After a nightmarish two years in Washington, former U.S. Senator Roland Burris is settling back into life in Illinois, trying to rebuild his reputation and retire an $800,000 debt from a legal battle to keep his Senate seat. Still, he told me he does not regret accepting the position from former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose retrial on corruption charges…
Remembering Robert Kurson’s “Heavy,” a profile of Robert Earl Hughes: the Fishhook, Illinois, native enshrined forever in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s fattest man.
FROM FEBRUARY 2002: Sixty years ago this June, a German submarine dropped four Nazi agents on a darkened Florida beach.Among them was 22-year-old Herbert Haupt, the son of a German American family living on Chicago’s North Side. Haupt was part of a terrorist team a band of saboteurs with plans to blow up American bridges and factories. When apprehended, Haupt claimed he was just a homesick young man caught up in the maelstrom of war. But a secret military tribunal convicted Haupt and sent him to the electric chair. This startling story from Chicago’s past offers an eerie foreshadowing of today’s issues.
Five days a week, a group of widowers and retirees gather around three worn pool tables in a South Shore rec room to shoot some stick and razz one another. The men are old; their bodies are breaking down—but to Baby Ray and the rest, the place is one big, slow gulp from the fountain of youth.
Back in 1990, the Bulls had the best player in the NBA, but they weren’t the best team, even in their own conference. They needed the right players, and the right coaches to put them together. Enter Phil Jackson, Tex Winter, Scottie Pippen, and Horace Grant.
April 5, 2011 — Architects, designers, and builders gathered at the Merchandise Mart to learn about the latest in kitchen cabinetry finishes. Pat Borg, owner and president of Neff of Chicago, and Richard Byard, vice president of world design for Neff Manufacturing, took attendees through Neff’s exquisite cabinetry options, from patinas, Euro-laminates, exotic veneers, and holographic treatments. Guests enjoyed breakfast items from The Chopping Block and were automatically entered into a raffle drawing to win one of five trips to Toronto to tour Neff Manufacturing’s state-of-the-art facilities.
Age Before Beauty I enjoyed looking at all the beautiful people in your 50 most beautiful Chicagoans article [“Model Citizens,” March]. I liked the stories and loved the outfits, and I especially appreciate and applaud you for picturing a very diverse group. You succeeded in focusing on diversity on every level, except the age level. … Read more
Big developments today in Springfield about school hours, teacher seniority, and collective bargaining. Illinois might be the next state to see dramatic revisions to educational policy, and without the fight that going on elsewhere.
The latest challenges to abortion laws and abortion providers: from the subtle in Illinois, to the tragic in Indiana, to the absurd… at your local Walgreens.
The violence-prevention program known as CeaseFire has earned a lot of national attention, from a new documentary by Alex Kotlowitz and Steve James to a New York Times Magazine profile. But its model of street-level, ear-to-the-ground has a much earlier Chicago precedent in the Commission on Human Relations.
