"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Toyota recalls 760,000 RAV4s

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 05:07 PM PDT

FILE- In this Nov. 26, 2006, file photo, unsold 2007 RAV4 sports-utility vehicles are shown on the lot of a Toyota agency in the east Denver suburb of Aurora, Colo. The U.S. government said Monday, June 18, 2012, that it has expanded an investigation into fires that can start in the doors of several Toyota models, adding 600,000 Camrys and RAV4 vehicles to the probe. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it is recalling about 760,000 Toyota RAV4 utility vehicles and 18,000 Lexus HS 250h hybrid vehicles in the United States to correct a defect in rear suspension.

Congress won’t rescue postal service as it defaults on health care benefits

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 03:12 PM PDT

United States Postal Service trucks are seen in Manhasset, New YorkCongress is sitting idly by Wednesday as the U.S. Postal Service prepares to default on $5.5 billion in retiree health care payments. The postal service confirmed in a statement Monday that it would default on its payment to the U.S. Treasury due at midnight on Wednesday. It is also prepared to default on a $5.6 [...]

Hammond church on fired pastor: 'We trusted that man'

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 02:14 PM PDT

An evangelical megachurch pastor has lost his job after admitting to an "improper relationship" with a young woman.

Dentist acquitted in 2nd fondling case, will get license restored

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 03:35 PM PDT

An 81-year-old Northwest Side orthodontist accused of fondling a teenage girl while he was adjusting her braces in 2011 was acquitted Wednesday, a month after he was cleared of committing a similar assault against another patient.

Chick-fil-A supporters turn out in droves for 'Appreciation Day'

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 02:29 PM PDT

The line outside an Englewood, Colo., Chick-fil-A, Aug. 1, 2012. (Timothy Skillern).After several weeks of protests and mayoral catcalls stemming from Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy's controversial public comments against same-sex marriage, supporters of the fast-food chain--and traditional marriage--turned out in droves on Wednesday, jamming many of Chick-fil-A's 1,600 U.S. stores. And protesters, for the most part, stayed away. In Englewood, Colo., an overcapacity lunch crowd spilled [...]

Rubio bill would make Olympic prize money tax-exempt

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 12:54 PM PDT

Rubio on Romney 'veepstakes,' Obama's 'stunt'Florida Sen. Marco Rubio introduced a bill Wednesday that would exempt Americans competing in the Olympic Games from paying taxes on the financial spoils of their victory. Athletes are awarded a $25,000 honorarium for first place, $15,000 for second and $10,000 for third, but under Rubio's bill, the money would not be subject to taxes [...]

Romney’s snoozy 'Mitt’s VP' iPhone app

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 11:41 AM PDT

Can Romney's VP Announcement App Really Beat Twitter?Two mobile apps released this week offer insight into the presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. "Mitt's VP" has some intelligent design behind it, but it ends up a riot of styles and is ultimately ungenerous in the extreme. At the same time, "Obama for America" is clean, Appley-looking and unconfusing. But what the two campaign apps really shed light on is what apps—anyone's app—ought to be in 2012.

Peterson trial continues despite calls for mistrial

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 09:02 AM PDT

Drew Peterson Trial Continues Despite Calls for MistrialDrew Peterson's murder trial resumed today after the judge considered and then denied a defense request to declare a mistrial.

Obama hammers Romney tax plan in Ohio

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 09:46 AM PDT

US President Barack ObamaStumping for votes in the pivotal battleground of Ohio, President Barack Obama hammered Mitt Romney's tax plan on Wednesday, highlighting a new study that said the Republican challenger's blueprint could leave poor and middle-class Americans paying more to the IRS to offset tax cuts for the wealthiest. "If Gov. Romney wants to keep his word [...]

Obama congratulates gold-winning women gymnasts

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:18 AM PDT

U.S. gymnasts, left to right, Jordyn Wieber, Gabrielle Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Alexandra Raisman, Kyla Ross raise their hands on the podium during the medal ceremony during the Artistic Gymnastic women's team final at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 31, 2012, in London. Team U.S. won the gold. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)President Barack Obama telephoned the five members of Team USA's women gymnasts on Wednesday to congratulate them on winning the gold in London—and to express his astonishment at their gravity-defying exploits. "I told these young ladies, as I was congratulating them: 'How do you not bust your head every time you're on that little balance [...]

No more super PAC cash from Foster Friess?

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 11:13 AM PDT

Foster Friess, a Wyoming-based businessman who has donated more than $2.3 million to conservative outside groups this year, suggested Wednesday he may slow down his political giving. Politico's Ginger Gibson reports from an event where Friess spoke in Washington, D.C., that he plans "to be a lot more careful" about the money he sends to [...]

Woman lifts car off father, saves his life

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:33 AM PDT

Lauren Kornacki's quick thinking most likely saved her father's life when a car he was working on fell on him. With more than a ton-and-a-half a BMW 525i on top of her dad, Lauren's called on her strength and smarts. "I just lifted up kind of right here and just kind of threw it, shoved [...]

Jose Canseco hired as a paid columnist by Vice

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 11:58 AM PDT

Vice, the irreverent, Brooklyn-based magazine-turned-multiplatform media brand, has hired Jose Canseco—former professional baseball player-turned-outspoken author and Twitter user—as a paid weekly columnist for its website. Canseco's column—"José Can Say So"—will be published every Monday, according to Vice. And in typical Vice fashion, Canseco's first dispatch has nothing to do with baseball: It's about gun control [...]

Video: John Goodman weighs in on Chick-fil-A...as Colonel Sanders

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 11:30 AM PDT

KFC Loves Gays with John Goodman from John Goodman Today is Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, which some customers have organized to support the fast-food chain, whose chief executive publicly stated opposition to same-sex marriage. In this new video from Funny Or Die, actor John Goodman portrays KFC founder Colonel Sanders as he weighs in on the [...]

RV camper crashes into backyard swimming pool

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:58 AM PDT

A Brockton, Mass., man crashed his RV through a fence on Wednesday and into his neighbor's in-ground swimming pool. The unidentified 60-year-old man apparently suffered a health problem shortly before the 28-foot camper flew "through a metal fence, some bushes and logs" and into the pool, according to Boston's Fox 25. Aerial video showed the [...]

Quinn signs so-called Facebook bill into law

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 11:27 AM PDT

Illinois employers no longer will be allowed to ask for their workers' passwords to social networking sites under a measure Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law today.

Gore Vidal as writer-provocateur, elitist and populist

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:15 AM PDT

To him, the world was both subject and spectacle. Yet he remained, always, an author difficult to categorize.

Appreciation: To him, the world was both subject and spectacle. Yet he remained, always, an author difficult to categorize.

Pepper-spray cop no longer employed by UC Davis

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 10:06 AM PDT

Lt. John Pike, the University of California Davis police officer who pepper-sprayed student protesters last November, is no longer employed by the university. The Sacramento Bee reported that the circumstances of Lt. Pike's departure are not known. UC Davis spokesperson Barry Shiller said, "Consistent with privacy guidelines established in state law and university policy, I [...]

Putin rolls back freedoms, ups efforts to intimidate opposition

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 06:55 AM PDT

Putin Rolls Back Freedoms, Ups Efforts to Intimidate OppositionSince Putin's inauguration, the Kremlin has pushed through several pieces of legislation and orchestrated an apparent attempt to systematically restrict and intimidate the opposition.

How Oakland became the spiritual capital of Occupy Wall Street

Posted: 01 Aug 2012 08:20 AM PDT

A chalk drawing from Occupy Oakland (Peter Bohler /The New York Times)Last Spring, as the Occupy movement struggled, vainly, to recapture its lost energy in New York and elsewhere, in Oakland it remained vital.