Last week's announced plan from Governor Blagojevich to tear down Cole Hall has been met with great backlash amongst state lawmakers, NIU staff and students. An email sent yesterday from Northern Illinois University President John Peters to students and faculty put a hold on the Governor’s plan and called for campus-wide discourse regarding the fate of the 40-year-old building. Peters said the future of Cole Hall should “represent a consensus opinion” of the university community. more ›

Barack Obama swept the Potomac Primary last night, bringing his winning streak to eight, and eclipsing Hillary Clinton in the delegate count, 1,059 to 956 among pledged delegates. more ›

Obama's landslide victories in the "Significant Saturday" contests - including Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington and the Virgin Islands, and his Sunday win in the Maine caucuses, could break the deadlock over pledged delegates for the Democratic nomination. Obama is hoping that these wins will generate the momentum that he needs to carry Ohio and Texas on March 4. Rhode Island and Vermont hold their primaries that day, too. Obama's wins this weekend were bad news for Hillary Clinton, who tried to inject a ray of optimism by announcing that her campaign had raised $10 million from over 10,000 donors. Obama's campaign quickly announced that over 350,000 donors had already contributed this year. more ›

Patty Solis Doyle, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager and sister of 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis, stepped down Sunday after a string of primary losses to Barack Obama. She will be replaced by Maggie Williams, who had been working in an informal top role on the campaign since Obama won Iowa. Solis Doyle cited the extraordinary length of the campaign, and the toll that it was taking on her and her family. Shortly after Solis Doyle sent an email to campaign staff announcing her departure, Clinton issued a statement that read, in part, "this already has been the longest presidential campaign in history and one that has required enormous sacrifices of everyone and our families. I look forward to her continued advice in the months ahead." more ›

John McCain won big in last night's Republican primaries, winning nine states and pushing his delegate count up to 559--not enough to win the nomination, but big enough to secure his standing as the front runner. Mike Huckabee got a boost last night as well, winning a string of upsets in the Southern states, enough to justify his continued candidacy. Mitt Romney, however, has bigger problems, winning only a handful of states, and with Huckabee still in, he won't get the one-on-one race he so desperately wanted. more ›

Dear Kraft Foods, more ›

With the race for the Democratic nomination showdown just days away, and polls showing Obama closing in on Clinton in key Super Duper Tuesday states, the Obama campaign made a huge ad buy during the Super Bowl in the Super Tuesday states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Washington, (but, alas, not Illinois) more ›

This week, we're taking another visit back to our childhood stomping grounds on the Northwest side. But we're going way back, waaayyy back to 1917. Our father's side of the family immigrated to America from Greece four years earlier, settling in Greektown. Our mother's side of the family was at least a decade away from moving to the East Village from Virginia. The photo you're looking at at the top of this entry is... more ›

Made in Chicago's taken a short hiatus, but now we're back, full of turkey and thankful for the artists and artisans in our town. Dolan Geiman grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia on his family's Christmas tree farm. Dolan started making things from an early age and exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains near his home. His work reminds us of traipsing around old barns and making tree forts back in Tennessee. Dolan and... more ›

The City Council passed Mayor Daley's insane budget with a vote of 36-14. Only in Chicago is that "a departure from the overwhelming victories" of years past. The tax package was a closer call, but still passed 29-21. The approved plans include doubling the phoneline surcharge to $2.50 per month to support the city's 911 centers, raising the tax on wine and beer, a 5-cent tax on bottled water, higher parking tickets, and dozens of... more ›

Driving or hitching to Oak Brook to hear an Edgar Allen Poe recitation probably isn’t topping your weekend plans. But with “The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe,” the First Folio Shakespeare Festival sweetens the deal. They stage the performance of a few of Poe’s more frightening short stories, and the charming but creepy true account of the author’s courtship and marriage of his teenage cousin Virginia, at the historic Mayslake Peabody Estate. Poe might have... more ›

It's still too early to tell who will be elected to the post of bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, but as we suggested, the rocky relationship between the church and its members has already manifested itself in the split of at least one congregation. more ›

- In case you've missed the previous screenings of local film Crime Fiction, produced by former U of C students, you've got another chance to see it this evening at this month's edition of the Midwest Independent Film Festival. That's at the Landmark Century. There'll be an afterparty just around the corner at Cousin's. - Starting this Wednesday night at 6, Jonathan Rosenbaum presents a weekly series of film screenings and lectures at the Siskel... more ›

Yeah, we know that this should have been weighed on yesterday, but better late than never. But you have to love the smoking ban that Governor Blagojevich signed into law Monday. If you're a non-smoker, that is. If you're a slave to the P-Funk, red apples, Camels, Virginia Slims, Newports and all others, you're probably cursing the Governor through smoky breath and receding gums. Governor Blagojevich signed the bill into law at Northwestern Memorial in... more ›

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires... more ›

Just in case you're picked for jury duty on this case, we want to remind you that it has been five years since R. Kelly was indicted for 21 counts of child pornography. We know by the time someone gets their shit together and pins him to a chair in a courtroom some people may have forgotten what it was all about in the first place, and even be inclined to think the whole thing was made up. more ›

OK, you got us here: Ricci & Company really isn’t a market per se. Unless you’re a squirrel and this small River North spot specializing in hand-roasted nuts has everything you need for your daily intake and then some. But just because Ricci doesn’t stock edibles from all the food groups — who can keep up with that ever-changing list anyways? — that doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of a mention here. First off, there’s... more ›

Absolut Vodka has some new ad campaign where in one of the ads the Cubs go to the World Series. Milton F. Bocek, the oldest living former White Sox player, died. He was 94. Mike Hohensee, the coach of the Chicago Rush, was injured when he was hit by a car on Saturday. Does hip-hop hate women? 400 people gathered to discuss it on Saturday. After the shooting at Virginia Tech officials in Illinois... more ›

Much of mankind's great literature contains conflict, violence, and death. We remember part of our high school curriculum contained Lord of the Flies, which by no means is about children living peacefully on a deserted island. There were many more, but that was just one of the more disturbing ones. more ›

With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay... more ›

Chicagoist: Peeking into the minds of the mad, the dangerous and the just plain stupid. more ›

The Chicago Architecture Foundation architecture river cruise season opens on April 28. Warm up your arm! The US Air Guitar tour will be here on June 15. The Chicago Craft Mafia has a new show called "Spring Loaded" taking place on Saturday, May 5. The show will also be a fundraiser for Rainbow House. The 2nd Annual Juried Photographic Exhibition is taking place at the Morpho Gallery from April 20 - 28, with the... more ›

Some of us are still recovering from last week's Four Questions, but our readers have an insatiable thirst for answers. One recently posed an interesting question to us concerning Chicago's Olympic bid and the city's flag. As all Chicagoans no doubt know, the city's flag includes three white bars, two blue bars and four six-sided stars. The three white bars signify the North, West and South sides of the city, while the blue bars... more ›

University of Illinois Athletic Director Ron Guenther will not be punished for his actions during the Illini NCAA Tournament loss to Virginia Tech. During the game, Ron Guenther was playing the role of frustrated fan rather than Athletic Director, as he was heard screaming advice at Coach Bruce Weber. It is reported he did not just stop there; he also berated players for poor performance, including calling forward Warren Cater an idiot. The Illini were... more ›

Chicagoist was taking an excursion down North Avenue this weekend, when we decided to stop and buy some groceries at what looked to be a standard Cub Foods. Upon closer inspection (a.k.a. actually reading the sign) we discovered it was not a Cub Foods. What was it? Though the "Foods" part of the "Cub Foods" name was still on the side of the building, a new set of lettering also read Grand Mart. Ans then there was another set of lettering that read Mercado Grande. And there was also some Korean lettering that we couldn't decipher, mostly because Chicagoist isn't fluent in Korean. more ›

Mohammed Salah and Abdelhaleem Ashqar were acquitted of racketeering charges in the feds case against them, claiming they helped lead the militant Palestinian group, Hamas. more ›

Yesterday we gave you a preview of who might be running for president in the Democratic camp. Today we turn our focus to the right, looking at the Republican side of the primaries. Since Dick Cheney isn't going to seek the presidency this time around, the field is wide open for any Republican to join the fray, hoping that his agenda is the one that will resonate most with conservative voters. And not unlike the... more ›

Today we here at Chicagoist turn our broad gaze outward, looking far and wide to the rest of the nation, and recap some of the highlights of last nights State of the Union Address. more ›

We know Tank Johnson's busy getting ready for the Super Bowl and stuff, but Chicagoland isn't going to let those guns go unused. A man walked into a South Side restaurant Sunday night, fired two shots and hit a woman in the hand and a man in the leg. Then he cruised off into Washington Park. A leg shot gets you a trip to Northwestern, while a shot to the hand earns you a trip... more ›

Way back in July, Chicagoist brought you glad tidings of a vital upgrade for city firefighters. After decades of wearing outdated equipment, the Chicago Fire Department was finally on track to get new protective gear like most major cities in the U.S., worth $10 million. Thighs and groins of firefighters citywide rejoiced, for they would now be heavily protected, compared to their current unwelcome exposure in a fire. Everything, it seemed, would be all right.... more ›