Two Washington Park community groups are hoping to revive the Garfield Green Line stop, hoping to transform the historic station into a library and community center to serve Washington Park and the surrounding area. more ›

• Eight people were hospitalized when a city worker crashed their pick-up truck into a wedding photo shoot on the Near North Side.
• A 15-month-old toddler in Aurora died after his uncle backed over him with an SUV then fled the scene on Saturday.
• The car belonging to missing model Irma Sabanovic was found in the river near Goose Island.

As the city moves on from the 2016 Olympic loss, one group of citizens is hoping that as the Olympic dream fades, the attention focused on their neighborhood doesn't. Residents of Washington Park found themselves in the spotlight as Chicago's plans for the 2016 Olympics put them squarely in the middle of it all as the proposed location for the main Olympic Stadium. Residents now hope the neighborhood can stay in the spotlight even as the Olympic plans are tossed on the scrap pile. more ›

A list of the nation's 25 most dangerous neighborhoods based on neighborhood statistics shows Chicago has landed four on the list, the most of all cities listed. The highest ranked Chicago neighborhood - well, more like "sections of larger neighborhoods" - on the list belongs to a part of Washington Park - State St. & Garfield - that comes in at number two overall. As the Sun-Times points out, that particular neighborhood formerly consisted of the well-documented Robert Taylor housing project. more ›

Oh man, we almost forgot about the Children's Museum debate! Luckily, Alderman Brendan Reilly wants to keep it front and center, which is why he sent the Museum a list of 24 possible places it could relocate that aren't Grant Park: more ›

Here are some newsworthy items to dwell on while we still wonder why Karl Rove can't leave now. The Mercantile Exchange cuts 380 jobs as it continues its merger with the Board of Trade. St. Sabina's roof is in disrepair, forcing services to their school auditorium. A fire that killed a mother and two children in Naperville this weekend was set by the mother. Lakeshore Athletic Club is closing its 441 N. Wabash location... more ›

The city was abuzz Saturday afternoon with the news that Chicago has made the cut to be the US Olympic Committee’s choice to host the 2016 Olympics. It’s not a done deal yet; the International Olympic Committee still has to choose a final site for the Games, but this latest adventure from Mayor Daley has certainly changed the equation. In bars and coffee shops, around dinner tables and water coolers, and yes, even here in... more ›

This week, Chicago welcomed the U.S. Olympic Committee's evaluation commission to town to take a look at our facilities and plans as part of our bid for the 2016 Summer Games. With the USOC having already narrowed their list to Chicago and Los Angeles, the USOC's visits to the two towns this month will help them chose which candidate city to present to the International Olympic Committee when they convene their board meeting on April... more ›

As the US Olympic Committee packs their bags this morning and Daley and his cronies assert that an Olympic bid by Chicago is "eminently doable," the rest of us are left wondering what bringing the event to Chicago really means. more ›

This week the US Olympic Commission is in Los Angeles sizing up the city’s bid for hosting the Olympics.  Next week, the Commission will arrive in Chicago.   It can’t be a positive thing for comparison that it is currently 60 degrees and sunny in Los Angeles, and this morning we had the pleasure of snow, again.  Luckily it is the Summer games and at least Chicago can show pictures of the 2 summer... 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 ›

So recently, Chicagoist reported that the much-vaunted 2016 Summer Olympics stadium contender was moving from around Soldier Field/McCormick Place to Washington Park on the South Side. Hrm, the woefully underfunded South Side instead of hoity-toity Lincoln Park or the crowded lakefront? That changes things a little, we said. We stroked our collective chins. Debates raged, and dander flew. Now Daley & Co. have added more fuel to the fire by making their bid public. more ›

After being sent back to the drawing board following its proposed dual-stadium opening ceremonies, the group organizing Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics have unveiled their revised stadium plan. Rather than a temporary stadium immediately south of Soldier Field, the new proposal calls for a stadium to be built in Washington Park, just west of the University of Chicago on the city's South Side. This plan seems to make a lot more sense.... more ›

Labor Day weekend usually finds Chicagoist dashing on our bike between Jazz Fest and the African Festival of the Arts. So we have to pick between Charlie Hunter at Grant Park or Slick Rick at Washington Park tonight; or Jason Moran and the Bandwagon versus Rhymefest tomorrow. At both festivals we're guaranteed of some good living, whether it's a picnic with friends at Jazz Fest, or sampling the best delicacies of the African diaspora at... more ›

Yesterday Chicagoist heard that Perry Farrell would be announcing more bands to the Lollapalooza line-up while delivering a big check to Parkways. We went down to Washington Park to be present for this press conference mainly because we wanted to get the names of those new bands out there faster than anyone else, but no such announcement was made. We did, however, learn a great deal about how the "cutting edge" Lollapalooza audience is allowing the Chicago Park District to go forward with improvements that wouldn't have been realized without our hard-earned music dollar fees. more ›

How often do you read a Sun-Times headline that looks like it was plucked straight from a subject line in your spam folder? "Girl-vs.-girl fighting up in city schools" looks like something we'd pause and giggle at as we were browsing our junk mail, but when we saw it in the big boy paper, we had to read it. more ›

Located in Washington Park, Lorado Taft's Fountain of Time is a magnificent sculptural landmark that includes 100 human figures and a towering Father Time, seperated by a reflecting pool. After more than a dozen years of work, it was unveiled in 1922 to celebrate 100 years of peace with England. The sculpture was based on poet Austin Dobson's poem Paradox of Time: "Time goes, you say? Ah no, Alas, time stays, we go." A little tidbit you may not have known - one of the figures is a self-portrait Taft did of himself! But alas, the sculpture and the pool are getting freaking old and starting to show signs of wear & tear. more ›

Because their yippy little shits just CAN'T be bound by a leash, the Gold Coast set is really standing up to the man lately. Just last Friday night a richie engaged in a bit of civil disobedience when a police officer asked for his ID because his dog cavorted about Washington Park without a lead. The man refused and, according to the Sun-Times, told the officer, ""You f------ fascists, you are not taking me." We don't understand why the man didn't just say "fucking" instead of "eff, hyphen, hyphen, hyphen, hyphen, hyphen, hyphen." Maybe it's the new hip jet set lingo. And uhm, dude, we'd bet there are quite a few people that could give you the correct definition of "fascist". more ›

A bizarre, but important South Side natural landmark crashed to the ground on Saturday, the giant Ash full of South American Monk Parakeets in Harold Washington Park. Animal Control, Chicago Police, and Park District employees rushed to save the birds' nests, placing them in near-by trees. The tree was one of two that dozens of parakeets took over in the late 70's. The first tree, on 54th street, was taken down by ComEd in 1997.... more ›