In throwing his support behind former Gov. George Ryan's bid for clemency, Sen. Dick Durbin said he was convinced that Ryan had "finally accepted responsibility for his wrongdoing," citing a statement released over the weekend by Ryan's lawyers.

Jennie Esposito was well into her sixth decade working as a school crossing guard on Taylor Street when her sons insisted she retire last year.

Dick Durbin seems to be confused. That's the nicest way I can think to say it.

Like a lot of people, Ava Schieber still keeps a set of encyclopedias in her Streeterville apartment, though her particular set is a little different from most.

This message, printed in a child's hand and accompanied by a crayon drawing, turned up Wednesday in a stack of Letters to the Editor:

In the summer of 1994, one of this city's most powerful politicians, U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, was indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with alleged crimes related largely to the operation of his Chicago office.

Scott Cohen says it was just after lunch about a week ago that a man walked into his pawnshop at 48th and Ashland and stepped into the glass privacy booth to ask for a loan.

When he's excited about a new project, the thoughts come firing out of Mike Quigley's brain like a popcorn popper with the lid removed.

I've lived through seven recessions by my tally, not counting this one, which has yet to be officially declared, not to mention my not having lived through it yet.

Why do women love vampires? What is the strange attraction that allows these creatures to live on forever -- in movies, romance novels and now a hit television show on HBO?

I'm afraid I've lost my wife to a vampire. Actually, it's a whole town full of vampires, and every Sunday night at 8 p.m., like clockwork, they use some kind of mind control to capture her complete attention.

By the time I got back to the office from President-elect Obama's first press conference on Friday, there were already three messages on my voicemail. The log indicated all the calls came from the same number, my home phone.

In October of 2003, just nine months before Barack Obama would become a national sensation with his speech at the Democratic National Convention and just five months before he would win the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, the Chicago Tribune took a poll.

Gov. Blagojevich met reporters Wednesday to explain the process he intends to follow to pick Barack Obama's successor in the U.S. Senate.

Hey, President Obama. It's good to see you, wouldn't want to be you.

With a Chicago Democrat running for president, there's been lots of talk all year about the Chicago Democratic Machine, which made it all the more ironic Monday when former Ald. Edward R. Vrdolyak entered a guilty plea in federal court on the eve of the voting.