Chicago

Take your pick of the best — or only — seats in the house Venues with no more than 75 seats provide intimate experience By Mark Caro, Tribune reporter, November 29, 2010 In the ultraclose quarters of A Red Orchid Theatre last year, Michael Shannon was ranting as the Broadway …

By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal, Posted today at 6:21 a.m. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is likely to face some new dissenting votes when the make-up of the Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank’s policy-making committee, changes in January. Four presidents of regional Fed banks will step into …

Back in February I posted on the short sales and foreclosures in Chicago’s University Commons development, which is right next to University Village where I live. At that time 11 out of the 21 sales in the preceding 12 month period were distressed properties – either short sales or foreclosures. …

Mainstreaming special education students started out as a good idea. But in reality, the practice is not always beneficial. by Mara Tapp October, 2005 When my oldest daughter started in the Chicago Public Schools some 14 years ago, I was thrilled that our school system celebrated diversity by including physically …

Cities are where people come together, right? Just look at Millennium Park. The eminent author and sociologist Richard Sennett has a different, perhaps darker, view. He’ll share it at the Graham Foundation on Dec. 2 in a talk titled “Edges: How People Are Separated in Cities and What Can Be …

Home inspectors say the problem is split face block, a concrete building material used all over Chicago in brand new homes built during the latest building boom. “I’m very scared,” said home inspector William Decker. Decker has been dealing with the problem for years. “For the last four or five …

Three reports issued Monday paint a grim picture of the Chicago area’s foreclosure crisis November 22, 2010|By Mary Ellen Podmolik, Tribune reporter Three reports issued Monday paint a grim picture of the Chicago area’s foreclosure crisis and signal that the local housing market’s recovery continues to bump along the bottom. …

A Chicago Police officer was a partner in crime with his informant — a drug dealer who has allegedly killed at least two people and was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the city for information that led to arrests of his rivals, according to law-enforcement sources and an …

November 21, 2010 BY LISA DENEAL, POST-TRIBUNE CORRESPONDENT GARY — Thanks to modern tecnology, “Freeway” Ricky Ross spoke at Indiana University Northwest after all, even though his probation officer wanted him back in Los Angeles from Chicago. Through a Skype connection, convicted drug trafficker Ross told the small crowd in …

November 19, 2010 BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter Nearly 1,400 city stickers are “missing” and unaccounted for — at a potential loss to Chicago taxpayers of $134,325 — because of lax internal controls and sloppy record-keeping at a satellite city clerk’s office where residents paid $3.9 million last year …

Updated: Thursday, 18 Nov 2010, 7:57 AM CST FOX Chicago News Chicago – A new Chicago Tribune report shows how bad the city’s pension funds are doing. The investigation found trustees of public pension funds have funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into highly speculative investments. via Report: City Pension …

Aldermen propose surcharge for new revenue Two Chicago Aldermen say the city can find extra money in a cab ride. They are proposing to add a one dollar surcharge to every cab fare in Chicago. Ald. Carrie Austin and Ald. Edward Burke say the added charge could mean 70 million …

Mary Ellen Podmolik Local Scene November 19, 2010 As the value of our homes goes down, so, too, does the value of the work we put into them. According to Remodeling magazine’s most recent Cost vs. Value Report, homeowners who undertake moderately priced remodeling projects aren’t recouping as much of …

MAYOR’S RACE | If his voting status changed to ‘inactive,’ can he run? November 18, 2010 BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Political Reporter Next week, a veteran election lawyer plans to file a legal attempt to knock mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel off the ballot for allegedly failing to meet the residency …