Chicago

Carolyn M. Rodgers, a Chicago poet and writer who helped found one of the country's oldest and largest black-owned book publishers, died April 2 at age 69. The Chicago-based Third World Press says she had been battling an undisclosed illness. The Chicago native wrote nine books, including "How I got Ovah." Her work often delved into the experiences of black women. Ms. Rodgers is credited with being a star of the black arts movement of the 1960s and 1970s. She helped found Third World Press in the 1960s.

Baltimore City College is celebrating another historic title this week, as national champions of the prestigious National Association for Urban Debate League Championship, held in Washington, D.C. last week. The school's team won the title after engaging in a heated debate about whether the U.S. federal government should substantially increase its transportation infrastructure investment in the country, according to a release from the school. The school's debate team--students Sophie Bauerschmidt Sweeney and Dikshant Malla successfully--took on the affirmative, using the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, to seal its victory against Chicago's Whitney Young High School in a 2-1 decision.

It's a little-known fact now, but when the musical "Chicago" made its Broadway debut in 1975, it wasn't much of a hit, running less than a thousand performances. It only became a smash musical and movie when it was revived decades later. That's because it was way ahead of its time, said Conni Ross, who is co-directing a revival of the play for Columbia's Silhouette Stages that opens Friday, May 24. "In the director's notes, one of the things I wrote was, 'This show is as relevant now as it was when it was written,' " said Ross, who is sharing directorial duties with her frequent collaborator Debbie Mobley.

Watch Four Seasons Baltimore executive pastrychef Chris Ford in the final and concluding episode of the Chicago Restaurant Pastry Competition, a web-based video series. Ford competed against three other chefs in the competition, a single-day event where finalists are asked to make eight servings of an original, creative, plated dessert. The chefs also competed in a mystery challenge where they were asked to create an inventive, molded gelato. This was the second year for the competition and web series, which focused on Chicago-based chefs the first year.

LAST YEAR 428 mostly black, mostly welfare recipients who live in public housing moved from inner-city Chicago to 69 mostly white Chicago suburbs.All these moves occurred without incident, or even objection, in the course of a single year in what has been called the nation's most racially segregated metropolitan area.Those 428 families are merely the latest of more than 2,500 such families -- 10,000 people -- helped to move to about 100 Chicago suburbs over 18 years -- also without incident.

WWE Champion CM Punk made the late decision Monday to take a personal day. And the result was almost unfathomable: his loyalist fans in his hometown of Chicago actually booed him. Earlier in the night, Punk -- who had been spotted assaulting Jerry "The King" Lawler backstage -- was given a hero's welcome and exploited the support of the his followers to get his point across that he never turned his back on the WWE Universe. But when Punk walked out on the scheduled champion-versus-champion match against World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus, no one seemed too happy.

With the passage of the new bill, the criminal element in Maryland will now feel much safer, knowing that fewer law-abiding people will have legally owned guns.  Chicago is just one example of tough gun controls laws and how well they work.  Well done, Governor, you will be able to proudly claim credit for  the pending gun crime increase that is coming. Daryl Leger Annapolis

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.

CHICAGO -- Murder apparently took a holiday in Chicago as the city experienced its first homicide-free weekend in almost five years, authorities report.Area police stations confirmed that no killings had been reported in the city on either Saturday or Sunday.To date, 757 homicides have been reported in Chicago this year, about one every 9 1/2 hours.

CHICAGO -- The stockyards and grain elevators of Chicago's past shared the title of champion producer with another exporter, the Roman Catholic Church, which sent Chicago sons to be priests around the world. Now the Chicago church finds itself in the position of borrower from abroad.As they say at the Board of Trade, Chicago will soon have a negative balance of trade. Because of the shortage of priests, the archbishop of Chicago, the Most Rev. Francis George, proposes to borrow priests from Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa.

Exelon Corp. said Tuesday that its executive compensation package received an advisory OK from three-quarters of shareholder votes during the annual meeting, which the Chicago energy company held in Baltimore. About 20 shareholders attended the Tuesday meeting. The sole question came from Cherylyn Harley LeBon with the National Center for Public Policy Research, a Washington group that advocates for the free market and is critical of efforts on climate change. Referencing a New York Times story that detailed the company's ties with President Barack Obama, LeBon asked how much money Exelon made by influencing clean-air regulation and "surreptitiously eliminating" coal power-plant competitors.

The Blast was held scoreless in an opening half for the first time all season in Saturday night's second game of the Major Indoor Soccer League semifinals against the Chicago Soul. The only goal the Blast allowed in that span was a close-range shot that deflected off defender Stephen DeRoux. Chicago's game plan was clearly to pack players around the penalty area, escape with a low-scoring victory and force a 15-minute mini-game to determine the series winner. The Blast, however, is a seasoned playoff team and began to break down the Soul defense with sharper passes around the goal.

Mission accomplished for the Blast earlier this week in Chicago. The team successfully dodged the nasty weather with barely a glitch, opened the Major Indoor Soccer League semifinal round with an impressive win against the Soul on Tuesday and was safely back home on Wednesday. It was a tidy turnaround that has the home team one win away from the championship series. The Blast will try to lock up that spot at 7:35 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Chicago in the second game at 1st Mariner Arena . If the Soul wins to tie the series, a 15-minute mini game would immediate follow to determine which team advances.

With the passage of the new bill, the criminal element in Maryland will now feel much safer, knowing that fewer law-abiding people will have legally owned guns.  Chicago is just one example of tough gun controls laws and how well they work.  Well done, Governor, you will be able to proudly claim credit for  the pending gun crime increase that is coming. Daryl Leger Annapolis

Blast (21-5) at Chicago Soul (11-15) What: MISL semifinals Game 1 When: Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. Site: Odeum Sports & Expo Center in Villa Park, Ill. Video: mislnation.com Outlook: Baltimore won its last six games in the regular season to claim first place and the top seed in the Major Indoor Soccer League playoffs. In the semifinals, the Blast plays the fourth-seeded Soul, which has proven to be a formidable opponent. The two teams will play a home-and-home series - the second game is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. Saturday night at 1st Mariner Arena . If the teams split the two games, a 15-minute mini game will immediately follow the second game to determine which team advances to the championship series.

Not sure what's better -- the auditions or the nutty antics between Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey? Regardless of which, this season has proven to be very entertaining so far. Auditions were held in the Windy City -- the same town that gave us Jennifer Hudson, if this place could produce the Oscar-winning superstar, surely there must be others. First up, look what the wind blew in -- little Mackenzie, who Keith Urban described as "Dolly Parton-esque. " So we begin tonight with a little bit of country.

SEATTLE -- Microsoft makes it look so easy.Next year, the computer software giant will publicly unveil the new version of its popular Windows program, code-named Chicago. The cash registers will open and money will start pouring in. Big money.As much as $1.3 billion within two years, says Michael Kwatinetz, a respected New York analyst.By now, the computer industry has largely accepted the notion that Chicago, which will be sold as Windows 95, will be a marketplace hit.That's amazing considering: 1)

CHICAGO --Yesterday, this city's lawbreakers were serving foie gras. The illicit substance could be spotted in places it was rarely seen when it was legal: buried in Chicago's famed deep-dish pizza, in soul food on the South Side, beside beef downtown. In one of the more unlikely (and opulent) demonstrations of civil disobedience, a handful of restaurants here that never carry foie gras, the fattened livers of ducks and geese, featured it on the very day that Chicago became the first city in the nation to outlaw its sale.

Looking to fill their head-coaching vacancy, the Chicago Bears had interest in Ravens' assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg. However, the talks between the two sides never went beyond the preliminary stages, according to team sources. Rosburg, 57, never had a formal, in-depth interview and didn't aggressive ly pursue the opening as he was busy helping the Ravens prepare for their playoff run. The Chicago Tribune first reported today that the Bears  spoke to  Rosburg before hiring Marc Trestman, the former coach of the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League.

At the end of 2007, real estate tycoon Sam Zell took control of Tribune Co. in a deal that promised to re-energize the media conglomerate. But the company, which owns The Baltimore Sun, struggled under the huge debt burden the deal created, and less than a year later, it filed for bankruptcy. One of Chicago's most iconic companies - parent to the Chicago Tribune  - was propelled into a protracted and in many ways unprecedented odyssey through Chapter 11 reorganization. On Dec. 31, after four years, Tribune Co. finally emerged from court protection under new ownership, but at a heavy cost.