What's the Speed Limit?...

How Cold is Too Cold?...

The Randolph Street Market District, home to Marché, Sushi Wabi and more, is one of the most popular and big-ticket dining areas in the city. But how do they fare under the withering gaze of the City Department of Public Health? Sushi Wabi had troubles with violations 33 and 34. Violation #33 requires "all utensils shall be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized after each usage, as well as all food and non-food contact surfaces of equipment......

If you’ve played along Chicago’s lakefront this summer, then you may have noticed the 124 sculpted, painted globes designed by artists with the intent to inspire and empower the public to take action against global warming. Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet dots the lakefront north of the Field Museum and at Navy Pier. “Cool Globes presents a vast array of solutions with a clear message: We can solve the problem,” the exhibit’s......

You may not realize it, but the Great Lakes Watershed is not only the source of all of our fresh drinking water, but it's also a political entity, protected by a group of US States and Canadian Provinces. Under the Water Resources Development Act, diversion of water from the Great Lakes basin requires the approval of all eight Great Lakes governors, something that rarely occurs. This act, and it's ramifications, has been a point of......

Music festivals are lots of things to lots of people: to the City, they represent quality of life and revenue draws from tourism; to music fans, they can be a great way to see many of your favorite bands all at once, while checking out new music; to some, they're like a vacation in your own town. But to activists and social movement groups, they're also an opportunity to reach out to people that might......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

Illinois legislators are saying “neigh” to the idea of grubbing down on horse meat; the Senate yesterday approved a measure that would ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption, and Blago is expected to sign it into law, according to an aide. Illinois only has one remaining horse slaughterhouse, a plant owned by Cavel International in DeKalb. A federal judge’s ruling shut the plant down at the end of March due to issues with......

Some people have really tough jobs. Really tough. For example, we regular wonder how Chicago's public school teachers, police officers and sanitation workers get up day after day to do what we imagine are incredibly difficult and often thankless jobs that are non-the-less important. You know who Chicagoist doesn't worry about? Tribune dining critic Phil Vettel who had the taxing job of visiting 70 brunch spots over the past two months (with the help......

There are a lot of rules at Viet Hoa Plaza, which really isn’t a plaza but an Oriental market on Argyle. The signs posted throughout the store inform shoppers that since there are no refunds, returns or exchanges — exceptions are made for defective rice cookers, and thermo and hot pots — they should inspect all items before leaving. Just in case you didn’t get that, rule No. 4 states that “All sales final.” Are......

Despite what some people think, we've lived here long enough to know when a cabbie is starting to give us the runaround. And now we just nip it in the bud. We call out the Lower Wacker route before they start to pull some other crap. We tell them to take Ashland instead of going all the way east to Lake Shore Drive. But there's one thing we have never been really strong on —......

Over the past year, it seemed as though a story about a car crash involving teens was on the Tribune’s Web site nearly every week. Apparently Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White noticed it, too, and will propose legislation to enhance the state's Graduated Licensing Program, aimed at curbing teen accidents later this week. Under White’s recommendations, a learner’s permit will no longer be the speedy ticket to a driver’s license, but would triple the......

While Chicago churches are trading computers for guns, one suburban kid found out that turning in a pellet gun gets you expelled, instead. In Plainfield, a thirteen year-old boy allegedly discovered a pellet gun in the boys restroom of Troy Middle School and turned it in to an assistant principal, only to be kicked out of school. Several local news groups are covering the incident. The kid's parents are protesting the expulsion and they......

Chicagoist's grandfather loves telling this joke: When is a door not a door? When it's ajar! That joke doesn't really have anything to do with anything, except that when we heard about this story, we wondered "when is guacamole not guacamole?" A Los Angeles woman is suing Northfield-based Kraft Foods Inc. alleging it committed fraud by selling "guacamole" dip that contains as little as 2% avocado. The main ingredients in the contested party dip include......

Mmm ... hot dogs. We love 'em. Especially those delicious Vienna Beef all-beef hot dogs, which are chock full of beefy goodness. Except for the all-beef part. Chicago-based Vienna Beef is being sued for misleading consumers. How were they mislead? The aforementioned all-beef hot dogs have an "all-natural" casing — "all-natural" being a euphemism for pig intestine. Vienna Beef says it followed all the required government regulations required in labeling the porky dogs, but that......

Although Chicagoist would never advocate you go all Niles Crane on us, you might want to bring a clean handkerchief with you the next time you dine out, to check for dust and polish the cutlery. Fran Spielman writes in the Sun-Times today that Chicago has only 46 Health Department sanitarians and 12 supervisors to keep 15,500 restaurants in compliance with health code regulations, prompting aldermen to question just how efficiently those inspectors are doing......

Michigan authorities searched Richard Hebron's home and car last week in their attempts to uphold the law, according to this Business Week article. Which law would that be? Oh right, the one against distributing "raw milk and its various byproducts, including cream, buttermilk, yogurt, butter, and kefir." We've heard kefir can be super dangerous too, especially when it is fruit flavored. Hebron runs his 110-acre farm, Family Farms Co-op, with another family and distributes the......

Far be it from Chicagoist to lecture anyone on discretion. We've made fun of Amish people in car accidents, popularized the term "cockpunch," and had an internal discussion last week as to whether or not it's acceptable to use the word "dipshit" in a headline. But we don't think we're going too far out on a limb by saying that the press shouldn't give a nickname to the dentist whose patient died under sedation last......

Somehow, the world of -ists managed to make it through the week despite news that Jen & Vince broke up. - Chicagoist had fall on their mind as they made squash and fudge, read "House of Leaves," and tried to figure out what's next for the Cubs. Not fall-related, but still of utmost concern, the whole skinny black pants thing. - Torontoist fought off an evil scourge of raccoons and went to go see......

If it’s the beginning of June, it’s time for the annual Chicago Blues Festival. Now in its 23rd year, the blues fest seems to be on its way to becoming an actual celebration of the city’s blues heritage, and not just a cheap and fast way to make money off of tourists. Each year, the city presents local and national blues acts that are hit or miss. Some deliver the type of transcendent performances you’d......

Still waiting for that $100 refund from Peoples Energy? Yeah, so are we. And it seems that we'll be waiting a little longer while they haggle with the Illinois Commerce Commission over the wording of the settlement in which they agree to reimburse natural gas customers $100 million, or $100 each, for allegedly overcharging them between 2000 and 2004. The ICC was expected to finalize the settlement yesterday, but Peoples Energy balked at a final......

Signs of Vaudeville?...

Itchy eyes? Trouble breathing? The AP has done a study merging 2000 Census Data with emission reports from industrial plants to determine who is most at risk from this kind of pollution nationwide. The data points to minorities (disproportionately Blacks and Hispanics) and the poor being most endangered by short term and long term exposure. 280 Illinois neighborhoods are considered to be most at-risk for long term health problems. While fewer than half of......

So beginning late 2008, Lufthansa is flying Airbus' new ginormous A380 double-decker plane from Chicago to Frankfurt out of O'Hare. The thing carries 850 passengers, has a 10,000-foot-long runway requirement and, should you want to find a good use for all of that extra cash you've got lying around, comes with a price tag of $290 million. Apparently, though, you can negotiate a discount when you order. Which is nice because if there is anything......

It's been touted as a centuries-old Japanese tradition but is seen as more of a modern European fad and associated with the Yakuza. Chicagoist remembers seeing Adrianne Curry volunteer to do it and Vince Neil eat it with relish on The Surreal Life. Now the concept of "nyotaimori", known commonly as "body sushi", has landed in Chicago. The River North-based Kizoku Sushi and Lounge sold its first $500 all-you-can-eat body sushi special last Sunday......

Yesterday US Congressman Mark Kirk held a hearing at the Shedd Aquarium to discuss the results of a study done by the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, which determined Lake Michigan has more mercury pollution than all of the other Great Lakes. Toxic levels of mercury in the lake can accumulate in fish and, when ingested, lead to a myriad of health concerns, such as damage to the nervous system and heart disease. The......

Yesterday Gov. Gonad made Illinois the fourth state in the nation and the only state in the Midwest to allocate public funds for stem cell research. He signed an executive order directing the Illinois Department of Public Health to create the Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute. The IRMI will give $10 million in grants to medical research facilities for the study of adult, cord blood and embryonic stem cells. A ">similar bill stalled in the state......

When Chicagoist gets free stuff sent to its offices, our first thought is always “Can I sell this on Ebay for beer money?” If the answer is no then our next thought is “Can we give this away to readers without violating federal postal regulations?” If the answer is yes, we give it away on the site. Chicagoist is giving away a run-of-engagement pass for two to the movie Saving Face, the writing and directorial......

Dear Ask: There's a condo being built not far from my apartment. Everyone in my building keeps complaining to each other that they start construction so early in the morning (sometimes before 8am! and on weekends!) and continue well into the evening. Is there anything we can do? Anyone we can call? (311?) Are there any regulations about how early construction can start or how late it can go? It's really noisy and annoying to......

The big buzz around the Chicagoist office has been about Burger Delights. Why are our Burger King restaurants morphing into them? Why are they just throwing those poly signs over the top of the Burger King signs? Isn't their special, 2 Delights for $3, the same as the Whopper special? Can I get it my way? Shouldn't the owner be getting in big-ass trouble by Burger King? Do you think they'll get a Rick......