Chicago Sun-Times Metro News

Cops trade gang-fighting tips

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

There are at least 80 gangs dealing drugs on the city's streets, protecting their business and territory with guns. On Saturday, Chicago Police gang and tactical officers from across the city will meet to learn about the best ways to anticipate what these criminal organizations -- with an estimated 75,000 members -- are doing and how to dismantle their operations.

Mexican legend comes to life for schoolkids

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

Some of the younger grade-schoolers yawned and fidgeted as the 93-year-old man with the thick white mustache and a cane walked stiffly toward the microphone inside the Orozco Community Academy gym Thursday afternoon. The children were perhaps a little too young to realize they were looking at a piece of living history -- the man believed to be the last surviving child of Mexican revolutionary leader and folk hero Pancho Villa.

Illinois, Northwestern retiring tomahawk trophy

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:01 CST

To those who have contested it since 1945, the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk has been a source of pride, a symbol of their passion for college football. To the NCAA, though, the tomahawk is, like Chief lliniwek, an objectionable use of an Indian symbol. As a result, Illinois and Northwestern have agreed to bury the hatchet.

Obama sends message supporting Chicago 2016

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:01 CST

Chicago played its trump card Friday in the bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. His name is Barack Obama.

Obama makes surprise visit to Manny's

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

Just because Barack Obama is the president-elect doesn�t mean he can�t still go to Manny�s deli for lunch.

Nearly 20 displaced in two-alarm apartment fire

FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

Eighteen people, including two children, were displaced when an extra-alarm fire started in their South Side apartment Thursday night.

Jobless line up for hours

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

Jerry Gillespie is a carpenter. But the 31-year-old Chicago man has hit wall after wall in an effort to find work. Unemployed for the last six months, he's been rejected time and time again. He was one of thousands of Chicago area residents to show up at Navy Pier for a morning job fair orchestrated by ABC's "Good Morning America."

Tollway board gives green light to carpool lanes

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

Carpool lanes are coming to Illinois. The Illinois Tollway board Thursday approved a proposal to spend $400 million on a project that�s supposed to ease congestion and reduce emissions. But the Tollway still doesn�t know exactly where the carpool lanes are going to be or how they�re going to work.

'A happy day' for Drew Peterson in court

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

A jubilant Drew Peterson hugged and kissed his attorneys Thursday after they persuaded a Will County judge to dismiss two felony weapons charges that could have sent him to prison for up to five years.

DuSable denies link to Gary art

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

The missing paintings could be worth as much as $20,000 each, one appraiser said, and school officials have no record of them leaving their collection.

Daley lands on O'Hare's new runway

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

A triumphant Mayor Daley landed Thursday on the first new runway built at O�Hare Airport in 37 years and vowed full speed ahead on O�Hare expansion � even though major airlines are refusing to finance it. "This is all about the future, not the present� If your business thinks for the future, you�ll be around. If you don�t think of the future, these businesses will not be around. These businesses are thinking for the future," Daley said.

Late start means late state corn harvest

By RYAN KLASSY For The Courier News — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

This week brought the first truly chilly winds reminding us that snow shovels and slippery roads are right around the corner. That same wind reminds area farmers that their remaining days to bring in the corn crop are numbered. Only 88 percent of Illinois' corn crop had been harvested as of earlier this week, compared to 100 percent this time last year and 10 percent behind the five-year average of 98 percent.

Reese site again an Olympic Village possibility

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

It looks like the on-again, off-again plan to move the $1.1 billion Olympic Village to the campus of Michael Reese Hospital could be back on again. Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) disclosed Thursday that Chicago 2016 Chairman Pat Ryan is closing in on an agreement with Medline Industries, owner of the 37-acre Reese site.

Man sentenced for money-laundering

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

A former Streeterville dentist who admitted to a scheme involving prostitutes, pimps and the Marina City condos was sentenced to more than three years in prison Thursday.

Former treasurer's office worker convicted

FROM SUN-TIMES NEWS GROUP WIRE REPORTS — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

A former Cook County Treasurer�s office employee accused of wrongly taking tax information as part of a scheme designed to profit from unclaimed funds was convicted Friday.

Former cop says he ran porn business

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

How does a dirty cop try to make ends meet while he awaits his prison sentence?

Legislature OKs $90 million for horse-racing industry

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois' horse-racing industry will get to keep a multimillion dollar subsidy from the state's most profitable casinos for three more years under legislation now headed to Gov. Blagojevich.

Curtain to fall on city's choir school

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

Facing dwindling enrollment, officials of Chicago's Choir Academy Charter School announced Thursday they will close their doors at the end of the school year.

Chicago's success model

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

Illinois now has a trifecta of "America's Next Top Model" winners, and the current reigning beauty thinks she knows why. "If you've ever driven in Chicago, you know we're kind of aggressive," says McKey Sullivan, a 20-year-old Lake Forest native who lifted Tyra Banks in delight on Wednesday's finale. "We don't just sit back. We get out there and make it happen."

Man fatally shot leaving gang member's funeral

FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

A 29-year-old man was killed late Thursday after being shot leaving a gang member�s funeral in the South Side's Gage Park neighborhood, police said.

Arson eyed in restaurant explosion

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

Traces of gasoline or a similar accelerant were found late last month in the ruins of a restaurant on Naperville's far southwest side, following an explosion and fire there that left two men badly burned, according to well-placed sources connected to the case. One source said gasoline or another highly flammable liquid was found on the premises of Gigi's Restaurant and Pancake House after the Oct. 29 blast.

Police seek vehicle in South Side hit-and-run

FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

Chicago Police are asking for the public's help finding a vehicle that struck an elderly man in a hit-and-run crash Tuesday night in the Far South Side�s Pullman neighborhood.

Man dies six days after stabbing

FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

A Southwest Side man died Thursday night, six days after being stabbed in the head in the Lawndale neighborhood.

Metro briefs

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:00 CST

Work affects Blue, Green lines