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05-12-05
Nun critically hurt by alleged hit-run driver
A Southwest Side Catholic parish had special prayers this morning for a nun critically injured by an alleged hit-and-run driver while Chicago police continued seeking the motorist, WGN-Ch. 9 reported.
• Girl falls victim to hit-run driver
Daughter enraged him, suspect says
Jerry Branton Hobbs III told police he became enraged when his 8-year-old daughter defied his order to come home, then killed the girl and her best friend with a small knife before dragging their bodies into the woods, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Put it down or pay up, city warns motorists
Believing that cell phones have turned driving into a dangerous contortion act, the Chicago City Council on Wednesday voted to ban motorists from cradling phones in their hands while behind the wheel.
• Many phones can easily adapt to law
• Daley renews call for small-plane ban
Woman killed by train
The death of a 39-year-old woman struck by a Metra train in suburban Brookfield was ruled an accident Wednesday, a Cook County medical examiner's spokesman said.
Governor stirs skeptics with campaign reforms
Two months after pledging to "rock the system" with sweeping ethics reform, Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday proposed a complete overhaul of Illinois' anything-goes method of financing state political campaigns that would copy federal limits on donations.
Computer woes snag Field's furniture deliveries, sales
Marshall Field's is having problems delivering furniture, causing shoppers to cancel an undisclosed number of orders and upsetting workers dependent on the commissions.
Moms in prison mothering by TV
Margarita Rodriguez cannot sit still. Bathed in greenish-gray fluorescent light, she rocks back and forth, hands clasped in front of her.
Driver's license jams feared
Illinois motorists would face long lines at driver's license facilities as a result of pending federal legislation that would toughen requirements for getting licenses, state lawmakers predicted Wednesday.
Sharpton, Jackson see Till question differently
Two civil rights leaders vowed Wednesday not to become a distraction in the argument over whether to exhume the remains of a boy whose funeral helped inspire the civil rights movement 50 years ago.
Indiana scolds blue bag facility
The Indiana company that received much of the byproduct of Chicago's controversial blue bag recycling program allegedly violated environmental laws by spreading too much of the material on farmland.
Nursing home changes sought
Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan on Wednesday proposed amendments to the state's nursing home regulations that she says would make it easier for law enforcement agencies to track and nursing homes to manage violent offenders admitted to nursing care centers.
Cyclists get a speedy payoff
During a recent ride, Chris Vogel and his cycling friends didn't have to spend a day patching holes and bumps before trying their luck on Northbrook's Rudolph Velodrome.
Ex-TV figure guilty of soliciting
A Lake County jury found a former CLTV and WGN Radio sports personality guilty of indecent solicitation of a minor late Wednesday.
Chinatown history gets a home
The place is almost ready. The floor is polished. The display cases are filling up.
Gary airport expansion gets a boost
The planned expansion of Gary/Chicago International Airport got a lift Wednesday when Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed legislation creating an economic development agency to manage transportation and other projects in the state.
South winds returning warmth Friday threaten powerful thunderstorms
Chilly air like Thursday's isn't easy to displace. Such an air mass is comparatively dense and doesn't yield to less dense warm, humid air easily.
ASK TOM WHY
Dear Tom,
Violent storms rake 8 states: 5" rains and +4" hail
The same cold front responsible for early Wednesday's dazzling cloud-to-ground lightning and the resulting flurry of power outages and flight delays here, spawned new waves of violent t-storms across sections of 8 states much of the day.
Today
Chicago: Drizzle, overcast, blustery and unseasonably cool. ENE wind gusts occasionally to 30-35 m.p.h.
WEATHER TERM
Meteorological year: The year beginning on December 1 and extending through the following November 30. This period is often used by climatologists because it more closely jibes with seasonal weather.
05-11-05
Planes, trains delayed as storms roil area
A line of powerful spring thunderstorms rolled across the Chicago area this morning, briefly shutting down the city's two major airports and causing scattered delays across the Metra commuter rail system, officials said.
House explodes, 5 firefighters hurt
Five Chicago firefighters were injured, two seriously, in a suspected natural-gas explosion at a Southwest Side home late Tuesday, officials said.
Girl's dad held in slayings
Update: A judge denied bond today for Jerry Hobbs after prosecutors described a videotaped interview in which he allegedly told investigators he stabbed to death his 8-year-old daughter her best friend.
Texas criminal record shows a temper boiling over to rage
Jerry Branton Hobbs III always had a hot temper, but on a summer night in Texas, he finally exploded.
Girls' classmates begin trying to understand
The girls' front-row desks were empty Tuesday, their recent classwork still hanging on the walls.
Former Bears kicker to head Supreme Court
Former Chicago Bears football player Robert Thomas was chosen on Tuesday to become the new chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.
Governor blames GOP for troubles
Reeling from a series of recent controversies including this week's indictment of a state board appointee, Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday sought to blame his problems on the excesses of Republicans who preceded him in power.
Hospitals ignore rape victim law
A large number of Illinois hospitals do not routinely provide emergency contraception to rape victims who want to avoid becoming pregnant, according to a study released at a major medical meeting Tuesday.
Architects reveal steel museum plan
Call the vision for a long-slumbering steel plant "This Old House" meets the Industrial Revolution.
In science, a welcome reaction
With steely concentration, Alex Mentz, 9, squinted at the jagged aqua stone she held toward the ceiling light in her Oak Lawn classroom.
Jury begins weighing death penalty for doctor
Janet Bunch said she no longer likes Sundays because that was the day of the week her sister, Joyce Brannon, was murdered.
Daley urges neighbors' power over bad bars
Mayor Richard Daley called Tuesday for a crackdown on rogue bars and liquor stores by giving local neighbors new power to put them out of business.
Berwyn anxious for fresh beginning
In a ceremony meant to signal a change in style and substance of governing, Berwyn's new mayor and aldermen were sworn in Tuesday evening at a first-ever outdoor City Council meeting.
Dominick in driver's seat
Tuesday, his first day in office, was a good day for Cicero Town President Larry Dominick.
Foes mobilize against cap on malpractice suit damages
As the move to cap doctor malpractice awards advances in the legislature, trial lawyers and union leaders on Tuesday began a counterattack designed to put a human face on what they say is the harm those limits would cause to victims of bad medical care.
Oak Lawn manager fired for the money
The changing of the guard in Oak Lawn took place Tuesday as new Village Board members were sworn in pledging to work together after a divisive election.
Man's past crime could be motive in arson at home
McHenry County authorities are investigating whether someone deliberately set fire to the home of a Wonder Lake man last weekend because he is a convicted sex offender.
Evanston OKs plan to aid elms
Evanston will try to save its 3,441 elm trees from Dutch elm disease by injecting them with a fungicide, but it is not clear how the city will pay for the $757,000 project.
Suspect in cabbie death sent back to jail
A man accused of running over a Chicago cabdriver with his own taxi will stay in jail for now after a DuPage County nurse told a judge Tuesday how he allegedly tried to punch her and spit on her last month in a hospital.
A heavy deterrent to trucks on U.S. 41
The truck weigh station on a northern stretch of U.S. Highway 41 will start operating around the clock as part of a renewed effort to nudge truckers back onto toll roads, officials said Tuesday.
ASK TOM WHY
Dear Tom,
Tornado-bearing storms erupt late Tuesday across the Plains and head east
It was hot across the Plains Tuesday. Sections of ten states from New Mexico north to Kansas and Nebraska broiled in 90(degrees) heat--the most expansive dome of hot air to occur in the U.S. to date in 2005. But, the warmup has provoked the formation of a powerful spring storm, responsible for at least 16 tornadoes in Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa late Tuesday from 12-mile high thunderstorms.
Temps tank next 2 days in blustery NE flow
Tuesday's unlimited sun delivered the year's strongest ultraviolet rays to-date, reports dermatologist Dr. Bryan Schultz. It also sent area temps soaring into the 80s for the fifth time in 2005. The 82(degrees) high recorded at 2:59 p.m.
Today
Chicago: Markedly cooler--and even chillier this afternoon. Clusters of showers/t-storms, some potentially active with a.m.
WEATHER TERM
Water vapor canopy: A massive "atmosphere" of water vapor surrounding the Earth which, upon condensation, supposedly gave rise to the oceans.
05-09-05
City's college-bound rate a third less than thought
Almost a third of the city's high school graduates who had definite plans to go to college last fall never showed up, according to data that give Chicago Public Schools its first solid information on the post-secondary fate of the system's students.
Lighters no match for flight rules
The little-known but seemingly innocent hobby of cigarette-lighter collecting, embraced by a sliver of the American populace that fancies everything from classic Zippos to ornate Art Deco Ronsons, has suddenly been hamstrung by, of all things, national security.
Free rides to end for violators
The free ride on Chicago-area toll roads is about to end for 21,000 I-PASS customers who until now have successfully borrowed a gag from The Three Stooges playbook.
Liver donor returns gift of life to her mother
Minutes before Mara Zimmerman was wheeled into surgery as a donor for a partial liver transplant, the surgeon asked the healthy 24-year-old Winnetka woman if she was prepared to die.
Flood plans rise with sprawl
Disastrous flooding in the late 1980s taught Chicago's suburbs the value of countywide planning and a coordinated approach to handling runoff from heavy storms.
Mexican parade a melting pot
By many accounts, Chicago's Cinco de Mayo parade can't touch festivities in Mexico. But celebrators say Chicago is tops in one aspect: the diversity of the crowd.
Wrong body is buried in mix-up
In a morose mix-up that has left two funeral homes perplexed and two families upset, the identities of two deceased local women were mistakenly swapped by the Cook County medical examiner's office and a separate contractor.
Jackie goes out in style
With hushed whispers and sighs of admiration, more than 5,400 people visited the "Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years" exhibition Sunday at the Field Museum, the Mother's Day finale of a show that highlighted the classic wardrobe of one of the country's most beloved first ladies.
On Mother's Day, mom's the word
Surrounded by their families, mothers young and old sported pink T-shirts and running togs Sunday as they participated in the annual Y-ME Race Against Breast Cancer.
Man orders food, eyed as burglar
The order of a meatball sandwich, a cheese dog and mozzarella sticks seemed simple enough, but it was taking a long time for Robert Johnston to get his food Saturday afternoon.
Cop shoots, wounds man accused of pointing gun
A Chicago police officer shot a man who is alleged to have pointed a gun at him early Sunday on the Southeast Side.
2 walk away unhurt after plane crash
Aviation officials are investigating the crash landing of a single-engine plane Saturday night in a Buffalo Grove field.
Attempted murder is charged in wife stabbing
An Aurora man was being held Sunday in lieu of $2 million bail in the stabbing of his wife in the face, chest and hands.
Ways sought to aid released inmates
Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced Sunday the establishment of a bipartisan commission to find ways to steer recently released inmates away from crime and toward education and job training.
Man found shot to death in stairwell of CHA site
Chicago police on Sunday were investigating the shooting death of a Near West Side man found in the stairwell of a Chicago Housing Authority building.
Bellwood man killed when car hits guardrail
A Bellwood man was killed when his vehicle crashed into and flipped over a guardrail late Saturday on the Eisenhower Expressway near Broadview, police said.
Suspect held after man shot in buttocks
A South Side man was ordered held in lieu of $400,000 bail Sunday after he was accused of shooting a man in the buttocks Saturday night.
Police chief explains retirement
Former acting East St. Louis Police Chief Marion Hubbard says he retired last week because he's accomplished everything he set out to do.
South Side man held in '03 death of teen
A South Side man was charged with the murder of a 17-year-old boy and ordered held without bail Sunday.
Chicago man accused of training fight dogs
A West Side man charged with training 12 dogs for fighting was in jail in lieu of $50,000 bail Sunday.
Elderly man dies after fall from train
An elderly man died Sunday after falling from an Amtrak train about 75 miles south of Chicago, officials said.
Southeast Side shooting leaves two men in critical condition
Two 26-year-old men were in critical condition Sunday after they were shot while they were sitting in a car on Chicago's Southeast Side, police said.
Pit bull mauls girl, 3, on Northwest Side
A 3-year-old girl was mauled Sunday by a 60-pound pit bull while trying to buy candy on the Northwest Side, officials said.
Man held in robbery of rider on CTA bus
A Chicago man was charged over the weekend with snatching a woman's wallet on a Chicago Transit Authority bus before he struck her in the head and fled, prosecutors said.
Firefighter is treated because of chest pain
A Chicago firefighter was hospitalized and 11 people were displaced Sunday by a fire at an apartment building in West Garfield Park, officials said.
ALMANAC
On May 9, 1754 a cartoon in Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette showed a snake cut into sections, each part representing an American colony; the caption read, "Join or die."
ASK TOM WHY
Dear Tom,
Warmth returns to Chicago--will rains
After May's extraordinarily chilly start--replete with cold and even some snow flurries--warm weather returned to Chicago with a flourish on Mother's Day. The 85(degrees) high was the city's warmest reading since Sept. 23, and was Chicago's fourth 80(degrees) day this year.
CHICAGO'S MAY CLIMATOLOGY
May, the last month of meteorological spring, is capable of bringing highly contrasting weather to Chicago. It is a month still able to deliver the last vestiges of winter`s cold and snow, yet it often brings an early dose of summer`s heat and humidity.
Today
Chicago: Partly sunny and warm with gusty south winds. A few periods of showers and thunderstorms most numerous in the afternoon and evening--some may be strong.
WEATHER WORD
Thunderstorm: A local storm that produces lightning (the defining and necessary characteristic).
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