Chicago Tribune

U.S. officials are considering temporarily closing a vital Chicago shipping corridor connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River to stop the spread of invasive Asian carp. Cameron Davis, a Great Lakes adviser to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Obama administration, said talks are "accelerating by the nanosecond" and that a decision could come within two or three days ... Full Story »

Chicago police are searching for a 14-year-old girl who went missing Tuesday while on her way to her West Side school. Taneasha Simms (right) was last seen by her mother leaving for school about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to Chicago police. She is registered at Orr Academy High School, 730 N. Pulaski Rd., but has not attended the school since Nov. 25, police said. She is described as African ... Full Story »

Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis today said his investigators have concluded that the death of school board president Michael Scott was a suicide, agreeing with a finding last month by the medical examiner. Scott was found with a gunshot wound to the left side of his head on Nov. 16, according to authorities. His body was at the water's edge of the Chicago River behind the Chicago Apparel Center ... Full Story »

Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis promised today that his department will conduct a "thorough" review of why the media did not receive an alert about a missing 12-year-old girl who turned up dead two weeks later. Acknowledging the crucial role media can play in such cases, Weis said the department is trying to determine whether computer or human error was responsible for the failure to get out a ... Full Story »

An autopsy performed today ruled the death of a teenage boy who was run down by a car last week in a Niles shopping mall as a homicide, and police said charges against the driver, a 16-year-old Glenview boy, are expected to be upgraded to murder. Edgardo De La Torre, 16, of the 9300 block of West Emerson Street in unincorporated Cook County near Des Plaines , died of cranial cerebral injuries ... Full Story »

Elgin police are investigating two incidents in which female middle-school students reported being approached by an unidentified male who made physical contact with them, said Elgin police Lt. Sean Rafferty. Both incidents were reported near Larsen Middle School in northeast Elgin , officials said.   One student reported an incident that occurred early Tuesday, before school. Another student ... Full Story »

Attorneys for Drew Peterson, charged with murdering his third wife Kathleen Savio, alleged in court Friday that a sworn statement she made to an insurance-company lawyer contradicts her account that Peterson broke into their home in 2002 and threatened her with a knife. Peterson's defense attorneys are seeking a copy of the notes made by an attorney working for Country Companies insurance ... Full Story »

Chicago police were investigating a burglary at the offices of attorneys for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich in which at least one computer containing undercover recordings from the sweeping corruption case was stolen, sources said. The break-in took place about 4 a.m. at the law offices of Sam Adam and his son, Sam Adam Jr., in the 6100 block of South Ellis Avenue, police and Sam Adam Jr. said ... Full Story »

Officials at Cook County Jail tightened restrictions on who may visit inmates at the jail due to concerns about the spread of H1N1 virus. Beginning today, only immediate family members over age 18, or attorneys and religious advisors may visit with detainees, a move that sheriff's department spokesman Steve Patterson said was a precautionary measure based on recommendations from the U.S. Centers ... Full Story »

The Tribune's Clout Street blog reports: Comptroller Dan Hynes said today that he won't sign off on Democratic primary rival Gov. Pat Quinn's plan to borrow $500 million to help pay down the state's backlog of unpaid bills. Quinn fired back, saying Hynes was playing with people's lives by refusing to sign on to the borrowing plan. "There's a human toll to the comptroller declining to support ... Full Story »

A convicted felon and former restaurant bus boy at the center of a patronage hiring scandal involving Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is in jail again after he allegedly resisted two sheriff's officers while trying to remove his personal belongings from the County Building. Tony Cole, 30, was charged with misdemeanor resisting or obstructing a peace officer after he allegedly refused to ... Full Story »

A baby was born today on a flight from Chicago 's Midway Airport, and officials said mother and child "were doing fine" at a hospital after the flight was diverted to Denver. The woman went into labor after Southwest Airlines 441 took off from Midway bound for Salt Lake City, according to an airline spokesman. The flight was diverted to Denver, the nearest airport, at about 11:30 a.m. Central ... Full Story »

Hundreds of mourners packed a Crystal Lake funeral home to say goodbye to Army Sgt. Jason McLeod this morning. McLeod was killed Nov. 23 in Pashmul, Afghanistan, where he was stationed at Camp Wilson. McLeod, a mechanic, was killed in a mortar attack as he worked on Humvees. Representatives from all branches of the military and local police were among those at the funeral, the Davenport Family ... Full Story »

A Chicago man charged with kidnapping, raping and brutally beating a woman after she obtained an order of protection against him was ordered held on $500,000 bail today. Pablo Torres, 35, of the 3800 block of North Broadway, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping in connection with the alleged Nov. 25 attack. (An earlier version of this ... Full Story »

The west side of the University of Illinois at Chicago campus -- including the UIC and Rush University medical centers -- was without heat and hot water today because of an electrical problem at a steam plant. Elective surgeries have been cancelled at UIC , and ambulances were being diverted from both medical centers' emergency rooms. But emergency surgeries were still being performed at UIC ... Full Story »

Nearly 200 people rallied in downtown Chicago this morning on behalf of Rigo Padilla, an undocumented college student ordered to leave the country by Dec. 16 and return to his native Mexico, a country he hasn't seen since he was 6. What started out during the summer as one young man's quest to avoid deportation has grown into a movement, with supporters chanting Padilla's name as they rallied ... Full Story »

Chicago drug investigators raided an elaborate marijuana growing operation housing more than 400 cannabis plants in two adjacent South Side storefronts and arrested the alleged proprietor, police said today. Authorities estimated the street value of confiscated drugs at more than $2.9 million. Erwin Kupi, 35, of the 800 block of West 71st Street in the Englewood neighborhood, faces charges in ... Full Story »

The Times of Northwest Indiana reports : A Valparaiso man is accused of grabbing a gun and threatening to kill his mother's dogs after one of them killed his hamster. Brian Sutherland also threatened his mother, tried to prevent her from calling police and was found with marijuana, police said. Get the full story: nwitimes.com Full Story »

With both major Democratic governor candidates pitching major income tax increases, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan says even a tax hike won't solve all of Illinois' budget problems. Madigan, a powerful veteran Southwest Side leader, predicts that the economy might get worse before it gets better, meaning fewer jobs and fewer people paying taxes. "For those that think that tax increases ... Full Story »

The body of a man believed in his 60s was found floating in Diversey Harbor this morning, authorities said. Fire Department spokesman Kevin McGregor said department units responded to the scene for a rescue operation about 7:30 a.m., but quickly determined that the person was dead. The body was found on the east side of the harbor, near Outer Lake Shore Drive, said Chicago Police News Affairs ... Full Story »

A 24-year-old man was found shot to death in the West Chatham neighborhood on the South Side this morning, officials said. The unidentified man was found with a wound to his head at about 6:40 a.m. on the 500 block of West 75th Street, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak. A spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said the identity of the man was not available ... Full Story »

Slippery driving conditions are being reported in the north and northwest portions of the metropolitan area this morning. A McHenry County sheriff's dispatcher said slippery and hazardous conditions on some area roads had caused a handful of accidents, mostly cars into ditches. But no roads have been closed, he said. A full complement of snow plows and salt trucks were out on county roads, he ... Full Story »

The Gary Post-Tribune reports: Post-Tribune reporter Karen Snelling has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in South Bend on charges of stealing money from the guild that represents newsroom employees. In her guilty plea petition, Snelling admits to embezzling $18,100 over four years. Get the full story: post-trib.com Full Story »

The Sun-Times reports: A suspect who was burglarizing a Jeep Cherokee early this morning on the North Side was arrested and found with an apparently self-written "how-to" guide for breaking into vehicles. Get the full story: suntimes.com Full Story »

The Sun-Times reports: Tony Cole, the onetime steakhouse busboy hired by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger to a $61,000-a-year county Highway Department job -- then fired in a patronage scandal -- is back in jail. Cole got into an argument with a sheriff's deputy at the Cook County Building over whether he had permission to take two large packages from the building. He was charged with ... Full Story »