"Chicago Tribune" Reader

"Chicago Tribune" Reader

Obama cracks a joke at the expense of birthers

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 05:36 PM PDT

President Barack Obama does the 'Gator Chomp' as he walks into Gator's Dockside to greet patrons during an unschedule stop, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)Not every kid gets asked for his birth certificate by the President of the United States. But that's what happened to a Florida lad, Andre Wupperman, when he met Barack Obama at a Florida sports bar and family joint on Saturday. Obama made an unannounced stop at Gators Dockside -- one of many surprise visits [...]

Two tornadoes strike NYC within minutes of each other

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 05:12 PM PDT

This photo provided by Joey Mure, shows a storm cloud over the Breezy Point area of Queens section of New York, on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. A Fire Department spokesman said there were power lines down and possibly other damage in the Point Breeze section of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens. The general manager of the Breezy Point Surf Club tells the Associated Press the storm ripped up cabanas and even picked up industrial-sized metal trash bins. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Queens and Brooklyn as a line of strong thunderstorms moved through the city. The service said radar detected a "strong rotation" in the storm, but there was no immediate confirmation that a twister actually formed. (AP Photo/Joey Mure)Two tornadoes struck New York City on Saturday. One swept out of the sea and hit a beachfront neighborhood, and the second, stronger twister hit moments later, hurling debris in the air, knocking out power and startling residents who once thought of twisters as a Midwestern phenomenon.

Nicaragua evacuates 3,000 as volcano spews ash

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 02:38 PM PDT

A Nicaraguan National Police officer patrols on a road blanketed with volcanic ash spewed from the San Cristobal volcano, near Chinandega, Nicaragua, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. Nicaragua's tallest volcano, located about 70 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of Managua, near the Honduran border, has let off a series of explosions, spewing gases and showering ash on nearby towns, prompting an evacuations of residents. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)The San Cristobal volcano spewed out a column of ash and gas 2½ miles high Saturday, leading Nicaraguan authorities to evacuate about 3,000 people from nine communities around the country's tallest mountain.

Chicago Police Superintendent: Fighting crime a 'day-to-day' effort

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 04:28 PM PDT

So far this month, the number of homicides has surpassed an average of one per day. Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy found some consolation in that statistic on Saturday. "The fact is, we're doing better than we were doing before," he said.

McCain: The U.S. approach to Iran is a 'train wreck'

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 12:26 PM PDT

US Senator John McCain answers reporters' questions during a meeting on World Economy in Cernobbio, Italy, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. Experts and leaders gathered in Italy to discuss the prolonged crisis in a structurally flawed Europe, political dysfunction pushing America off a 'fiscal cliff' and the emerging economies slowdown drying up the last engine of global growth. (AP Photo/Giuseppe Aresu)U.S. Sen. John McCain says he is disappointed with his party's presidential candidate for sidestepping world affairs in his campaign for the White House but reserves his most scathing words for the current dweller, blaming Barack Obama for inaction while the situation in Syria and elsewhere "cries out for American leadership."

Romney praises Clinton for elevating the Democratic convention

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 02:53 PM PDT

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Va., Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)Mitt Romney says Bill Clinton's speech to the Democratic National Convention "really did elevate" that gathering and that the former two-term president might even be able to win another four years in the White House "if the Constitution weren't in his way." Romney's comments, in an excerpt of an interview with Meet the Press, came [...]

Poll: Obama widens lead over Romney despite jobs data

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 02:08 PM PDT

U.S. President Obama poses with crowd members at a campaign event in FloridaWASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, picking up support following the Democratic National Convention, widened his narrow lead over Republican U.S. presidential challenger Mitt Romney in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Saturday. The latest daily tracking poll showed Obama, a Democrat, with a lead of 4 percentage points over Romney. Forty-seven percent of 1,457 likely voters surveyed online over the previous four days said they would vote for Obama if the November 6 elections were held today, compared with 43 percent for Romney. "The bump is actually happening. ...

Joe Biden challenges press to 'fact check me'

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 11:58 AM PDT

Joe Biden Challenges Press to 'Fact Check Me'ZANESVILLE, Ohio — Vice President Joe Biden extended an invitation to the media to check the veracity of his claims on Medicare, telling the press to "fact check me." "What they're proposing, and this is a fact.  I say to the press, 'Fact check me,'"...

Mitt Romney vows God will stay in GOP platform

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 01:49 PM PDT

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally in CincinnatiVIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Making reference for the first time to the Democrats' about-face on having the word "God" in their party's platform, Mitt Romney said here today that if he is elected, God will not be removed from the Republican platform. "I will not...

Chicago teachers resume negotiations to avoid major strike

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 03:05 PM PDT

Thousands of Chicago Public School teachers rally before marching to the Board of Education's headquarters in ChicagoCHICAGO (Reuters) - The Chicago Teachers Union resumed "intense" negotiations on Saturday with the nation's third-largest school district to avert what would be the biggest U.S. labor strike in a year over Mayor Rahm Emanuel's demand for sweeping school reforms. Some 29,000 teachers and support staff have threatened to strike on Monday, setting up an awkward confrontation between Emanuel, President Barack Obama's former top White House aide, and organized labor in the president's home city. ...

Man held in abduction of children, stealing boat

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 04:07 PM PDT

This image provided by the South San Francisco Police Department shows Christopher Maffei who was arrested Sept. 7, 2012, after abducting his children and fleeing on a sailboat in California. (AP Photo/South San Francisco Police Department)A Northern California man arrested after allegedly abducting his two children and trying to evade authorities by stealing a sailboat and sailing along the Northern California coast was being held on $200,000 bail, authorities said.

'Secretary of Explaining Stuff' to campaign with Obama in Florida

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 12:32 PM PDT

U.S. President Obama joins former President Clinton onstage after Clinton nominated Obama for re-election during the second session of the Democratic National Convention in CharlotteBill "Secretary of Explaining Stuff" Clinton will campaign for President Barack Obama's reelection next week in Florida, a swing state vital to Mitt Romney's hopes of capturing the White House in November. Clinton will headline rallies on Tuesday in the Miami area and Wednesday in the Orlando area, the incumbent's campaign announced in a terse [...]

Southwest Side collision sends 5 to hospitals

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 01:39 PM PDT

Three children and two adults were taken to hospitals following a traffic crash in the Gage Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side this afternoon.

Baseball's biggest brawls

Posted: 07 Sep 2012 02:36 PM PDT

Every once in a while, a baseball fight breaks out. Here are some notable brawls involving the Sox and the Cubs.

Obama on campaign trail in Florida with Charlie Crist

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 12:27 PM PDT

Supporters of U.S. President Obama wear matching shirts during a campaign event in FloridaSEMINOLE, Florida (Reuters) - President Barack Obama kicked off a two-day bus tour of the key election battleground state of Florida on Saturday with former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who endorsed Obama's 2008 rival John McCain but has since left the Republican Party. Trying to build on the momentum of this week's Democratic National Convention and overcome another tough jobs report, Obama is spending the weekend canvassing a state that he and his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, both want to win in order to achieve victory in the November 6 U.S. election. ...

Captive U.S. soldier safe, Haqqani commander says

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 12:24 PM PDT

FILE - This file image provided by IntelCenter on Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 shows a framegrab from a video released by the Taliban containing footage of a man believed to be Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, left. A U.S. soldier held by Afghan militants will not be harmed, a senior member of the Pakistan-based Haqqani network told The Associated Press on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. However, the United States and NATO can expect stepped up attacks as a result of the Obama administration's decision to declare the network of fighters a terrorist body, he said. He denied an earlier report that the only U.S. prisoner of war, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl would be harmed as a result of the administration's decision.(AP Photo/IntelCenter, File) MANDATORY CREDIT: INTELCENTER; NO SALES; EDS NOTE: "INTELCENTER" AT LEFT TOP CORNER ADDED BY SOURCEA U.S. soldier held by Afghan militants will not be harmed despite the Obama administration's decision to declare his alleged captors a terrorist group, a senior member of the Pakistan-based Haqqani network told The Associated Press on Saturday. However, the United States and NATO can expect stepped up attacks, he said.

French hostages kidnapped in Niger by al Qaeda appear in video

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 12:42 PM PDT

Four French men kidnapped by al Qaeda militants in northern Niger almost two years ago appeared in a video on Saturday appealing to French President Francois Hollande and their employers to continue negotiations to secure their release. The seven-minute video, posted on a Mauritanian news website, shows the four men - Pierre Legrand, Daniel Larribe, Thierry Dole and Marc Ferret - looking healthy and kneeling in a desert setting with armed men in traditional Bedouin clothing and turbans standing over them carrying kalashnikov rifles. ...

Romney woos voters in tightly contested Virginia

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 12:08 PM PDT

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaigns at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Va., Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)Mitt Romney is back in tightly contested Virginia, where he's trying to deny President Barack Obama another victory in a state that typically goes for Republican presidential nominees.

Tropical storm approaches Bermuda, likely missing direct hit

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 12:25 PM PDT

Hurricane Leslie and Hurricane Michael are seen in this NOAA handout satellite imageHAMILTON, Bermuda (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Leslie swirled over the Atlantic on a track likely to pass east of Bermuda on Sunday as the outer wind and rain bands approached the island, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported on Saturday. A wealthy British overseas territory and global reinsurance center, Bermuda is not expected to take a direct hit from Leslie, which could re-strengthen by late Sunday to a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest on the Saffir-Simpson scale of wind intensity. ...

Shark bites surfer in waters off northeast Florida

Posted: 08 Sep 2012 11:48 AM PDT

A surfer is recovering from surgery on his foot after being bitten by a shark in the waters off a northeast Florida beach.