"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Teachers suspend Chicago school strike

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 05:16 PM PDT

Chicago Teachers Union members strike outside Chicago Public Schools headquarters in ChicagoChicago's teachers agreed Tuesday to return to the classroom after more than a week on the picket lines, ending a spiteful stalemate with Mayor Rahm Emanuel over teacher evaluations and job security, two issues at the heart of efforts to reform the nation's public schools.

Romney: Obama, supporters share 'more European' outlook

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 04:10 PM PDT

Mitt Romney told Fox News that he had not meant to write off nearly half the electorate as income tax deadbeats who consider themselves "victims."

American Airlines cancels flights amid alleged pilots' 'sickout'

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 02:48 PM PDT

American Airlines has canceled an unusually high number of flights in recent days, as the airline bickers with its pilots and plans to reduce service in coming weeks.

Lawyer for ex-Bears WR Hurd: Guilty plea premature

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 02:13 PM PDT

In paperwork filed Tuesday, former Bears receiver Sam Hurd pleaded guilty to a federal drug charge, but his lawyer later said that the documents had been filed "prematurely."

Amid campaign turmoil, Romney tries to stay ‘focused’

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 12:55 PM PDT

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney walks across the tarmac after stepping off his campaign plane as he arrives in Salt Lake City, Utah, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)If this is Mitt Romney's darkest hour in his race for the presidency, he was determined not to show it.

As strike goes on, parent support wavers for Chicago teachers

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 12:44 PM PDT

Chicago Teachers Union members strike outside the Chicago Public Schools headquarters in ChicagoParents of school-age children appear to remain mainly on the side of the union, although there are signs that their support is eroding.

Will Mitt Romney 'victim' remarks matter to voters?

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 08:26 AM PDT

U.S. Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Governor Romney speaks to reporters in Los AngelesRomney's polarizing statement may not be good for the future of American political discourse. But it is unlikely by itself to make any difference in the polls.

Alaskans to get $878 in yearly oil fund payout this year

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 04:36 PM PDT

Sean Irvin browses phones at a Best Buy store Monday, Sept. 17, 2012, in Anchorage, Alaska. It's one of the ways Irvin plans to spend his yearly Alaska Permanent Fund dividend, whose amount was being announced Tuesday. (AP Photo/Rachel D'Oro)It's not much — $878 — but Sina Takafua isn't balking at her first annual payout from Alaska's oil savings account.

Watch the full secretly taped Romney fundraising video

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 11:37 AM PDT

Political fallout from secret recordings of Mitt RomneyThe liberal Mother Jones magazine has published the full 50-minute video of Mitt Romney addressing a group of donors in Boca Raton, Florida last May.

Composer releases parody ‘I’m Dreaming (of a white president)’

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 11:07 AM PDT

Randy Newman, the Oscar-winning composer best known for such hits as "Short People" and "Sail Away" and his work on the "Toy Story" films, released a new politically charged tune this week. It's definitely not suitable for Pixar. Newman's new song, "I'm Dreaming (of a White President)," is clearly a parody meant to call attention [...]

White House: Libya embassy attack may have been pre-planned

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 10:55 AM PDT

US officials reportedly warned prior to Benghazi attackThe White House on Tuesday explicitly left open the possibility that last week's dramatic attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which left four Americans including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens dead, was a preplanned attack. Press secretary Jay Carney suggested the assault could have been the work of an armed group looking to "take [...]

High school sweethearts reunite, marry after 58 years

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 08:15 AM PDT

You can't hurry love. Just ask Jack and Naomi Carter. Some 58 years after meeting and falling in love in high school, the two reconnected on the Internet. It was Naomi who made the first move, writing Jack a letter. Soon enough, the two began speaking on the phone. A few months later, Jack sent [...]

Most-wanted British fugitive kills two unarmed policewomen

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 12:09 PM PDT

Police and forensic officers gather at the scene where two female police officers were killed in Hattersley near ManchesterOne of Britain's most wanted fugitives killed two unarmed policewomen on Tuesday in a gun and grenade ambush, police said, killings which are likely to reignite a long-running debate over whether British officers should carry guns.

Myanmar democracy icon meets with Hillary Clinton

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 03:06 PM PDT

US Secretary of State Clinton meets with Myanmar opposition leader Suu Kyi in WashingtonMyanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi opened a two-week tour of the United States on Tuesday with talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the latest step of a rapid normalization of U.S. ties with the former pariah state.

Report: Obesity rising dramatically in Illinois, nation

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 10:25 AM PDT

A new report released today offers sobering projections for an adult obesity rate in the United States that's expected to increase dramatically in Illinois and around the country by 2030.

Obama leading in key battleground state of Virginia

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 09:53 AM PDT

This combination of Associated Press file photos shows from left, President Obama speaking at the TPI Composites Factory, a manufacturer of wind turbine blades on May 24, 2012, in Newton, Iowa, and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaking at the Solyndra manufacturing facility on May 31, 2012, in Fremont, Calif. The weak May unemployment report released Friday, June 1, 2012, presents President Barack Obama with a sobering reminder that his stewardship of a gradual recovery from the deepest recession since the Great Depression presents a tenuous argument for his re-election. However anemic job growth and an uptick in joblessness to 8.2 percent give new resonance to Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney's campaign. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, Mary Altaffer. File)President Barack Obama leads Mitt Romney among likely voters in Virginia by 8 percentage points, a new Washington Post poll shows.

Topless photos ruling: First battle in royal privacy war

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 12:28 PM PDT

Copies of the Italian magazine Chi are displayed at a newstands in Rome, Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. An Italian gossip magazine owned by former Premier Silvio Berlusconi published a 26-page spread of topless photos of Prince William's wife Kate on Monday despite legal action in France against the French magazine that published them first. Chi hit newsstands on Monday, featuring a montage of photos taken while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were on vacation at a relative's home in the south of France last month. They included the 14 pictures published by the popular French magazine Closer, which like Chi is owned by Berlusconi's Mondadori publishing house. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)Prince William and Kate Middleton's aggressive legal strategy over topless photos of Britain's likely future queen is the first salvo in what could be a decades-long tug-of-war over their family's privacy.

Cutler on shoving incident: 'It's behind us'

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 12:05 PM PDT

In his weekly radio program, Jay Cutler responded to criticism of his berating and shoving teammate J'Marcus Webb during Thursday night's loss to Green Bay.

Fat and getting fatter: U.S. obesity rates to soar by 2030

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 10:14 AM PDT

The latest report on the obesity epidemic in the U.S. shows 35.7 percent of adults and 16.9 percent of children ages 2 to 19 are obese. And things could get worse by 2030.

Tokyo running out of options as China protests heat up

Posted: 18 Sep 2012 06:54 AM PDT

Chinese protesters burn a Japanese flag near posters claiming Diaoyu islands, as known in China and Senkaku in Japan, belong to China and to fire upon Japan during a protest near the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012. The 81st anniversary of a Japanese invasion brought a fresh wave of anti-Japan demonstrations in China on Tuesday, with thousands of protesters venting anger over the colonial past and a current dispute involving contested islands in the East China Sea. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)In China, anti-Japanese demonstrations have now spread to as many as 100 cities as tensions mount over Japan's purchase of islands it calls the Senkaku and China calls the Diaoyu.