Six people were shot on the south side, a woman's body was found in the snow in Chicago Heights, and other weekend news. more ›

The man suspected of killing the Walgreens guard and another man in Rogers Park was found dead in Evanston today. more ›

A Walgreens security guard was shot and killed at the River North store last night. more ›

An intrepid New Yorker looked at a series of sites above a Duane Reade checkout counter and found a photo of Tribune Tower's Hale statue as part of its interior design. more ›

Yes, you read that headline correctly. Despite aisles and aisles of lights, ornaments, candy, artificial trees, wrapping paper, brownie gift sets, and plastic hot cocoa mugs in all their stores, according to the American Family Association, Walgreens is guilty of marginalizing Christmas. That is, Walgreens "refers to Christmas infrequently, or in a single advertising medium, but not in others." But shame on CVS (who, truth be told, we've always kinda hated, since they strangle people). That drugstore gets slammed altogether. "Company may use 'Christmas' sparingly in a single or unique product description, but as a company, does not recognize it," concludes the AFA. more ›

It's been quite a week for 5th Ward Ald. Leslie Hairston. After putting feelers out about running against Daley for mayor of Chicago she then backpedaled and played the "misunderstood" card. So it was only a little awkward yesterday when she appeared before the fourth estate with Mayor Daley to laud the opening of a Walgreens that sells fruit and vegetables in a South Side food desert that only a mega-corporation could love. more ›

According to Feeding America, 1 out of every 4 children in the country are food insecure,which means they live on the brink of going hungry. In her 2009 Food Desert Progress Report, researcher Mari Gallagher estimated over 600,000 Chicagoans lived in areas of the city that weren't easily accessible to fresh groceries. Of that number, one-third are children. What serves as a grocery store in these areas is often a corner convenience store with limited options for fresh, canned or frozen food. Ultimately, residents of food deserts are typically buying junk food with their money or SNAP assistance, which increases the childhood obesity epidemic in these neighborhoods, as well as increased health risks. more ›

• The FDA is looking into Walgreens' plan to sell genetic testing kits.
• UConn President Michael Hogan is the top choice to become the new president at the University of Illinois. Related: a 9.5 percent tuition hike at the school is on the way.
• A tentative start date of November 1 has been set for Chicago businessman Tahawwur Rana's terrorism trial. Related: Fox does us all an alarmist favor by listing the top 10 terror targets in town.

In effort to expand its presence in the Northeast, Walgreens will buy Duane Reade drugstores in the New York metropolitan area for $618 million, plus $457 million in debt, to become the largest U.S. drugstore in New York City. According to Crain's, Walgreens Chief Executive Greg Wasson said the purchase puts Walgreens on par with its competitors — particularly its closest rival, CVS Caremark Corp. Located on high-traffic corners throughout the city, Duane Reade will continue to operate under its brand name and Walgreens expects to retain the employees at its stores, pharmacies and distribution centers and "many members of Duane Reade's senior management team" following the acquisition closing in August. more ›

Ever stumbled in to your neighborhood Walgreens to grab a six-pack before realizing, "Dammit, they don't sell booze at Walgreens!" Your troubles will soon be over, friends. The Deerfield-based company has announced that within the next 12-to-18 months, beer and wine will be available at its stores once it completes the complicated licensing process. [Fox 32] more ›

It was too controversial for Walgreens to carry so now CVS is stepping up to fill the Obama Chia Pet void. The Sun-Times spoke to Joseph Enterprises Inc. president Joseph Pedott about the...gift? And he claims to have the support of the Commander-in-Chief himself. more ›

According to an article in today's Trib it looks like beer, wine and other alcoholic packaged goods could be coming soon to a Walgreen's near you. After Prohibition the drugstore began selling alcohol at many of their locations, but that was phased out in early 90's because it was deemed too costly. Now, according to company spokeswoman Tiffani Washington, new computer systems will make it easier to manage. Profits at the chain have been slipping recently. Perhaps booze can pump them back up. We're completely in favor of the change, as it would mean another way we'd be able to avoid CVS, not to mention it's easier to find a Walgreens. more ›

The Caucus of Rank and File Educators (C.O.R.E.) -- the reform caucus of the Chicago Teachers Union -- and teachers from Holmes Elementary School on the south side are planning to picket the McDonald's at 1554 E. 55th Street as well as the Walgreens across the street this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. to, as they say in a press release, "inform the public of their anger toward big-business for meddling with public education." more ›

Since the Jan. 9 announcement that Chicago Public Schools may close six schools in its district, outspoken critics of Renaissance 2010 - Mayor Daley’s plan to close 70 troubled schools and open 100 new ones by 2010 - have been taking names and voicing their concerns to whomever will listen. On Saturday, parents and teachers added two more enemies to their list: McDonald’s and Walgreens. According to WGN radio, hundreds gathered outside a North Side McDonald’s and Walgreens for a Valentine’s Day protest against the corporations’ support of the plan. more ›

Pena testified that he had opened one bag and thought it was so good he wanted a third. But he said that as he walked to the front of the store to pay, he became concerned that he couldn't hear his radio. He said he forgot about the extra bag when he went outside.

Walgreens, which operates over 5,000 retail pharmacies throughout the U.S., switched the prescriptions for Medicaid patients who were prescribed 150 mg or 300 mg tablets of Ranitidine to more expensive capsules; prescriptions for 10 mg or 20 mg capsules of Fluoxetine to more expensive tablets; and prescriptions for 5 mg tablets of Eldepryl to more expensive capsules. By switching the form of the drug dispensed to Medicaid patients, Walgreens substantially increased its reimbursement from Medicaid while providing no additional medical benefit to patients.

Next time you're at Walgreens, you can stock up on more than deodes and condoms, aka Saturday supplies. You can also buy clothes. And apparently not just those crappy looking Chicago t-shirts and weirdly tight gloves. Regular clothes! more ›

OK, some of you have already had enough of all the Wrigley Field naming rights talk. We understand. But new details give some answers as to how the naming rights might be applied and who some of the bidders might actually be. more ›