Metro & Tri-state Fitzgerald: Flier implies endorsement 2 killed in Frankfort house explosion Man charged with cheating sick teen out of wish Gunman kills self after taking hostages at bank Man killed in possible gang shooting in Englewood Madigan wants change in lottery lease bill $32 mil. in cleanup costs complicate Reese deal Do you remember your first...Google? Boy critical after being attacked by pit bull Hinsdale man accused by SEC of bilking investors of $1.7 mil. Inspector general pick likely has 2 key foes Student, 19, found slain in basement of his home

STNG Video View more local videos Chicago 24/7 Crime Student, 19, found slain in basement of his home Man killed in possible gang shooting in Englewood $50K bail set for Ryan Harris Man critical after South Side shooting Seven injured in crash near River West Man fatally shot on South Side Boy critical after being attacked by pit bull Education 'A low-grade fear' hangs over NIU Getting the loans

Sports Damned if they don't, defense must rise up Brad Biggs: The quarterback derby. Brian Urlacher's contract. Devin Hester's holdout-turned-into-a-contract. Chris Williams' achy, breaky back. All of the headline-grabbing issues of the summer served as distractions from what will be the key to the Bears' season. Can their defense, which once played championship-caliber ball, return to form? If so, the Bears' playoff aspirations will be alive and resting a good deal on their ability to run the football.

It's as easy as 1-2-3 Lou Piniella put a rookie in right field, scrapped his preference for two lefties in the lineup and then promised more changes if the team didn't start hitting and the losses didn't stop raining on the Cubs' season. ''Let me tell you, when it rains, it pours,'' he said Saturday afternoon. ''Well, it's pouring right now, I can tell you.''
Thome has a blast No team in baseball is in as envious a position as the Los Angeles Angels, likely only days away from clinching the first playoff spot of the 2008 season. ''Who couldn't manage that club,'' White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said Saturday of the team guided by Mike Scioscia, a manager Guillen in fact respects.

Lifestyles Funky flying machines take to the sky over Lake With colorful costumes, eye-catching flying contraptions and a lakefront location, Red Bull Flugtag Chicago 2008, today at North Avenue Beach, should be mesmerizing for kids. The boisterous competition presents a bounty of outrageous homemade, human-powered flying machines. They will be launched from a 30-foot-tall ramp over, and mostly into, Lake Michigan. Most of the flugtag (German for "flying day") machines don't actually fly, and many of the competing teams don't expect them to soar.

At Home Interior Affairs: Wall-to-wall timekeeping Most oaks in area are at least 160 years old Religion Why did God allow another Gulf disaster? Ali, Farrakhan honor Elijah Muhammad's son Horoscopes Holiday Mathis horoscopes for September 6 Georgia Nicols horoscopes for September 6 Astrological questions

Entertainment UK's Brand to host MTV Video Awards America, meet Russell Brand. In his native England, he's a comedy giant -- instantly identifiable by his Einstein-like tousle of black hair and formfitting, chest-baring, glam-rock clothes -- a television host and stand-up comic with his own radio show and weekly column in the Guardian. In the United States, he's that British guy who was in the movie ''Forgetting Sarah Marshall.'' But that all could change at 8 p.m. Sunday, when Brand hosts the MTV Video Music Awards.

VMAs offer glimpse of music and mayhem
Weekend Leading ladies take 'Stand' against cancer My kind of gown Fall films offer plenty to sink your teeth into Books Write locally, dream globally Jesus for president Chicago author: 'One Nation, Under God' by Keir Graff Classical Pianist Vladimir Feltsman worships at the altar of Bach Stage Joys, perils of 'Farm' life unfold in theater Pendergrass' life recounted in stirring musical A flawed Rockwellian portrait Galleries

Business Googling Google When Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google Inc. on Sept. 7, 1998, they had little more than their ingenuity, four computers and an investor's $100,000 bet on their belief that an Internet search engine could change the world. It sounded preposterous 10 years ago, but look now: Google draws upon a gargantuan computer network, nearly 20,000 employees and a $150 billion market value to redefine media, marketing and technology. Perhaps Google's biggest test in the next decade will be finding a way to pursue its seemingly boundless ambitions without triggering a backlash that derails the company.
Do you remember your first...Google?
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