Chicago

BEHIND A controversial plan that would enable poor black Baltimore families to move to middle-class, majority-white areas, there is a simple idea: Living in more affluent neighborhoods can help people escape poverty.The plan touched off a political uproar in Baltimore County last fall when it was proposed to settle a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland on behalf of black public housing tenants. The suit alleges that Baltimore and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- After struggling earlier this season away from home, the Blast has suddenly transformed into a team of road warriors. With yesterday's 12-4 Major Indoor Soccer League victory over the Chicago Storm, the Blast has won three straight away from 1st Mariner Arena. KiXX@Blast Friday, 7:30 p.m., 680 AM

CHICAGO -- Oil giant BP PLC agreed to pay $373 million in fines and admit to criminal wrongdoing in a sweeping settlement of charges linked to a fatal Texas explosion, an oil spill in Alaska and illegal propane trading engineered from Chicago. In addition, a Chicago grand jury indicted four former BP employees on 20 counts of mail and wire fraud connected to the alleged fixing of prices in the propane market in February 2004. The scheme, allegedly involving huge purchases of propane and delayed deliveries through a pipeline serving the East Coast, pushed propane prices as high as 94 cents a gallon.

For the most recent chunk of our Internet lives, most of us have been on autopilot. When it comes time to look something up on the Web, we "Google it." We don't do this generically, in the manner that someone may "Xerox" a document on a Ricoh copier. We literally "Google it," entering a search term (say, "Facebook widgets") in the box at google.com, hitting enter and letting Google supply us with an impressive absurdity: 7,880,000 results in 0.21 seconds, somewhere between 7,879,980 and 7,879,999 of which we will never consider.

And he likes horses, too! That's what Lauren Mendelsohn thought when a Baltimore man messaged her in September 2005 on Jdate.com, an online service for Jewish singles. "I ride show jumpers," the divorced mother of two in Owings Mills said yesterday. "He supposedly bred racehorses. I say `supposedly' because almost everything he ever told me was a lie." So began Mendelsohn's anything-but-fruitful relationship with a mysterious man originally from Pikesville, who Illinois authorities say conned at least 10 women from eight states out of more than $1 million through elaborate schemes.

CHICAGO -- Encyclopaedia Britannica, by legend at the top of the knowledge pyramid but nearly toppled by the information age, radically changed course yesterday by offering its mammoth compendium of knowledge on the Internet -- for free."

CHICAGO -- It has stood on the banks of Lake Michigan for three-quarters of a century, a columned fortress dedicated to fallen warriors and consecrated by great athletes.And now, just as it appeared time would conquer Soldier Field, a plan has emerged to not only save the historic stadium, but also to rebuild it to meet the upscale demands of the modern NFL, a transformation that would have been unimaginable to the stonemasons who built the place.Leaders of the city, state and Bears are near agreement on constructing a glitzy arena within the coliseum's faux-granite walls.

CHICAGO -- The balcony is still open.Five months after Gene Siskel's death, Roger Ebert continues to give the thumbs-up and thumbs-down from the faux movie perch he shared with his film-critic partner for 24 years. Each week he still tapes "Siskel & Ebert," but now with a rotating set of guest critics. He continues to crank out numerous reviews and feature stories for the Chicago Sun-Times, to publish books and host film festivals. Washington Post critic Tom Shales, who was "Siskel & Ebert's" first guest critic when Siskel fell ill with brain cancer, describes Ebert as "possessed."

CHICAGO -- From a man who provided numerous memorable moments in his 13 years in the NBA, there isn't one that defines Michael Jordan's greatness as a player.Not his last NBA shot in Game 6 of last years Finals, when he deftly used his left hand to shove Utah's Bryon Russell aside before hitting an 18-foot, game-winning jumper for Chicago's sixth title of the 1990s.Not his Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, when Jordan -- obviously ill -- got out of his sick bed to score 38 in a pivotal game against the Jazz.

CHICAGO -- Ford Motor Co., the world's No. 2 carmaker, must face a class action lawsuit brought by female auto workers who contend that they were targets of discrimination and sexual harassment on the job, a federal judge has ruled.Ford recently reached an agreement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to establish a $7.5 million fund to pay workers hired since 1996 at its Chicago stamping and assembly plants who can prove that they were sexually harassed. The automaker claimed that agreement settled suits brought by several women employees and precluded further class actions.

CHICAGO - - Derrick Rose has taken heat for a couple of alleged off-court indiscretions this offseason. Might as well also blame the Chicago Bulls' reigning NBA Rookie of the Year for raising the on-court expectations unreasonably for Chicago Sky point guard Kristi Toliver, the team's first-round pick out of Maryland. While the Sky attempts to earn its first playoff berth, Toliver has played sparingly (14.4 minutes a game) and did not play at all in Sunday's loss at Detroit. "Derrick Rose did a great job with the Bulls - coming in, being the leader and being aggressive from the beginning," Toliver said after Tuesday's practice at the Attack Athletics training facility.

Not everyone can make it to Washington for the inauguration, but can we find another way to pass a winter weekend and still feel some of that presidential pizazz? Yes we can. And Chicago is just the place to do it. As President-elect Barack Obama prepares this week to move into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., visitors to Chicago can get up close and personal with some of the sites around town that now have presidential significance. You can take guided tours of Obama sites or visit them on your own. And some of the places will be happy to feed you: There's no shortage of restaurants pointing out that the soon-to-be president or his wife, Michelle, have eaten there.

As Towson-area native Michael Phelps racked up gold medals for swimming at the Olympics in Beijing, I thought it worthwhile to look back at another Olympian, Johnny Weissmuller, who won five gold medals and a bronze at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics. Weissmuller, who broke 67 world swimming records and won 55 Amateur Athletic Union championships, became one of the most celebrated sports heroes of the Roaring '20s and was hailed by sportswriters as the greatest swimmer of the 20th century. He joined a glittering pantheon of colorful sports figures of that era that included Babe Ruth, Bobby Jones, Gertrude Ederle, Harold "Red" Grange, Jack Dempsey and "Big Bill" Tilden.

Doug Collins is reportedly close to getting a second go-round in Chicago as coach of the Bulls, just about two decades after he was fired there after the 1988-89 season on the eve of the blossoming of a dynasty. If he is hired, it would be Collins' fourth head coaching job after a roller-coaster tour of duty in Detroit in the 1990s and an awkward stint baby-sitting Michael Jordan's Washington Wizards earlier this decade. Three decades. Three teams. Three strikes. But in the NBA, apparently you're (almost)

Mayor Sheila Dixon traveled to Chicago yesterday to meet with Mayor Richard M. Daley, a city leader who has focused much of his tenure on making the nation's third-largest city greener. The two-day trip, which also included First Deputy Mayor Andrew Frank and other city officials, was set so that Dixon and other key officials could learn about Chicago's environmentally friendly initiatives. The trip was funded with contributions from Gallagher, Evelius and Jones, a law firm that has represented clients in lawsuits against the city; the Parks & People Foundation; the Downtown Partnership; a foundation tied to M&T Bank; and the Waterfront Partnership.

It looks like Brian Roberts, according to reports from my Sun colleagues in Florida yesterday, is going to be an Oriole when the season begins. He has been told by Andy MacPhail that it's unlikely the team will be able to swing a deal in the next few days, and he'll still be wearing orange and black for the next few weeks, at least. It has become almost comical to watch Roberts get yanked around like this over the past four months. Every day, it seems, we've been subjected to another report out of Baltimore or Chicago (but mostly Chicago)

CHICAGO -- Tribune Co. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis J. FitzSimons announced his resignation yesterday, as the media company completes its $8.2 billion deal to go private under Chicago billionaire Sam Zell, who is expected to take over as CEO. That deal, expected to close today, will pass control of the media conglomerate to Zell, who, under a prior arrangement, will then become Tribune's board chairman. A source at Tribune said Zell would also become chief executive.

Former Baltimore City Councilman Robert J. Fitzpatrick might be remembered as the guy who got a noise-control law passed in the 1970s. He left town in early 1975 without completing his only term as a member of the council. And he's on the move again. "I've had about 13 different careers," he said one day this week as he stepped down after serving a decade as director of Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art. "I just like to do things I don't know how to do." Born in Toronto, he came to Baltimore as chairman of the Gilman School foreign language department.

CHICAGO -- Oil giant BP PLC agreed to pay $373 million in fines and admit to criminal wrongdoing in a sweeping settlement of charges linked to a fatal Texas explosion, an oil spill in Alaska and illegal propane trading engineered from Chicago. In addition, a Chicago grand jury indicted four former BP employees on 20 counts of mail and wire fraud connected to the alleged fixing of prices in the propane market in February 2004. The scheme, allegedly involving huge purchases of propane and delayed deliveries through a pipeline serving the East Coast, pushed propane prices as high as 94 cents a gallon.

For the most recent chunk of our Internet lives, most of us have been on autopilot. When it comes time to look something up on the Web, we "Google it." We don't do this generically, in the manner that someone may "Xerox" a document on a Ricoh copier. We literally "Google it," entering a search term (say, "Facebook widgets") in the box at google.com, hitting enter and letting Google supply us with an impressive absurdity: 7,880,000 results in 0.21 seconds, somewhere between 7,879,980 and 7,879,999 of which we will never consider.