Patch Guide: Lollapalooza Kicks Off in Chicago Friday, Who Do You Want to See?

Music takes Chicago by storm this weekend with Black Sabbath, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Black Keys and more playing in Grant Park. Get the details and tell us if you're going and who you want to see!

Squealing guitars, ambient electronics and soulful voices will be hanging in the air at Grant Park in Chicago this weekend as the Lollapalooza Music Festival comes to the city. This awesome music festival kicks off at 11:30 a.m. Friday and runs through 10 p.m. Sunday. If you don't already have a ticket, you may be out of luck. According to the Lollapalooza website, all ticket options are sold out. Still, if you go down, you can probably snag a ticket at the gates. If you're a music fan, there's a ton of choice acts to check out, including Black Sabbath and The Black Keys dueling it out from either side of the park. But if heavy music isn't your thing, there's also Sigur Ros, Toro Y Moi and Frank Ocean there to expand your musical horizons…

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Matthew Hendrickson

3:27 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012

They don't get much different than those two bands! Thanks Bill.   more ›

Chicago NATO Summit This Weekend: A Suburbanite’s Survival Guide

What you need to know about riding the train, driving on the highway and working in Chicago during the NATO Summit tomorrow and this weekend.

For the first time the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will be holding a summit in an American city other than Washington, D.C. In addition to global leaders, more than 2,000 journalists and countless demonstrators and activists are expected to inundate the Chicago area. Some protests have already begun. Security measures are in place for the days before the summit and the actual meeting days, Sunday, May 20 and Monday, May 21, when more than 60 heads of state and government will come together to discuss security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. Although you are not a NATO delegate, some of the plans may affect your life during this time. Here is a rundown of the security plans as they now stand. Check websites listed …

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Matthew Hendrickson

4:16 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Glad we could help! I really can't imagine you'll need to worry too much. I think more than anything you're going to just have a bigger hassle going into work on Friday due to stepped up security and lot more people trying to get around the city.   more ›

Board Split, but 15 Percent Water Rate Hike Likely to Pass

The board was split on how to pay for new water meters and pumping station repairs, but signaled they were likely to approve the increase at April 23 meeting.

Trustees in La Grange were split 3-3 over whether to approve a 15 percent increase in the village's water rate to residents beginning May 1 at a board meeting on Monday night. The rate increase would pay for new, more accurate water meters and repairs to the Village's East Avenue pumping station. Ultimately, Village President Liz Asperger sided with trustees Bill Holder, Mark Langan and Jeff Nowak that the rate should be approved and made the vote likely to pass at an April 23 board meeting when the 2012-2013 budget will be approved. In closing remarks, Asperger said her vote to approve was that the majority of the rate increase was from the city of Chicago raising its rates to the village. In addition to a $65 increase from Chicago on the…

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LT Orchestra to Play at Chicago's Symphony Center, Lyric Opera Comes to LT

The Lyons Township High School Sinfonietta will perform at Chicago’s Symphony Center on the Orchestra Hall Stage April 9. Members of Chicago's Lyric Opera will perform at LT on April 19.

Many performers dream of one day getting a chance to play on the stage at Chicago's Symphony Center. This April, students at Lyons Township High School are getting a chance to do just that. On April 9, students in LT's Sinfonietta (a medium-sized orchestra) will be under the lights on the Orchestra Hall stage at the Chicago Symphony Center. Students will also get a chance to train with the best. Brant Taylor, a DePaul University professor and a cellist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, will hold a strings clinic with the group on the stage. The performance is set to begin at 3:45 p.m. and will feature a 45-minute set of students performing works by Handel, Sibelius, Grainger and Mozart. LT to Host Lyric Opera Performers If you're a fan …

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La Grange Park Approves Water Rate Increase

The La Grange Park Board of Trustees unanimously approved a water rate hike of 12.5 percent on Feb. 28.

Citing an increase in the water rate to the Brookfield North Riverside Water Commission from the city of Chicago, La Grange Park trustees unanimously approved a rate hike for residents of 12.5 percent on Feb. 28 at the board's monthly meeting. "[The rate increase] is almost exclusivley a pass thorugh from the cost increase from the city of Chicago," Trustee Marshall Seeder said. Seeder said the board had no other option but to increase rates. The city of Chicago plans to increase their water rate to the suburbs by 25 percent this year, followed by increases of 15 percent for three years after.

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La Grange Park Police Stop Man Suspected in Chicago Carjacking

The following item is from Patch's reporting of the La Grange Park police blotter.

A car stolen in Chicago and a suspected carjacker who was driving the vehicle was stopped by La Grange Park police on the 600 block of north La Grange Road at about 1:31 a.m. Dec. 22. Michael D. Boyd, 36, of 3639 S. Seely in Chicago, was arrested for criminal trespass to a motor vehicle and on a warrant for violating parole. He also was ticketed for speeding and driving while his license is revoked. Boyd is, “one of the primary suspects in a carjacking,” in Chicago, according to La Grange Park police Commander Ed Rompa. Chicago police are investigating, he said. A police officer on the 700 block of La Grange Road reported seeing a car going north at a high speed, later determined to be 44 mph in a 30-mph zone. When stopped, Boyd showed the…

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2011 Was a Wet One

The National Weather Service is calling 2011 the second wettest year on record in Chicago!

It's official: Chicago has its second wettest year on record in 2011, according to the National Weather Service. With the .06 inches of rain that fell last night, Chicago got just enough of a bump to surpass 1983 as the second wettest year since records started being kept in 1871, the Chicago Tribune reported. We're only 1.45 inches of rain away from beating 1998 as the wettest year ever, and with the forecast for the upcoming week showing rain, we might just make it. As a 5 a.m., the official total precipitation for Chicago was at 49.41 inches, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The all-time record held by 1998 produced 50.86 inches. Generally, Chicago gets about 36.89 inches of rain a year. The increase is largely due to a February …

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Jeff Ward: Notes on West Suburban Civilization

Jeff Ward: The Smart People Really Do Live in the Suburbs

When it comes to comparing the suburbs and the big city, Chicago doesn't have a sporting chance.

It always amazes me how a non sequitur sentence in a column can set off some overly sensitive, surly and snooty comments. To wit, in my recent Patch piece concerning the city of Chicago’s rabid revenue raising ruses, I uttered this simple, but obvious truth: “The smart people live in the suburbs for a reason.” And after they got a suburbanite to read the column to them, those Second City citizens shrieked and howled almost as if I'd said that Starbucks stopped serving Iced Peppermint White Chocolate Mochas. (Chicagoans drink some rather strange things.) So now we know why they call it the “Windy City.” Ah, well! I suppose having to face a bitter truth can be difficult for folks who have to inhale bus fumes on a regular basis. In their …

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Haunted Haunts

VIDEO: Paranormal Research Team Investigates Unrequited Love Haunting

A Chicago area restaurant is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a woman who died after an affair gone wrong.

The Country House in Clarendon Hills is known in the Chicago area for its burgers, but it’s also known for something else. “I took a ghost tour once, many years ago, and one of the stops was this restaurant,” said Diana LaPointe, who has been a longtime patron of the restaurant. Lynn Banks, the restaurant's manager, has worked there for 29 years. She said in that time she's frequently felt the sensation of being watched. "I've seen shadows go by, and you go look and nobody’s there besides you," said Banks. "We’ve had customers that have made comments, especially about the women’s bathroom. They’ll be in one stall then they’ll hear the other one open and close, and they’ll see a shadow or something, but nobody else is in there.” Because of …

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Frank Medina

4:41 pm on Friday, October 28, 2011

This is an amazing love story!   more ›