Construction workers on Lower Wacker Drive discovered a fallout shelter from 1962 that contains all of the necessities from water to toilet paper to survival biscuits. more ›

Looks like the on-again, off-again Wacker Drive construction project will be on-again, weather permitting. more ›

• Mayor Daley said there's no reprieve coming for the impending CTA cuts.
• More developments in the Alexi Giannoulias/Broadway Bank matter. Meanwhile, opponent Cheryle Jackson has called for Giannoulias to bow out of the race.
• That new Blago indictment could be coming by next week.

Attention, aspiring Jaslenes: Tyra and Co. have developed a new reality-TV show for fashionistas, but this one actually requires contestants to be able to read, unlike ANTM (and possibly write, too). The contestants on the yet-to-be-named show will compete in two challenges on each episode, "an individual competition and a team competition, in which each squad will submit a page for "The Book," a mock edition of [a fashion] magazine." The season winner will win a vaguely defined "job in the fashion industry." Please tell us the job us being Ms. Jay Alexander's assistant. Please? more ›

Less than two years after receiving over $15 million in TIF money and fuel tax breaks, rumors are flying (heh) that United may merge with Delta, creating uncertainty if our hometown airline will remain based for the long term in its Wacker Drive digs, or if it will leave and take their 325 full-time jobs with them. Fortunately, as part of the financial deal, United's "successor entity" would be locked into the space for about another eight years. But after that, it's all up for grabs. more ›

Before we go to the listings, we want to bid farewell to the Tribune's Kevin Pang, who's heading over to the Tempo section. But he leaves the food beat with a profile of Peter Engler, the city's foremost expert on mother-in-law sandwiches, street food and other south side cheap eats. Shaw's Crab House concludes this year's edition of their "Royster with the Oyster" festival with their annual tent party at their Hubbard Street location tonight.... more ›

Two years ago, we had the pleasure of meeting Bob Lempinen, an executive Vice President at Distinguished Brands International. Distinguished Brands imports O'Hara's Irish Stout in the U.S. Lempinen insisted that O'Hara's was better than Guinness. We thought it was nothing more than him pushing his portfolio hard - he said that about all the beers he carried - and went along our way. Months passed, at a friend's birthday party we had the opportunity... more ›

Back in the waning days of the late 1990s, Chicagoist’s college roommate came to visit us. Since he was a big "ER" fan (remember this was the late 90s when the show was still good), he demanded to see where “County General” was. We had to delicately break it to him that there was no such place though we did take him by its doppelganger, the old Cook County Hospital building. We further shattered his illusions by driving him past Michigan and Wacker to illustrate how George Clooney and Anthony Edwards would have been idiots to talk a walk down by the river during their breaks from saving lives. more ›

Construction began on Block 37 in November, but it was still uncertain as to who would be filling the space. CBS 2 confirmed it was headed there and the CTA was building an underground station for express lines to the airports, but other than that, no solid plans. more ›

One of the big real estate stories out of New York lately has been the controversial conversion of venerable, storied old hotels into condominiums. That city's seething real estate market essentially requires that every available inch of available land be converted into residential space, and while Chicago's market isn't quiiite that intense, one of our own fair hotels will soon be morphing into condos, as well. more ›

Few people think of a river when they think of Chicago. And yet, when many people think of San Antonio, they think of the creek-like trickle through the city that has been developed into a community and tourism masterpiece. How can this injustice continue? more ›

The Chicago Architecture Foundation honored its Patrons of the Year yesterday in the commercial, institutional and governmental categories. This is the first year for the awards, and they're meant to encourage and recognize architectural innovation. Listen up, Block 37. more ›

The Chicagoist Department of Motor Vehicles would like to take this opportunity to urge all citizens to please exercise caution when encountering vehicles belonging to superheroes. Resist the urge to accelerate quickly, pull to the right, and stop so as to allow the crime-fighting vehicle to pass safely. Otherwise, pretty-boy actors will mock you in nationally syndicated interviews. more ›

Helmut Jahn is now going to be designing environmentally friendly housing for the poor in Chicago. Scheduled to be built next year on a vacant lot near Cabrini-Green, Jahn's building is environmentally friendly and made of stainless steel and glass. Its shape will be like a Twinkie, very similar to the Illinois Institute of Technology dorms he designed (pictured at the left). It will have rooftop wind turbines and solar panels, as well as a recycling system that collects rainwater and uses it to flush the toilets. more ›

If you read Chicagoist with any regularity � in which case, we love you � you know that we're always reporting about Hollywood coming to Chi-town (or just pretending to come here). Most prominently, we've bitched about Josh Hartnett posing as a Bucktown hipster and fawned over the caped crusader chilling on Lower Wacker. (We always knew Wacker Drive felt like another world and now we know it is: Gotham City.) This week's New... more ›