"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Prosecutors rest; Blago could testify

Posted: 19 May 2011 05:36 PM PDT

Defense team coy on whether their client will testify

Prosecutors concluded their less-is-more version of the criminal case against Rod Blagojevich on Thursday, giving the former governor the weekend to decide whether to testify in his own defense when his corruption retrial resumes next week.

Trampoline parks launch safety debate

Posted: 19 May 2011 04:55 PM PDT

16 ambulances have been dispatched to Carol Stream facility since it opened in November

All the rage on the West Coast, trampoline parks are beginning to pop up here. Their owners say customers are briefed on safety and that padding minimizes the chance of injury. But critics aren't convinced.

Radio host Smiley 'felt bad' over role in Pfleger suspension

Posted: 19 May 2011 04:27 PM PDT

Tavis Smiley to speak at St. Sabina

Radio personality Tavis Smiley believes it was divine providence that many months ago he scheduled a book signing for this weekend at St. Sabina Catholic Church.

3 held in Bucktown bank robbery

Posted: 19 May 2011 01:20 PM PDT

Three people were being held in connection with a bank robbery in the city's Bucktown neighborhood this morning, authorities said.

Ferrara Pan president says he is still with candy company

Posted: 19 May 2011 02:06 PM PDT

Sal Ferrara II said Thursday that he remains president and chief executive officer at Ferrara Pan Candy Co., the Forest Park-based business, following reports that the company board was reconsidering his role.

Report: Ebersol to leave NBC Sports

Posted: 19 May 2011 10:18 AM PDT

Dick Ebersol has reportedly decided to leave NBC Sports.

Radio host Smiley to appear at St. Sabina after Pfleger flap

Posted: 19 May 2011 01:45 PM PDT

Event was scheduled long before Pfleger was suspended for remarks he made on Smiley's show

Radio personality Tavis Smiley believes it was divine providence that many months ago he scheduled a book signing at St. Sabina Catholic Church. The event was scheduled long before the Rev. Michael Pfleger was suspended for remarks he made on Smiley's national radio show about his boss Cardinal Francis George and the Catholic Church.

Family files suit against Four Loko

Posted: 19 May 2011 11:36 AM PDT

The Chicago-based maker of the drink Four Loko is being sued by the family of a 15-year-old boy who was hit and killed by a car after his family said he drank two of the alcoholic beverages and became disoriented.

Search for boy comes up empty

Posted: 19 May 2011 03:12 PM PDT

Aided by bloodhounds and a spotter plane, about 70 officers  fanned out around the Dixon area today searching for evidence in the disappearance of a missing 6-year-old Aurora boy. The search turned up nothing.

Prosecutors: Children watched slaying of 4 in SW Side garage

Posted: 19 May 2011 12:04 PM PDT

Two young children stood in a Southwest Side garage and watched as their father and three other men were executed last year by members of a crew that robbed and killed drug dealers, prosecutors said today.

Obama presents Mideast peace vision

Posted: 19 May 2011 11:30 AM PDT

President Obama today threw his weight behind the drive for democratic change in the Arab world and presented his most detailed vision yet on the path to elusive Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Prosecution rests in Blagojevich retrial

Posted: 19 May 2011 12:56 PM PDT

Lawyers for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich told a judge they plan to call witnesses beginning next week after prosecutors rested their case. Blagojevich did not put on any evidence at his first trial last summer.

Obama: 'Moment of opportunity' in Middle East

Posted: 19 May 2011 10:45 AM PDT

President Obama on Thursday called out American friends in the Middle East for their treatment of peaceful protesters, naming Bahrain and Yemen along with Syria as states he said must yield to the aspirations of their people.

Preckwinkle asks for help closing Oak Forest Hospital

Posted: 19 May 2011 11:15 AM PDT

Obama presents Mideast vision

Posted: 19 May 2011 10:45 AM PDT

President Obama on Thursday called out American friends in the Middle East for their treatment of peaceful protesters, naming Bahrain and Yemen along with Syria as states he said must yield to the aspirations of their people.

Europe demands next IMF chief be from European Union

Posted: 19 May 2011 09:32 AM PDT

Cannes bans director for Hitler sympathy remarks >> Video

Posted: 19 May 2011 09:51 AM PDT

CANNES, France (AP) — Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier was booted out of the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday for a bizarre, rambling news conference in which he said he sympathizes with Adolf Hitler.

Obama seeks to recast ties with skeptical Arab world

Posted: 19 May 2011 09:46 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday invoked the killing of Osama bin Laden as a chance to recast relations with the Arab world and said the top U.S. priority was to promote democratic change across the region.

Emanuel names panel to look at special property tax districts

Posted: 19 May 2011 09:55 AM PDT

Europe demands new IMF chief be from European Union

Posted: 19 May 2011 09:32 AM PDT

BRUSSELS (AP) — European officials closed ranks Thursday to demand that the IMF's next leader be one of their own, someone with the political savvy to handle the continent's relentless debt crisis, but the U.S. balked at offering its immediate support.