"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Father fights for abducted daughter

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 05:19 PM PDT

After his ex-wife takes his daughter to Russia, a father learns the courts' hands are tied

After his ex-wife takes his daughter to Russia, a father learns the courts can't help him. "The worst part is knowing that I'm being erased from my daughter's life," he says.

Video catches caretaker abusing girl, police say

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 03:05 PM PDT

An in-home caretaker for a 13-year-old Chicago girl with severe cerebral palsy has been charged with slapping the girl, pulling her hair and slamming her head against her wheelchair.

Government shutdown averted — now what?

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 06:40 AM PDT

The House and Senate have voted to keep the government running until Friday. Next, they have to finalize a deal for the rest of the fiscal year, which is likely. But after come bigger battles about the federal debt ceiling, which could reach its limit in May, and about next year's budget.

Just because a government shutdown was averted at the last minute doesn't mean that the all of the political and economic issues that swirl around the budget process are resolved. Here is a road map to what lies ahead.

Kass: These restaurant awards get it right >> Video

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 04:09 PM PDT

LTHForum.com proves again that Chicagoans and suburbanites care about good food

New Great Neighborhood Restaurants Awards are out for Chicago — courtesy of the foodies of the decidedly non-commercial chat site at LTHForum.com .

Problem Solver: Fans endure Soldier Field water torture

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 04:09 PM PDT

Tom and Kay Dalton's seats at Soldier Field get drenched when it rains. And sometimes when it doesn't.

When Tom and Kay Dalton bought personal seat licenses for the new Soldier Field, they figured it was a lifelong investment.

Prosecutors: College student set up home invasion

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 02:37 PM PDT

A Columbia College student played the inside man in a violent home invasion, slipping from an Old Town apartment to let in three armed robbers who beat his friends with brass knuckles and a handgun, Cook County prosecutors said Saturday.

Bulls on No. 1 expectations: 'Thibs will have us ready'

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 09:08 AM PDT

CLEVELAND -- The last two seasons, the Chicago Bulls limped into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed, their record as average as it could be at 41-41.

Analysis: Republicans won first budget round

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 11:47 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican conservatives were the chief winners in the budget deal that forced Democrats to accept historic spending cuts they strongly opposed.

Melrose Park man charged with $900,000 theft from aunt

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 11:00 AM PDT

A Melrose Park man is being held on charges he stole almost $1 million from his elderly aunt, using the money to buy himself a luxury SUV, a $30,000 wedding and a lavish vacation, police said.

Farming on water in the city's heart

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 11:53 AM PDT

Former meatpacking plant poised to become aquaponic farm, with startup food firms, brewery planned

John Edel is turning a former meatpacking plant on the edge of Chicago's old Union Stockyards into an indoor farm.

Film director Sidney Lumet dies

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 12:42 PM PDT

Sidney Lumet, the director of classic films including "12 Angry Men," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Network" and "Fail-Safe," has died at age 86.

How police marine officers saved 2 who fell into harbor

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 08:57 AM PDT

Chicago Police Marine Unit officers who had just finished a drill on giving life-saving treatment to someone who has come close to drowning saved the life of a woman who had stopped breathing after falling into a downtown harbor Friday night.

Empty nesters vote to up taxes

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 08:59 AM PDT

More than 80% of voters have no school-age children, but bond proposal wins by 79%

These are tough times to ask voters to add a few hundred dollars to their tax bills to help public schools. Bucking the trend, empty nesters in Homewood helped push the hike through.

'Maddening' immigration court: Stressed judges, lives in limbo

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 07:37 AM PDT

CHICAGO (AP) — Every morning, they don their black robes, take their seats and listen to the pleas of a long line of immigrants desperate to stay in America. The pace is fast, the pressure intense, the stories sometimes haunting. The work, these judges say, is exhausting:

Forecast: Dangerous storms

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 06:57 AM PDT

This weekend's swift warmup may come with a price, as a slight chance of thunderstorms today and tonight gives way Sunday to what could be the spring's first outbreak of dangerous storms, including possibly tornadoes.

Giffords plans to attend husband's shuttle launch

Posted: 08 Apr 2011 01:24 PM PDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Aides for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords are preparing for her to travel to Florida to watch her husband's space shuttle launch at the end of the month, although doctors have yet to clear her to go, her office said Friday.

Pension deal a windfall for some county officials

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 05:25 AM PDT

Payouts of more than $100,000 a year are funded by taxpayers

To thank Bill Maio for his years of public service, his former colleagues on the DuPage County Board named a street after him.

Homebuilder Pasquinelli files for bankruptcy

Posted: 08 Apr 2011 08:36 PM PDT

Pasquinelli Homebuilding LLC, the Burr Ridge-based homebuilder whose business started in Chicago's south suburbs but expanded to seven other states, has filed documents with U.S. Bankruptcy Court to liquidate the company.

Wisconsin to review discovery of votes

Posted: 08 Apr 2011 11:12 PM PDT

A county clerk's error alters the final total in favor of the conservative incumbent. The elections agency says it will investigate.

Wisconsin's top elections agency said Friday it would review a county clerk's discovery of 14,000 votes in the state's photo-finish Supreme Court election, a total that appeared to both decisively tip the race to the conservative incumbent but also continue the partisan battles that have dominated the state for months.

Man convicted of 1996 Bensenville rape

Posted: 08 Apr 2011 04:09 PM PDT

DNA testing improvements years after crime linked him to saliva on victim

In a case that once was in jeopardy because police had discarded some evidence, a former Hanover Park man was convicted Friday of raping a 23-year-old woman in Bensenville 15 years ago.