"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

West Nile-related deaths confirmed in Texas, Calif.

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 03:05 PM PDT

Local granddad fights the bite and San Antonio City HallTwo West Nile-related deaths were confirmed Tuesday 2,000 miles apart – the 11th confirmed this year in Dallas County, Texas, and the first in Fresno County, Calif. Nationwide, there have been at least 26 deaths attributed to the West Nile virus this year, according to...

Democratic poll: Seniors like Paul Ryan, but not his Medicare plan

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 12:51 PM PDT

Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. pauses during a campaign rally at Beaver Steel in Carnegie, Pa., Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/John HellerA new poll conducted by a Democratic polling firm shows that Americans over the age of 65 have a favorable impression of Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, although his proposal to overhaul Medicare is still viewed unfavorably. The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP) on behalf of the liberal website Daily Kos and [...]

Romney says he's spending campaign money ‘a little wiser’ than Obama

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 01:00 PM PDT

Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. applauds at right as Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign rally, Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, in Manchester N.H. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)Mitt Romney took a shot at President Barack Obama's fundraising on Tuesday, telling donors at a Houston fundraiser that he's managed his campaign cash better than Obama. "You've perhaps noticed in the paper, we're a little wiser in our spending of dollars than the other side, apparently," Romney said. "I'm not managing their campaign for [...]

New Mexico store selling ‘meth candy’ inspired by ‘Breaking Bad’

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 04:01 PM PDT

Shop sells meth candyA candy store owner in Albuquerque says her "meth candy" is a major hit. The blue-colored rock candy is intended to play off the successful AMC drama "Breaking Bad," which is set in the same New Mexico city. "I've been at this for 30 years," Debbie Ball said in an interview with Yahoo! News. "It [...]

Obama slams Romney on college financial aid

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 01:52 PM PDT

Courting young voters in the pivotal state of Ohio, President Barack Obama slammed rival Mitt Romney on the issue of financial aid for college students, suggesting that the Republican's personal wealth left him out of touch with their struggles to pay for school. "Putting a college education within reach for working families just doesn't seem [...]

Akin ignores deadline to drop Senate bid. Now what?

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 03:57 PM PDT

(Blank Headline Received)Despite the pleadings of top Republicans, from Mitt Romney on down, to drop out of the Missouri Senate race, Rep. Todd Akin has held firm: He is staying in.

Court strikes down EPA rule on coal pollution

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 01:54 PM PDT

File of Southern Company's Plant Bowen in Cartersville, GeorgiaWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday overturned a key Obama administration rule to reduce harmful emissions from coal-burning power plants, sparking a rally in coal company shares and relief among utility firms. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in a 2-1 decision that the Environmental Protection Agency had exceeded its mandate with the rule, which was to limit sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants in 28 mostly Eastern states and Texas. ...

BP recalls 2.1M gallons of unleaded gas after engine woes

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 03:12 PM PDT

The fuel, sold mostly in Northwest Indiana, could cause drivability problems

The recall came after hundreds of reports of hard-starting and stalling vehicles from motorists flooded Northwest Indiana repair shops the past few days. The fuel was sold mostly in that area, but also in Illinois and Michigan.

Romney calls on Akin to drop Senate bid

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 01:19 PM PDT

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Romney speaks while vice president select U.S. Congressman Ryan looks on during campaign stop in High PointMitt Romney joined a growing number of Republicans calling on Rep. Todd Akin to drop his bid for Missouri's U.S. Senate seat after his controversial remarks about rape. "As I said yesterday, Todd Akin's comments were offensive and wrong and he should very seriously consider what course would be in the best interest of our [...]

Friends tweet before dying in Md. train derailment

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 04:38 PM PDT

Officials inspect part of a CSX freight train that derailed alongside a parking lot overnight in Ellicott City, Md., Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. Authorities say the train, hauling coal from West Virginia to Maryland, derailed and fell from a bridge near Baltimore, killing two college students who were on the tracks. Howard County officials say 21 of the train's 80 cars flipped over around midnight Monday. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)They were seemingly ordinary tweets from two friends hanging out on a railroad bridge in their hometown, enjoying one last summer night together before heading back to college.

‘Last Supper’ may include two da Vinci self-portraits

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 01:14 PM PDT

Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" may include two self-portraits of the legendary Renaissance artist, according to a British art expert. Ross King says the nose, beards and hairstyles of two of the apostles standing to the right of Jesus in the portrait, Thomas and James the Lesser, match a portrait of Leonardo that was [...]

Would you pay $10 for a can of air from Paris?

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 01:12 PM PDT

Using what appears to be a business plan inspired by the movie "Spaceballs," Kirill Rudenko, a Prague-based photographer, is selling "canned air" from Paris, New York and other major cities for $9.99 a pop. The 3-and-a-half-inch cans--available through Rudenko's Etsy.com shop--come with wine-like labels that disclose the blend of concentrated air inside. The Paris air [...]

Unheard Martin Luther King Jr. tape found in attic

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 03:23 PM PDT

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 1968 file photo, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., center, speaks to an audience, while promising a massive demonstration in the spring in Washington and hinting the crusade may be extended to the political party conventions in August. King, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference said the demonstration in Washington will last for weeks and maybe for months. At left is the Rev. Andrew Young, executive Vice President of the Southern Conference. Veterans of past social movements, such as Young, say the Occupy Wall Street protest has been a welcome response to the abysmal economy and has the potential to galvanize wide support, but whether it will lead to lasting political change remains to be seen. Stephon Tull was looking through dusty old boxes in his father's attic in Chattanooga a few months ago when he stumbled onto something startling: an audio reel labeled, "Dr. King interview, Dec. 21, 1960."

Curiosity taking its first Martian drive on Wednesday

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 12:33 PM PDT

Mars Rover Curiosity to Take 1st Martian Drive WednesdayAfter more than two weeks of sitting still, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is finally set to roll out on the Red Planet with its debut drive on Wednesday (Aug. 22).

Americans tune out Afghan war as fighting rages on

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 12:40 PM PDT

A member of the U.S. Army Old Guard pays his respects at the grave of U.S. Army Major Douglas Sloan, before placing a flag at one of the over 220,000 graves of fallen U.S. military service members buried at Arlington National CemeteryIt was once President Barack Obama's "war of necessity." Now, it's America's forgotten war.

Paterno 'despised' Sandusky long before scandal, book claims

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 12:12 PM PDT

Joe Paterno 'Despised' Sandusky Long Before Sex Scandal, New Book ClaimsPaterno's 'Dark Moments' After Sex Scandal Exposed in New Biography

Preckwinkle regrets her 'inflammatory' Reagan remark

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 03:59 PM PDT

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said former President Ronald Reagan deserves "a special place in hell" for his role in the war on drugs, but later regretted her rhetoric.

Jumping ship: The party platforms no one stands on anymore

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:08 AM PDT

In this Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012 photograph, Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., and his wife Lulli, talk with reporters while attending the Governor's Ham Breakfast at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, Mo. Akin was keeping a low profile, Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, a day after a TV interview in which he said that women's bodies can prevent pregnancies in "a legitimate rape" and that conception is rare in such cases. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)In the furor over Todd Akin's inventive understanding of biology, we should not lose sight of another matter. His position on abortion--that the victim of rape should be compelled to bear her rapist's child--has been the official position of the Republican Party for more than thirty years.

Photos: Artist turns marijuana smoke into works of art

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 04:53 PM PDT

Photos: Artist turns marijuana smoke into works of artBrazilian artist Fernando de la Rocque blows marijuana smoke onto a stencil overlaying paper to create his art at his studio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday Aug. 20, 2012. Some of Rocque's pot-stained prints are being sold for $2,500 each. A show featuring the work opened last week at a small alternative gallery in the stylish Ipanema neighborhood. It takes him a week to complete a single print blowing about five joints' worth of smoke onto a paper daily. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Oversized blast at NYC subway site breaks windows

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:01 AM PDT

Blasting at the construction site for a New York City subway line has shattered windows and sent smoke billowing up to the street.