Chicago

Protesters expected for May meetings of G-8, NATO By David Heinzmann, Tribune reporter September 30, 2011 Chicago has won a $54.6 million federal grant to fund security and emergency planning and cooperation among the city, Cook County and the state as preparations begin to ramp up for the G-8 and …

BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter rrossi@suntimes.com September 30, 2011 1:12AM So after waves and waves of reform, you thought Chicago public elementary schools had made tremendous progress in the last 20 years? Think again. Despite millions of dollars in fixes and programs, Chicago’s elementary grade reading scores have barely budged …

Remember the luxury services tax Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed during his campaign? His opponents blasted the idea, calling it the “Rahm tax,” but Emanuel touted it as a win-win for businesses and shoppers who pay one of the highest sales taxes in the country. Well, Emanuel may be bringing back …

Statistics tend to back him up. Deaths from prescription drugs tripled nationwide from 2000 to 2008 and exceeded deaths from heroin and cocaine combined, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug deaths reached an all-time high of almost 37,500 in 2009, the tipping point in an …

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is giving city workers an important health choice: enroll in a new wellness plan, expected to be unveiled Friday, or pay a higher premium. The price if they don’t enroll: $50 a month. The program includes an initial screening that focuses on preventative care for asthma, heart …

By Tribune staff 10:40 a.m. CDT, September 15, 2011 Matthew Erich Muller, the radio provocateur known as “Mancow” whose syndicated morning show hasn’t been heard in Chicago in five years, will move to WJJG-AM (1530), the 760-watt daytime station based in west suburban Elmhurst, Time Out Chicago is reporting. Link

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com September 13, 2011 10:24PM Chicago’s burgeoning band of bicyclists would have to abide by the same rules of the road as motorists — no talking on hand-held cell phones or texting while riding — under a crackdown proposed by an influential alderman. Ald. Marge …

Updated: September 12, 2011 6:51AM For seven years, the Chicago Police Department has portrayed David Koschman as the aggressor in the drunken confrontation on Division Street that ended when a nephew of then-Mayor Richard M. Daley knocked him out with a punch that left Koschman with brain injuries from which …

By Jason Grotto, Tribune reporter 10:09 p.m. CDT, September 1, 2011 Every month, Thomas Villanova gets a $9,000 reminder of how lucrative it can be to serve as a union leader in Chicago. The sum is part of a city pension that comes on top of the $198,000 annual salary …