"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Who is James Holmes?

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 10:50 AM PDT

This photo combination shows a variety of facial expressions of James E. Holmes during his appearance at Arapahoe County District Court Monday, July 23, 2012, in Centennial, Colo. Holmes is accused of killing 12 and wounding 58 in a shooting rampage in a movie theater on Friday, July 20 in Aurora, Colo. (AP Photo/Denver Post, RJ Sangosti, Pool)As the prime suspect in the shootings made his first public appearance, more information about his past has come to light

Sally Ride, first U.S. woman in space, dies of cancer at 61

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 05:32 PM PDT

Sally Ride, who died today after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, blasted off from the space shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983.

Sally Ride, first U.S. woman in space, dies at 61

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 04:48 PM PDT

NASA handout photo of Sally Ride aboard the ChallengerSally Ride, the first U.S. woman to travel into space, died on Monday after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, according to her organization, Sally Ride Science, in San Diego. She was 61. Ride, a physicist, blasted off in the U.S. space shuttle "Challenger" on June 18, 1983. "Sally's historic flight into space captured the nation's imagination and made her a household name," Sally Ride Science said in a statement. (Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Jackie Frank)

Univ. of Colo. gets suspicious packages Monday

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 01:09 PM PDT

James E. Holmes appears in Arapahoe County District Court, Monday, July 23, 2012, in Centennial, Colo. Holmes is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, and could also face additional counts of aggravated assault and weapons violations stemming from a mass shooting last Friday in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., that killed 12 and injured dozens of others. (AP Photo/Denver Post, RJ Sangosti, Pool)Officials at the University of Colorado say they received two suspicious packages Monday at the Denver-area school.

Gun control surfaces in Senate debates after Colo. shooting

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 12:30 PM PDT

Do we need stricter gun laws?A mass shooting Friday in Aurora, Colo., that left 12 dead and 58 wounded has already pushed the issue of gun control into the local political dialogue across the country. This weekend, two high-profile Senate race debates in Virginia and Connecticut tackled the topic. At the Democratic Connecticut Senate debate Sunday afternoon, Rep. Chris Murphy and [...]

City to pay $3.25M in traffic death of girl near Lincoln Park Zoo

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 12:59 PM PDT

The city of Chicago is set to pay $3.25 million to the family of Maya Hirsch in a case that became a rallying point for traffic safety advocates.

Obama to Assad: Using chemical arms would be ‘tragic mistake’

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 01:10 PM PDT

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the 113th VFW National Convention in RenoPresident Barack Obama warned Syria's Bashar Assad on Monday that he will be held accountable if he makes the "tragic mistake" of using chemical weapons on his own people. His blunt warning came shortly after Syria—gripped by deadly violence since an uprising against Assad that began early last year—threatened to use chemical and biological weapons [...]

Drew Peterson's lawyer expects case to be thrown out

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 08:18 AM PDT

Drew Peterson's Lawyer Expects Case to Be Thrown Out by JudgeJury selection in the trial of Drew Peterson for the alleged murder of his third wife began today in Joliet, Ill., but the former cop's attorney predicted that the judge will throw out the case after the prosecution concludes its case.

Second triple-digit loss for Dow in 2 days

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 01:52 PM PDT

Barclays trader Dermot Bermingham works with multiple stock trading monitors at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, July 13, 2012. Strong earnings from JPMorgan launched a stock market rally as the Dow Jones industrial jumped 204 points, snapping a six-day slump, to close its best day average this month.(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)Fear that Spain may need a bailout sent its borrowing costs soaring, the euro to a two-year low against the dollar and stocks around the world tumbling as investors pulled back Monday from all manner of risk.

Man dives off Tower Bridge in Olympic taxi protest

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 03:38 PM PDT

Taxi drivers in traditional black cabs drive slowly across Tower Bridge in protest at not being allowed to drive in the Olympic Lanes during the London 2012 Olympic GamesLONDON (Reuters) - A man dived off London's historic Tower Bridge into the River Thames on Monday during a protest by taxi drivers over their exclusion from part of a special Olympic Games road network in the capital. Police pulled the man from the water under the landmark bridge, from which Olympic rings were suspended to celebrate the 2012 London Games, and arrested him on a public order offence. The Port of London Authority said the man, thought to be a taxi driver, was lucky to be alive after diving headfirst from the walkway about 8 meters (25 feet) above the water. ...

Largest food poisoning outbreak in homeless shelter in 10 years

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 11:56 AM PDT

Sixty people were hospitalized Sunday night after eating  a turkey dinner at a Denver homeless shelter, marking the largest food poisoning outbreak at a U.S. shelter in the past decade, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. "I would say this is something that...

Did lax student loan standards create debt crisis?

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 12:38 PM PDT

College: Worth the debt?Lax loan standards have left many college graduates struggling to repay private student loans, according to a new study. A report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education found that the  private student loan market grew from less than $5 billion in...

Obama will visit Israel if re-elected

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 10:43 AM PDT

President Barack Obama walks up the steps of Air Force One at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Monday, July 23, 2012. Obama is heading to Reno, Nev., to give remarks at the 113th National Convention of the VFW. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)President Barack Obama, who hasn't set foot in Israel since a pre-election trip in 2008, would go there if he wins in November, an aide said Monday. The official, former deputy assistant defense secretary for the Middle East Colin Kahl, scoffed that Republican criticisms of Obama for not visiting Israel since taking office were "a [...]

Biden praises Colorado first responders

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 10:21 AM PDT

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the annual convention of the National Association of Police Organizations, Monday, July 23, 2012, in Manalapan, Fla. Biden spoke about the recent Colorado movie theater shooting which killed twelve people and injured dozens more. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)In a somber address to police officers Monday, Vice President Joe Biden mourned those killed Friday at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and praised the people—both in uniform and civilian—who came to the aid of the victims. "We as a nation have been there before—Columbine, Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, Tucson, September 11 and [...]

21-pound lobster released to New England Aquarium (UPDATE)

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 11:11 AM PDT

UPDATE (5:52EST): I spoke on the phone with the woman who won the lobster raffle. She has asked to remain anonymous but passed along some details about where the lobster was released. Contrary to earlier reports, the lobster was not released back into the ocean but has instead been donated to the New England Aquarium [...]

Worker who wanted 'to get out of work' charged in sub arson

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 11:12 AM PDT

FILE - In this May 23, 2012 file photo, a fire burns on a nuclear submarine at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. A civilian employee working as a painter and sandblaster aboard the submarine has been charged with setting a fire that caused $400 million in damages to the vessel in May, and a second fire near it in June, Navy investigators said in a complaint filed Monday, July 23, 2012. (AP Photo/WMUR, Jean Mackin, File) MANDATORY CREDITA civilian employee set a fire that caused $400 million in damage to a Navy submarine because he was suffering from anxiety and wanted to get out of work early, Navy investigators said in a complaint filed Monday.

Drew Peterson introduces self to would-be jurors

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 12:39 PM PDT

FILE - In this Nov. 26, 2007 file photo, former Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson talks to the media as he leaves his home in Bolingbrook, Ill. Peterson was indicted in May 2009 on a murder charge in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Jury selection is scheduled to begin in his trial Monday, July 23, 2012, at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I'm Mr. Peterson," the 58-year-old former police officer who is charged with killing his third wife said.

Colorado massacre suspect silent in first court hearing

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 02:48 PM PDT

James Holmes, the man accused of killing a dozen people in a Colorado movie theater, sat silently in a red jailhouse jump suit and with his hair dyed bright red.

London prostitutes 'cleaned from the streets'

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 02:59 AM PDT

Prostitution is legal in Britain, but keeping a brothel is outlawedThe London Olympics are not big business for everyone -- sex workers say they are being cleared from the streets around the stadium to make the area more presentable for the Games.

Sarah Palin endorses Rep. Jeff Flake over tea party candidate in Arizona Senate race

Posted: 23 Jul 2012 09:07 AM PDT

Bucking her tea party predilection yet again this cycle, Sarah Palin on Monday endorsed Republican Rep. Jeff Flake over Wil Cardon in the Arizona U.S. Senate primary. "Credited by many as the leading anti-earmark crusader in the House, Jeff has fought hard against pork barrel spending—often times casting one of the few GOP 'no' votes [...]