Ask Amy
Suspicious wife wants to hire gumshoe - July 11, 2011 - Dear Amy: After 12 years, I have realized my husband is a narcissist — true to the psychological definition. I have been to therapy (he won't go) and it is through therapy that I have realized this.
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Around Town
Fan safety No. 1 for White Sox - July 10, 2011 - The unfortunate and tragic death of a fan trying to catch a ball tossed to him in the stands by the Rangers' Josh Hamilton last week has impacted all of baseball.
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Matt Bowen
Waiting for name to be called on draft day nerve-wracking - April 24, 2011 - The dynamic of the NFL draft goes much deeper than first-round picks walking across the stage in three-piece suits (bought by their agents) to shake the commissioner's hand.
Barbara Brotman
Rahm Emanuel makes welcome waves - July 4, 2011 - Members of a certain small community have cause to behold the new mayor with particular satisfaction. One of our own has ascended to the leadership of Chicago. Rahm Emanuel is a member of our tribe.
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Steve Chapman
Defense cuts? - July 10, 2011 - Politicians often rail against government spending, except when it goes to the military. Conservatives believe there is no such thing as too much defense spending, and liberals don't argue, for fear of being labeled appeasers. So when there is talk of the two parties agreeing to cut the Pentagon...
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Joe Trost's Corner Kicks
Girls soccer | Joe Trost's Corner Kicks: Madison County teams sweep the state tournament - June 9, 2011 - Darren Geisler, an avid soccer fan from downstate Illinois, sent an email last week thanking me for picking Granite City to advance to the semifinals of the Class 3A state tournament last weekend.
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Don Dziedzina
Don't let summer heat discourage fishing - July 8, 2011 - Summer's heat shouldn't stop you from fishing — if you go when the sun is low.
Leah Eskin
Working lunch - July 10, 2011 - Working at home has its good points, like breaks to walk the dog and pick up the campers and water the lawn. And its bad points, like breaks to walk the dog and pick up the campers and water the lawn.
Teddy Greenstein
18 holes with … Howard Moore - July 9, 2011 - Before stepping onto the first tee, Illinois-Chicago basketball coach Howard Moore pulled out a bag of golf balls. Yes, a bag. Not a sleeve.
Ilyce Glink
Is family on the hook for underwater property? - July 7, 2011 - Q. I inherited a condominium in Naples, Fla. from my parents. The property has a mortgage of $200,000 and is worth about half that much. My parents owned it with my uncle and his wife, who are still alive, so now I now have this property to split expenses including the mortgage with my uncle.
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David Haugh
Playing in Europe a foolish risk for NBA stars - July 9, 2011 - Nobody questions former Illinois player Deron Williams' right to sign a one-year deal for up to $5 million to play professional basketball for the Turkish club Besiktas.
Melissa Harris
Henry Paulson, former Treasury secretary, coming back home to head new institute at University of Chicago - June 30, 2011 - It took Henry Paulson some time to decide what to do next.
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Philip Hersh
Timing not right for U.S. in 2020 - July 1, 2011 - While a U.S. bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics still seems very unlikely, USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun didn't rule it out this week.
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Jon Hilkevitch
Smartphone thefts boost CTA robbery rate, Chicago police say - July 11, 2011 - The robbery rate is running higher this year on the Chicago Transit Authority system, new data show, and police link the crime increase to "Apple picking" by young thugs stealing smartphones from passengers.
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Rex Huppke
Stall tactics: Tips on office bathrooms - July 11, 2011 - Every office has a bathroom, every non-robot worker has to use the bathroom and sharing a bathroom with co-workers seems to be an almost universally unpleasant experience.
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Steve Johnson
Smooth music, rocky environs at Caravan - July 10, 2011 - In a way, Tom Smith should have been at home on the site of the Dave Matthews Band Caravan, the new three-day music festival that wrapped up, mostly in triumph, Sunday at a rocky new music venue on the Southeast Side.
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Chris Jones
Hannibal Buress: Taking no prisoners - July 10, 2011 - COMEDY REVIEW: Hannibal Buress at Zanies ✭✭✭½ If you want to hear crickets in a comedy club, here's one useful line: "Who's here tonight on an Internet date?"
Gregory Karp
Shedding light on new bulbs - July 8, 2011 - Few topics get Spending Smart readers more lit up than light bulbs.
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John Kass
Emanuel lets guard down while Daley keeps his - July 10, 2011 - Does Mayor Rahm Emanuel have the fortitude to challenge former Mayor Richard M. Daley over who will be the boss of Chicago?
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Julia Keller
Novel puts reporter amid international skullduggery - July 8, 2011 - When your 5-year-old daughter wants to play "I Spy" and says, "I spy with my little eye ..." and decides that her mystery object starts with a "B," and then she points to a bar — one of the iron bars on the door of a jail cell — you know you're in a pickle.
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Rick Kogan
There's no rush to leave a good tavern - July 8, 2011 - It is never a good idea to ask a man or woman what he or she is doing drinking in a tavern at 4 p.m. on a sunny Tuesday.
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Greg Kot
Dave Matthews Band Caravan: Everything you need to know - July 7, 2011 - Just when it seemed Chicago was jam-packed with summer festivals, a strange confluence of bedfellows – rival promoters Jam Productions and Live Nation, several South Side aldermen, and jam-band kingpin Dave Matthews – got together earlier this year and decided to stage another one on a...
Gail MarksJarvis
Gail MarksJarvis: Horrible jobs picture precedes earnings week - July 10, 2011 - It's starting to sink in.
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Nina Metz
2 indies embrace Chicago's seedier side - July 7, 2011 - "Hello all hucksters, all hoodlums, all politicians, all crooks, all gadflies, all con artists, all gamblers, all second-story men, all floosies, tramps, trollops, dolls, all has-beens, all sob-sisters, all dropouts, burnouts, bums, stoolies, rummies, junkies, pimps, hookers, whores, priests...
Dan McNeil
Bowman needs to make some moves - June 30, 2011 - Hockey on Fourth of July weekend? You bet. I love Rocky Wirtz.
Clarence Page
Sometimes justice is hard to take - July 10, 2011 - As much as I tried to avoid being taken in by the drama of the Casey Anthony trial, I was jerked alert by its conclusion, the most controversial murder acquittal since that of O.J. Simpson.
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Mark Pearlstein
Board weighs paying off debt with reserves - July 8, 2011 - Q: I live in a well-established, 55-and-over, 360-unit condominium association. A few years ago, the board obtained a loan of $1.5 million at 6.5 percent interest to replace the siding on the units. The loan was later renegotiated to a lower interest rate of 5.5 percent, with a remaining...
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David Sobolewski
'We had bigger goals' - March 21, 2011 - Obviously, the Benet team and community had an extremely rough time with the unexpected end to the season.
Michael Phillips
'Project Nim' a fascinating story of an experiment gone wrong - July 8, 2011 - The devilishly talented British director James Marsh made "Man on Wire," a marvelous documentary blending archival footage and sly reenactments about the French wire-walker who, in 1974, stunned the world by inching his way across a metal strand illegally strung between the unfinished towers of...
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Mary Ellen Podmolik
Habitat affiliates see strength in numbers - July 8, 2011 - If all goes according to plan, Chicago-area businesses and consumers will be hearing a lot more from the local component of one of the nation's 10 largest homebuilders, Habitat for Humanity.
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Dan Pompei
Key meeting regarding lockout Tuesday - June 20, 2011 - On Tuesday in Chicago, two representatives from each NFL team are scheduled to attend what should be the most significant league meeting since the lockout began.
Howard Reich
Ramsey Lewis unveils a few bright 'Colors' - July 11, 2011 - The last several years have been signficant for Chicago pianist Ramsey Lewis, who has enjoyed a burst of creativity at an age when many musicians are content to relive past triumphs.
Phil Rogers
Szczur adjusts to pro baseball quite well - July 10, 2011 - PHOENIX — When the dog days arrive later this season, they'll be another new experience for Matt Szczur.
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Phil Rosenthal
Phil Rosenthal: The mission is the message - July 10, 2011 - CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — About 3 1/2 hours before NASA's Atlantis lifted off from Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A, piercing clouds that had threatened to postpone the final launch of the U.S. space shuttle program, another federal government office had news that was considerably less...
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Ameet Sachdev
Chicago Law: For unemployed lawyers, recession isn't a moot topic of discussion - July 1, 2011 - Every two weeks, a group of out-of-work lawyers meets in downtown Chicago to share employment leads, talk about the frustrations of their job searches and lend support to one another.
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Mary Schmich
A short list of summer pleasures - July 3, 2011 - Every now and then I make a list of things I've liked lately. Here's one for summer.
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Dawn Turner Trice
Family talks about Boystown safety and how area has changed - July 11, 2011 - Renee Jackson was 7 in 1975 when two men who were trying to open the first gay bar on North Halsted Street knocked on the door of her family's Lakeview apartment.
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Mary Umberger
Kitchen design with resale in mind - July 8, 2011 - Used to be when you designed a kitchen, you did it to please yourself. Now you're doing it to please someone who might not cross your doorstep for years — the person who will buy your home.
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John von Rhein
At Ravinia, Voigt falls short of past vocal glories - July 10, 2011 - One of the inalienable rights of being an operatic diva is being able to call your musical shots just about anywhere. Take Deborah Voigt, for example.
Ellen Warren
The bottom line: Shorts are too short - July 8, 2011 - A popular '50s rock 'n' roll song asked, "Who wears short shorts?"
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Bob Weber
Purchase car in U.S. - July 9, 2011 - Q: I promised my wife a big trip to Europe as a gift when I retire. We haven't had a vacation in 10 years and her car will need replacement pretty soon. So I've been thinking it would make sense to combine the trip with a car purchase. (Yes, I'm the cheap, practical sort that is trying to get...
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Jen Weigel
Wedding guests gone wild - July 8, 2011 - Our story about the do's and don'ts of attending a wedding brought in some hilarious e-mails and Facebook comments. Here were some of the highlights:
Jon Yates
Problem Solver: Widow isn't let out of late husband's Mustang lease - July 10, 2011 - As a kid growing up in Detroit, Ginger Abdoo dreamed of owning a Mustang convertible like the one her neighbor had — candy apple red with a white interior.
Eric Zorn
Secret adviser has a nose for what Blago should say - July 10, 2011 - Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, like many convicted felons awaiting sentencing, is in a box: When addressing the court he will need to express remorse — which judges like to see — without admitting criminal wrongdoing — which stands to foul up any chance he has to appeal his 18...
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Dennis Byrne
Gay marriage across the land: Not so darn fast - July 5, 2011 - The recent legalization of same-sex marriage in New York proves that it's no longer an issue in the United States, right? Gay marriage will eventually, but certainly, become widely accepted everywhere, right?
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Jonah Goldberg
Men behaving badly - June 3, 2011 - Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York is a very busy man. He sits on several important committees. He's newly married to a high-powered wife. He's planning a run for mayor of New York, which they call "the city that never sleeps" for a reason. In fact, he's so busy that from 2007 to 2010, he...
Benny Kass
The realities of unloading a time share - July 8, 2011 - Q: I recently read your suggestions on how to get rid of a time share. You suggested attempting to give your time share back to the company with a deed in lieu, but said that it probably won't work. You are right. It did not work. However, I found a broker who was willing to take the time share...
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Joyce Lain Kennedy
Deflecting illegal job questions - July 10, 2011 - Q. What should I do about illegal questions in a job interview? If I say the question is illegal, I'm afraid they'll think I'm a troublemaker and drop me as a contender for the position. What do you advise? -- H.V.H.
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Charles Krauthammer
Who takes us to war? - June 27, 2011 - WASHINGTON — Is the Libya war legal? Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, it is not. President Barack Obama has exceeded the 90-day period to receive retroactive authorization from Congress.
Robert Pagliarini
5 ways negative friends can drag you down - July 5, 2011 - Maybe you've experienced this, too. When you've made a commitment to try to live your best life, to start a side business in the other eight hours, to lose weight or go back to school, weren't you flooded with acceptance, enthusiasm and unconditional support from your friends, colleagues and...
Kathleen Parker
Busting water myths by the gallons - May 31, 2011 - NEW YORK — In a slender essay titled "Here Is New York," E.B. White wrote about the implausibility of the great city, mentioning among other things the millions of gallons of water needed each day just so people could brush their teeth.
Leonard Pitts
Bin Laden's efforts to rebrand al-Qaida - July 5, 2011 - One thinks of that scene from "The Wizard of Oz" where Toto pulls back the curtain and the "great and powerful Oz" is revealed to be only an old man manipulating a smoke and fire machine. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" bellows the wizard as the man tries to pull the covering...
Janet Portman
Crafting a buyout package to entice tenants to move - July 8, 2011 - Q: We rented out our family home when my husband was transferred to a branch office in another state. We thought the transfer would last two years, but after a year, he was told to return to his original office. Trouble is, we leased our home for two years, and our renters are refusing to...
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Dean Richards
Kevin James takes on feathered, furry - July 8, 2011 - LOS ANGELES — He went from stand-up comedy to bona fide TV star to starring in a string of successful full-length feature comedies. In his latest, "Zookeeper," Kevin James, the former "King of Queens," takes on the "king of the jungle" and other feathered and furry friends. We spoke recently...
Daneen Skube
Is the workplace home of the free and entitled? - July 5, 2011 - Q. I manage a lot of younger employees and am fed up with their attitude of entitlement. During interviews they ask what I will do for them. They want big salaries, big visibility, and big promotions right out of the gate. Have we become the land of the free and entitled?
George Will
Who will bat against 'Alibi' Obama? - July 8, 2011 - "If he popped up in the pinch he should of made a base hit and the reason he didn't was so-and-so. And if he cracked one for three bases he ought to had a home run, only the ball wasn't lively, or the wind brought it back, or he tripped on a lump o' dirt, roundin' first base."