Forward, Together Forward

While I would like everyone have a fantastic Valentine’s Day, I also ask that everyone take a moment to remember the lives lost at Northern Illinois University on this day last year.  Families and friends will always be haunted by this day, and while we all have to move on, we can’t forget Gayle, Catalina, Julianna, Ryanne and Daniel.

Leslie + Chicago = yay!

Yes, the rumors some of you have heard are true – I will, in fact, be in Chicago Saturday the 24th through Wednesday the 28th.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Burlington International (BTV) to Philadelphia International (PHL)
Departure (BTV): January 24, 5:05 AM EST 
Arrival (PHL): January 24, 6:58 AM EST 

Philadelphia International (PHL) to Chicago O’Hare International (ORD)
Departure (PHL): January 24, 7:55 AM EST
Arrival (ORD): January 24, 9:39 AM CST

_________________

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Chicago O’Hare International (ORD) to Washington Ronald Reagan National (DCA)
Departure (ORD): January 28, 5:00 PM CST 
Arrival (DCA): January 28, 7:45 PM EST 

Washington Ronald Reagan National (DCA) to Burlington International (BTV)
Departure (DCA): January 28, 10:00 PM EST
Arrival (BTV): January 28, 11:26 PM EST

So yes. If you think I don’t have your number or some way to contact you, let me know. And if you have free time and want to meet up, let me know that, too!

I shall call him… LegoBlago

Thanks to whats4lunch for their brilliant observation

“Why DO you live here?”

We could easily adapt this article in the Chicago Tribune for Vermont.

One of many reasons I love the Chicago Tribune

Headline this morning: “Chicago area held frostage”.

Hahahahahahahahaha.

Chicago Public Schools to close, consolidate schools

It’s one thing to downsize companies and screw adults out of their jobs and happiness, but now we’re going to be closing public schools and shuffling kids all over the place. I know what that’s like – they did a lot of rearranging when I was in school, but that was for expansions and whatnot. A lot of these schools are going to be overcrowded and the kids are going to feel out of their element. [sigh]

In what they claim is a move to improve academic performance, Chicago Public Schools have announced they’ll be doing a major reshuffling of schools, including consolidating some and closing others altogether. A vote on the closings is expected January 28, though groups of angry parents are already planning a protest. 

Click here for the proposed breakdown of closings and consolidations.

5 wounded in Chicago high school drive-by

I know my high school’s sports games got kind of intense again our rival on the other side of town, and I know we had crazy security because people would get into knife fights and stuff, but this is just too much.

Five people were shot Friday outside a Chicago, Illinois, high school, police said.

Police say a shooting outside a Chicago high school on Friday may be gang-related.

Authorities said the shooting occurred about 8 p.m. CT outside Dunbar High School on Chicago’s South Side.

“It appears to be gang-related,” Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis said at a news conference, adding that more than 200 officers were investigating the incident.

“We anticipate solving this thing in the not too distant future,” Weis said.

Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez said the five people — all males — were wounded by gunfire and taken to area hospitals. Two were in serious condition, one was in critical condition and two were in stable condition, she said.

Rodriguez also said a female victim was injured in a fall and was listed in good condition at a hospital. Rodriguez told CNN affiliate WGN that all of the victims were “young people,” but she could not say whether they were students.

WGN reported that a basketball game was in double overtime at the school when shots were fired outside the building.

Basketball games had been underway at the school for about four hours, and some students were leaving the building when gunfire broke out, WGN reported.

Shaneisha Turman, 15, told WGN that she was standing in the doorway of the gym when she saw a silver truck pull up to a nearby bus stop.

The occupants of the truck pretended to shoot, Turman said, and then “they really started shooting.”

People were shouting “They’re shooting,” Turman said, adding, “It was a lot of people shouting and running.”

Weis said security cameras at the school were being examined to aid in the investigation and while no arrests had been made, “We’ve got some positive leads.” 

Real estate mogul dead from apparent suicide

It’s so sad that people have gotten to the point that this seems like the only option in a failing economy.

One of Chicago’s most well-known real estate moguls appears to have shot himself to death, police said.

Steven Good was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot Monday, police said.

The body of Steven L. Good was found in his Jaguar on Monday. The car was spotted in a parking lot of a wildlife preserve in Kane County, Illinois, just outside Chicago, authorities said.

No note was found, and police say they do not know how long the 52-year-old had been in the vehicle….

“If you lined up 1,000 people and said pick the one that might do this to themselves, he would be the last person I would choose,” said Wayne Caplan, who worked at Sheldon Good for six years and knew Steven Good personally. “He had a zest for life. He has a wife and kids and he had so much in his life.”

Suicide is never the option – no matter how bad dealing with your situation is. My condolences to his family.

Upcoming Series “Trust Me” on TNT

Due to my adoration of Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) and Dave’s appreciation for Tom Cavanagh (Ed, Love Monkey), we’ve decided to give this show Trust Me a try when it premieres on January 26th on TNT. 

The show is about two best friends working as creative partners at a top-ranked Chicago ad agency. Two pretty men that I like in an ad agency in Chicago? Sold. Learn more about the show here and keep your fingers crossed that it’s decent and doesn’t get canceled after two episodes.

Smooth criminal FAIL

This guy should definitely win the Darwin award for 2008. 

Authorities say a Cary man escaped a Chicago bank heist Friday with nearly $400 cash.

But he also left something behind: a pay stub listing his name and address.

Now Thomas Infante, 40, is facing a federal bank robbery charge alleging he held up the Fifth Third Bank at 4071 W. Lawrence Avenue by handing over a note implying he had a weapon and threatening harm if his demands were not met.

Infante, of the first block of Willow Circle, appeared Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys in Chicago and ordered held without bond pending his next court appearance.

FBI agents arrested Infante in Cary after tracking him down with information he left at the scene.

According to an FBI affidavit filed Monday, Infante walked into the bank about 5:50 p.m. Friday and handed a teller a note reading “Be Quick Be Quit (sic) Give your cash fast or I’ll shoot.”

After receiving $397 cash, the robber fled, leaving behind the note which had been written on the back of a pay stub that had been torn in half.

Investigators later discovered the other half of the pay stub, listing Infante’s name and Cary address, just outside the bank’s front doors “apparently discarded by Infante as he was fleeing,” the FBI said.

The stub indicated Infante was paid $165.99 by Jewel Food Stores on Oct. 23, according to the affidavit.

FBI agents tracked down Infante in Cary, and he subsequently confessed to the robbery, the affidavit states.

FBI spokesman Ross Rice said it is not the first time a bank robber has left behind an obvious clue to his identity.

“We had a robber who wrote a demand on a deposit slip with his name on it and another who wrote on the back of an envelope that had his address on the other side,” he said. “He’s not the first to do this and probably won’t be the last.”

Infante is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the bank robbery charge.

MORON.

 

[courtesy of the Daily Herald]