Results tagged “war”

The Tribune's James Janega was embedded with the Illinois National Guard in Afghanistan and just recently returned home to Chicago. Today's he's filed this outstanding story and you can catch up on more of James' stuff (accompanied Tribune photographer Jason Wambsgans) here at the Afghan War Blog.

Our condolences to the family of Bartlett's Sgt. Kevin Grieco, 35, who was one of two soldiers killed by a suicide bomb Monday in in Baghlan, Afghanistan. Sgt. Grieco was part of the 2nd Battalion, 122nd Field Artillery, Illinois Army National Guard, Sycamore. It was that unit's third death this fall. Kevin is survived by his wife and two young children.

Joshua Harris, 21, of Oak Park and Jason Vazquez, 24, of Chicago, members of the Illinois National Guard, were killed earlier this week in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb. Both were posthumously promoted. Said Maj. Gen. William Enyart, "This is, by far, one of the most difficult and saddest times for the Illinois National Guard. This loss is felt by us all, both overseas and here at home." Harris and Vazquez joined Carol Stream's Pfc. Leonard Gulczynski (Iraq) as Illinois' war casualties this week. Harris and Vazquez were both part of Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 122nd Field Artillery, providing security for police mentor teams in Afghanistan. Illinois Senator (and Democratic Presidential Candidate) Barack Obama paid tribute to the soldiers, saying, "These brave young men served their nation proudly and honorably in Afghanistan and Iraq." Our condolences to the families of these brave soldiers.

Often, the readings and events we post are for your consumption, and while all attendees are participant of sorts, it's rare that a direct contribution of yours actually becomes a permanent part of the piece.

The protesters who interrupted the Easter mass at Holy Name church yesterday were in court this morning and held in lieu of $25,000 bail for five of them and $35,000 for one with a record. They all face two counts of felony criminal damage to property and two counts of simple battery for allegedly squirting fake blood on parishioners. Donte D. Smith, Ephran Ramirez, Jr., Ryane J. Ziemba, Mercedes Phinaih, Regan Maher and Angela Haban will all be in court Monday, March 31.

This just in. As Cardinal Francis George was beginning the homily at Holy Name, six people poured a blood-like substance on themselves and parishioners. They have been arrested. [Trib]

With the Democratic primary election in the 14th Congressional District all but settled, Bill Foster and Jim Oberweis are duking it out over Iraq. Oberweis is accusing Foster of politicizing the Iraq War in his bid to take the seat that Dennis Hastert vacated by retiring. Foster says he won't support any policies that don't "change the course in Iraq and do it now."

The Tribune Editorial Board released its list of endorsements in the upcoming Illinois primaries on February 5. Among the list are 3rd District Congressman Dan Lipinski (striking a blow to challenger and progressive blog champion Mark Pera) and tenacious ice cream magnate Jim Oberweis -- running for Congress in the 14th District -- who is determined to get himself elected to some office, somewhere, some time (we hear Sugar Grove is looking for a new mayor, perhaps he should start there). They also endorse Senator Dick Durbin's challenger, Steve Sauerberg, who has about as much chance of unseating Durbin as Spanky the Clown.

Head to Daley Plaza this morning at 10:30 a.m. for a quick early voting rally for Mark Pera. Pera, the assistant Cook County State's Attorney who is running against Dan Lipinski for the 3rd Congressional District seat, is the first serious candidate to challenge Lipinski since he went to congress in 2004. Pera's campaign has attracted a lot of attention, both online and in the district. Online support has helped helped fund his campaign, but anger in the district at how the elder Lipinski handed his seat to his son has fueled the viability of his candidacy. Still, he's running against the full force and weight of Chicago's entrenched Democratic Machine.

For a sizable chunk of the US population, Christmas is a time for... wondering when it's going to be the 26th. Jews have the stereotypical routine of Chinese food and a movie (Chicagoist has deemed Charlie Wilson's War the family-friendly-but-still-interesting-enough-not-to-bore-dad-who-likes-foreign-films movie of the season), but what to do for the rest of the day?

We were downstairs at our neighbors' a couple weeks back, drinking bloody marys before the Bears-Broncos game while we were making chicken stock for soup. Normally, we make a killer bloody mary. But on this occasion we were missing something. Turned out that our neighbor had the cure-all: a good beer chaser. She had been to Sam's earlier in the week and picked up some selections from Ridgeway Brewing, and the first bottle she opened...

In the mood for a beer and debate about the war tonight? Considering some of our comment threads on politics, we thought so.

SFist witnessed a new apartment building tszuj the skyline with spectacular, gaudy turquoise aplomb, the (informal) renaming of the Mission/SOMA neighborhood border, the return of the Maltese Falcon, the Mayor Gavin Newsom mea culpa-ing over his Hawaiian getaway during the oil spill, and double-decker buses hitting the streets of San Francisco. Oh, and some baseball player named Barry Bonds is a liar whose pants, it seems, are totally on fire. LAist continues to cover the...

Metra officials voted today to raise fares 10 percent in January, and again in Jan 2009 and '10. But Sunday service is safe. Osyp "Joe" Firishchak, an 87-year-old Chicago resident, is being deported to the Ukraine for aiding the Nazis during World War II. Firishchak, who has lived in the United States since 1949, has until December 10 to appeal. Holy crap, that's a lot of people: 47 people were arrested for a high school...

Oh, look, it's time for another sensationalist story about the internet. Let's see... sexual predators on the web? Nah, that's too played out. We know: Hate speech! Let's get to it. Trib says: "It might come as a surprise to the soldiers who defeated fascism in World War II, but the United States has become a refuge for Nazism and other brands of extremism over the last decade. On the Internet, that is." We say:...

Who gives last rites to the priest? Who installs a new crown in the dentist's mouth? Who buries the gravedigger? Or, more importantly, who gives the eulogy when a funeral home dies? If you're the family that has held sway over Griffin Funeral Home for 60 years, you give it yourself. The historic, African-American-owned parlor at 32nd and King Drive is closing its doors come New Year's Eve. Griffin has played host to such final...

What's coming up? Let's see. 2007 has been quite a year for the Cold War Kids, whose twangy indie rock has worked its way into the hearts of festival attendees across the world, playing everywhere from Lollapallooza to the Glastonbury Festival. If you’d rather see them up close and personal instead of surrounded by shirtless dudes holding plastic cups of beer, now’s your chance. Metro, Dec. 7, 6:30 p.m., $15, all ages. On sale at...

We're embarrassed to admit that when it comes to Korean culture, beyond bulgoki and kimchi we sort of draw a blank. (But oh how we love bulgoki!) So it's great to know that DOC Films at U of C is on the job: this week they're hosting the Korean Film Festival, a traveling tour of contemporary and classic cinema. 1958's A Flower in Hell is described by Jonathan Rosenbaum as "potent and grim," but...

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Chicagoist. AMEX Urban Adventures, because big cities are full of little adventures. Rogue Wave, playing Double Door on October 24th. World War Z, perfect as Halloween is coming up. Travelzoo, with its Top 20 list on travel deals. Busted Tees, where they're in Halloween mode! If you're interested in advertising on Chicagoist or any other site in our network, check out our...

UNKLE has had a number of big-time producers walk through its revolving door — the highest-profile foray probably being the star-studded debut helmed by DJ Shadow — but the one constant throughout the years has been the brains behind the outfit, James Lavelle. Oddly enough, given the number of folks providing input into the music, UNKLE's sound has remained remarkably consistent throughout the years. The group came to a head defining the Mo' Wax sound, keeping headz bobbing the world over. One wouldn't really call it trip-hop, unless one was incredibly lazy, but it the music is a heady mix of beats and atmospheric ticks and tricks.

Over the years, revered authors, scholars, educators and the cast of have tried to get people to stop banning books. The beat goes on.

A few days ago we unwittingly created a monster when we expressed our frustration about having to wait to see the schedule for this year's Chicago International Film Festival, which runs October 4-17. Well, we finally have a copy of said schedule in our hot little hands. What follows is a very brief, cursory summary of what you can expect this year (the full schedule will be online within the next few days). Regardless of...

The “Chicago theater season” is as anachronistic as our Columbia House Record Club membership. August was simply a lull before the crush of Fall openings coming to major institutions and their well-funded houses, who'll receive sufficient ink and column inches in the daily and weekly papers. We’re turning an eye to those less heralded venues doubling as rental space, educational resource, and meeting locale. None of these theaters are named after deep-pocketed donors, but that...

What's 50 feet tall, weighs 162 tons, was forged in Gary, Indiana and has no name? No, that's not the start of a really bad joke, it's a description of the statue that Pablo Picasso gave to Chicago in 1967. Many of us local yokels know it as The Picasso. And it just turned 40.

We were reading Deadspin yesterday and came across the map you see above, via flickr user "littlebudapest" and the website Strange Maps. As you can see, the map breaks down the continental United States by baseball allegiances. Notice the little fiefdom the White Sox hold within Cubs Country, like West Berlin surrounded by East Germany during the Cold War. One would think that, with one World Series win in the past ninety years, the...

This weekend beach goers will have the chance to view a little bit of history flying overhead. The Wings of Freedom Tour is bringing their B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator and B-25 Mitchell World War II aircraft to the Chicagoland area. The airplanes will be based at Chicago Executive Airport (formerly Palwaukee) from Friday through Monday and conducting flights up and down the lake front. These unique planes will be on display at Chicago Executive...

Hell may freeze over yet. After all of daddy John’s efforts to demolish old Cook County General Hospital, Todd Stroger’s leading the charge to renovate the beast. The Toddler plans to make it an agenda at next week’s County Board meeting. Preservation and renovation carry a price tag of roughly $140 million. For now, the plan is to turn the 93-year-old structure into medical office space, libraries, a day-care center and, if there’s any space...

Have you dropped by Grant Park this summer for the city's Movies in the Park? Even if you haven't, there are a whole bunch of great movies playing in a park near you. Why are we bring this up in a post on politics? Because it's one of the many things that we love about Chicago: it connects us more with who we are as a city of neighborhoods. We were thinking about this earlier...

Mayor Daley and the rest of his Getalong Gang took their Olympic show on the road yesterday, heading to Rio de Janeiro to the Pan American Games, sort of a regional Olympics. Daley and company are hoping to learn a few lessons from an actual large-scale event, rather than just what they might envision on their drawing board. It won't be a carnival for the boys behind the bid, however, after the USOC issued a...