While the bid to privatize parking meters could fill the city's budget gap, motorists will almost certainly pay more to park at metered spaces. Mayor Daley has called a special City Council meeting for Thursday to consider the deal.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
Cubs face dilemma on arbitration front
Bears self-destruct in 34-14 embarrassment to Vikes
Let the Irish dissection begin
Chicago offers six-week amnesty for overdue parking, traffic tickets
1 real estate deal, 2 ex-aldermen
Blagojevich taps deputy gov Martinez
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Here's the problem with the Bears' plan to win out and get some help in the chase for the NFC North title: They have not won more than two consecutive games since 2006.
The ESPN highlights of the Bulls' victory Sunday over the Philadelphia 76ers consisted of three plays: Derrick Rose running down Andre Miller to block what appeared to be a breakaway layup as a stunned Miller looked back in wonderment.
If not for a 5-2 loss Saturday at Los Angeles, coach Joel Quenneville would have called the Blackhawks' 3-2-1 road trip a resounding success. ''Yeah, 4-1-1, we would have taken that,'' he said after practice Monday. ''Now, 3-2-1 is OK. We just had a chance to have a great road trip and didn't accomplish it."
Are you ready for some holiday fun? Check out our guide to everything you need for giving gifts, giving back and getting out of town.
Green gift guide
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Drinks: Spirits of Christmas present
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Fifty years is a long time to cry. Della Maffiola wept again Sunday as she remembered her son Joseph, killed in the Our Lady of the Angels school fire 50 years ago today. "It feels like yesterday,'' she said. 
Debra Messing has a dancing scene in her new movie, but that's not the only time she got to shake it on the set of "Nothing Like the Holidays." "I was filming a winter scene on a front porch in Humboldt Park," she says, "and real hypothermia set in. I hear it was your worst winter in about 100 years. It was raining ice and about 10 below. My whole body was shaking, and then it was time for my closeup." 
The U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday. The NBER — a private, nonprofit research organization — said its group of academic economists who determine business cycles met and decided that the U.S. recession began last December. 
Lynn Sweet has the latest updates on President-elect Obama's transition to the White House
After the historic 2008 Presidential election, Lynn Sweet is following Barack Obama's transition to the White House every step of the way. Check back throughout the day for the latest news on Cabinet picks, the inauguration and the forthcoming Presidential pet.
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