Chicago Sun-Times Metro News

You're next, Ike: resurfacing to begin in April

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Eisenhower riders, you knew your day was coming. Construction has snarled traffic on the Dan Ryan, the Edens, the tollways and the Bishop Ford in recent years, and next spring it's the Ike's turn. The Illinois Department of Transportation plans a resurfacing project for I-290 between Thorndale and the Circle, tentatively scheduled to start in April 2010.

Beyonce expected to testify in copyright trial here

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Did pop diva Beyonce Knowles and her Destiny's Child rip off a Chicago songwriter's song? A copycat claim contained in a 2006 lawsuit is expected to land the "Bootylicious" sensation in a witness chair next month as part of a copyright infringement trial to be held in Chicago's federal courthouse.

Wounded GI's first words to mom: 'I'm sorry'

BY ELISABETH MARTIN SouthtownStar — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

U.S. Army Pvt. Najee Hull's first words to his mother after he was shot Thursday at Fort Hood were, "I'm sorry." "He thought he had disappointed me. He knew I worried about him [being in the Army]," Yvonne Hull said Sunday in a phone interview.

Davis pulls out of County Board President's race

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Rep. Danny K. Davis conceded his game of chicken with Cook County Board President Todd Stroger Monday.

Streets and San has plowing plan, learned from mistakes

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Chicago has 370,000 tons of salt �on the ground, covered and ready for the snow to hit� with a plowing plan that employs lessons learned from last year�s mistakes, a top mayoral aide said Monday.

Prosecutors: Chicago man had al-Qaida video

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

In a court filing late Friday, federal prosecutors said investigators found a DVD at the home of Tahawwur Rana that featured bin Laden and was a testimonial to four jihadi �martyrs.�

Meeting for sales-tax roll back called

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

With a days-old law in place that has weakened Cook County President Todd Stroger�s veto power, county commissioners called a special board meeting for next Monday to vote on rolling back the county�s controversial sales tax by a half-penny.

Daley: Bad economy makes police retirements 'questionable'

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Mayor Daley said Monday he does not share his police superintendent's extreme case of nerves about a wave of police retirements next year because the economy stinks and there are "no jobs out there."

Daley defends suburbanites' right to concert seats

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Millennium Park would never have been built without suburban wallets, Mayor Daley said Monday, scoffing at suggestions that Chicagoans get preferred seating there.

Woman accused of stabbing boyfriend over bounced check

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

A South Lawndale woman who allegedly stabbed her boyfriend to death over a bounced check was ordered held in lieu of $750,000 bail today.

Police investigators too educated?

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Investigators hired to probe the surging number of allegations of excessive force against Chicago Police officers are too educated to relate to those involved in the shootings, a South Side alderman warned Monday.

Arabic classes coming to three more Chicago schools

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

The Chicago public schools will expand its Arabic-language program to three more high schools, thanks to a three-year, $888,000 federal grant announced this morning.

Mutual of Omaha drops 'Aha moment� lawsuit against Oprah

ASSOCIATED PRESS — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Mutual of Omaha might have had its own �aha moment.�

Ill. home sales mark first positive year-over-year increase

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Sales of homes in Illinois marked the first positive year-over-year increase in more than three years in the third quarter, but the median price in Chicago dropped 20.7 percent, and sales in the city fell 4.8 percent.

CPS student fatally shot in Lawndale, two others injured

Sun-Times Media Wire — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

A 16-year-old Chicago Public Schools student was killed in a shooting that also injured two men late Sunday in the West Side Lawndale neighborhood.

Ald. Preckwinkle gets top spot on ballot

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) will get the top spot on the Feb. 2 Democratic primary ballot for Cook County Board president.

Man stabbed by girlfriend's son, 10, charged with domestic battery

Sun-Times Media Wire — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

The man who was stabbed by his girlfriend�s 10-year-old son in a domestic incident early Sunday in the South Side West Pullman neighborhood was convicted in 1993 of second-degree murder, police said.

Man shot dead while driving on South Side

Sun-Times Media Wire — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Police are seeking a man in his 20s for the shooting death of a motorist Sunday night on the South Side.

Legionnaires' deaths probed in Vernon Hills

BY BETH KRAMER News Sun — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Public health authorities are investigating two deaths tied to Legionnaires' disease at a retirement community in Vernon Hills, officials said.

Military loan program expanding to Illinois

Associated Press — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Man with gunshot wound to back walks into hospital

Sun-Times Media Wire — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

An 18-year-old man walked into a hospital with a gunshot wound to the back after being shot Monday morning in the Southeast Side South Shore neighborhood.

Ads target sexual harassment on CTA

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

The CTA has new anti-sexual harassment ads up in trains and buses, thanks to the efforts of a group of young Rogers Park women who have campaigned against unwanted touching and rude comments on the transit system.

Want to make your e-mail disappear?

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Now, there's a way the super-careful can make their sensitive electronic data -- e-mails, photos, Facebook posts and other information -- self-destruct in 8 to 32 hours.

Man steals bubbly on North Side, prompting 63rd arrest

Sun-Times Media Wire — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

A man racked up his 63rd arrest by stealing three bottles of champagne from a Lake View neighborhood Whole Foods grocery Sunday on the North Side.

Harry Potter's Quidditch magically appears at NU

BY MITCH DUDEK Staff Reporter/mdudek@suntimes.com — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:01 CST

Harry Potter's sport of choice, Quidditch, is taking flight at Northwestern University. The game, which traditionally features wizards flying around on brooms, has been adapted into an earthbound college sport, known as Muggle Quidditch.

Police seek missing local musician, writer

Sun-Times Media Wire — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Police are seeking the public's help in finding a local musician and writer who was reported missing after he was last seen Friday in his apartment in the South Side's McKinley Park neighborhood.

51,000 in city vaccinated in a week

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Chicago Department of Public Health officials say they've vaccinated almost 51,000 people against the swine flu in seven days.

Boy playing with lighter starts fire

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

An 8-year-old boy playing with a lighter started a fire that left a woman in serious condition with second-degree burns, officials said.

Artist behind iconic album art struggling to get by

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Thick dust covers the gold lame shirt and silver leather coat in Pedro Bell's closet. The clothes are remnants from a brighter time when Bell, a rainbow Afro wig on his head and platform shoes on his feet, strutted through Chicago as a charter member of the '70s funk revolution whose sound is heavily sampled in rap songs today. "It was psychedelic from a black perspective," Bell said.

Bright ideas: Making daily life easier for elderly

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

If technology has its way, getting old will get easier. That's the vibe running throughout the "idea house" for the elderly on display at the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging's annual exposition at McCormick Place. The house displays groundbreaking technologies and design innovations that make it possible for older adults to remain independent and in their homes.

Teen arrested for robbery after jumping from roof to roof

Sun-Times Media Wire — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

A teen armed with a �replica gun� was charged with robbery after stealing several items including drumsticks, cymbals and a pink handbag from a man and a teen girl while the man�s 8-year-old daughter watched Sunday in the Avondale neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

Metro briefs

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

Man's slaying may be tied to bar dispute

Man allegedly bites off part of girlfriend's ear

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:00 CST

A man was accused of biting off a part of his girlfriend's ear Sunday morning during an argument at their home in the Brighton Park neighborhood, officials said.