"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Mail delivery slows in some suburbs

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 05:05 PM PDT

After an $8.5 billion loss last year and amid ongoing declines in mail volume, the U.S. Postal Service has consolidated mail routes and deployed automated mail-sorters — changes that are causing headaches in some Chicago suburbs and could be a warning for others.

Suburban cops not laughing at 'barricade' hoax

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 05:30 PM PDT

The man responsible for a six-hour barricade situation in south suburban Oak Forest that turned out to be a hoax has been hospitalized for a mental health evaluation, police said Friday.

Lindsay Lohan sentenced to jail for probation violation

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 06:00 PM PDT

The actress chose not to accept a plea deal last month. VIDEO: Watch Elizabeth Espinosa's Report

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- Actress Lindsay Lohan has been taken into custody Friday afternoon and will begin serving 120 days in jail for a probation violation.

For Netflix, days without competition may be numbered

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 05:02 PM PDT

Man struck, injured by Red Line train, service disrupted

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 05:40 PM PDT

A man was struck and injured by a train on the CTA's Red Line at 47th Street, officials said.

More graduates delinquent on repaying student loans

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 05:26 PM PDT

Statistics typically show how many students simply fail to make payments. But a recent survey has found that for every person who defaults on student loans, at least two more are late or short on payments.

Tasha Younger has been one of the hidden statistics in the growing number of graduates and former students overburdened with education loans.

Quinn grants 85 clemency petitions

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 04:03 PM PDT

Gov. Pat Quinn granted 85 clemency petitions on Good Friday, pardoning or expunging criminal records on a number of felony and misdemeanor crimes, including some that were committed more than 50 years ago.

City to help cabs turn green

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 03:46 PM PDT

Mayor Richard Daley today announced a program to reimburse cab companies for using hybrid cars or those powered by natural gas.

'Gang of Six' senators quietly tackle debt crisis

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 03:53 PM PDT

The six senators — three Democrats, three Republicans — working behind closed doors to deal with the nation's debt crisis have put aside the hyper-partisanship of today's Washington and are engaging in the give-and-take necessary to craft an agreement.

For months, as a group of senators known as the "Gang of Six" secretively holed up in the Capitol, their unusual bipartisan meetings frequently included some version of the doomsday speech.

For Netflix, days without competition may be numbered

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 03:31 PM PDT

Some big firms are said to be lining up to challenge Netflix, the only company that streams a large selection of movies and TV shows online by subscription. But is it already too big to be unseated as the dominant player?

Netflix has attracted more than 20 million subscribers, more than 20,000 movies and television shows for its online service, and more than its share of headaches in Hollywood.

Broadcast pioneer who led WTTW dies

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 02:53 PM PDT

William J. McCarter, 81, who led WTTW in Chicago for 27 years and built it to become the most-watched public television station in the country has died. Programs he developed include Chicago Tonight, Wild Chicago and The McLaughlin Group.

In Pilsen, a Good Friday tradition

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 12:50 PM PDT

Roman Catholics in the Pilsen neighborhood held their 32nd annual Via Crucis Vivente procession today, a re-enactment of Jesus' last hours.

Wheaton dog show controversy to stay in court

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 02:28 PM PDT

Early one morning at a dog show in Wheaton last year, according to a police report, trainer Jessica Plourde noticed a pink substance that looked like a crushed pill near the cage of Pixie, a champion Siberian Husky she was showing.

Fake 19th century coins seized at O'Hare

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 01:28 PM PDT

U.S. Customs agents this week seized a shipment of counterfeit money shipped in from China -- not fake 20s, 50s or 100s, but fake 19th century coins made to look like U.S. silver money that was circulated widely in China.

Legionnaires' bacteria found at Playboy Mansion grotto

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 01:07 PM PDT

The bacteria that cause Legionnaires' disease have been found in the Playboy Mansion's grotto, the famed artificial cave that houses a whirlpool spa.

In Pilsen, a Good Friday tradition

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 12:50 PM PDT

Roman Catholics in the Pilsen neighborhood held their 32nd annual Via Crucis Vivente procession today, a traditional re-enactment of the last hours of Jesus.

No tears as gravestone firm closes

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 01:06 PM PDT

New owner with new business name operating at former Hillside Memorials store

A Cook County gravestone company that was plagued by complaints of fraud and deception, including failure to deliver headstones that customers had paid for, has closed its doors.

Tattoo of slaying leads to a murder conviction

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 12:35 PM PDT

Inked on the chest of a Pico Rivera gang member was the detailed scene of a liquor store slaying that had stumped an L.A. County sheriff's investigator for more than four years. It leads to a jailhouse confession from Anthony Garcia — and a first-degree murder conviction.

The process was routine. L.A. County Sheriff's homicide investigator Kevin Lloyd was flipping through snapshots of tattooed gang members.

Tampering with toilet costs park official $330

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 12:35 PM PDT

Suburban fire departments get 9/11 artifacts

Posted: 22 Apr 2011 09:24 AM PDT

Two northwest suburban fire departments are receiving pieces of the World Trade Center that they expect to use in monuments marking the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and in memorial services marking the 10th anniversary of the attacks this year.