Dave Hoekstra: South Side nightlife moved like lightning in a bottle of cognac between 1975 and 1977. The songs of gritty artists like Bobby Rush, Artie "Blues Boy" White and Lee Shot Williams were the soundtrack to a player's culture influenced by disco music, dancing and fashion. Sparks flew. Maybe you had to be there. Photographer Michael Abramson was.
Forget skiing. I could barely stand on the steepest part of the Whistler Mountain slope that will host the men’s downhill race in the 2010 Winter Olympics. As soon as I tried edging carefully down the icy course, my skis slipped, sending me skidding. So I’ll never win a gold medal. But the skiing on that gorgeous, sunny day was still world-class.
The run-up to Dec. 25 in Germany is marked not just by a rush of shopping, but also by the nation’s many convivial Christmas markets. While the most renowned are the massive markets in Dresden and Nuremberg, many find the season is best celebrated at the dozens of smaller markets across the nation, like the one in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
Visits with Santa, caroling, hot chocolate and millions of lights are all part of the family entertainment under way at the Lincoln Park and Brookfield zoos. At Brookfield Zoo, one million lights are sparkling at the 28th annual Holiday Magic festival. The fun runs from 4 to 9 p.m. today and Sunday, and Dec. 26-31. (The zoo opens at 10 a.m.) New this year is the Wild Lights Spectacular light show held every hour between 5:30 and 8:30 each night.
NEW YORK -- At 21, Jelena Woehr describes herself as a feminist, focusing on issues such as domestic violence and improved career opportunities for women.
CHICAGO -- As a sort of holiday gift to struggling families, sheriff's departments throughout the Chicago area are halting evictions -- at least through the first of the year.
The wide racial gap in health is growing in Chicago, a major new study has found. Already lagging far behind whites on most key measures of health, blacks in Chicago have fallen even further behind in 11 of 15 areas reviewed by Chicago's Sinai Urban Health Institute between 1990 and 2005 -- including infant mortality, heart-disease deaths and diabetes. There's a stark, human cost in that: In all, the researchers estimated that the toll of the black-white health disparity is an additional 3,200 deaths of African Americans in Chicago every year.
Unhappy? You're not alone. A new happiness survey ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia -- and Illinois comes in at a miserable 45th. People in sunny, outdoorsy states -- Louisiana, Hawaii, Florida -- say they're the happiest, and researchers think they know why.
People who drink more coffee -- either regular or decaf -- appear to have a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to a review of research reported in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine.
It makes perfect sense that Schubas, a venue famous for showcasing up-and-coming indie rock artists, would be the setting for Saturday's Indie Arts Market. The holiday event will feature the latest handmade creations from Chicago artists, illustrators and crafters. Works for sale will include jewelry, silkscreen prints, letterpress, housewares, stationery and more.
Sure, you could buy a premade basket. But with a little creativity you can make your own gift basket, one that can be personalized to match the wants and needs of the recipient. "Gift baskets are beautiful and are like works of art that are practical to give," says the president of a newly opened basket design studio in Chicago.
For this year's holiday decor, look outside. The woods and winter are strong themes this season, with woodland creatures and other outdoorsy motifs, and ornaments crafted from natural materials. Surprisingly, perhaps, these often are versatile elements, equally suited to a rustic snowbound mountain cabin or a contemporary home.
Confused whether to wear a gold eye shadow with dark red lipstick? Or where exactly you are supposed to wear bronzer? Estee Lauder's global makeup stylist Rick DiCecca answers all our questions and gives us tips to look our most striking during the holidays.
Several homes in a Barrington area neighborhood combined efforts on an extravagant holiday light display.
Sure you're excited about your Christmas tree and your outdoor holiday lights -- but are they safe? "Nearly half of all Christmas tree fires involve electrical malfunctions," said Christina Hansen, product specialist at CableOrga nizer.com. "It's extremely important to check that light strands and other electrical decorations are in good condition -- no insulation cracks, fraying wires or damaged bulbs and plugs."
The proportion of U.S. homes able to go online has mushroomed from 18 percent with Internet access in 1997 to 62 percent in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
For several years, Jude Stringfellow and her Lab-chow mix have toured the country with a simple message: Faith walks. Born without front legs to a junkyard dog around Christmas 2002, Faith the puppy was rejected and abused by her mother. She was rescued by Reuben Stringfellow, now an Army E-4 specialist, who had been asked to bury other puppies in the litter.
Cartoons, time with family, Grandma's jello and math are just a few of Lanesha Jones' favorite things.
Brad Cohen says that The Cohnan, the massive meat bomb at Little Louie's Red Hots in Northbrook that bears his nickname, is more than a sandwich. "It's a workout," he said. "And a commitment." That's because once you pick up The Cohnan -- two hamburger patties, French fries, bacon, cheese and an over-easy egg, all on a bun -- you can't put it down.
Mark Payne, chef at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, gets a little wistful when he thinks about how many years it’s been since he’s been home to England for Christmas. Because it’s hard to get away from their kitchens during the busy holidays, Payne and other foreign-born Chicago chefs often add seasonal dishes from their native lands to their menus.
In Mexico, it’s called the “mordida,” or bite — a bribe paid to get out of hot water with unscrupulous authorities, who have been known to trump up bogus traffic charges against tourists. Officials in Mexico stress that mordidas are the exception, not the rule, and work is being done to clean up the corruption.
There is no shortage of bacon-related gifts on the market this season. For evidence, go to GratefulPalate.com, the online source for bacon sea salt, soap that looks like bacon and, most notably, the Bacon of the Month club. But we digress. Herewith, our eight picks for pork-free gifts that will still feel like a splurge to the food lover in your life.
Break out the champagne and cigars, or at least the smelt and squid -- there's a new baby boy at the Shedd Aquarium. A 5-feet 4-inch, 162-pound beluga whale calf was born at 6:36 a.m. Monday.
It isn't too late to take part in the Sun-Times "Season of Sharing" charity. The Sun-Times has received nearly 17,000 letters from children in need. Last year, nearly 20,000 kids had their wishes granted through our annual Letters to Santa program. This year, there are still about 3,300 Christmas gift wishes to be answered.
SwirlSavvy: As the recipient of seemingly every wine-related gift on the planet, I can finally vent that there are good wine gifts and not so good wine gifts. But by following a few guidelines, a wine-related gift can be genuinely welcome to any recipient, wine aficionado or not.
If you've ever enjoyed the savory taste of spit-roasted chicken shawarma wrapped in pita and topped with tangy tahini, a dollop of hummus, chopped onion and a juicy tomato at your neighborhood falafel house, you might owe a debt of gratitude to Abed Moughrabi, who claims to have introduced the Middle Eastern fast-food staple to Chicago. "I didn't start shawarma in the world, but I started it here," said Moughrabi.
Break out the champagne and cigars, or at least the smelt and squid — two beluga whales at the Shedd Aquarium are proud parents. A baby boy beluga was born at 6:36 a.m. Monday at the Shedd. He is five-feet, four-inches long and weighs 162 pounds.
Though CT scans can be an invaluable tool for medical imaging, the doses of radiation patients are exposed to from these scans vary widely and are generally higher than previously thought, according to a study published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
It's not every charity benefit that can get a crowd of 2,500 people to leave their homes in the sloshy wet cold of a December evening, but the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation did just that Saturday night. Powered by a passion that was palpable in the spacious McCormick Place Lakeside Center, the JDRF drew an enormous crowd and raised a remarkable $3 million.
Have you ever really gotten a Chia Pet for Christmas? What about a single walnut in your stocking? These are among the alternately sad, hilarious and outrageous gifts that appear on a newly launched Web site, myworstgiftever.com, listing -- as the name says -- the worst holiday gifts ever, submitted anonymously by people throughout the world.
The holidays are a time to pass blessings on to others. And that's exactly what Spencer Leak Jr. and his wife, Donna, did Sunday morning for a family in need. After reading a Chicago Sun-Times story about Katina and Jesse Simpson and their five children, one of whom shared her holiday wishes in the newspaper's "Letters to Santa" campaign, the couple offered the Simpsons a shopping spree at Macy's on State Street.
Joel Alvarado, 13, has visions of someday studying on the "peaceful" grounds of Concordia University's River Forest campus. But first, he wants to get some extra tutoring so he can become an "expert in math." Both of those ambitious goals are possible thanks to a year-old program at Roosevelt Middle School in west suburban Bellwood.
A plan to let people as young as 55 buy into Medicare, heralded as a breakthrough in the Senate's health care debate, ran into resistance Sunday from lawmakers who can make or break Democrats' efforts to reshape the nation's health insurance system.
When it comes to cutting down Christmas trees, nothing is as uplifting as Sinnissippi Forest. Generations have traveled here to the forest, located about 90 miles west of Chicago, to chop down their own trees. On weekends, the gift shop is filled with the aroma of hot apple cider and apple cider doughnuts. Santa and Mrs. Claus hang around for photos with children — and nutty adults. The historic tree farm opened in 1948. It will close for good on Dec. 23.
Shortly after taking off on a pair of Segways, Carly Milne and her friend were held up, at gunpoint, by a couple of thieves in Nassau. They watched helplessly as another group of Segway tourists suffered the same fate. Several cruise lines have suspended shore excursions in Nassau in the wake of these robberies.
As the economy falters and more people go without health insurance, low-income women in at least 20 states are being turned away or put on long waiting lists for free cancer screenings, according to the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network.
John McGill, a self-described "gear head," got hooked on electronics trade-in Web site NextWorth.com after he gave up a two-year-old Motorola RAZR phone for $5.20 and traded in an LG Shine for $14.80. NextWorth Solutions Inc. and Gazelle.com are among the latest Web-based companies offering electronic buyback and recycling programs, encouraging people to get rid of their old electronics without throwing them in the garbage.
With twins on the way, Stacey Blackmar and her husband were looking to be prepared first-time parents when they started researching baby products. Instead, they found themselves bewildered with all the choices and information available.
For Christine and James Patterson, Wednesday night's holiday party at the Mid-America Club was a chance to kill two birds with one stone. "Party first. Networking second," James Patterson said amidst the hot food, live band and open bar that called revelers and job seekers.
Six days away from deportation, a University of Illinois at Chicago student has been granted a one-year reprieve. Rigo Padilla, 21, was notified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday that his deportation has been deferred.
New results from a landmark women's health study raise the exciting possibility that bone-building drugs such as Fosamax and Actonel might help prevent breast cancer.
PEORIA, Ill. -- An iconic Peoria hotel is closing later this month after business slowed this year.
My relationship with the city of Chicago is like any other: It has highs, and it has lows. But despite my slightly unstable relationship with this great city, I still find myself wanting to give her my hard-earned money around the holidays. And, since we're out spending on those we love, why not keep some of our money here? Check out these hometown gift ideas.
It's a snowy Christmas morning, and as the kids come bounding down the steps, a four-legged creature with a huge red bow around its neck clumsily runs to greet them -- jumping to lick their smiling, cherubic faces.
If you are thinking of buying a diamond this holiday season, you are probably:
Do you want to pick out a Christmas tree better than Charlie Brown? If you're going to going to select your tree this weekend, here are some suggestions.
I am on a gluten-free diet and need suggestions for breakfast. I eat brown rice and oatmeal twice a week, but have no other sources of high-fiber grains.
For the last two years I haven't been able to get an old flame out of my head, which surprises me because he was the biggest jerk I have ever met.
The idea of engaging in "Webtribution" is a little alien to me.
Diamonds come in many types, sizes ￃﾳ and shapes. Few of them, actually, are diamond-shaped. Here's a look at the different cuts, as well as what cleebrities wear them:
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois firearm hunters harvested nearly 99,500 deer during this year's season.
All those swine flu warnings have made a difference: People are washing their hands more, whipping out hand sanitizer and giving the stink-eye to coughers in their proximity.
Scheduled to debut in early 2011, the Disney Dream will be about 50 percent larger than the cruise line's other two ships, Magic and Wonder. Holding up to 4,000 passengers, the Dream will have the first "water coaster" ride at sea and make three-, four- and five-night trips to the Bahamas and Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay, from its home base in Port Canaveral, Fla.
It’s time to say Bon Noel to the buche de Noel. Literally French for “yule log,” the traditional French dessert dates back to the 1870s, but its roots can be traced back to the 12th century. Buche de Noel cakes can be as simple or elaborately decorated as you desire.
Swimming holes, a cascading waterfall, plenty of room to roam and a direct sightline into the wolf den -- Brookfield Zoo is offering more than the bare necessitates for its most popular animal attraction.
Swap Shop: A creamy Mediterranean-influenced Roasted Red Pepper and Jalapeno Hummus, and low-carb, low-fat Cabbage Latkes with fruit sauce are perfect for W.Y. of Bolingbrook, who is looking for healthy solutions to serve her guests at a Hanukkah buffet planned for Friday night.
Construction is scheduled to start in February on Roosevelt University's new 32-story "vertical campus'' at 421-25 S. Wabash.
Quwanda Kelly is staying positive despite the journey from a job and a two-bedroom apartment to unemployment and a homeless shelter.
Considering an eyelift or tummy tuck? You might want to have it done before next year. Last week, the U.S. Senate began debate on an $848 billion health-care reform bill that includes a 5 percent excise tax on elective cosmetic surgery. It would take effect Jan. 1. The aim: to raise an estimated $5.8 billion in the next decade. The cosmetic surgery industry has mounted a vigorous effort to convince lawmakers and the public that the tax wouldn't be limited to wealthy people who are unhappy with the shape of their chins.
John Cuneo Jr.'s childhood home is going from historic Vernon Hills estate to ivory tower. The Cuneo Foundation he runs has donated the Cuneo Museum and Gardens, 100 surrounding acres and art collections to Loyola University, the school announced Monday. The $50 million gift is the largest in the university's 140-year history.
St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6) marks the beginning of the Christmas season for many Christian revelers around the world, so fittingly, the 20th annual Catholic Charities Spirit of Saint Nicholas Ball -- held Saturday night at the Chicago Hilton and Towers -- provided the perfect kickoff to the holidays for 1,200 of the Chicago area's most prominent Catholics.
Today marks the 68th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor that left 2,403 American military personnel and civilians dead. Army veteran Arturo Del Monaco vividly remembers the effects of the Dec. 7 assault. He was a high school student, and two older friends went down with the USS Arizona. "They are still there," Monaco, 86, said, sadly.
They are perhaps the last words you'd expect to hear: Sorry, we don't need you. After all, you're offering your services, for free, to help someone in need. But it's that time of year when many Chicago area social-service agencies are inundated -- and sometimes overwhelmed -- with offers of help.
Some children get severely obese because they lack particular chunks of DNA, which kicks their hunger into overdrive, researchers report.
The British researchers checked the DNA of 300 children who'd become very fat, on the order of 220 pounds by age 10. They looked for deletions or extra copies of DNA segments.
BURBANK, Calif. -- Even the most ardent fans of porn star Julie Meadows are unlikely, it seems safe to say, to have ever seen her like this.
CHICAGO -- A new 32-bed homeless shelter that will serve veterans is to open in Chicago.
Breast-feeding might offer mothers long-term protection against a condition linked to diabetes and heart disease, researchers have found.
Here are some winter energy-saving tips from the Citizens Utility Board, a consumer watchdog group:
In looking for hot holiday shopping deals online, don't overlook free shipping opportunities, notes Kiplinger.com in its list of online holiday deals.
Visitors from Chicago come in droves to Door County’s 300 miles of scenic shoreline during the summer, looking to swim, bike, hike, relax and dig into some boiled whitefish. During the winter, the peninsula attracts the cold weather aficionados who come largely for the snow, which is in no short supply.
Photographer Heather Stumpf is out to change perceptions when it comes to pinup beauty. Her clients are not movie stars or models but everyday women who want to step outside their comfort zone, get the retro-glamor treatment and create unique everlasting images of themselves. Stumpf, 34, is co-owner and photographer of Vavoom Pinups. There are a couple other pinup studios in Chicago, but Vavoom is unique because its clients include women of all shapes and sizes.
WHEATON, Ill. -- The Chicago suburb of Wheaton is just one Illinois municipality offering free holiday light recycling this winter season.
America is about to lose a giant bundle of cute cuddly charisma. Tai Shan, the panda born at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., on July 9, 2005, is being sent to China in early 2010, zoo officials announced Friday. Tai Shan's giant panda parents Tian Tian and Mei Xiang are on loan from the Chinese government. Under an agreement between China and the zoo, any offspring of the pair will be returned to China at some point after the young panda turns 2 years old.
Four-year-old Dyamond Simpson has faced major challenges in her short life. Blind and afflicted with cerebral palsy, she can do little for herself, says her mom, Katina Simpson.
A Chicago AIDS charity has been ordered to return a $500,000 state grant it received to rehabilitate a South Side apartment building, amid questions about the group's spending.
Researchers are concluding that on important (and controversial) matters, people project their own beliefs on those attributed to God.
What would you do if you were trying to drum up instant worldwide attention for your cause? You'd get a beautiful naked girl, sure. And how about a bunch of adorable doggies? Better, but we can go even further here. Wait, we've got it -- throw in vegans and Jesus.
A teenage thug punched Bridget Seemann in the skull while his gang-banger buddy ripped off her iPhone as she walked home from the drugstore Tuesday night in Rogers Park. Who knew getting mugged could bring so much holiday cheer?
Most of us have heard the holiday carol 'The 12 Days of Christmas.' But how much would all those items cost in the year 2009? The prices, from PNC Wealth Management, might surprise you.
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is a company in perpetual motion. When its dancers are not in the studio rehearsing for their performances at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance and beyond, it's a good bet they are on the road.
Lee Eisenberg, former editor-in-chief of Esquire magazine and Chicago-based author of best-selling books on saving and spending money, gets extremely frustrated when his wife, Linda, examines every detail before making a purchase. "I just want it done," says Eisenberg, whose books The Number and Shoptimism examine the reasons people save and spend.
Mike Smyth's burger creation brings the heat: two jalapeno peppers, a dollop of cream cheese and two slices of bacon on top of a one-third-pound patty. The 12-year-old from southwest suburban New Lenox thinks his spicy recipe is so good that he entered it in Red Robin's fourth annual National Kids' Cook-Off.
The size of a burrito is often the stuff of legend. One chain of local taco joints claims burritos the size of footballs. They are not. They are the size of clutch purses. The Lamas family, owners of the 10 Chicago-area Taco Burrito King stores, makes no outlandish assertions about the size of their Super King Burritos.
'Tis the season for giving gifts, not breaking the bank. Show friends, teachers and neighbors your appreciation and love with these thoughtful and easy to make gift ideas.
Murphy the dog and Cesar Millan, star of the popular TV show "Dog Whisperer," didn't interact much at their meeting. That was a good thing, Millan said.
Food evokes vivid memories. Though I haven’t tasted the dishes in more than 40 years, I can recall the flavors and aromas of my mother’s warm pineapple custard pie, my grandmother’s chicken and noodles, Aunt Vesta’s fudge-like brownies and Aunt Ruth’s sauerkraut and dumplings as if I had devoured them only yesterday. It’s exactly those kinds of memories, coupled with my personal disappointment of not having those original recipes, that four years ago prompted my interest in shepherding Swap Shop, the Sun-Times' weekly recipe exchange column.
If your idea of a great vacation is slamming tequila shots with Corona chasers and baking like a Shrinky Dink on the beach, Mexico has no shortage of places that fit the bill. San Miguel de Allende, however, is not one of them.
Greg O’Neill, proprietor of the popular Pastoral cheese and wine shops, has had his eye on the Chicago French Market for a few years now. Mary Nguyen Aregoni, a former marketing and IT executive trying to break into the food business, just happened to see signs for the retail development while in the Ogilvie Transportation Center in August.
A historic World War II F6F-3 Hellcat fighter plane was raised from Lake Michigan in Waukegan on Monday and was greeted by Andy Taylor, chairman and CEO of Enterprise Holdings, who financed the operation, the grandson of the pilot and the son of the man who built the airplane to challenge Japanese Zeros.
Middle-aged runners, beware: You could unknowingly be causing damage to your knees and increasing your risk for osteoarthritis, according to research presented Monday in Chicago.
Two-thirds of the fresh, whole broiler chickens tested by Consumer Reports harbored salmonella or campylobacter -- two types of bacteria that can you make you sick.
Two years of therapy can vastly improve symptoms of autistic children, according to the first rigorous study of behavior treatment on autistic kids as young as 18 months old. Often, the result was a milder diagnosis.
As many of us work our way through the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers, it is a reminder that the holiday baking season has really only begun. Soon many kitchens will again be stacked full of all of the holiday favorites, with the smells of gingerbread cookies, warm breads and baked apple pies inviting guests to indulge themselves in the beloved treats. That is, if you are able to eat these types of foods.
Forget Blu-ray and DVD. Winnetka resident Laura Robinson, an architect-turned-author, designed and crafted a pair of books powered by a simple flashlight and imagination. In a dark room, a parent or child can use a flashlight to read the text while projecting the illustrations onto a wall.
Shoppers on the hunt for deals helped drive total Cyber Monday sales higher than last year, but on average they spent less, preliminary data showed. Online sales were up 11 percent over the same time last year, as of 5:30 p.m. Monday, but the average order value was down 13.2 percent, according to Coremetrics, a California-based Web analytics company.
Wicker Park has been ahead of its time dating back to 1959, when writer Nelson Algren moved into a three-flat on Evergreen Avenue. Today there are groovy boutiques, swank restaurants and hipster bars. But now the neighborhood is officially hip to be square. A barbershop named Floyd's has opened at 1409 N. Milwaukee. Floyd's -- as in Mayberry. And in 1960s Mayberry tradition, Floyd's offers buzz cuts and old-school face shaves among styling and color services for men and women. However, the ambience is lathered up in a rock 'n' roll atmosphere.
Sometimes, parenting is easy. Like when a teacher talks about how much he likes your kid. Or you get a great homemade birthday card. Sometimes, it's hard. Like when you go into labor. Or take a sick toddler to the emergency room. Or when you teach your teenager how to drive.
Heading home or to school after a holiday with families, many travelers in Chicago had one more reason to be thankful Sunday: cutthroat competition between bus companies. Passengers for the Megabus service crowded the sidewalk outside Union Station most of the day. A few had gotten $1 fares.
When her ex-husband put her in a choke hold nearly a decade ago, Lucretia Williams desperately bit her way out. The fight also loosened her bottom front teeth, which eventually had to be removed. In about two weeks, Williams will hide her smile no longer. Partnered up with a Chicago dentist through a national program called Give Back A Smile, she has received extensive dental work as well as a new partial denture to fill in her missing teeth.
Although she hasn't even made her national big-screen debut yet, Princess Tiana is getting the royal welcome as Disney's first African-American princess character. The anticipation is strong for "The Princess and the Frog," an update of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, "The Frog Prince," in which Tiana is a 19-year-old waitress who dreams of opening her own restaurant in Jazz Age New Orleans.
At the time of year when kids look forward to shiny toy fire trucks comes word of a program for older kids who might want to work on real ones.
On the "Tonight Show,'' Johnny Carson once asked comedian Buddy Hackett to name the funniest guy he'd ever known during all his years in show business.
His chaotic upbringing, documented in his debut book, Running With Scissors, made him a poster boy for survivors of dysfunctional families, so it’s not a bit surprising that Augusten Burroughs tackles what is for many the mother of all dysfunctional periods, the Christmas holidays, in his latest book.
Oh sure, it sounds like a wonderful life: Jaw-dropping views of Lake Michigan from a 50-foot bluff, a wood-paneled library, TWO kitchens, an indoor golf range, your own private steps down to the lake. You wouldn't even have to shovel snow -- the driveway is heated!
The good folks in Flint can give thanks for having one thing over Chicago: an enclosed year-round farmers market. The Flint Farmers’ Market is anchored by a beautiful red brick WPA building from 1940. It is set in a ravine along the Flint River and has more than 30 vendors.
Not everyone who crowded Macy's on State Street on Saturday afternoon was there for the holiday shopping bargains. Hundreds came to see and snap pictures of musician and actress Queen Latifah, who was in town to promote her new fragrance. Latifah's new scent, called Queen, is only the latest business venture for the rapper-turned-actress.
While Kiwis may be best known for adventure tourism — including skydiving, bungee jumping, gliding and Zorbing — perhaps the most enriching part of my trip was the cultural tourism that taught me about the Maori.
Three sketches by Pablo Picasso have been sold for $36,000 at a central Illinois auction.
The 20-year wait ended Friday for a shopping center to emerge on the long-vacant Block 37 as athletic store Puma, clothing store Zara, and a handful of other shops christened a new mall standing between the Daley Center and Macy's. While shoppers scoped out the new stores on the main floor, a battle continues between the mall developer and its lender.
The estimate was startling, and made headlines around the country: Almost half of all U.S. kids will be on food stamps at some time during childhood.
The terms "mentally retarded" and "mental retardation" may soon disappear from federal law books.
The number of free public Wi-Fi or wireless local area network locations in the U.S. is 81 percent greater than the amount worldwide, according to a recent study.
The number of people with diabetes in the United States is expected to double over the next 25 years, a new study predicts.
CORONA, Calif. -- For more than 20 years, Mike Nolan was known to radio listeners as the "eye in the sky." He flew over Southern California freeways in his single-engine plane, reporting on the nation's worst traffic.
Andre Guichard is hosting his four-year-old art gallery's first Black Friday door buster -- but as a small business going against big-box giants, he's staying open two hours later rather than opening earlier than usual.
Seasonal shows round-up: Times are tough, but theaters, churches, concert halls and park districts are doing their best to spread a bit of holiday cheer. So get out your calendars and celebrate the season with some of the area's holiday events. From classics like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol" to the "Holiday Hop," "Santaland Diaries" and more, you'd be naughty not to feel nice about this list.
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- It took Google Earth, a little deer psychology and a freak shot for a bow hunter in southern Illinois to bring down one of the largest deer in the state so far this year -- a 25-point buck.
Cousins Karen Wilson and Vernita Calbert have proudly sat in the No. 1 or No. 2 lawn chairs outside the 5 a.m. Black Friday opening of Toys R Us or Target for seven years. They head out at midnight or 1 a.m. with necessities in tow: sales coupons, copies of their favorite stores' e-mailed sneak-preview alerts, a store map, lawn chairs, picnic basket and a plan to quickly grab the best door-buster deals.
In the fourth-grade class at Cather Elementary, on the West Side in one of the city's poorest communities, requests to Santa are humble. "I want to be a teacher when I grow up Santa. I want some shoes," pleads 10-year-old Lakarra in her letter to the jolly guy.
Lying in bed one night in 2007, Peter Criss felt something strange: a small lump on his left breast. "I thought, 'It's a nodule, I'm a guy, I don't think it's anything more than that,"' he said. "The more I messed with it, the bigger it got and the more it hurt, and that started really scaring me."
I have arthritis, and I read somewhere that I should not eat green peppers, potatoes or tomatoes with this ailment. Then I read an article that said this is a myth. Which is correct?
The middle seat is not choice on a long international flight, but it's what I was assigned, and I settled in between two large men.
With visions of turkey dancing in our collective heads, families across the country are preparing their Thanksgiving Day menus.
Is it possible for men and women to be friends after having an intimate relationship?
Is there an ungrateful teenager living in your house?
It often is assumed that the schoolyard is where bullies go to make other kids miserable, but a new study suggests that classrooms are another popular site.
Visitors to the Grundy County Corn Festival often have noticed a distinctive log home during the ride out to the country. That log house -- plus a home converted from a barn -- will be among the residences opening for touring on Friday during a housewalk in south suburban Morris.
For many people, 'tis the season to be grumpy owing to family conflicts that explode during bird day gatherings and boil over again around Hanukkah and Christmas. But there are ways (healthy ways) to avoid -- or at least endure -- the grief. "Try not to talk too much," says Chicago student Dan Zavorotny. "Eat and go in the living room and watch TV. Or hang out with the younger kids."
I put down my luggage, walk onto my cabin’s balcony and see Spider-Man — disguised as a paunchy middle-aged teacher — whizzing through the air, headed straight at me. I’d just witnessed the first zip line at sea, a thrill ride zooming 82 feet across the top of the ship. It would be the first of many firsts I encountered last weekend on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, the tallest, widest, heaviest and most expensive cruise liner ever built.
The turkey’s still frozen solid. The gravy comes out lumpy. The guests arrive before the food is finished. Big holiday dinners can be tough to orchestrate. Don't worry. Most kitchen failures can be fixed with a little ingenuity and flexibility. If the buttered carrots morph into carrot soup or the cake becomes “pudding” at the last minute, no one needs to know that isn’t what you’d planned all along. The most important thing is to keep your cool.
Fear is a rational response when truck drivers coming from behind are aiming at the 8-foot gap between you -- the wobbly bicyclist on the side of the road -- and oncoming traffic. "You don't want to be here," warned Ed Barsotti of the League of Illinois Bicyclists. "This road was built without consideration for bicycles or pedestrians."
Most of us have had our children stare at us like we're mentally unfit for asking them to clean their room or brush their teeth. But say the words "ice cream," and they suddenly regard us as if we're the biggest geniuses at Fermilab. So one telephone call easily brought 18 kids to The Cooling Station in Highwood to eat The Avalanche.
Celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving with these family friendly crafts and activities. Teach your kids the story of the first Thanksgiving with these memorable crafts. Your kids will love having a special project for their Thanksgiving feast and you will love knowing they learned a bit of American history in the process.
Two complete strangers are coming to the Sable home in Prospect Heights for Thanksgiving Day. They're likely to have big appetites, and 11-year-old Matthew Sable hopes they'll be excited to play video games with him. Wendy Sable, Matthew's mom, is hoping the two sailors living at Great Lakes Naval Station, but far from home, will feel like they're part of her family for a day.
Last year, Shari Sopourn was trying to find a way to teach her kids about the recent government bailout of financial institutions. In the process, she and her husband, Jordy, created Bailout!, a board game that is a sort of anti-Monopoly.
Three students with Chicago area ties -- Stephanie Bell, Russell Perkins and Daniel Shih -- are among the 32 American men and women named Saturday as 2009 Rhodes Scholars, considered one of the world's most prestigious academic honors.
Invoking the memory of Edward M. Kennedy, Democrats united Saturday night to push historic health care legislation past a key Senate hurdle over the opposition of Republicans eager to inflict a punishing defeat on President Barack Obama. There was not a vote to spare.
This weekend, you could pay $10 to see the cinematic vampire love story "New Moon," stand in line for overpriced snacks with your new tween buddies and then jostle for a seat in a crowded theater.
Gov. Quinn was joined by Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Director Marc Miller and Pike County Farm Bureau President Terry Rush at Blue River Farm near Pittsfield, according to a press release from the governor's office.
First mammograms. Now -- in an apparent coincidence -- Pap smears. New guidelines by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say most women in their 20s can have a Pap smear every two years instead of annually to catch slow-growing cervical cancer. The change comes amid a separate debate over when regular mammograms to detect breast cancer should begin, in the 40s or the 50s.
Why did the Nazis hate the Jews? Why did the Hutus hate the Tutsis?
