we don't even live in the 46th. This forum has the possibility to show the ugly side of democracy. (h/t Uptown Update) more ›

If you use the Clark/Lake station as a mini-hub to catch the Blue Line to O'Hare or the Orange Line to Midway, you soon will be able to get up-to-the-minute flight information on display boards. Mayor Daley introduced the intergovernmental agreement at Wednesday's City Council meeting — the city has agreed to buy the boards, install them, and maintain them, and the CTA will cover the cost of electricity. Daley wants install similar display... more ›

The good news: Metra posted a single-year ridership record with approximately 80 million passengers. This was partly due to construction on the Dan Ryan, expanded rail service, and high gas prices. Amtrak also rang in with a 69 percent increase on expanded routes between Chicago and St. Louis, Carbondale and Quincy. The Chicago-to-St. Louis line showed a 95 percent increase in riders for last quarter over the same period last year. The news: The Regional... more ›

Alert reader Prashanth tells us that there's a meeting tonight to discuss the Wilson Yard project. Monday's Tribune column said opposition to the project had "a classist or even racist ring," so expect some people from the Uptown Neighborhood Council to be pretty pissed off. Remember when we said a "loud, angry public hearing almost seems guaranteed"? It looks like that's tonight. more ›

Uptown, traditionally defined by Foster Avenue, Irving Park Road, Lake Michigan and Clark Street, has gone through a great deal of change over the past ten years. Once one of Chicago's seedier neighborhoods, it has long been primarily a home for tattoo parlors, dive bars, and single room occupancy hotels. But as Lincoln Park, Lakeview and then Andersonville and Rogers Park began to pick up, Uptown's proximity to the Red Line and Lake Michigan became irresistable to developers. more ›