Chicago Sun-Times

Your profile picture is perfection, your dreams for love and life written in clear and clever prose. But if you're spending more time looking at JDate.com than actually going on dates, maybe you could learn something from the new one-day class being offered Friday by Harper College in Palatine -- "Online Dating; Be Safe, Be Smart, Be Successful." Full Story »

For most of the Monday evening vigil, friends and family of Army Pfc. Francheska Velez let the music speak for them. Cousin Sandy Rivera urged the crowd gathered outside Velez's family's home in the 4300 block of West Kamerling, "Listen to the words. This is for Francheska." Velez, 21, was among the 13 people killed in a shooting Thursday at Fort Hood in Texas. Three months pregnant, the ... Full Story »

Mayor Daley said Monday he does not share his police superintendent's extreme case of nerves about a wave of police retirements next year because the economy stinks and "there are no jobs out there." "Retirement is very questionable because of the economy outside. You can't get jobs," the mayor told reporters. "Usually when people retire, they'll be able to get a second job. That's very ... Full Story »

For 20 years, depression dogged Stan Dowery. "It always felt like there was a cloud over me," says Dowery, who lives in the South Side Kenwood neighborhood. "I never felt that I would get better." Full Story »

Four members of a West Rogers Park family testified Monday that Ald. Bernard Stone's (50th) ward superintendent Anish Eapen coaxed them to vote absentee, collected their ballots and then mailed them during the heated 2007 aldermanic race. The Panchigars said Eapen came to their townhomes, at Devon and Hoyne, and watched them as they filled out the absentee ballot applications and forms for ... Full Story »

Two al-Qaida DVDs found at the home of a North Side man are evidence of his involvement in a plot to kill a Danish newspaper cartoonist, federal prosecutors say. One of the DVDs found at Tahawwur Rana's home features Osama bin Laden and is a testimonial to four jihadi "martyrs," according to a new prosecution court filing. "It is quite clear that the planned Copenhagen attack involved and was ... Full Story »

Chicago has more "Five Diamond"-rated restaurants than any other city -- seven -- in AAA's new ratings. They are: Alinea (for four years running); Arun's (eight years); Avenues, in The Peninsula hotel (four years); Charlie Trotter's (16 years); Everest (14 years); Seasons Restaurant, in the Four Seasons Hotel (10 years), and Tru (10 years). Full Story »

A month after Mayor Daley's Olympic team washed out in the race for the 2016 Games, the tide has shifted as planners focus on Northerly Island's long-term place in the lakefront landscape. Full Story »

The old Cook County Hospital building might be resuscitated after all. Vacated in 2002 and spared the wrecking ball in 2004, thanks to preservationists, the West Side hospital might be turned into administrative offices under a $108 million proposal outlined by county planners. The county's Office of Capital Planning and Policy is asking county commissioners to green light the renovation ... Full Story »

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. Full Story »

Chicago has 370,000 tons of salt "on the ground, covered and ready for the snow to hit" with a plan that employs lessons learned from last year's mistakes, a top mayoral aide said Monday. Last winter, an outcry from aldermen and their constituents forced Mayor Daley to do an about-face on a controversial cost-cutting policy that saw City Hall use less salt, plow side streets during normal ... Full Story »

In the never-ending battle over gubernatorial hair, Gov. Quinn is sending a video to supporters that aims to kill two birds with one stone. It shows Quinn getting a haircut from the same Hinsdale barber, "Herb," Quinn has gone to for 32 years. This comes after a Quinn commercial that made fun of rival Dan Hynes for going to a "spa" during budget negotiations. The "spa," Hynes said, was his ... Full Story »

Impeached ex-Gov. Blagojevich's lone defender in the Illinois House may herself wind up being booted from office because of a potential glitch with her nominating petitions. A challenge was filed Monday with the State Board of Elections against Rep. Deborah Mell (D-Chicago) by a rival in the Feb. 2 primary, Joe Laiacona. The basis for his objection is that Mell is not registered to vote at ... Full Story »

A 70-year-old West Side man who racked up his 63rd arrest after allegedly stealing three bottles of champagne from a Lake View neighborhood Whole Foods store on Sunday has been charged with felony retail theft.John Crowe, 70, of the 1200 block of South Kedvale Avenue, was initially charged with retail theft, a misdemeanor, according to police, but the charge was upgraded to a felony Monday ... Full Story »

Investigators hired to probe the surging number of allegations of excessive force against Chicago Police officers are too educated to relate to those involved in the shootings, a South Side alderman warned Monday. Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) put the Independent Police Review Authority on notice about its hiring practices as the agency prepared to launch a study to determine the root cause of the ... Full Story »

Chicago has 370,000 tons of salt "on the ground, covered and ready for the snow to hit" with a plowing plan that employs lessons learned from last year's mistakes, a top mayoral aide said Monday.Last winter, an outcry from aldermen and their constituents forced Mayor Daley to do an about-face on a controversial cost-cutting policy that saw City Hall use less salt, plow side-streets during normal ... Full Story »

With a days-old law in place that has weakened Cook County President Todd Stroger's veto power, county commissioners called a special board meeting for next Monday to vote on rolling back the county's controversial sales tax by a half-penny. This time, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, a Democrat, says the tax break will stick. That's because on Saturday, Gov. Quinn signed a law making ... Full Story »

Mayor Daley said Monday he does not share his police superintendent's extreme case of nerves about a wave of police retirements next year because the economy stinks and there are "no jobs out there." "Retirement is very questionable because of the economy outside. You can't get jobs," the mayor told reporters at an unrelated event. "Usually when people retire, they'll be able to get a second ... Full Story »

Federal investigators found a video containing a speech by Osama bin Laden in the North Side home of a Chicago man charged with helping plot the assasination of a Danish cartoonist, prosecutors say.In a court filing late Friday, federal prosecutors said investigators found a DVD at the home of  Tahawwur Rana  that featured bin Laden and was a testimonial to four jihadi "martyrs." Also allegedly ... Full Story »

Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) will get the top spot on the Feb. 2 Democratic primary ballot for Cook County Board president. A lottery today determined the ballot order for the primary.Next, in order: Terrence O'Brien, who's the president of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago; and Dorothy Brown, the Cook County clerk of courts. Last on the ballot will be the incumbent ... Full Story »

A South Lawndale woman who allegedly stabbed her boyfriend to death over a bounced check was ordered held in lieu of $750,000 bail today. Venita White, 41, stabbed Andre Brooks, 41, in the porch of the second floor apartment they shared in the 1900 block of South Trumbull Avenue early Sunday, according to Cook County prosecutors. The couple, who had been dating on and off for the last 22 years ... Full Story »

Millennium Park would never have been built without suburban wallets, Mayor Daley said Monday, scoffing at suggestions that Chicagoans get preferred seating there. "Remember, people gave money [to build Millennium Park] who lived throughout the metropolitan area -- business leaders. And if you look at many of them, they lived in suburban areas. They should have never given," Daley said ... Full Story »

The Chicago public schools will expand its Arabic-language program to three more high schools, thanks to a three-year, $888,000 federal grant announced this morning.Mayor Daley accepted the grant at Durkin Park Elementary School, 8445 S. Kolin, as he rejected suggestions that the Fort Hood, Texas, massacre could lead to an outbreak of anti-Muslim sentiment. "I don't think so," Daley said. "Every ... Full Story »

A teen armed with a "replica gun" was charged with robbery after stealing several items including drumsticks, cymbals and a pink handbag from a man and a teen girl while the man's 8-year-old daughter watched Sunday in the Avondale neighborhood on the Northwest Side. Sebastian Melendez, 18, of the 2800 block of North Drake Avenue, was charged with two counts of aggravated robbery, both of which ... Full Story »

Public health authorities are investigating two deaths tied to Legionnaires' disease at a retirement community in Vernon Hills, officials said. "We're taking every precaution and doing everything we can," said Jane Woloson, executive director at the Park at Vernon Hills. There are four laboratory-confirmed cases of the bacterial disease, seven probable cases, and several more cases of ... Full Story »