Chicago Tribune

The scene at this morning's bus crash. (WGN-TV SkyCam) Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para ... Full Story »

The first wave of Illinois prisoners eligible for early release will be let out today as part of a cost-cutting move, St. Louis Public Radio station KWNU is reporting this morning. In this first round, the Illinois Department of Corrections will release only 62 of the 1,000 prisoners it eventually plans to let out up to a year early. By releasing inmates from prison, Gov. Pat Quinn's ... Full Story »

CBS-Ch.2 reports: Without any announcement, the city of Chicago has begun sending out Denver boot crews late at night and into the pre-dawn hours to stalk scofflaws six days a week. In an effort to bring in more revenue to the city, Revenue Department trucks, equipped with high-tech cameras and computers, will be looking for vehicles with old unpaid parking tickets. Get the full story ... Full Story »

A judge may decide today if Northwestern University journalism students and their professor have to hand over to prosecutors their grades and other information related to a class project they contend has uncovered new evidence that proves the innocence of a Harvey man convicted of killing a security guard. A hearing in Cook County Circuit Court is scheduled to convene at 9:30 a.m. The students ... Full Story »

The Aurora Beacon-News reports: The city of Aurora and Fox Valley families Against Planned Parenthood have reached an agreement to end their two-year legal battle over protests at an abortion clinic. The City Council may vote on the plan to regulate the protests tonight. Get the full story: suburbanchicagonews.com Full Story »

The Sun-Times reports: The No. 2 man at Chicago 's 911 emergency center has resigned his $149,832-a-year job to avoid being fired for alleged contract irregularities that cost taxpayers $2.25 million. The inspector general's office recommended in late September that Jim Argiropoulos, first deputy of the city's Office of Emergency Management Communications be fired for allegedly engineering a ... Full Story »

Northwestern University has issued an alert to warn students of a sex assault on its Evanston campus Monday. According to the University's Web site , at about 9 p.m. Monday a female student was attacked while she was walking in a hallway on the second floor of the Technological Institute located at 2145 Sherdian Road. School officials said a man approached the student and started a conversation ... Full Story »

Chicago police are searching for a pair of industrious burglars who broke into Dilshad's Hair Design in the West Rogers Park neighborhood Monday evening and made off with shampoo. But police believe the robbers were after much bigger loot. The ultimate target was NP Jewelers next door at 2647 West Devon Ave., said Rogers Park District Lt. John Franklin. Taking a page from many Hollywood movie ... Full Story »

State and Lake County health officials say they have now been able to confirm four cases of Legionnaires' linked to a retirement community called The Park at Vernon Hills . The facility has about 260 residents. Officials announced the newest confirmed case Monday after three -- two of them fatal -- were reported last week. Investigators from the Illinois Department of Public Health were at the ... Full Story »

A city worker and an unemployed student who allegedly manipulated absentee-ballot applications and cast votes for 50th Ward residents went on trial Monday. Prosecutors said Anish Eapen, a precinct captain for Ald. Bernard Stone, 50th, and the ward's Streets and Sanitation superintendent, flashed his work badge and made it clear to voters that they could benefit if they chose his candidate. " 'Do ... Full Story »

A DuPage County jury is expected to begin its deliberations Tuesday on whether Brian Dugan should be put to death for the 1983 rape and murder of Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville. DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett and Assistant State's Attorney Michael Wolfe will argue that the death penalty is appropriate for few people more clearly than Dugan, 53, who pleaded guilty to the crime in July ... Full Story »

Inside Chicago 's Maxwell Manor nursing home, Dr. Michael Reinstein's patients suffered from side effects so severe that they trembled, hallucinated or lost control of their bladders. Staffers told state investigators that so many patients were clamoring to complain to Reinstein about their medications that a security guard was assigned to accompany him on his visits. In addition, staffers said ... Full Story »

Political fundraiser Christopher Kelly died after taking an overdose of pain medications, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Kelly overdosed on salicylate, used in  such medications as aspirin, and acetaminophen, Tylenol's main ingredient, the office said. A toxicology report also showed diphenhydramine, commonly sold as Benadryl. Last month,  Country Club Hills Mayor Dwight ... Full Story »

A 20-year-old South Side man was charged with shooting a man near Washington Park , police said. Robert Martin, 20, of the 5000 block of South King Drive, was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, Chicago police said. Police officers patrolling the 5100 block of South Prairie Avenue Saturday spotted Martin running from the scene after hearing ... Full Story »

Police opened fire on a male suspect Monday afternoon who crashed into two unmarked police cars and tried to strike officers with his vehicle on the Near West Side , police said. At about 3 p.m., police observed a suspect making a narcotics transaction in the 2700 block of North Wilcox Street, said  Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro. When police tried to intervene, the suspect ... Full Story »

A 51-year-old pedestrian was killed after she was hit by a car this evening in South Suburban Oak Lawn, officials said. The unidentified woman was pronounced dead at about 6:31 p.m. at Adovocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, said a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office. Officials have not released the woman's name pending notification of her family. The woman was killed as ... Full Story »

Chicago police said that a 70-year-old man arrested for stealing champagne notched his 63rd arrest. John Crowe, of the 1200 block of South Kedvale Avenue, was charged with one felony count of retail theft for a Sunday theft at a Whole Foods Market in the city's Lake View neighborhood, police said. Crowe was arrested after stealing a $135 bottle of champagne from the store, police spokesman ... Full Story »

Defibrillators would not have helped any of the 176 CTA passengers complaining of chest pains in the last two years, an analysis by the transit agency found. Nonetheless, CTA officials still are interested in acquiring the heart-shocking devices if outside funding can be identified. It would cost $5 million to $5.5 million to deploy defibrillators at all 144 CTA rail stations and on the agency's ... Full Story »

Chicago Public Schools officials are set to release new guidelines for integrating the city's coveted magnet and selective schools using socioeconomic factors, a decision prompted by a federal ruling lifting a racial integration order in late September. The decision to end the so-called desegregation consent decree means that the use of racial quotas for admissions to the city's roughly 75 ... Full Story »

Since it was created two years ago, the Independent Police Review Authority has been struggling to fill vacancies and raise the bar for performance in its investigations of police misconduct allegations. And just when Chief Administrator Ilana Rosenzweig is starting to feel a little traction -- at least in the hiring of competent staff  --  she's faced with the budget woes that have been ... Full Story »

James Allen, his heart beating wildly out of rhythm, collapsed shortly after he boarded a commuter train. Despite pleas from passengers and from a doctor who performed CPR on the 61-year-old Wellesley scientist, the conductor refused to halt for emergency help at the next station, or even two more after that as precious minutes ticked off. If the Boston-bound train had carried an easy-to-use ... Full Story »

Francheska Velez was happy on the last day of her life. Nine weeks into her pregnancy, the Army private called her cousin in Chicago on Thursday to tell her about her early bouts of morning sickness and how excited she was about the child growing inside of her. Melissa Morton was the last family member to speak with Velez, 21, who was one of 13 people gunned down that day at Fort Hood, Texas ... Full Story »

The campaign of Chicago attorney and Democratic Senate candidate Jacob Meister said it began airing one-minute TV ads in central Illinois today in which he contends that helping the economy and creating jobs is more important than battling corruption. Read more in Clout Street on chicagotribune.com . Full Story »

Comptroller Dan Hynes' campaign for the Feb. 2 Democratic nomination for governor is backing a challenge to the petitions filed by Oak Park trial attorney Edmund Scanlan, a political newcomer who got into the race in early October. Read more in Clout Street on chicagotribune.com . Full Story »

Mayor Richard Daley said today during an appearance in the Scottsdale neighborhood on the city's Southwest Side that the Fort Hood, Texas, shooting rampage should not spark an anti-Islamic backlash. The "devastation" caused by guns is witnessed each day, and one group of people can't be blamed for the actions of one person, Daley said. Watch the WGN-TV video HERE . Full Story »