If you're not a fan of Trump, don't worry - you don't have to go inside the glittering tower of wealth, power and over-priced cocktails to get to the market. more ›

Donald Trump, as part of his strange and meandering plot to take over the world, bought a vineyard in April. Formerly known as Kluge vineyard, the property in Virginia was repossessed by Bank of America in February and bought by Trump in April. What form the vineyard will take under Trump's leadership is unclear - according to Eater, while "he will keep the vineyard's previous owner, Patricia Kluge, on board, Trump's going to change the name of the place. He said, 'It's only Trump. Everything is Trump.'" Restaurant Intelligence Agency asked some local chefs to weigh in with their feelings on Trump wine. The responses? Classic. Steve McDonagh, of Hearty Boys, asked "Is it really from Virginia? I don't believe it. I want to see original certification." more ›

• RIP, Richard Pegue.
• How much does gun violence cost Chicago each year? According to one report, $2.5 billion.
• The recent parking ticket amnesty period wiped out 135,000 unpaid parking and red-light tickets as well as brought in $7 million. But be ready, the so-called "boot blitz" - due to a lower ticket threshold - begins next month.

It seems there's trouble brewing for Mr. Trump's new hotel, the supposed new "jewel" of the Chicago skyline. According to the Wall Street Journal:

So far, Mr. Trump has lined up buyers for a bit less than $600 million of condo units and condo-hotel units in a residential market that has virtually seized up. Yet he owes lenders as much as $1 billion when the loans are due, according to public records and several people familiar with the project. He has closed around $200 million in sales so far, with roughly $380 million still in contract. The retail portion of the giant building is for sale, at a time of rising vacancies for retail space in Chicago and one of the worst eras for retailers in years.

more ›

Not that we're going to be spending any time lounging at the new Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago anytime soon. Especially seeing as how they have a $25 bottle of water in their minibar. more ›

Shake-ups and oustings continue at the Trib. The latest casualty: Tribune Interactive President Tim Landon. [Trib] more ›

The Trump International Hotel and Tower is now open for guests. The hotel portion of the project, originally slated to open last December, occupies floors 14 through 27, and features 339 luxury guestrooms, including one-, two-, and three-bedroom suites. In addition to top-of-the-line appointments (sub-zero fridge for a minibar and in-mirror TV portals in the bathroom), the hotel promises service that will be unrivaled. The hotel website brags: more ›

If you're looking for a peaceful night's rest in a still-under-construction downtown Chicago skyscraper, then lucky you! The Trump International Hotel and Towers opens its doors today. Guest rooms are available now, with the restaurant opening early next month and both the spa and the hotel bar slated to open in March. more ›

href="http://londonist.com/2008/01/6_years_on_amne.php">Amnesty International bringing Guantanamo Bay to the American embassy to raise the profile of the continuing campaign to close the detention center.

State lawmakers are back in session, attempting to solve the little nightmare we call transit fundin. Things...are not looking so good, though. What's the governor doing? Watch for yourself! [AP] more ›

We really, really, wish we'd come up with the phrase "amuse-douche." Nicely done, Menupages. Chef Frank Brunacci is going to be at the helm of the restaurant in the yet-to-be-completed Trump tower. Michael Nagrant interviewed him and says he's "more of a haute comfort food purveyor than a food scientist," even though he likes to sling "shark bacon and olive oil ice cream." Check out the podcast here. File this under things we are pumped... more ›

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig must have choked on his frozen custard when he found out that Mark Cuban has officially thrown his hat into the ring to buy the Cubs. On Thursday Cuban made public that he had submitted his application to buy the storied ball club. Bud, of course, has other ideas about who shall buy the Cubs. He has been lobbying for longtime friend John Canning Jr. to purchase the team from the... more ›

Donald Trump presents himself as a successful businessman. Indeed, it takes a lot of business know-how to attach your name to everything you can for a buck, including vodka. Even had he not inherited the family construction business, odds are that the Donald would have made a fortune in sales. Apparently, he'll pimp anything. more ›

Even before the team was officially up for sale, there has been a great deal of speculation about who the next owner of the Cubs might be. While the media -- Chicagoist included -- has focused on the likes of Donald Trump, Ernie Banks and Mark Cuban as possible new team owners, if MLB commissioner Bud Selig gets his way the new owner will be less well known to most of us. Fortune magazine is... more ›

One of the things that we like the most about the city is the fact that even though high-rises and condo towers are being developed everywhere you look, parts of the past are always visible. more ›

This week, the Cubs announced plans to build a statue of Ernie Banks outside Wrigley Field, honoring Mr. Cub himself. The new statue will be in place before the 2008 season. While discussions about erecting a statue honoring perhaps the greatest Cubs player ever had been going on for a while, Jess Jackson recently got the ball rolling with a public petition, appearances on the Mike North morning show, and a publicized meetings with Tribune... more ›

There's about to be some empty spaces on North Michigan Avenue, the likes of which haven't been seen on the Magnificent Mile for 15 years. Lord & Taylor will soon shutter the doors at its Water Tower Place location, and it will be 2008 before American Girl Place moves from its current spot on Chicago to take over a portion of the space. With CompUSA closing up shop on Chicago as well, retail vacancy for... more ›

Scientists announced that they have found a 4-mile-square fossilized rain forest near Danville, IL. They say it was preserved by a major ancient earthquake and that it has a bunch of big leaf impressions, trunks of extinct trees, and tree-sized horsetail plants. LaSalle Bank getting bought by Bank of America? Not so fast... HowToOpenThings is a new local online venture where site members have contests to get videos created that demonstrate how to open... more ›

Thursday, the controversial Chicago Spire received approval from the Chicago Plan Commission, bringing it one step closer to a reality on the Chicago skyline. The design has continued to change from the original Fordham Spire's pyramid like shape topped with a TV tower, to a flat top twizzler, and finally onto its current rounded top incarnation. The design shown to the Plan Commission was slightly different than the one shown last month to Streeterville residents.... more ›

After months of speculation that the Cubs might be put up for sale as part of a restructuring or sale of Tribune Co., almost immediately after the board's approval of Chicago billionaire Sam Zell's offer, news came that the team would in fact be sold. Now the handicapping can begin on who the new owner will be. There has certainly been no shortage of potential bidders mentioned. Of course, that was before the Cubs went... more ›

Download the original attachment We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we're sensational, but it's very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we've decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week. Torontoist Special Report: Rosie to Trump: "Fire 300 Bicyclists for Fraud!" On DCist: Students Go Wild for Slogans, Secrets and Sexual Harassment... more ›

According to the Sun-Times, according to The View, the ladies at the show read the Sun-Times! Anyone who subjects themselves to the show would have heard Rosie "Captain Coo-Coo Bananas" O'Donnell referring to her horoscope, which she plucked from the pages of the Chicago newspaper. more ›

Do you have a business idea? If you ran into Donald Trump on an elevator, could you sell it to him before the doors open on the 23rd floor? You can practice your pitch for a chance to win $5,000 in prize money in the inaugural FAST PITCH competition, part of Entrepreneurship Week Chicago. That's enough cash to buy quite a few Foosball tables for your startup office (OK, so maybe you should pay the rent first). A panel of experienced business owners, investors, and other high muckety-mucks will critique your pitch and select a winner, and, of course, it's all preceded by a networking reception. more ›

We find Donald Trump to be a tragic figure, what with the ceaseless self-promotion, the infantile manner in which he responds to criticism, his unsolicited advice to politicians, the way he adopts the facial gestures of his succubi consorts, all those skyscrapers rising to the heavens like modern-day Towers of Babel, and the general bad behavior that stems from his misogyny. What next for a man who lives by the motto that if you paint... more ›

• Jennifer Hudson won a Golden Globe last night.
• Chicago is famous for 16-inch softball, but apparently there is also a Hall of Fame.
• Some dude posing as a "Weird Al" Yankovic representative bilked some Chicago bars out of money.

Architect Santiago Calatrava and developer Garrett Kelleher are making the rounds, looking to generate buzz for their newly redesigned Drill Bit on the Lake. The Chicago Spire (nee Calatrava Spire) as planned will be exceedingly thin and stand around 2,000 feet tall (160 stories): the Manute Bol of skyscrapers. When completed (or if, if you ask Donald “you’re fired” Trump), it could be the world’s tallest, eclipsing Taipei 101 and NYC’s planned Freedom Tower. The... more ›

A new season of “The Apprentice” begins on NBC January 7, and the opening lineup of contestants includes two women from the Chicago area. Aimee, who is 32, was raised in Elmhurst and most recently managed sales for a top medical company. She thinks she ought to be the next Apprentice because “I am wicked smart, tenacious and have insightful interpersonal skills, as well as a high level of integrity.” Nicole, 25, was born and raised in Naperville. She worked 2-3 jobs simultaneously while attending college and now owns a real estate acquisition corporation. She says, “I have the education, real estate experience and an undying will to succeed at everything I do.” more ›

Seriously, is there anybody in this town's upper tax bracket who hasn't thrown their hat into the ring of interested buyers, should the beleagured Tribune Company decide to sell the Cubs as part of their fire sale? Even before the Trib's latest troubles, some notable bidders went on record expressing interest in buying the team — including the likes of Ernie Banks, Mark Cuban and Donald Trump. While Chicagoist would be all for a Cuban... more ›

Ever walk by the slowly-but-surely growing Trump Tower construction site or read about the proposed Fordham Spire and wonder what it's all going to look like when it's finished? We still can't offer any photographic evidence, but a user named STR at the Skyscraper City forums has posted a bunch of Sim City-esque models of what Chicago should look like in 2010 including the new high-profile skyscraper projects. If the models hold true, the... more ›