Turns out, there is - and it was right in front of us the whole time. more ›

Oprah turns 58, a Pilsen man has been charged with a weekend rape, and other news. more ›

Wrigleyville's Pick Me Up Café is best known for three things. It has tons of vegetarian options, you can order breakfast any time the café is open, and it is open almost all the time. We stopped in on a Sunday afternoon to give it a try and find out if the Pick Me Up Café would live up to its name. more ›

Despite arguments from his attorney that he should be released to home confinement, Sami Samir Hassoun, the 22-year-old Lebanese man accused of trying to set off a bomb in Wrigleyville over the weekend, has been ordered held without bond. Calling Hassoun a "troubled young man who was scattered in his thoughts," his attorney Myron Auerbach argued he should be turned over to family supervision. But federal judge Susan Cox disagreed: "There's an instability in this man that cannot be addressed through electronic monitoring. It's hard to imagine an offense that presents more potential danger to the public." more ›

More news in the case of the young man arrested for plotting to set off a bomb in Wrigleyville over the weekend. As Sami Samir Hassoun was prepped for a court appearance that happened earlier this afternoon, his attorney, Myron Auerbach, said he may claim entrapment: "My client didn't bring anything of his own making to the incident. Things were given to him." Hassoun had expressed a desire to pull off such terror acts as the bombing, poisoning Lake Michigan, bombing the Willis Tower and assassinating Mayor Richard Daley. But an acquaintance tipped off the feds to his desires and he was eventually connected with a pair of undercover agents who "aided" him in his plans, leading to his planting a fake bomb - though Hassoun thought it was real - in a trash can in Wrigleyville Saturday night. While federal prosecutors aren't commenting, the Associated Press reports that their complaint against Hassoun might have anticipated such claims: more ›

A Lebanese citizen was arrested over the weekend and charged with plotting a bombing attack outside of a night club in Wrigleyville. Sami Samir Hassoun, of the 4700 block of North Kedzie Ave., was arrested after having gone through with an attempted bombing on Saturday night. Two problems: his accomplice was an undercover FBI agents and what Hassoun thought were explosives in the backpack given to him but the undercover agent were actually fake. The incident happened just south of Wrigley Field, near Eddy & Clark. According to the Tribune, while Hassoun will be charged with just this incident, he's also talked about "a biological attack on the city, poisoning Lake Michigan, attacking police officers, bombing the Willis Tower and assassinating Mayor Richard Daley." more ›

Dave Matthews Band begins their two-night run at Wrigley Field this evening - you may have noticed Sheffield closed down between Addison and Clark as crews set up - and that means there will be some Cubs-like traffic restrictions and snarls around Wrigleyville even though the Cubs are 1,000 miles away in Florida for the weekend. According to The Expired Meter, the typical Cubs night game parking restrictions will be in place for the shows this weekend: more ›

As the Cubs continue their tradition of losing, it’s the businesses centered around them that are hurting the most with this year’s dismal record. Wrigley attendance is down 3.6 percent from last year and the rooftop clubs are slashing prices for the first time trying to make ends meet. “There’s a lot of money going out and only some coming in,” the managing partner of Skybox rooftop told the Tribune. more ›

Like this guy, a man who dances only to the joy in his heart and headphones, chasing those Cubbie Blues away. We're not sure if he'll replace Ronnie Woo Woo as a Wrigleyville mainstay but God knows it's more entertaining to watch than anything the Cubs put on the field these days. [via Deadspin] more ›

• The City Council has already started maneuvering for the expected SCOTUS over-turn of the city's handgun ban.
• The Chicago Plan Commission approved the Wrigleyville redevelopment today.
• Attorneys for Drew Peterson want to ban mentions of Stacy Peterson at Drew's upcoming murder trial.

Opposition is heating up against a plan that would turn the southeast corner of Addison and Clark across from Wrigley Field into a new hotel-apartment-retail space. Leading the charge is the iO Theater, which has called its space on Clark just south of the intersection home since 1995. The Facebook group started by an iO instructor opposing the development, "People Against the 'Malling of Wrigleyville," has grown to more than 8,000 members (and counting) since last week. Additionally, 100 people showed up to a meeting at iO on Sunday to learn more about the development. Theater owner and directer Charna Halpern says the development threatens the character of the neighborhood and the future of her theater. more ›

The Wrigley Field themed hotel, The Wrigleyville Hotel, is now potentially set to open during the middle of the upcoming baseball season. The five-story hotel is located at 3469-75 N. Clark and was started by Tim Collins, owner of the Main Event memorabilia and ticket store near the ballpark. "The hotel is going to have a Wrigley Field feel," Collins said to the Chicago Sun-Times. "We redid the front facade in limestone. We're not going to be outlandish with our advertising at all." more ›

• The CTA Board approved plans to extend the Red, Orange, and Yellow Lines, but we'll believe it when we see it.
• U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky's son-in-law died while snorkeling during a family vacation in Mexico.
• Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois is cutting 650 jobs.

An alderman who says one thing in private and something else in public? Considered us floored. Ald. Tom Tunney is the latest political figure to come under a bit of scrutiny over perception versus reality. To hear him talk about his proposal of shutting down vendors within a certain radius of Wrigley Field, it's all about safety. Last month, Tunney told the Trib, "It's a public safety issue. You can't walk to the park." Behind closed doors is another matter though. more ›

We've talked before about the proposed new development at Addison and Clark. And now, in an effort to win key government and community backing for the project, the developers have decided to keep the project a bit shorter than planned. They've redesigned the top portion of the project so that the top floors go no higher than the neighborhood's centerpiece: Wrigley Field. more ›

Safely away from Chicago, Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney mentioned the team's desire to play a total of 50 night games, an increase over the current 30 allowed in an agreement between the club, the city and the local Wrigleyville residents. Speaking to the Marco Island (FL) Sunrise Rotary Club, Kenney explained, "Players like a routine," and that additional night games would relieve the players of playing day games after arriving from road trips in the early-morning hours. In 2009, the Cubs have just one game that falls into that category -- their home opener on April 12 following a night game in Milwaukee. more ›

It's being called the "Addison Park on Clark," and plans for it continue to push forward despite complaints of nearby residents. NBC5 has even tagged their story,"Wrecking Wrigleyville," which earns points for alliteration - but is that even close to accurate? Could a hotel property across the street from Wrigley Field destroy all that Wrigleyville has come to be associated with? Perish the thought. more ›

Surely, a lot of praying goes on in Wrigleyville: for such things as Cubs victories, and discount refills on MGD, and "that girl"'s number, and -- among local homeowners -- that one day they shall wake up to find their front lawns untainted by the urine of young men. So yes, Wrigleyville is a spiritual place. On Friday, September 12, the folks at A.Okay Official will take the hood's religiosity one step higher, when it hosts the opening reception of their latest exhibit: Wax Burner, a show of custom-painted prayer candles. DJ sets by Maker, Intel and Sonryze and refreshments round out the evening's offerings. more ›

When Wrigley Field joined the 20th century and added lights to the stadium in 1988, part of the team's agreement with the city banned night games on Fridays or Saturdays. Now the Cubs want that ban lifted. more ›

Longtime Wrigleyville joint Nisei Lounge is apparently no more. The Sun-Times is reporting that the bar, in business since 1949, is up for sale and is closing its doors, although the deal hasn't yet gone through. But the clock is ticking. It always sucks when a local joint goes under, and when it was witness to demographic shifts like post-WWII migrations of Japanese-Americans, it's like losing another piece of history. From what we can tell, only Hamburger King, the Korean/Japanese/American dining establishment, remains of the businesses that catered to the Japanese clients during that era. We're also reminded of similar places like Carol's Pub in Uptown, and June's Inn over in North Center, both watering holes for rural transplants who came up from southern states to find work in the big city. more ›