* I hope everybody has a safe, fun and happy Independence Day weekend. We’re shutting down until Monday, but Illinoize will still be up and running, and so will the recently revamped InsiderzExchange. Go buy an ad. * If you want to see some fireworks, click here. Heh. * And now [...]

At a time when families were preparing to enjoy the long holiday weekend, the unthinkable happened. Richard Francis, 60, a veteran Chicago Police officer, was shot to death when he responded to a disturbance outside of a CTA bus....

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is soliciting public comment on the regulatory treatment of event (prediction) markets and prediction-market exchanges. These markets allow participants to take positions, in some cases with real-money consequences, on the odds of various events such as the election of particular political candidates, the frequency of hurricanes, and trial [...]

On July 4, 1776 this great document......... was signed by these great men......thus creating this greatest nation on earth!

A final salute for a good cop BY FRANK MAIN AND ANNIE SWEENEY Crime Reporters Sun-TimesSlain officer a beat cop to the coreBy Angela Rozas and Robert Mitchum | Chicago Tribune reporters

Ringo Starr wants more peace and love in the world. He's planning a peace rally this Monday at noon in Chicago in honor of his 68th birthday. There will be simultaneous rallies in Hollywood, New York, London and Iceland. The...

The University of Chicago is cutting ties with Illinois' student loan agency, forcing the school's graduate students to look for new ways to obtain loans.

After insisting for the months the unit would come home on time, the Pentagon has extended the tour of 2,200 Marines in Afghanistan. Get the latest Chicago-area news when and where you want it! Go to www.NBC5.com for more headlines.

Celebrate America's independence with made-in-the-U.S.A. FIELD NOTES. Buy four 3-packs and one is free!

Boba Fett's Flashdance Audition. Via Cynical-C.

"There was no tone of thankfulness for having been spared to answer to their names, but rather a toll, and an unvoiced wish that they, too, had been among the missing." 145 years ago today.

Starting with the Old Testament, in seven months without interruption, all 66 books of the Bible are written in calligraphy by a robot. Check the video.

FieldNotesinaction. And in Good Magazine too, sort of.

Before we call it a day and head off to barbecues, parades and attempts to blow up our neighbor's lawn, lets take a few minutes to remember the visionaries who wrote both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Photo by doug.siefkenChicago Police Officer Richard Francis, tragically killed in the line of duty early Wednesday morning, is remembered. [Trib, S-T]If you already are or are looking to attend graduate school at the University of Chicago, take note: the school has cut ties with Illinois' student loan agency, leaving students scrambling for other loan opportunities. [S-T, CBS2]A reason to revive public stockades: Patrick Kolman of Arlington Heights was arrested on his 10th DUI charge.We're still

Buffetlibre put together a free '80s cover song project, and has posted the 56 contributions on their site. You can download the whole thing at once or choose song by song a la carte style. The bands tackled range from pencil-sketch Norwegians a-ha to Chicago noisemonsters Big Black. There are some clunkers, but with over 50 songs some bands actually tired to DO something with the source material instead of just dressing it up in Mall-Emo guitars and ironic line readings. Ruby Isle's version of P

Celebrate summer with our guide to all the best fests

Alejandro Escovedo plays a free show Friday at Grant Park.

Free screening of "Eye of the Dolphin"

Free admission to the Art Institute, History Museum, and MOCA

Jul 03: Windy City Black Pride 2008 at Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Chicago

A limo, an order of Taco Bell, and Ozzie Guillen makes for a potentially explosive combination.

Game Chat | Press Pass | BR PreviewSPSean GallagherSPTim Lincecum 3-3, 4.36, 47 K, 20 BB, 53.2 IP9-1, 2.38, 114 K, 43 BB, 109.2     LFReed JohnsonLF*Fred LewisRF*Kosuke Fukudome 2B#Ray Durham1BDerrek Lee RF #Randy Winn3BAramis Ramirez CBengie MolinaCF*Jim Edmonds CF Aaron RowandCGeovany Soto1B*John Bowker 2B Mark DeRosa 3BJose Castillo SSRyan Theriot SS#Omar Vizquel PSean Gallagher PTim Lincecum  

Next GameChicago Cubs @ San Francisco Giants Thursday, Jul 3, 2008, 6:05 PM CDT AT&T ParkSean Gallagher vs Tim LincecumPartly cloudy. Winds blowing out to center field at 5-15 m.p.h. Game Time temperature: Around 60.Complete Coverage >Remember, the following paragraph is supposed to be humor. Not serious. Anyway:During the 2006 season -- a lost cause, anyway -- something odd happened as the season went by. (Yeah, I know, a LOT of odd stuff happened in 2006... but this is specific.

It's kind of like an East Coast start, at this time. Except for the shadows. Maybe it'll be cloudy.

Javier Vazquez (RHP) vs. Justin Duchscherer (RHP)Time: 7:11 p.m. CT, TV: WCIU, Radio: WSCR AM-670 (B-R preview, Live Boxscore; 2007 MLB Gameday; 2008 MLB Gameday 3D)Today's StartersW-LGGSCGSHOSVBSIPHRERHRBBKERAWHIPJavier Vazquez7-617170000106.1116555313321044.491.39Justin Duchscherer8-51313000085.0592318419551.91.92GO SOX!

(Reuters) — Phillip Bennett, the former chief executive of Refco Inc., was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Thursday for fleecing investors of more than $2.4 billion in a fraud that destroyed the world's largest independent commodities broker. The sentence marks the latest chapter in the ...

(Crain’s) — United Airlines says the miles flown by paying passengers decreased 3.6% in June from the year-earlier month, and the number of paying customers dropped 5%. Miles flown by paying customers fell faster than United cut capacity, which it trimmed 0.6%. As a result flights were ...

(Crain’s) — Prominent Chicago sex therapist Laura Berman's publicly held downtown clinic has gone out of business, according to an SEC filing. The firm was unable to meet payroll and shut its doors in early June after failing to get additional financing, a spokesman said Thursday. ...

(AP) — Newspaper publisher Tribune Co. said Thursday it has signed a $300 million asset-backed commercial paper facility with Barclays Bank PLC. Tribune said the facility allows the company to raise cash through its outstanding accounts receivable. The company initially borrowed $225 ...

United Airlines said a combination of route cuts and more empty seats resulted in a 3.6 percent decline in passenger traffic last month.

I've been reading Evan Wright's book "Generation Kill" and watching the HBO miniseries of the same name in recent days; both chronicle the experiences of a group of elite young Marines in the opening days of the Iraq war. Next week I'll post some thoughts on the HBO project, which...

Best film westerns? Some people have no business picking 'em.

Canadians are looking down on Americans.

But still can't be bothered to set a Chicago date for a reunited Pumpkins show. What's up with that? (Don't ask me; I haven't been able to get an answer out of anyone in the band's camp.) In any...

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was out in Chicago today to make a low-key announcement about gas pump inspections. That event disintegrated into a contentious exchange with reporters in which the governor accused the press of being “dishonest”...

We report on how Hyde Park helped form the politics of Senator Barack Obama. Then, we profile a group of young people living in a Christian commune in Chicago. We talk with the author of a book about a nineteenth century Chicago woman who led...

Who: Adrian Belew, Saul Zonana 8pm. $25. 21+. When: Thursday, July 3 8:00 PM Where: Martyrs' (3855 N Lincoln Avenu) From Event details at TimeOut.com!: Adrian Belew is a mind-blowing guitarist all by his lonesome, but lately he's added an extra attraction to his live act by hiring adding a pair of the vets from Paul Green's famed School of Rock, namely the brother/sister rhythm section team of Eric and Julie Slick. These barely drinking-age kids are sick, and have to be to keep up with Bel

Today we conclude our Autism Chronicles series, with the third part of Amy Thompson’s story. Thompson is a single mother who juggles a job at a nursing home and the job of raising two children, one of whom—Kollin—has autism. Today, Kollin and...

Nick shines a light into how the show is put together each week, he talks about the game show Crosswords and the popularity of Al Roker, and then he discusses the classic film Tommy Boy.

I was incredibly hungry by the time I stopped in for a quick late lunch. While they offer a full Laotian menu with table service, I opted for the cafeteria-style dishes so I didn't have to wait any…

If you search reviews of Alinea, "unforgettable" and "experience" may be the most popular terms. In fact, Alinea is both unforgettable and an experience. Have you ever wondered what it might have felt…

First off let me start with... Friday night and every restaurant along this stretch of Clark was crowded... Granted our intent was to try Shochu... but when we approached the restaurant....hmmmm....…

The Art Institute is one of the better Art Museums I've been to (and I've been to many the world). It's large, but still managable. They are best know for their Impressionist through Modern…

I have to update this review now that this restaurant has been here awhile. I've completely changed my opinion. I meet a friend here for lunch all the time, and anything we order is delicious. Big…