"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Japan death toll passes 17,000

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 05:44 PM PDT

Engineers continue effort to restore electricity, but it's unknown if the cooling systems at the Fukushima plant will work. A moment of silence is observed to mark one week since the magnitude 9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami; the official death toll in Japan is now more than 6,900.

Fighting exhaustion and radiation fears, engineers struggled anew Saturday to complete the crucial task of hooking up a damaged nuclear plant to the electricity grid to help cool damaged reactors. The official count of dead and missing in the quake and tsunami soared above 17,000, making this Japan's worst disaster since World War II.

Dozens in Yemen shot dead

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 05:05 PM PDT

Witnesses in Sana say pro-government forces, many of them in civilian clothing, opened fire on the protesters shortly after prayers. At least 45 are dead and hundreds more injured. President Ali Abdullah Saleh reportedly declares a state of emergency.

Pro-government gunmen in Yemen on Friday shot at protesters demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, killing at least 45 people and wounding hundreds more in Sana, the capital.

Troubled Chicago nursing home loses Medicaid funds

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 04:36 PM PDT

Authorities have documented knife attacks, drug abuse at Wincrest Nursing Center

Federal authorities said Friday that they are terminating Medicaid funding to the Wincrest Nursing Center on the city's Far North Side after state and federal inspections documented bloody resident-on-resident attacks, drug and alcohol abuse, and other serious problems.

Pfleger won't discuss talk of exit from St. Sabina

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 04:25 PM PDT

The Rev. Michael Pfleger on Friday declined to discuss reports he has been asked to leave St. Sabina Church to become president of Leo High School, saying his conversations with the Archdiocese of Chicago are confidential.

Restaurant sued over allergic death of girl at school

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 04:43 PM PDT

Chinese food at school's end-of-year party had peanuts or peanut oil, lab says

The family of a Chicago Public Schools seventh-grader who died last year after an allergic reaction to peanuts at a school party has filed a wrongful-death suit against the Chinese restaurant that provided the meal, claiming the student's teacher told the restaurant to avoid peanut products.

Japanese officials warn of long-term hardships ahead

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 01:40 PM PDT

The governor of hard-hit Miyagi prefecture asks survivors to relocate because even temporary housing will not be ready for as long as a year. Conditions are bleak at the nation's shelters, where 380,000 displaced people are staying.

Japanese officials are girding the nation for months of hardship, warning about ongoing rolling electricity blackouts and asking quake refugees to move elsewhere in the country, as it became clear that even temporary homes won't be quickly built.

Man struck, killed by Metra train

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 05:38 PM PDT

A man was killed this afternoon when he was struck by a Metra train near Metra's Wilmette station, officials said.

Feds yank funding from North Side nursing home

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 02:44 PM PDT

Federal authorities said today that they are terminating Medicaid funding to the Wincrest Nursing Center on the city's North Side after state and federal inspections documented bloody resident-on-resident attacks, drug and alcohol abuse, and other serious problems.

Tyree's death ruled an accident

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 03:56 PM PDT

The death of Sun-Times owner James Tyree has been ruled an accident by the medical examiner. An autopsy on Tyree found that he died of an air embolism after a catheter removal.

U.S. warns Libya of military action

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 12:14 PM PDT

President Obama announces, in a warning to Moammar Kadafi, that the U.N. will act if the Libyan leader doesn't immediately stop all attacks on rebels and pull back troops from Benghazi and three other cities.

President Obama said Friday the U.S. and its allies were ready to launch a military action against Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi if he didn't immediately stop all attacks on civilians in his country and pull back his troops from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and three other cities.

Missing Chicagoan calls home

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 09:26 AM PDT

Edward Clemons, 25, who had been missing in Japan since the earthquake and tsunami one week ago, contacted his mother in the U.S. today, she said. Clemons has been living near the hard-hit city of Sendai.

Rev. Pfleger mum on reports he will head Leo High School

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 12:36 PM PDT

Rev. Michael Pfleger today would not comment about unconfirmed reports that he has been asked to leave St. Sabina Catholic Church to become president of Leo High School, saying his conversations with the Archdiocese of Chicago are a confidential matter. 

Wis. man convicted in '08 Aurora murder

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 10:15 AM PDT

A Wisconsin man was found guilty today of first-degree murder for a 2008 shooting death in Aurora that authorities say happened during an attempted drug robbery.

Borders closing more stores

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 08:46 AM PDT

FDA: Menthol cigarette ban would help public

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 09:54 AM PDT

Essentially recommending a ban, an FDA panel says the removal of menthol cigarettes from the market 'would benefit public health,' But the lack of an explicit call for such a ban causes stock in Lorillard, maker of Newport menthol cigarettes, to surge.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel Friday said that "removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit public health in the United States."

Wisconsin judge halts union law

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 05:58 PM PDT

A Dane County District judge has blocked the state's new and contentious collective bargaining law from taking effect, raising the possibility that the Legislature may have to vote again to pass the bill.

Sec. Clinton unimpressed by Libya cease-fire

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 09:40 AM PDT

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton brushes aside Libya's claim that it will observe a cease-fire with rebels; she calls for a pullback of Libyan troops and insists that Moammar Kadafi leave power. President Obama will speak on the Libya situation Friday.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday brushed aside Libya's claim that it would observe a cease-fire in fighting with rebels, and she insisted that the nation's crisis could only end with the departure of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi.

Missing Chicagoan calls mom from Japan

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 09:26 AM PDT

After a week of worry about the fate of her son in Japan, one Chicago mother is breathing a sigh of relief.

Restaurant sued over allergic death of girl at school

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 09:12 AM PDT

The family of a Chicago Public Schools student who died last year after suffering an allergic reaction to peanuts at school is suing the Chinese restaurant that provided the meal, claiming the restaurant had been advised that some students had food allergies.

2 charged with pointing laser at plane at Midway

Posted: 18 Mar 2011 08:45 AM PDT

A man and woman have been charged with pointing a laser at a commercial plane near Midway Airport and then at a police helicopter sent to investigate, police said.