Have you longed to a part of the city government decision making process? Now is your chance, as it's time to vote for the next Chicago city sticker according to the Chicago Sun-Times. This year's theme is "Education is Key," which students from 50 different Chicago high schools focused on as they submitted 395 designs in City Clerk Miguel del Valle's annual contest to pick a new city vehicle sticker design. The designs have been narrowed down to 10 finalists and that's where the rest of Chicago comes in. You can vote online--at www.chicityclerk.com--through December 12, to pick the sticker design that will be feature on close to 1.3 million 2011-12 city stickers starting in June 2011. If you're old school, you can vote in person at the city clerk's office--room 107 at City Hall, 121 N. La Salle. The winning student receives a $1,000 savings bond, second place gets a $500 bond, and third place gets a $250 bond. The remaining seven finalists receive $100 bonds. more ›

What did Julie Andrews sing in Mary Poppins? "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down?" more ›

Once again, a City Council zoning committee vote on the proposed Wal-Mart in Pullman has been delayed. The Reader's Hunter Clauss reports that Ald. Danny Solis (25th) explained it was to give the store and unions more time to hash out a living wage agreement: “I kept it off because I thought it was the best choice for the city of Chicago. If there’s an opportunity for negotiations, then I’ll take it. The economy is still bad.” Clauss adds, "Not coincidentally, it also appeared that the Pullman Walmart plan didn't have the votes to pass the committee this week." Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon backed up this speculation, saying, “They still don’t have the votes. That’s what this [delay] is all about. It’s a stall tactic on behalf of Wal-Mart." The vote, which had originally been scheduled for April, has now been delayed three times. more ›

It's Primary Day and already reports are coming in of an extremely low turnout. Not that low turnout's a surprise as that seems to be pretty standard. Still, we encourage you all to do your civic duty and vote. It's far too easy to get cynical about the voting process, especially here in Illinois, but remember that two state offices currently held by officials that weren't elected (Governor - Quinn, US Senate - Burris) are up for grabs. Not to mention the hotly contested Cook County Board President race. Don't take the opportunity to vote for granted. Read up on the candidates, check out your sample ballot, and see who got the endorsements. Polls are open til 7 p.m. tonight and we'll be here following the results. And if you're interested, Chicago Current says they'll be doing exit polling throughout the day. more ›

The Tribune has the final tallies from the IOC's vote. Madrid was the surprise leader after round one but it seems most of those who voted for Chicago threw their support behind Rio come Round 2 and Tokyo supporters followed suit. more ›

If you live in the area's Fifth U.S. Congressional District, Precinct 36 in the 19th Ward, or any of the many suburbs with elections going on today, don't forget to vote on the way home tonight. Many eyes will be on the Fifth CD race with County Commissioner Mike Quigley the expectant winner in a race with an expected low turnout. Polls will be open until 7 p.m. for both city and county elections. more ›

Don't forget! Today's the primary vote in the Fifth U.S. Congressional District race to fill the seat vacated by President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. We recapped some links and info yesterday for you. Turn-out is looking to be about as low as expected based on our own personal experience voting (civic duty, holla!) and what readers have told us. And if you're stuck at work, we recommend following all the action with our pals over at The Windy Citizen. more ›

Ah, democracy! Today is the most beautiful day we could ask for. And not because of the sunny skies and continued unseasonable warmth with highs in the lower to mid 70s. No, it's because today is when we exercise our right to vote. We know the hip thing now days is to be cynical and say things like, "But my state is going red/blue anyway, so my vote doesn't count," or "Vote early, vote often." Forget that stuff. The second grader in us still sees this opportunity, this privilege to choose our own leader, as something that is amazing. Today, we'll be selecting leaders at all levels of government in all three branches of government. And as the sun sinks and gives way to clear skies and lows in the mid 50s, we'll be watching the returns with anticipation and a touch of nerves. The course of our state and country for the next four years, and beyond, will be set by tonight's results. Well, probably. more ›

Show this to the next apathetic soul who claims they don't vote because: they don't believe in a 2-party system / it doesn't matter / Independents don't have a true voice / neither candidate will legalize marijuana / Hillary should have been nominated / George W is doing a heckuva job and it just doesn't matter who takes over from him / when things are this fucked what does it matter anymore. more ›