"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

House Republicans vow to uphold Defense of Marriage

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 05:17 PM PST

The party's leaders vote to join a legal battle against granting federal rights and benefits to same-sex couples.

House Republican leaders voted Wednesday to launch what could be a lengthy legal battle against granting federal rights and benefits to same-sex couples, deciding to join a series of pending court battles to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act, which the Obama administration has decided to no longer defend as constitutional.

Up up and away (The Newsroom)

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 04:34 PM PST

The Newsroom - In a strictly "don't try this at home" stunt, scientists and balloon pilots built a house, attached 300 helium-filled balloons and set it aloft, inspired by the animated movie, "Up," minus the grouchy old dude and the talking dog. National …

Kickstarter an online meal ticket for starving artists

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 03:30 PM PST

Crowd funding — pooling the resources of multiple donors online — is seen by some as a fundamental shift in how creative projects get off the ground. But a legal downside looms.

Teeny Lamothe thought the idea was nuts: Go online and ask for money? Just ask ? Explain what you're making, yes, offer some incentive to people for donating to your project, but, more or less, beg ?

Photos: Groupon's Lefkofsky on Chicago's billionaires list

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 02:37 PM PST

Here's a look at the Chicagoans who appeared on Forbes magazine's annual list of billionaires on March 9, 2011.

Rob Lowe may replace Sheen on 'Two and a Half Men'

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 04:10 PM PST

Amidst all the Charlie Sheen craziness that has been happening lately, there is still the tiny matter of one of CBS' biggest shows, "Two and a Half Men." Production has halted for the season, though the crew members are getting paid for four episodes they are not actually shooting.

Newt Gingrich: Passion for country contributed to infidelity

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 02:38 PM PST

ATLANTA (AP) — Newt Gingrich says his passion for his country contributed to his marital infidelity. In an interview posted Wednesday by The Christian Broadcasting Network, Gingrich — who recently converted to Catholicism — said he had sought God's forgiveness for mistakes in his past.

Protesters tell Quinn: No gas plant in our backyard >> Video

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 02:16 PM PST

Residents of Chicago's Southeast Side descended on the Thompson Center Wednesday morning to urge Gov. Pat Quinn to veto a bill that would pave the way for a coal-to-gas plant to be built in their neighborhood.

82% of U.S. public schools could fail 'No Child' review

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 12:03 PM PST

Education Secretary Arne Duncan urges Congress to change the federal law's requirements so that only the worst schools get failing grades and face government intervention.

The Obama administration estimates that 82% of the nation's public schools could fall short of federal standards this year, grades that are not only embarrassing but also mean government intervention for some of them.

Lawsuit: American Apparel CEO held teen as sex slave

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 12:45 PM PST

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist David Broder dead at 81

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 11:04 AM PST

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- David Broder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post political columnist, died Wednesday from complications relating to diabetes, the newspaper said.

Ex-boyfriend: Yang gave him book on silencers >> Video

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 10:58 AM PST

Testimony in Marni Yang's trial paints a portrait of obsession

A Cook County sheriff's deputy who dated Marni Yang for five years testified today that he had accompanied her to a shooting range, and that she gave him a book on gun silencers for his birthday -- two weeks before Rhoni Reuter's murder.

31 at West Side school taken to hospital with skin irritation

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 10:35 AM PST

About 31 children complaining of skin irritation at a Humboldt Park elementary school late this morning were taken to area hospitals for treatment, a department spokesman said.

Quinn ends death penalty in Illinois

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 10:41 AM PST

Gov. Pat Quinn today signed into law a historic ban on the death penalty in Illinois and commuted the sentences of 15 death row inmates to life without parole. >> Video: Quinn talks about ban

Websites urge boycott of Wis. governor's contributors

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 08:55 AM PST

Opponents of Scott Walker's budget balancing bill are urging consumers to boycott companies whose executives or political action committees made big contributions to the Republican governor's campaign.

Swan song for Lincoln Park Zoo's paddle boats?

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 04:11 PM PST

Birds, plants and fish will be the main attractions this summer at the Lincoln Park Zoo's recently restored South Pond. But as has been anticipated, the swan paddle boats won't be back.

The Fast Fix: Senators’ rush to retirement (The Newsroom)

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 08:16 AM PST

The Newsroom - Why are so many Senators retiring in 2012? To watch more episodes of "The Fast Fix", click here. Get The Fix in your e-mail inbox! Click here to sign-up for the Morning Fix newsletter. Click here for the Afternoon Fix …

NPR boss quits in wake of hidden camera video

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 07:50 AM PST

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- National Public Radio CEO Vivian Schiller resigned Wednesday, according to NPR.

Man shot dead by police after South Side chase >> Video

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 11:44 AM PST

A man was shotand killed by police this morning on the city's South Side after he pointed a gun at officers, police said.

7 kids die in Pa. farmhouse fire

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 04:00 PM PST

LOYSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — The father was making his rounds in his milk truck and the mother was in the barn, milking the cows, when their 3-year-old daughter smelled smoke and ran for help. By the time the parents reached their farmhouse, it was too late: Seven of their eight children were killed in a furious blaze Tuesday night in Pennsylvania's dairy country.

Departing NPR exec slams tea party on hidden camera

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 05:35 AM PST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest round of conservative attacks on public broadcasting got fresh ammunition with the release of a hidden-camera video of an NPR executive calling the tea party racist and saying the network would be better off without federal money anyway.