Ask Amy
Driveway problems call for a Chicago fix - October 14, 2011 - Dear Amy: Our neighbors have a perfectly good driveway next to their house. Our perfectly good driveway is next to our house. They keep their vehicle parked in their driveway and do not use their garage.
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Barbara Brotman
Kol Nidre tradition ends in Gary - October 3, 2011 - For 70 years, Harry Berke has chanted Kol Nidre at Temple Israel in Gary, Ind.
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Steve Chapman
When fighting cancer is folly - October 13, 2011 - Whenever I have a medical appointment, my wife inquires, "What did the doctor say?" I always give the same answer: "She said I'm going to die." Not because I have some fatal illness, but because life is a terminal condition.
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Teddy Greenstein
Michigan State has had Michigan's number - October 11, 2011 - Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio does not think undefeated Michigan is due for a loss.
David Haugh's In the Wake of the News
Time to believe in the Ricketts plan - October 13, 2011 - In the hour after the Cubs' firing of general manager Jim Hendry became public in August, Tom Ricketts sat across a table from me at Wrigley Field and braced for the backlash.
Melissa Harris' Chicago Confidential
At business schools, classes go to highest bidder - October 13, 2011 - Even course registration at Chicago's two top business schools is a lesson in economics.
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Globetrotting by Philip Hersh
Done with chemo, McDowell battling way back - October 13, 2011 - COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — There have been days when Kevin McDowell couldn't finish a swimming workout at the U.S. Olympic Training Center pool in the designated time. And other days, like this one in late September, when McDowell was last...
Jon Hilkevitch's Getting Around
TSA gives children a break at airport security - October 10, 2011 - It turns out that children do not actually merit all the fuss the Transportation Security Administration has made over them since the shoe bomber tried to blow up an airliner almost 10 years ago.
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Ask Rex Huppke: I Just Work Here
Psst: It's OK to cheat on your employer - October 9, 2011 - Brace yourselves. I'm about to come out in favor of infidelity.
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Chris Jones
Teachers in love, looking for a patch of blue - October 14, 2011 - THEATER REVIEW: "Under the Blue Sky" at Steep Theatre ★★★ ... David Eldridge's play is a closely observed, carefully built and rather sad story - and thus ideal for Chicago's intimate and unstinting Steep Theatre - about the...
Gregory Karp
Conquering with complaints - October 7, 2011 - Consumers today are more empowered than ever after they've been wronged by a company. That's because squeaky wheels have more and better ways to squeak.
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John Kass
The laugh's the thing - October 14, 2011 - Has laughter ever sent someone to federal prison?
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Julia Keller
New novel by Russell Banks tackles tough subject - October 13, 2011 - The late John Updike once opined that we are all "trapped in solitary confinement inside our own skins." We can't ever really know what someone else is feeling, no matter how hard we try or how desperately she or he wants us to. Our unique souls...
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Rick Kogan's Sidewalks
Time of Your Life Players are proud to act their ages - October 14, 2011 - In 1974, Bob Dylan wrote “Forever Young” and in that lovely song are these lyrics: “May your hands always be busy/ May your feet always be swift/ May you have a strong foundation/ When the winds of changes shift/ May your...
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Greg Kot
Das Racist: An ongoing experiment in having serious fun - October 13, 2011 - Das Racist started as something of a lark, two former college acquaintances riffing on not fitting in.
Gail MarksJarvis
Got the 401(k) blues? Count on a reprieve - October 14, 2011 - There's no other way to say this.
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Nina Metz
Finally, a comedy film fest in Chicago - October 14, 2011 - I'm betting the timely nature of the real estate nightmare driving "The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue" is strictly coincidental. And yet in a confluence of jokey, drunken inspiration and true-life drama, this comedy-horror hybrid also quite plainly...
Clarence Page
Barack Obama's lonely presidency - October 12, 2011 - News media depict presidencies as long-running soap operas. The story doesn't end, but it goes through changes.
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Michael Phillips
Remakes don't have to feel like leftovers - October 14, 2011 - Some things that happen for the first time/Seem to be happening again.
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Mike Mulligan
Safety first, anyone? - October 4, 2011 - The Bears' incessant safety dance has created more headaches than a bad '80s song on loop play. The problem seemed to have been solved last season when Chris Harris and Danieal Manning were reunited four years after starting together in the Super...
Mary Ellen Podmolik
The new economics of refinancing - October 7, 2011 - Every week seems to bring more good news on mortgage rates, and a new group of consumers starts calling around, seeking to capitalize on record-low or near-record-low mortgage rates by refinancing their loans.
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Dan Pompei
Soldier Field friendly confines to McNabb - October 13, 2011 - Playing on the road earlier this week was a nightmare for the Bears. But away from home Sunday could be a respite for Donovan McNabb.
Howard Reich
Pianist Robert Glasper's storm of ideas play out at Jazz Showcase - October 14, 2011 - We appear to be in a surprisingly rich era for jazz pianists. Innovative players such as Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Matthew Shipp and Craig Taborn are re-conceiving the way phrases are structured and improvisations are built.
Phil Rogers
Are Red Sox making a big mistake? - October 12, 2011 - What are the Red Sox thinking?
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Phil Rosenthal
Seeds of protest in Chicago taking root - October 12, 2011 - Some in name tags that identified them as participants in this week's Mortgage Bankers Association convention paused long enough Tuesday morning to casually take out their mobile phones for pictures of the protesters and the line of bicycle...
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Ameet Sachdev's Chicago Law
Legal-aid charities, trying to address declining funding and rising demand, try to help each other out by merging - October 14, 2011 - Legal-aid charities have felt the impact of the economic downturn with declining funding and increasing demand.
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Mary Schmich
Follow these readers' tips, Rosie, and you're on your way to being one of us - October 14, 2011 - In Wednesday's column, I wrote a welcome letter to new Chicago resident Rosie O'Donnell, prompted by her recent comment that her Lakeview home has a heated garage, which she'd heard was essential in a Chicago winter.
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Dawn Turner Trice
Indian dance binds mother, daughter - October 11, 2011 - When Hema Rajagopalan was about 5 years old, growing up in 1950s India, she loved dancing so much that when her parents took her to performances, she would leap from her seat and twirl in the aisles. She'd put on such a display that the audience...
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Phil Vettel
Deconstructing the menu - October 13, 2011 - M. Henrietta is an offshoot with a difference: Unlike its parent, M. Henry (in nearby Andersonville), year-old M. Henrietta serves dinner five nights a week, though it also offers the breakfast and brunch menus that made M. Henry a cult...
John von Rhein
CSO debut by gifted Finnish maestra was well worth the wait - October 14, 2011 - The only question that arose following Susanna Malkki's impressive podium debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Thursday night at Symphony Center was: Why did it take so long?
Ellen Warren
Some products look a lot better on TV - October 6, 2011 - Life is a journey. A journey littered with the temptations of gizmos "As Seen on TV."
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Jen Weigel
Confessions of a recovering 'stupid male' - October 13, 2011 - Is it possible to transform from a self-centered, immature, angry man into a more open, loving, communicative husband? For Mike Love, the author of "Confessions of a Recovering Stupid Male: Creating Loving Relationships That Will Last a Lifetime"...
Jon Yates' "What's Your Problem?"
Problem Solver: Best Buy Black Tie warranty has customer seeing red - October 13, 2011 - On Best Buy's website, the electronics megaretailer describes its Black Tie Protection Plan as "probably everything you wanted — and more."
Eric Zorn
Good news, aldermen! You are somebody, finally - October 14, 2011 - Mayor Rahm Emanuel got into an oratorical groove Wednesday afternoon in an appearance before the Tribune editorial board when answering a question about a passage in his budget address to the City Council earlier in the day.
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Matt Bowen
Bears safeties justifiably pay price - October 13, 2011 - A post route.
Dennis Byrne
Disappearance of the frontier itch - October 4, 2011 - In 1893, historian Frederick Jackson Turner argued that the American frontier had closed, raising an important question: Absent the frontier, what would fuel the audacious, inventive and energetic nature of the bold American character?
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Meghan Daum
Snatching the 'hope' mantle from Obama - October 14, 2011 - Liberal fervor, which took a hit when it became apparent that Barack Obama the president was not going to live up to the promise of Barack Obama the Shepard Fairey poster, is back in action. From the streets of Manhattan to the pages of Facebook,...
Don Dziedzina
Get hooked on muskie fishing - October 7, 2011 - Muskies are the fish of 10,000 casts.
Leah Eskin
Best dressed - October 9, 2011 - If beans competed on "Project Runway," the cranberry bean would win. The ordinary bean loafs around in the lumpy green pod or the lumpy brown pod. Maybe beige. Maybe russet. Nothing runway-chic.
Ilyce Glink
Even low-rate refi might not be worth it - October 10, 2011 - Q. I was trying to do a streamline refinance of my mortgage and was told that the lender can't decrease the interest rate on my loan without changing the number of years left on my loan.
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Jonah Goldberg
Debate jars Perry out of sweet spot - September 15, 2011 - Mitt Romney and Rick Perry are exactly where they want to be.
Benny Kass
File lien against deadbeat condo owner - October 14, 2011 - Q: My wife and I own a vacation condo in a small development on a lake in Wisconsin. There are about 32 units in the condo complex, of which 20 are occupied and the rest are still owned by the developer. The developer still controls the...
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Joyce Lain Kennedy
Ask Facebook friends for job referrals - October 12, 2011 - Q. I know about using Twitter to ask your network to clue you into job openings. How good is Facebook for that purpose? -- K.V.
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Charles Krauthammer
Gone in 60 nanoseconds - October 10, 2011 - "We don't allow faster-than-light neutrinos in here," says the bartender.
Dan McNeil
Be it resolved: Don't take Belichick rejects - October 13, 2011 - If you've had it with the Bears and find yourself rooting for more disasters so a regime change will be made, you could be in for a sober awakening.
Robert Pagliarini: Your Other 8 Hours
How to get a job using Google - October 11, 2011 - With the economy in a state of slow recovery and an influx of recent grads in the job market, many Americans are searching for work. Trends from Google Search reveal that an increasing number of Americans are searching online for jobs. In fact,...
Kathleen Parker
The tease says not - October 10, 2011 - — Undoubtedly many Americans, not least among them television producers, are disappointed by Sarah Palin's decision not to run for president.
Mark Pearlstein
Condo board members just won't leave - October 14, 2011 - Q: Our association has a seven-member board. The declaration does not have term limits for a board member, and we do not allow cumulative voting.
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Leonard Pitts
Bachmann's silence is golden - September 26, 2011 - Steven Miles and Arthur Caplan are my new heroes. They should be yours too — if you hold the radical opinion that facts matter.
Janet Portman
Landlord claims signing bonus was 'error' - October 14, 2011 - Q: My lease says that I get a rent concession of $500 for the first month's rent, and $150 for every month thereafter. When I subtracted $500 from the first month's rent, the landlord returned the check, saying I was entitled to deduct only...
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Dean Richards
Bob Newhart to return to site of Cubs' gathering - October 13, 2011 - Legendary comedian Bob Newhart has come a long way from his days growing up in Oak Park. His journey took him to St. Catherine of Siena grammar school, St. Ignatius College Prep and Loyola University, where he graduated with a degree in business...
Daneen Skube: Interpersonal Edge
Read your boss's mind - October 11, 2011 - Q. What kind of opinion does my boss have of me when anytime I have a conversation with him he either laughs at me or contradicts me? Consequently, I don't ask him questions or speak to him unless I really have to. How do I know what he thinks?
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.
Joe Trost's Corner Kicks
Soccer | Joe Trost's Corner Kicks: Players, coaches and parents weigh in on Papa dismissal - October 10, 2011 - Since I first met Brian Papa as a teenage reporter in 1995, the coach has always been blunt and honest. But during the last week, Papa has been as quiet as ever during my 16 years covering the sport.
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Mary Umberger
Credit reporting digs deeper - October 14, 2011 - Sometimes it's hard to escape the notion that our lives are being slowly, inevitably reduced to a single database.
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Bob Weber
A flashing engine light? Get it checked — pronto - October 8, 2011 - Q: I am experiencing the check engine light coming on and sometimes blinking. The blinking seems to occur during city driving. I have had a readout at a parts store and it indicates misfiring. In the past I've had the plugs and plug wires...
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George Will
Question time for the Republicans - September 5, 2011 - WASHINGTON — Wednesday's Republican "debate" in California will not resemble the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates, in which one candidate spoke for 60 minutes, the other responded for 90 minutes, and his opponent had 30 minutes for rebuttal....