Events

First, if you know anything about Chicago, you'll understand why I nearly passed out to see this week's Economist in my mailbox this week. Since I moved into this neighborhood I think I've gotten it once on Saturday, and the rest of the time on Monday or Tuesday. So, wow. Second, even more stunning if you know anything about the the Economist: they've endorsed Obama for President: The Economist does not have a vote, but if it did, it would cast it for Mr Obama. We do so wholeheartedly: the Democratic...

Via Evanston Now: Evanston real estate broker Alan May says he's put a new twist on an old family tradition this year. With help from an online site called YesWeCarve.com, he's turned the annual carving of the family jack-o-lantern into the creation of a Barack O'Lantern -- suitable for display on many a liberal-leaning Evanston front porch this year.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported late yesterday that New Mexico authorities have arrested William Bahena, chief suspect in Tuesday's murder of Elva Diaz, and will extradite him back to Illinois next week: Almost a year after he was arrested for violating an order of protection involving his girlfriend, a 31-year-old Near West Side man is accused of killing her, authorities said Friday. On Sept. 10, 2007, Diaz obtained an emergency order of protection against Bahena. On Christmas Day, he was arrested for...

After the Chicago Tribune's endorsement of a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time in history, the New York Times following suit surprises no one, but it's still welcome: As tough as the times are, the selection of a new president is easy. After nearly two years of a grueling and ugly campaign, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right choice to be the 44th president of the United States. ... Mr. Obama has withstood some of the toughest campaign attacks ever mounted...

The Tribune reports this morning that Chicago pulled ahead of New York and Los Angeles for the most murders so far this year: Chicago, whose population is dwarfed by those cities, posted 426 killings through Tuesday, compared with 417 in New York and 302 in L.A. At the end of 1998, Chicago made international headlines as the U.S. "murder capital" after surpassing New York's homicide totals for the first time ever. Chicago shed that dubious distinction when murders plummeted over the last decade. It...

...the FDIC moves into your neighborhood (via Calculated Risk): The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plans soon to sign a major lease of office space in Orange County, probably in Irvine, where as many as 600 people would liquidate the assets of troubled banks and thrifts based in California and other Western states. The agency needs 200,000 square feet of space and has looked at locations across Southern California, FDIC spokesman David Barr said. "It's a temporary office—three to five years is what...