Bucking the recommendation of police oversight officials who called the shooting “unprovoked and unwarranted,” a divided Chicago Police Board voted 5-3 Thursday night to clear an officer of all wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of Dakota Bright during a foot chase nearly six years ago.
Chicago native Donna Alexander, a pioneer in the "rage room" business — where people pay money to smash things — has died, and authorities allege it was at the hands of her ex-boyfriend.
Shari Goldberg held Toby, a 3-year-old American bulldog mix, in her arms when he took his last breath on Sept. 30. That was one of the only kind gestures the dog had experienced in months, maybe longer.
Even after being ordered to stop selling guns because he had no license, a Wisconsin man kept peddling firearms — more than a hundred of them.
As the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh made its painful way through the Senate, a number of liberals began to make an important discovery: The U.S. Senate is undemocratic. Small states get the same quantity of senators as large states. It’s often added that the ratio of population between...
I wonder what my grandmother would have made of the controversy over Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation. This isn't idle speculation. Although largely forgotten today, during the 1930s and 1940s, Eunice Carter was one of the most prominent black women in the U.S. At a time when so much...
Do dogs suffer "oppression based upon (perceived) gender"? Can observing human-canine interactions help us disrupt "hegemonic masculinities"? Clearly, there's a dearth of scholarly research on this subject. That's probably why the journal Gender, Place, and Culture was so excited to publish an...
Versatility is a treasured trait in the workplace. With that in mind, Russian President Vladimir Putin might be arranging hefty bonuses for his hacker spies. Western authorities say Russian military intelligence agents engineered a broad hacking campaign that included as targets a chemical weapons...
It’s October and there are still 78 games to play. Doesn’t matter. This one is going to leave a bruise. “It hurt,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. The Hawks blew a 2-0 first period lead and a 3-2 lead in the third period before the Wild beat them 4-3 in overtime Thursday night at the Xcel...
The Cubs need to correct the lack of power and the defensive flaws of catcher Willson Contreras, in addition to addressing other issues behind the plate this offseason.
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany defended college basketball Thursday as an ongoing federal trial delving into corruption in recruiting has cast a shadow over the sport. “There’s no doubt that there are storm clouds of a significant magnitude,” Delany said at Big Ten media day in Rosemont. “While...
When Jabari Parker signed a two-year, $40 million deal in free agency to join his hometown team, he did so thinking he’d start.
As the just-concluded design war over Union Station suggests, putting a modern addition on top of a historic building is fraught with peril. Last month, developers withdrew their widely derided plan to plop a metal-and-glass box atop the classically inspired railroad station. The move came a dozen...
Sears shares are being pummeled on a report that banks are pushing the 130-year-old retailer to liquidate. The report Thursday in The Wall Street Journal came one day after stock in Sears Holdings Corp. tumbled 30 percent. Shares then tumbled an additional 30 percent Thursday to close at 34 cents....
A week ago, Sears celebrated the grand reopening of its Oakbrook Center store after a remodeling that cut the store’s size in half, part of a plan to make the retailer a smaller but profitable company. Now, with a $134 million debt payment due Monday, it’s unclear whether Hoffman Estates-based...
Treasure Island Foods stores closed Wednesday afternoon, officially ending a 55-year run in Chicago. The Gold Coast store on Elm Street was the last of the six remaining stores to close, a store employee said. High Ridge Partners, the liquidation firm managing the company’s assets, confirmed that...
The U.S. airline industry — essentially an oligarchy — has come to love the word “discipline.” Abandoning its past practice of adding competitive routes and bigger planes on a whim, the likes of American and United now have figured out that in order to be profitable they must limit capacity. Better...
On the one hand, the almost absurdly valuable painting is no longer displayed on an upstairs wall at a Chicago Public Library branch, where anybody could get close to it. On the other hand, the almost absurdly valuable painting is no longer displayed on an upstairs wall at a Chicago Public Library...
The strip mall looked dead. No, deader than dead. It still had a video store. That kind of dead. Long beige facades of empty storefronts sat dark beneath cold autumn skies. It was the loneliest strip mall in McHenry County, and it was home to the last Jaycees haunted house in all of Illinois. The...
Stand-up comedian Jaboukie Young-White, who grew up in suburban Harvey, is set to make his debut Thursday as a correspondent on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.” The DePaul University alumnus joins “The World’s Fakest News Team,” which includes Ronny Chieng, Michael Kosta, Desi Lydic, Dulce Sloan...
Happy International Day of the Girl, Mattel! A quibble, if I may, with your new ad, released to coincide with this year’s celebration. It does that thing you guys keep doing. It takes an event — International Women’s Day (in March), International Day of the Girl (Thursday) — and turns it into a...
A small but increasing number of children in the United States are not getting some or all of their recommended vaccinations. The percentage of children under 2 years old who haven't received any vaccinations has quadrupled in the last 17 years, according to federal health data released Thursday....
Using a disposable plastic straw these days is about as cool as choosing a Blackberry for your smartphone. You just wouldn’t do it. Drinking from a disposable plastic straw is becoming so last century as people realize these mini tubes are harming ocean life (remember the viral video of a straw...
It seemed to be as good a way as any to start researching an article on predicting lifespan. I asked Google, "How long will I live?" It offered me some calculators. The fun began. Even before I started calculating, I had concluded I should plan for a long life. My mother is still alive at 89. My...
One of the most anticipated segments of late-night TV in recent years is “Carpool Karaoke” on CBS’s The Late Late Show with James Corden. In case you’re unfamiliar with the recurring segment, host Corden usually drives around an A-List singer past or present as they sing along to said singer’s...
There are so many emotions tied up with money — guilt, shame, self-worth, competitiveness, fear — that it's no wonder it can be so tough to ask to be compensated at the right level. It can be hard to feel sure we even know what the right level is. To go into this conversation with more confidence,...
Rather than putting a ton of effort into an outing and then only hitting one spot, why not extend the adventure? This week, we’re pairing 24 hours of horror flicks at Music Box Theatre with fall-flavored scoops at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. Main attraction: Music Box of Horrors 3733 N. Southport...
The warm-weather festival season is over, paving the way for us all to get down and explore Chicago’s bars and clubs. What do you want to know about the party scene in Chicago? Want to know who has the best Halloween party? How bar owners decide whether to stay open on holidays? What the bartenders’...
The Supreme Court has been in the news a lot lately. Unfortunately, the reason for this isn’t because sitting Justice Sonia Sotomayor released a pair of books, which happened. This Friday, Sotomayor will be in Chicago to discuss the contents of the books, speaking at 6:30 p.m. at the Chicago Public...
Tras dejar al menos cinco muertos y destrucción en los estados de Florida y Georgia, Michael continuaba el jueves su paso por Estados Unidos, ahora como tormenta tropical. Las autoridades preveían que golpeara zonas ya afectadas por el huracán Florence hace un mes.
Las olas del huracán Michael anegaron calles y puertos y sus fuertes vientos arrancaron árboles y tejados. El huracán más potente registrado nunca en la franja del noroeste de Florida, una zona conocida como Panhandle, dejó un amplio reguero de destrucción y al menos dos fallecidos. Pero está lejos...
Imagine a ride with the open-air freedom of a motorcycle but the overhead frame of a car. Now put it on three wheels, ride in it silence and plug it in when the day is done. This is the premise of the Arcimoto FUV, the latest innovation in the burgeoning mobility segment. The three-wheeled electric...
Once upon a time, Cadillac and Lincoln were the pinnacle of luxury vehicles in America. The fairy tale ended in the ’70s, when economic circumstances such as an oil embargo or two and the dawn of globalization started to reshape American tastes. Baby boomers rejected full-boated luxury in favor...
Christine Blasey Ford, married and in her 50s, reluctantly came forward recently to say she’d been sexually attacked by a now-famous man many years ago. She didn’t remember the date of the attack, she hadn’t reported it to police at the time and certain incongruous details gave rise to doubts that...
Bucking the recommendation of police oversight officials who called the shooting “unprovoked and unwarranted,” a divided Chicago Police Board voted 5-3 Thursday night to clear an officer of all wrongdoing in fatally shooting a teen in the back of the head during a foot chase nearly six years ago....
If Sears, once the nation’s largest retailer, declares bankruptcy, it could cause one of the biggest pension defaults in U.S. history, but the government would step in to keep checks coming to more than 90,000 retirees. The company’s long-term pension obligations, which have been underfunded by...
This is the fourth in a series of position-by-position analyses about the Cubs entering the offseason. 1. Does Kris Bryant stay with the Cubs? If so, at third base? Relax, folks. The Cubs, like most teams with plenty of young talent several years away from free agency, attempt to sign those players...
The persistent inconsistency of the Cubs’ offense in the second half of the season cost hitting coach Chili Davis his job after only one season. Davis, 58, was informed of his dismissal Thursday — nine days after the Rockies eliminated the Cubs in the National League wild-card game. The Cubs scored...
It was less than 45 minutes after the Bears’ 48-10 throttling of the Buccaneers and yet somehow Tarik Cohen’s usually sharp recall was short-circuiting. The Bears running back had been asked to detail his touchdown catch — a 9-yarder from Mitch Trubisky in the second quarter. But alas, Cohen was...
After revelations of cheating led the country’s most prestigious wine industry certification body to invalidate the 2018 master sommeliers tasting exams, the somms are pushing back. In case you missed it, on Tuesday, the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas, invalidated the master sommelier titles...
Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, Donna Alexander dreamed of creating a safe space for people to release anger and stress, in the hopes of quelling violence and unnecessary pain. She opened Anger Room in Dallas in 2008, allowing clients to smash household objects to blow off steam, and the business...
Kurt Sutter, the television screenwriter who created the shows “Sons of Anarchy” and “Mayans M.C.,” placed a full-page open letter in Thursday's Chicago Tribune in which he expresses hope to his daughters Esme and Sarah that “the future is female.” The paid advertisement was meant as “a thoughtful,...
Kanye West made his first visit to the Oval Office. And he had a lot to say about Chicago. President Donald Trump and West — but mostly West — spoke with reporters before a private lunch on Thursday. West launched into a one-man show of sorts on social policy, mental health, why he wants to abolish...
At least two children who have been diagnosed with a rare but serious condition that weakens muscles and limits mobility are being treated in Chicago, according to Lurie Children’s Hospital. The parents of a Batavia 2-year-old, Julia Payne, went public in hopes of raising awareness for acute flaccid...
Tens of millions of Social Security recipients and other retirees will get a 2.8 percent boost in benefits next year as inflation edges higher. It's the biggest increase most retired baby boomers have gotten. Following a stretch of low inflation, the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2019...
The Turkish government has told U.S. officials that it has audio and video recordings that prove Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul this month, according to U.S. and Turkish officials. The recordings show that a Saudi security team detained...
Shari Goldberg held Toby, a 3-year-old American bulldog mix, in her arms when he took his last breath on Sept. 30. That was one of the only kind gestures the dog had experienced in months, maybe longer. Other kindness came from veterinarians who cared for him for four days before he was euthanized...
After a whirlwind month, Khalil Mack needed the chance to exhale. What a September it had been. Traded to the Bears on the first day of the month, Mack followed by giving his new team and his new city an exhilarating four-week production surge. Five sacks. An interception returned for a touchdown....
Mortgage rates are at their highest levels since April 2011. According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average jumped to 4.90 percent with an average 0.5 point. (Points are fees paid to a lender equal to 1 percent of the loan amount.) The 19-basis-point...
A Cook County Circuit Court jury granted a Michigan family $50 million on Tuesday, agreeing that the severe brain damage suffered by the family’s oldest son was a result of negligence and bad decisions by a doctor and attending nurse who delivered him at NorthShore Evanston Hospital in 2009. “The...
Saying he declined to address reporters late Wednesday because he “just wasn’t prepared to answer questions” about his demotion, Bulls forward Jabari Parker answered almost all of them before practice Thursday. It’s the one he didn’t answer that seemed the most telling. Asked if, after two left...
Controversies surrounding the major candidates for governor cast a long shadow over the final broadcast debate of the campaign Thursday, with Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democrat J.B. Pritzker defending accusations of wrongdoing and trying to cast the other as having engaged in criminal conduct. The...
Jose Torres passes the busy commercial intersection on his way to and from work most days. The area on the Southwest Side has changed a lot since that night four years ago when fate brought him and his son there moments before a Chicago police officer fatally shot Laquan McDonald. But the violent...
Libertyville police allowed a Waukegan officer to call for a ride home even though he registered a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit during an early morning traffic stop, video and audio recordings obtained by the Lake County News-Sun show. The case is the third example of law...
Dear Amy: My parents have taken in my 95-year-old grandfather. Money is not a problem, so he could have gone into a nursing home or into assisted living. My grandfather has six other kids, and no one else wanted him to live with them. I feel as if I have lost my parents until my grandfather passes....
George Soros, the billionaire investor and liberal donor, sat in his hotel suite by Lake Zurich last week, lamenting the turn much of the world has taken in recent years: "Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong." His favored presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, lost to President Donald...
Since the day President Donald Trump took office, readers have repeatedly asked me why I've been more amused than outraged, more fascinated than offended. My response, at first individually to each reader, and now in this space, remains the same: The United States deserves Donald Trump as its president,...
A Cook County judge set bond for a Florida man accused of cutting off another man’s penis in a March attack in Des Plaines. Justin Foster, 28, of Tallahassee, has been held without bond since he was brought to Cook County in September on an attempted murder charge, but Thursday’s decision by Judge...