Chicago Sun-Times

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 »

Police are seeking a man in his 20s for the shooting death of a motorist Sunday night on the South Side. The man was dead when emergency crews arrived around 6:30 p.m. to the 700 block of East 43rd Street from multiple gunshot wounds, Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford said. Demetrius Madden, 30, of the 1300 block of West 73rd Street, was dead on the scene on the 700 block of East 43rd ... Full Story »

Police are seeking the public's help in finding a local musician and writer who was reported missing after he was last seen Friday in his apartment in the South Side's McKinley Park neighborhood. Christian "CT" Ballentine, 26, of the 3500 block of South Iron Street, was last seen in his apartment Friday at 3 p.m., according to friends. A Chicago Police News Affairs release indicated he was ... Full Story »

A 16-year-old Bronzeville neighborhood boy killed in a shooting that also wounded two men late Sunday in the Lawndale neighborhood was a 10th grader at Phillips High School. Police said the three were shot about 11:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of South Christiania Avenue. Sherrell Williamson, 16, of the 3700 block of South Indiana Avenue, was dead on the scene on the 1500 block of South ... Full Story »

The man who was stabbed by his girlfriend's 10-year-old son in a domestic incident early Sunday in the South Side West Pullman neighborhood was convicted in 1993 of second-degree murder, police said. The incident occurred at 12:30 a.m. Sunday at West 118th and South Wallace streets, according to a Calumet District lieutenant. Daniel McCullough, 38, of the 11800 block of South Wallace Street ... Full Story »

A man racked up his 63rd arrest by stealing three bottles of champagne from a Lake View neighborhood Whole Foods grocery Sunday on the North Side. John Crowe, 70, of the 1200 block of South Kedvale Avenue, was charged with retail theft, a misdemeanor, according to police, who said the charge may be upgraded to a felony. Crowe -- who has at least 50 aliases -- also has given several different ... Full Story »

Did pop diva Beyonce Knowles and her Destiny's Child rip off a Chicago songwriter's song? A copycat claim contained in a 2006 lawsuit is expected to land the "Bootylicious" sensation in a witness chair next month as part of a copyright infringement trial to be held in Chicago's federal courthouse. In dispute is a song titled "Cater 2 U" released by Destiny's Child in a 2004 compilation called ... Full Story »

A man was accused of biting off a part of his girlfriend's ear Sunday morning during an argument at their home in the Brighton Park neighborhood, officials said. Saul Botello-Corral, 40, was charged with attempted murder and aggravated domestic battery after the incident in the 4000 block of South Brighton. ... Full Story »

The CTA has new anti-sexual harassment ads up in trains and buses, thanks to the efforts of a group of young Rogers Park women who have campaigned against unwanted touching and rude comments on the transit system. The ads build on the "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign already in place, according to CTA spokeswoman Sheila Gregory. The ads, which have been up for a couple of weeks ... Full Story »

If technology has its way, getting old will get easier. That's the vibe running throughout the "idea house" for the elderly on display at the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging's annual exposition at McCormick Place. Full Story »

An 8-year-old boy playing with a lighter started a fire that left a woman in serious condition with second-degree burns, officials said. Sharon Cole, 25, was sleeping in the second-floor bedroom of a home in the 10700 block of South Edbrooke Saturday night when the boy accidentally started a blaze in the room, authorities said. He was playing with a lighter when it ignited some fabric ... Full Story »

Now, there's a way the super-careful can make their sensitive electronic data -- e-mails, photos, Facebook posts and other information -- self-destruct in 8 to 32 hours. You know, a little like the way the tapes with the super-secret instructions would do at the start of "Mission: Impossible," only without the hissing and the smoke. The software, called Vanish, requires you to select each ... Full Story »