Chicago

Illinois Democrats Need Obama's Help To Keep His Old Senate Seat

New York Times | James Warren | Posted 12.20.2009 | Chicago


Some Chicagoans grouse that President Obama has reneged on promises to return home regularly. Midway through a desultory, prickly United States Senate...

Future Of Old County Hospital In Doubt

chicagocurrent.com | Posted 12.20.2009 | Chicago


Nostalgia, it seems, means little to Cook County Health and Hospitals System board members, who this morning expressed concerns about an expenisve pro...

O'Hare Airport Expansion: City Wins Legal Battle Involving St. Johannes Cemetery

chicagotribune.com | Art Barnum | Posted 12.19.2009 | Chicago


A DuPage County judge ruled Friday that Chicago can proceed with acquiring the 6.3-acre St. Johannes Cemetery, which stands in the path of a new O'Har...

Andre Crawford Gets Life In Prison: Serial Killer Spared Of Death Penalty

Chicago Breaking News | December 18, 2009 4:12 PM | Posted 12.18.2009 | Chicago


Serial killer Andre Crawford was spared the death penalty today for the murders and rapes of 11 women on Chicago's South Side. ...

Health Care Concerns: Gap Between Blacks, Whites Widens In Chicago

chicagotribune.com | Deborah L. Shelton | Posted 12.18.2009 | Chicago


A widening gulf in the health status of blacks and whites in Chicago comes even as disparities between the two races nationally have remained relative...

Stevenson High School Students Raise Censorship Concerns With Administrators

Freedom Project | December 17, 2009 10:59 PM | Posted 12.18.2009 | Chicago


Evan Ribot said student leaders at the Statesman have given this speech too many times to deaf ears. The Stevenson High School student newspaper sta...

Bears Brace For Personnel Changes In Wake Of Disappointing Season

suntimes.com | Windy City Gridiron | Posted 12.17.2009 | Chicago


Simmering speculation that coordinator Ron Turner and other offensive assistant coaches will be the fall guys for the Bears' disappointing season was ...

Illinois Supreme Court To Rule On Medical Malpractice

AP | Posted 12.17.2009 | Chicago


SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Supreme Court is announcing it will release a decision on whether the state's medical malpractice law is consti...

Homeland Security Spied On Nation Of Islam, US Citizens Without Cause

AP | DEVLIN BARRETT | Posted 12.17.2009 | Chicago


WASHINGTON — Homeland security officials improperly gathered intelligence on the Nation of Islam, a black Muslim group, but government rules wer...

Wage Theft On Rise, Local Government Cracking Down

AP | SOPHIA TAREEN and LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ | Posted 12.17.2009 | Chicago


CHICAGO — Fabian Gutierrez logged more than 60 hours a week slicing meat and stocking shelves with cheeses and milk at a neighborhood grocery fo...

Mayor Daley Urges Aldermen To Support Second Walmart

newsblogs.chicagotribune.com | Posted 12.16.2009 | Chicago


Mayor Richard Daley tried today to exert new pressure on a logjam that has kept City Council from approving plans to add a second Wal-Mart store in th...

Lack Of Clutch Scoring Dooms Bulls: Lakers Loss Exposes Need

suntimes.com | Dabullz | Posted 12.16.2009 | Chicago


Once again, the Bulls tease us with a great three-quarter performance against the World Champion Lakers only to fall meekly in the fourth quarter. ...

Keeping Score in Chicago Episode 30: Pandas and Belugas and Tiger, Oh My

Mark Konkol and Todd Fooks | Posted 12.16.2009 | Chicago


Mark Konkol and Todd Fooks

Tiger Woods scandal hits Chicago. Plus, Sun-Times reporter Kara Spak dishes Beluga babies at the Shedd, leasing pandas and gives the scoop on a pregnant zoo animal.

Unemployed? Happy Holidays: Now You're On Your Own

Nancy Duff Campbell | Posted 12.16.2009 | Politics


Nancy Duff Campbell

One million workers will become ineligible for unemployment benefits in January unless Congress reauthorizes the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act insurance and health insurance programs by the end of this month.

Viva Oprah!

Hermene Hartman | Posted 12.16.2009 | Chicago


Hermene Hartman

Oprah has become everyone's girlfriend. She is the girl next door that you would like to know, that you would listen to.

Second City Chicago Holds 24-Hour Charity Event

Posted 12.16.2009 | Chicago


Second City Chicago is wrapping up 24 hours of improv comedy to benefit charity, which began Tuesday at 6 p.m. The event, "Letters to Santa," lasts...

U.S. Officials: Gitmo Detainees Will Go To Thomson, Illinois

chicagotribune.com | Christi Parsons | Posted 12.15.2009 | Chicago


WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has directed the federal government to buy the near-empty state prison in rural Thomson, Ill., to house federal i...

Jail Release Just The Start Of One Man's Road To Redemption

HuffPost | Victoria Fine | Posted 12.16.2009 | Impact


This story is the first in HuffPost Impact's 12 Days, 12 Cities, 12 Families series, highlighting Americans who have persevered to overcome incredible...

Mr. Heckles Wants to be Your Friend on Facebook

Kim Mance | Posted 12.14.2009 | Entertainment


Kim Mance

This chat with Larry Hankin renewed my appreciation for the phenomenon of "Second City", a legendary performing arts school which teaches its students to "play the reality, not the joke."

Chicago, Mumbai Terror Link: American Businessman Knew Attacks Were Coming

AP | MIKE ROBINSON | Posted 12.15.2009 | Chicago


CHICAGO — A Chicago man accused of planning a terrorist attack against a Danish newspaper knew in advance about a plot to attack Mumbai and offe...

CTA Financial Woes Hinder Construction Projects

chicagocurrent.com | Posted 12.14.2009 | Chicago


The Chicago Transit Authority's pitch for its newest big project sounds like a slam dunk. The proposal is still taking shape, but its goal is to recon...

300 Clean Water Act Violations! Illinois Citizens File Notice to Sue Reckless Coal Strip Mine

Jeff Biggers | Posted 12.11.2009 | Chicago


Jeff Biggers

How did discharges of illegal levels of pollutants, including manganese, total suspended solids, sulfates, iron, and acidic water wind up in some of the last old growth forest in Illinois?

1895: When Smoke was a "Healthy Disinfectant" for Cities

Lapham's Quarterly | Posted 12.11.2009 | Green


Lapham's Quarterly

The idea is to make carbon-intensive industrial processes more expensive, discouraging the creation of electricity by burning coal, and instead making cleaner options like natural gas, profitable enterprises.

Frozen Parking Meters Have Residents Fuming, City Says To Be Expected

chicagotribune.com | James Janega | Posted 12.11.2009 | Chicago


Certainly in the minds of some frustrated motorists, frozen meters fed more resentment over the city's newly privatized meters Thursday. But city and ...

Streeterville Fire Injures 11 At 56-Story High-Rise In Chicago

Chicago Breaking News | December 10, 2009 3:54 AM | Posted 12.10.2009 | Chicago


Nine residents of a Streeterville high-rise and two firefighters were injured in a five-alarm fire in which firefighters had to rescue at least severa...