For sale: Thompson Center, slightly used
By Steve Musal The James R. Thompson Center will be for sale at public auction within the next year, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner announced today. The building, which currently houses roughly 2,200 state employees and several retail outlets, requires about $100 million in repairs, according to Rauner. “From a pure financial point of view, this […]
Baby Zachary mesmerizes Brookfield Zoo visitors
By Colette House New mom Kamba, a western lowland gorilla, cuddles, nurses and holds her newborn baby boy Zachary. Her every move reminds mesmerized Brookfield Zoo patrons of one of the most fundamental and natural of bonds – the love between a mother and her infant. “When people see Zachary, it’s kind of amazing how […]
Colleges rev up academic success with free fitness classes
By Ariana LaBarrie Students are toting sneakers and water to class instead of laptops and notebooks with the free fitness classes offered at many colleges. Several campuses, including Chicago area colleges like Columbia College Chicago, Northwestern University and DePaul University, are offering the work out classes to students ranging from aquatic workouts to Zumba. Students […]
Quick Hits: Cubs-Cardinals Game 4
By Jordan Ray Follow along throughout the day for quick hits and tidbits form around Chicago related to today’s Game 4 National League Division Series game between the Cubs and the Cardinals. THE LOCAL TAVERN MOOD AFTER THE NLDS CLINCH At a Cardinals fan watering hole: “Welp. Sad Cardbar. Friendly, though.” At a White Sox […]
Homeless youth activists rally against budget impasse
By Kayla Daugherty Video by Ryan Connelly Holmes James Ivory describes himself as many things: a college student, a musician, an activist and a father. But because of the social services he received through a homeless shelter, he no longer needs to include “homeless” in that list. Ivory is one of the thousands of Illinois […]
Beer, code and hacks: Chicago’s first comedy hackathon
By Emma Sandler Get together a bunch of web designers, coders, and funny people and mix in beer, energy drinks and pizza over the course of two days. There you have it—the ingredients for a hackathon. More specifically, Chicago’s first Comedy Hack Day.
Fed’s Lockhart: Rate increase still on the table this year
By Kristen Vake The assumption that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by year-end is “still operative,” according to Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart, but he added that weaker U.S. economic data over the past few weeks has made the situation “a bit more ambiguous.” At the September 16-17 meeting of the Federal […]
Labor department reports lowest jobless claims since mid-July
By Antea Gatalica Initial jobless claims fell to 263,000, a decrease of 13,000, in the week ended Oct. 3, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. The 4-week moving average in the week ended Oct. 3 stood at 267,500, a 1.1 percent change decrease from the week prior. The number of people continuing to receive […]
Cybersecurity experts needed in corporate board rooms
By Eve Fan As the threat of cyber attacks escalate, it’s only a matter of time before companies start bringing chief security officers into the boardroom, according to a panel of experts speaking at a Chicago Council on Global Affairs event at tech startup incubator 1871. “I think in a lot of cases, the chief […]
Goats, black cats & Bartman: Coming to terms with Cubs’ Curses
By Shane Monaghan For Grant DePorter, the signs clearly show the Chicago Cubs will win the World Series this year. For Sam Sianis, it’s not about the signs. It’s about making sure he can bring a billy goat to the playoffs and end the bad karma started by his uncle 70 years ago. Two of […]