You know that thing you never do? Now it will cost another 25 cents if you start to do it. Yes, the Tribune is increasing its newsstand price to 75 cents for Monday-Saturday editions, but the Sunday edition remains $1.79. The memo sent out from Tony Hunter, the Trib's senior vice president of circulation and operations, said: Starting Monday, December 31, Chicago Tribune will raise its Monday - Saturday newsstand price from 50 cents......

Sen. Dick Durbin sent out an email appeal today urging people to celebrate "A Plumpynut Holiday." Our senior sentator wants his constituents to spend $20 this holiday season on Plumpynuts, a "sweetened mixture of peanuts, essential vitamins, minerals and milk served in foil pouches [that] has become a high-nutrient, high-energy weapon in fighting malnutrition." Plumpynuts really are a great way to spend $20. Durbin tells us that the nutritional pouches were developed by researchers in......

More news today about the state's case against Reginald Potts, and the evidence is really piling up. Potts was charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend Nailah Franklin over the weekend and on Monday was denied bail. According to Assistant State's Attorney Bob Milan, Potts left a voicemail for Franklin saying he could have her "erased" after Franklin sent an e-mail to some of her friends detailing Potts's criminal past. (According to Potts's blog entry on his......

UIC's Dr. David Featherstone and his colleagues have isolated a gene in fruit flies that, when mutated, makes them bisexual. And not because they want to be on TV. Because their synapses work differently! Featherstone et al published their findings in an article ("A glial amino-acid transporter controls synapse strength and homosexual courtship in Drosophila") in this month's Nature Neuroscience journal, which doesn't give its articles away for free online sadly. But apparently the researchers......

The last time we checked in on the Burrito Bracket, we were waiting to see who would win the Tecalitlan/Irazu blood match to join La Pasadita, El Taco Veloz, and De Pasada in the final four. It's on our mind today because this is when the Burrito Bowl championship was slated to be held. A post by Nate on November 15 read that he was taking a one-week break because he'd "fallen way behind......

Today's the last day to let us know you want to be a contributor for Chicagoist! Please let us know what you'd want to cover and please oh please include a sample post so we can get a feel for your writing. E-mail chicagoistapply@gmail.com and knock our socks off. Tough to beat Joshua Mellin's title "The Bean Is Secure, Over."......

And your sweet, sweet lovin'. Wait. Writing. Your sweet, sweet writing. It's not too late to apply to be a Chicagoist writer. We're looking for folks who want to cover visual arts, music, events, food, news, transit, crime, government, architecture, style — and everything else. Send an e-mail to chicagoistapply@gmail.com with the subject line of what you want to write about. Please tell us a little about yourself, and include a sample post. Reindeer......

Chicagoist is looking for a few good men and women to fortify our ranks. We're looking for general contributors, food writers, people to cover visual arts and the gallery scene, and maybe a music and events writer or two who want to post a few times a week. Interested? E-mail chicagoistapply@gmail.com with the subject line of what you want to write about (is it not in that list above? That's OK — surprise us,......

We got an e-mail today from a national travel magazine fact-checker wondering about local lingo. Some of the terms are definitely things we're familiar with, but..."the prairie"? Huh. Let 'er rip, cats and kittens. Would you agree that while the term "Chi-Town" means "Chicago," it's rarely spoken by a resident? Does the term "dees and doze guy" refer to a working class local who speaks with a Chicago accent? Does the term "dragged through......

Drew Peterson was on the Today Show this morning, chatting with Matt Lauer about his wife Stacy's disappearance and his former wife Kathleen Savio's exhumation. (Anyone know how to embed that video?) "I can look you right in the eye and tell you I had nothing to do with either of those instances. I’m not afraid of law enforcement. I’m afraid of the media," he said. Maybe because he works in law enforcement, and Savio's......

It's the classic costumes that we fall for, like this wonderful couple dressed as Father Merrin and Regan from "The Exorcist." The gleam in the noble priest's eyes tell us that he's been down this road before and can save the tortured girl, while Regan's glowing eyes shout, "Keep away!! The sow is mine!" If you're just getting a start on the day like we are - it's pretty quiet around these parts so......

Are you going to be on the Metra tonight? Can you abuse your office supplies? Then print out some fliers and get to it, already! Matt from SpudArt put together this highly informative flier (.pdf) for Metra riders — or anyone concerned about Friday's transit vote. "All the Reps in Chicago voted in favor of bill SB572," he writes, "So what good does it do to email your rep who is already gonna vote......

Just a reminder to all you festive folk out there: we want to see you in all your costumed glory! Either tag your Flickr Halloween pix "chicagoist" (as usual), or e-mail them to tips@chicagoist.com. Send in pet photos, too, because we cannot get enough of this mariachi puppy Matt Stratton snapped. He has a tiny guitar!......

That shot is us dressed as the Invisible Man from Halloween 2K4. It's one of our personal favorite costumes. Another was from 2K3, when we dressed as Big Boy. And now that we've shown you our embarrassing shots, we want to see the best you've got. If you've spent the better part of the past four or five days dressed as a pirate, a hooker, a filthy pirate hooker, a cowboy, a medicine cabinet,......

Did you get an e-mail from the CTA a little while ago? Some customers did with a severe weather warning. Dear CTA Customer, This email is to alert you that there is currently severe weather, including heavy rain and high winds, forecasted to reach Chicago during the afternoon and evening rush-hour period today, October 18. It is possible that this severe weather could impact CTA bus and train service. Please take this into account......

Commenting on Chicagoist is now limited to registered users. Registration is easy — either click the Create an Account link at the top of this or any other page on Chicagoist, or easier yet, create an account right at the bottom of the entry page that you want to comment on. So easy! All you have to do after that is confirm your e-mail address and you're good to start commenting. A note about privacy:......

Angels will get their wings this Saturday night at Custom House. From 6-9 p.m. Shawn McClain's South Loop steakhouse is hosting a fundraiser to benefit Blue Sky Inn. Frequent shoppers at area farmers markets might be familiar with Blue Sky Inn for the work they do with their transitional work program, "A Taste of Success." The program hires and trains homeless youth in baking pastries, which are then sold at farmers markets and through catering......

Governor Blagojevich signed into law late Wednesday HB 429, which brings into balance the amount of wine wineries in and out of Illinois can sell directly to consumers, but prevents out-of-state retailers and wine clubs to sell product directly to customers in Illinois. HB 429 goes into effect June 2, 2008. Under the terms of HB 429, smaller wineries with an annual production yield of under 25,000 gallons may sell directly to consumers with the......

Wednesday we told you about the closing of Penang Malaysian Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Chinatown for multiple health code violations. Even though a Penang spokesman would only comment to Chicagoist that they were "doing the best (they) could to correct the violations," manager Joe Leung felt slightly more confident when he told Crain's that they only had "plumbing problems" and expected to re-open that same day. We received an e-mail from Tim Hadac from......

Mention fish tacos to people and chances are that they either give you the gas face and say “Eewww!”, or repeat the term and giggle. Simply typing those words conjures in our mind innuendo-laced memories of our Uncle Stu holding his index and middle fingers to his mouth, flicking his tongue between them and talking about how he loved "eating fish on Friday at the 'Y'." Today’s Tribune, however, is all about fish tacos. Kevin......

First person to name the song those lyrics in the headline came from gets a no-prize. Own some of Billy Corgan. Really. It's not a good idea to e-mail a Playboy playmate via Myspace, especially when said playmate is dating the Bears' Adam Archuleta, you're from Aurora, and type in bold threatening capital letters. Some Wisconsinites have a unique take on the designated driver. What did you do on your summer vacation? (via) Give......

Ah, the best laid plans of politicians and telecoms often go awry. When Chicagoist first heard the possibility that we could soon be bathing in glorious Wi-Fi in the streets of our fair city, we reacted with skepticism. We did dream a time when we could check our e-mail while riding the bus or post while relaxing on the beach. But that was back in 2006. Unfortunately, for now, we will have to put......

The Illinois State Budget Fight just got weirder. Governor Rod Blagojevich quietly filed suit in Sangamon County Friday against House Speaker Michael Madigan, attempting to force the Speaker to hold special sessions when he calls them. "It is imperative that (the governor's authority to call special sessions) is preserved and honored," Rebecca Rausch, a spokeswoman for the governor wrote in an e-mail to the State Journal Register. "After lawmakers failed to follow the governor's special......

Yesterday the Illinois House approved legislation regarding how customers will be able to buy their wine. It's a story we've been keeping tabs on here at Chicagoist for a while. Supporters of the bill champion HB 429 as a victory for Illinois consumers. They claim that the uniform 12-case limit shared by in- and out-of-state wineries, and the establishment of a permit system allowing smaller out-of-state wineries to sell their product directly to retailers,......

From the Sun-Times today, a study of 4,000 Americans age 13 and up (including 200 in Chicago) found that 12 percent of them check their wireless devices for e-mail while in church or using the bathroom. You're probably thinking that 12 percent of 4,000 people is a small amount. But the study, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation and sponsored by America Online (AOL?!?) shines a light on how pervasive Internet access and email have become,......

We don’t know about you, but Chicagoist always feels healthier just by walking around a farmers market. And that’s even before we get home and sample any of our beautiful bounty. That’s especially true at the Green City Market, which features products from local, small-scale, certified organic/sustainable vendors twice at week at the south end of Lincoln Park. Perhaps it’s the colorful array of produce, soothing live music, pristine flowers and giggling kids here that......

Saturday the sun and heat agreed with Chicagoist. So we saddled up on our seven-year-old Schwinn Mesa GS and beat a straight line north on Halsted to the Lincoln Park farmers market. We just had some chicken butchered for us at Chicago Live Poultry House in Little Village, and had some ideas of how we wanted to prepare the cuts. First, we stopped at the tent manned by Froelich's Finest Fruits & Vegetables of Berrian......

Chicagoist likes to think we work on a European schedule, taking the entire month of August to hang out with the Parisist staff on the French Rivieria sunbathing and making snotty comments about Americans. Sadly, our limited vacation days don't allow us to show off our pasty legs for much more than a week. Recently while some of us were on vacation, we posted, we checked e-mail like we were important, and we stayed in......

Part of an international movement, Chicago’s fourth-annual World Naked Bike Ride is set for this coming Saturday. Check-in will be from 6 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. in Union Park, near 100 N. Ashland, at the statue of former Mayor Carter Henry Harrison, Sr. He would be so proud. The official e-mail announcement arrived in Chicagoist’s mail box today, and warns non-participants and disruptive people will be turned away, suggesting you’re not welcome if you’re just......

Sixteen years ago this Chicagoist contributor was sailing around Indonesia's Flores Sea on an oceanographic research vessel re-mapping shipping lanes that hadn't been charted since the original Portuguese and Dutch colonists claimed Indonesia for their respective monarchies 400 years prior. We originally met up with our ship in Darwin, Australia, where a carved-from-granite tattooed bartender/"Thunderdome" extra shoved a Victoria Bitter in our right hand and a XXXX bitter in our left, after we ordered a......