Dec. 31, 2008 – Peace groups from around the region will hold a daily vigil throughout January in Hyde Park, blocks from the home of President-elect Barack Obama, to show support for the progressive agenda on which Obama ran. "We are trying to remain hopeful, but we understand that there is tremendous pressure on Obama to...
Continued >>

Dec. 30, 2008 – When Judge Vanessa A. Hopkins was reelected as a circuit court judge with nearly 70 percent of the vote last month she felt relieved, grateful and vindicated by the voters of Cook County. Hopkins is one of three Cook County judges who won reelection despite not having the endorsement of one of the...
Continued >>

Dec. 29, 2008 Story by Meha Ahmad When Angela Pham looks at President-Elect Barack Obama, she sees a black president. Pham, 22, who is half Vietnamese, half white, says Obama doesn’t truly represent other biracials, citing a speech about race given in March, where Obama focused chiefly on the black community. Pham said she’s...
Continued >>

Dec. 26, 2008 Story by Elisa Tavares Bell Chicagoan Bruce Jordan took a day off from work to attend a Chicago City Council Committee meeting last summer, but he sat waiting for almost two hours before learning his alderman would not be there. Jordan, president of Concerned Citizens of Auburn-Gresham, said Ald. Howard Brookins Jr....
Continued >>

Dec. 24, 2008 – Looking to save money and increase efficiency in the way minority and women-owned businesses secure contracts, Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman (17th) proposed eliminating a county department earlier this month. Gorman’s move to approve two ordinance amendments that would eliminate the county’s Department of Contract Compliance elicited a...
Continued >>

Dec. 23, 2008 – Lauren Hasselson and Christy Fairbairn of Bloomingdale know they're up against a tough fight. The couple, who demonstrated against the approval of California's Proposition 8 in Downtown Chicago last month, plan to wed May 2 in a commitment ceremony. They want nothing more than their vows to be recognized under...
Continued >>

Story by Leo Moskal As Welles Park in the Lincoln Square neighborhood creeps towards its 100-year anniversary, a group of local residents want to restructure the park’s playground. The Friends of Welles Park Play Lot is raising money for the rejuvenation project and hopes to have the necessary funds by the end of the...
Continued >>

Dec. 19, 2008 – Long after the polling machines have been put away and the campaign yard signs taken down, political memorabilia stores and online auction sites still have plenty of presidential campaign items to get rid of. Candidate buttons, bumper stickers, T-shirts and masks are still being sold — even from the losing candidate. Sets of McCain/Palin...
Continued >>

Dec. 18, 2008 Story by John McCarron It was the red dots-scores of little red specks sprinkled across a map of just one neighborhood on Chicago’s southwest side-that spoke the loudest. Sen. Richard Durbin Several high-powered experts spoke Dec. 4 in Chicago at a field hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services....
Continued >>

Dec. 17, 2008 – Costs for using valet services in downtown Chicago might soon rise under an ordinance proposed by Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) that would require parking companies to have insurance coverage of at least $1 million and prove all their drivers have a valid license. This ordinance is long overdue," said Reilly. The issue, he said, "has only...
Continued >>