Welcome to eventmesh.com

The St. Patrick's Day Parade kicks off at noon and will end at 3 p.m. Some downtown streets will be closed.  

The starting point is at the intersection of Balbo and Columbus drives and ends at Madison and Columbus. Roosevelt Road to Randolph Street will be closed to traffic from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The dyeing of the Chicago River will begin at 10:45 a.m. and can be viewed from the East Side of the Michigan Avenue bridge, the West side of the Columbus Drive bridge or upper and lower Wacker Drive between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive

--Staff report

A taxi driver was seriously injured this morning when he stepped out of his passenger van and was struck by a vehicle on Interstate 90 near O'Hare International Airport.

Shortly after 5 a.m., Illinois State Police responded to a call of a person hit in the eastbound lanes of I-90 near the airport.

Preliminary reports said the man stepped out of his taxi to possibly change a tire, but that has not been confirmed. The man was hit by a Jeep SUV and thrown approximately 40 feet from his vehicle into a steep ditch, according to police.

Emergency crews used rope and a stretcher to haul the man from the ditch because of slippery and muddy conditions, said police. The man, who complained of shortness of breathe and numbness in his back, was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, said police.

The taxi, which was side swiped by the Jeep, sustained moderate damage to the left rear side. A...

A 53-year-old woman died this morning following a 2-vehicle crash on Chicago's North Side.

Officers and paramedics responded to the crash at about 12:49 a.m. in the 1200 block of North Elston Avenue, said police.

The victim was found unresponsive. She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead, said police.

The circumstances leading up to the crash were not immedicately available, said police.

The Police Major Accident Investigation Unit is investigating.

--Deanese Williams-Harris

A man, described as in his 40s, was shot Friday night during a robbery attempt in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood.

At about 10 p.m., officers responded to a call of shots fired in the 7000 block of South Laflin Street, said Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro. When police arrived a man was found with a gunshot wound to his abdomen, said Alfaro. An unknown suspect tried to rob the man, said police.

The victim was taken to Stroger Hospital and listed in "stable" condition. 

Police are investigating.

--Deanese Williams-Harris

Firefighters from several area departments responded to a report of a small fire in a hangar at the Chicago/Aurora Municipal Airport Friday night.

Initial reports said a small blaze started about 6:30 p.m., with no injuries and no planes involved, according to the Sugar Grove Fire Department, one of the departments that responded to the scene.

However, late Friday night a spokesman at the Sugar Grove department said the initial reports were incorrect and no fire was found at the location.

The spokesman would not provide details.

--Staff report

An extra-alarm fire at 20 N. 5th Avenue in Maywood caused extensive damage to a 3-story building housing a thrift shop, dance studio and at least one apartment.

About 50 fiefighters from Maywood and surrounding suburban departments responded to the blaze around 11:30 p.m. Friday night in downtown Maywood. According to Chief John Cadagin, a portion of the second floor of the building collapsed into the first floor, hampering firefighting efforts.

Shortly after midnight, the fire had escalated to a 3 alarm response, according to a Maywood fire department representative.

No injuries were reported in the blaze. 

The fire, which Cadagin says appeared to originate in the rear of the building is under investigation.

--John Loboda, WGN-TV

Source: Chicago Breaking News | Published: 13 Mar 2010, 12:05 am

Termel Jennings, an honor student with cerebral palsy, left a broken home in Joliet earlier this year to live with his aunt in Chicago. In early February, the 18-year-old registered at Fenger High School.

He wound up never attending a class. After waiting more than a month for Chicago Public Schools to provide him with federally mandated bus service to Fenger, the teen gave up Friday and decided he would return to school in Joliet under the provisions of a law that protects the educational rights of homeless youth.

"Termel has decided this afternoon that CPS is not going to meet his needs," said Amy Zimmerman, an attorney with the Chicago Medical-Legal Partnership for Children at Health & Disability Advocates, which has represented Jennings. "He has no faith that CPS is going to meet his needs. It left him languishing now for five weeks. This is what he wants and has a right to do."

Zimmerman said that under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Jenning...

A mother who wrote down the license plate number of a driver who approached her daughter in a green minivan was instrumental in identifying a man suspected of sexually assaulting three teenage girls on the Southwest Side, authorities said today.

The woman turned the temporary license plate number over to police after seeing news reports about attacks being committed by someone driving a green van, police and prosecutors said.

The plate number eventually led to a warrant being issued for Chauvet Stiggers, 23, said Wentworth Area Detective Sgt. Will Svilar.

Stiggers is charged with sexually assaulting three teenage girls and is suspected of exposing himself to another teen. He was ordered held without bail today in a hearing before Criminal Court Judge Peggy Chiampas. Follo...