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illinois
illinois
ID Now Needed To Buy Drain Cleaner In Illinois
By Chris Morran on January 6, 2012 12:45 PM
105 Comments
With every new year comes a new set of laws, some of which are destined to, in the words of the great Arsenio Hall, make you go "hmmm..." One of the latest is a new regulation in Illinois that requires you to show your ID and sign a log if you purchase drain cleaner or other similarly caustic substances. More »
Comcast Balks On Replacing Cockroach-Infested Cable Box
By Chris Morran on January 3, 2012 3:15 PM
53 Comments
We've certainly gotten a number of complaints about Comcast cable boxes containing bugs of the electronic glitch variety, but an Illinois man received a box from Kabletown that he says was full of actual cockroaches. More »
Judge: McDonald's Was Right To Call Cops On Angry Customer
By Chris Morran on October 21, 2011 3:15 PM
103 Comments
A Chicago-area man recently attempted to sue McDonald's, alleging that his civil rights were violated when the eatery called the cops after he became angry because he didn't receive the free burgers he'd been promised. But the judge in the case basically said that if he didn't want the cops called, he shouldn't have gotten so upset over a cheeseburger. More »
71 Drivers Cross A Defective Bridge In Chicago Every Second
By Ben Popken on October 20, 2011 5:00 PM
46 Comments
A new study says that 71 drivers in Chicago cross a structurally defective bridge every second. More »
Delicious Accident Leaves Highway Covered In Cake
By Chris Morran on October 13, 2011 1:15 PM
53 Comments
We've written plenty of stories about delicious desserts that can do damage to your system if you overindulge, but here's one about how these treats clogged up an entirely different kind of artery. More »
(matneym)
Ensenda Still Not Doing So Well With The 'Send' Part
By Laura Northrup on September 14, 2011 9:30 AM
40 Comments
Chad just signed up for Amazon Prime, and the only choice for shipping in his area was regional delivery service Ensenda. He happened to be home when the package was expected, and received a text message notification that his package had been delivered. Perhaps it had, but not to Chad's house. More »
House Purchased For $1 Now Facing Foreclosure
By Chris Morran on September 8, 2011 10:45 AM
80 Comments
With so many abandoned and unfinished properties being sold at auction, a number of home buyers have been able to pick up property at a fraction of what the previous homeowners paid. But here's the story of an Illinois homeowner who learned that even the best of deals can sometimes have unhappy endings. More »
(ScottCim)
County Tells Foreclosed-Upon Homeowners: We May Have Some Money For You
By Chris Morran on August 25, 2011 3:15 PM
26 Comments
The typical image of a foreclosure auction involves a seized house being sold for, at best, the remaining value of the mortgage. But that's not always so, with some auctions attracting buyers who pay above what's owed on the home. That money usually belongs to the former owner, but it looks like many aren't aware of this fact. More »
Government Wants Organic Small-Batch Ice Cream Maker To Stop Making Organic Small-Batch Ice Cream
By Laura Northrup on August 15, 2011 2:01 PM
175 Comments
Nice Cream is a small ice cream company in Chicago that does something strange and daring in the modern food landscape: they make and sell ice cream using only ingredients with names that ordinary people can pronounce. Ingredients such as "cream," "eggs," and "pie." The tiny company was a classic recession success story: a laid-off teacher experiments at home with her Cuisinart ice cream maker, and with hard work and creativity creates a delicious product that's eventually sold at Whole Foods. But the state of Illinois doesn't really see it that way, and Nice Cream will have to shut down or make drastic changes to its products and process in order to stay legal. They're first, and other small-batch ice cream makers could be next. More »
Spike In Thieves Stealing Entire Central AC Units
By Ben Popken on July 6, 2011 3:00 PM
83 Comments
They work silently, leaving no trace behind. A Chicago neighborhood is on alert after the number of thefts of air conditioning units have jumped sharply in recent weeks. The robbers are after the copper inside, which they can resell for scrap, a favorite quick money-making method for drug addicts. But they're not just cracking open the units and plundering the pipe, they're lifting the entire central AC unit. More »
Allegedly Scammy Roofers Set Up Website To Warn People About Scammy Roofers
By Chris Morran on June 30, 2011 12:15 PM
29 Comments
Earlier this week, lawyers for the state of Illinois accused a roofing company of swooping into storm-damaged areas, selling its services to homeowners in need and then leaving shoddy, incomplete or never-started repairs in its wake. It's a scam that is all too common following a devastating natural disaster. Just ask the defendants, who had a warning about such bad behavior on their own website. More »
Illinois Blue Cross To Pay $25 Million After Denying Coverage To Sick Kids In Need Of Nursing Care
By Chris Morran on February 24, 2011 1:15 PM
27 Comments
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, the largest health insurer in the Land of Lincoln, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations that it denied coverage to sick kids who needed nursing care. More »
Woman Files McLawsuit Over Glass In Her McChicken
By Chris Morran on February 14, 2011 7:16 AM
28 Comments
An Illinois woman has been the latest to file a lawsuit against fast food giant McDonald's after she claims to have injured herself biting into a "large shard of glass" in her McChicken sandwich. More »
Judge Dismisses Hot Tea Lawsuit Against Starbucks
By Chris Morran on December 3, 2010 12:40 PM
75 Comments
A judge in Illinois has thrown out a lawsuit filed against Starbucks by a customer who alleges she was burnt by some spilled hot tea. His reason: Just because tea is hot doesn't mean you have a good reason to sue. More »
Man Files Suit Alleging Sam's Club Ruined His Love Life
By Chris Morran on September 17, 2010 11:15 AM
82 Comments
It's not surprising to hear that a woman in Illinois has filed a lawsuit against Sam's Club after she slipped and fell inside one of the warehouse stores. But it's not every day we read about that woman's husband also filing a lawsuit against the discount chain, all because he can no longer consort with his wife. More »
McDonald's Makes Hot Chocolate Hot, Gets Sued When It Spills
By Chris Morran on August 26, 2010 11:15 AM
204 Comments
Almost 16 years to the day after a jury ordered McDonald's to pay a customer $2 million in the infamous hot coffee lawsuit, it's deja vu all over again for the fast food giant. A Chicago-area woman has filed a lawsuit against the Golden Arches over a spilled hot beverage; the difference this time is that it's hot chocolate. More »
(Ian H.)
Libertyville, IL, Thinks Your Tattoos Lack Moral Fiber
By Chris Morran on August 13, 2010 1:15 PM
108 Comments
The village board of Libertyville, IL, hears about tattoo parlors and apparently envisions seedy, run-down places that stay open all hours of the night to service beer-swigging bikers and their leather-clad lady friends. And in order to keep this stereotype from being shattered, they recently changed their zoning laws to smash one businessman's dream. More »
Illinois Sort Of Ends Pre-Employment Credit Checks, But Not Really
By Laura Northrup on August 12, 2010 9:30 AM
68 Comments
Some experts claim that there's no connection between poor credit history and poor job performance. That doesn't stop employers from evaluating applicants based on their credit reports. The governor of Illinois signed a law this week prohibiting employers from hiring on the basis of credit checks...but there are some pretty big exceptions. More »
Illinois Town Wants To Outlaw Eye-Rolling
By Chris Morran on July 21, 2010 11:00 AM
151 Comments
Next time you're in line at the grocery store and you roll your eyes at the person with two carts full of items refusing to leave the 10-items-or-fewer line, you might be in trouble with the law — at least if you live in Elmhurst, Illinois. Officials of the Chicago suburb are looking into finding a way of putting an end to the practice by legal means. More »
Debt-Riddled Illinois Is A Subprime Borrower
By Meg Marco on July 14, 2010 12:50 PM
55 Comments
Illinois credit rating sucks, which is unfortunate for the Sucker State, because it needs to borrow millions of dollars to pay its bills. This means that the state is paying a premium for the loans, which are going to be used to improve roads, bridges and schools. As a product of Illinois' public schools, I can honestly say that the $900 million in new bonds it is issuing will not be enough. Whether this is because we are too poorly educated to figure out how much money is actually needed, or because it really isn't, no one can say. More »
