A lthough travelers experienced delays and standing-room-only commutes Monday morning -- the first rush-hour period affected by service cuts, CTA officials say they have encountered no major problems. A tentative deal that allows 38 CTA maintenance workers to keep their jobs in return for concessions is a sign that other unions may be ready to cut a deal and get canceled buses back on the road, CTA chief Richard Rodriguez said today. The railroad maintenance workers were among 1,057 workers laid off Sunday as part of cutbacks that saw 18 percent of bus services and 9 percent of train services canceled. (Read More...)

A s party leaders look for a replacement, Scott Lee Cohen said the media spotlight- not a deal- led to his resignation as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor. Democrats in Illinois are getting a political do-over: the chance to pick a new lieutenant governor nominee themselves now that the primary winner dropped out of the race because of revelations about his checkered past. Gov. Pat Quinn has the rare opportunity to help choose his running mate, but refused to say Monday who was on his short list of potential partners. (Read More...)

A n Antioch Township man - found stabbed to death in his home last week - was killed by a tenant who had started renting part of his house only a week earlier, Lake County sheriff's police said today. Jason L. Baker, 37, is being held on first-degree murder charges in Knox County, Kentucky, where he allegedly fled after fatally stabbing his landlord, 70-year-old David Queen. Two people are awaiting extradition from Kentucky after being charged in connection with the murder of a 70-year-old man last week in his far north suburban home. (Read More...)

N avigational locks and gates in Chicago-area waterways crucial for commercial shipping may be opened less frequently than usual in a stepped-up campaign to prevent Asian carp from overrunning the Great Lakes, federal officials said Monday. The plan falls short of closing the navigational structures entirely, as demanded by Michigan and five other Great Lakes states. Three governors will meet with President Barack Obama's chief science adviser Monday in Washington to discuss strategy for preventing Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes. (Read More...)

A n attorney testified Monday that Stacy Peterson, Drew Peterson's fourth wife, talked about extorting money from her husband just days before she vanished in 2007. "I do a much better job now of listening to everything my clients are concerned about, no doubt about that," said Smith. Smith represented Savio in her bitter divorce from Drew Peterson as well as in connection with battery charges related to her alleged attack of Peterson. (Read More...)

B y Tuesday night, snowfall will generally be in the 6- to 12-inch range, with some locally higher totals possible, especially near Lake Michigan in both Illinois and Northwest Indiana, the weather service said. In addition to the falling snow, northwest winds will increase to 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 mph Tuesday night and into early Wednesday morning. The National Weather Service is forecasting Chicago could get eight to 12 inches of snow from a winter storm expected to begin late Monday afternoon and continue through Tuesday night. (Read More...)

T he parents of a toddler killed in a car crash last week have filed a civil suit after the suspect was released on bond. On February 1, Amy Alanis and Joshua Molina's 13-month-old son, also named Joshua, and two friends- Orlando Rodriguez and Aldo Maldonado- were killed in a car crash. Police said the suspect in the fatal crash, Putiporn Kaewmooka, was fleeing the scene of another accident when he struck Molina's car. (Read More...)

M ayor Daley on Monday transferred control over city hiring to his corruption-fighting inspector general, but touched off a political firestorm in the process - by proposing that the inspector general be empowered to investigate Chicago aldermen from this day forward. Those same fears apply today - even though the 2011 election is fast approaching and voters have had their fill of political corruption. Mayor Richard Daley today proposed expanding the powers of the city's inspector general to include investigating aldermen -- an idea long opposed by City Council -- as well as taking away the hiring oversight duties currently held by the mayor's compliance office. (Read More...)

D urbin is the number-two Democrat in the Senate and is already predicting that Giannoulias' Republican opponent, Congressman Mark Kirk, will spend more money on his campaign. The senator said he'll begin by reaching out to friends and supporters for help in getting out the vote to get Giannoulias elected. He noted that the National Republican Senatorial Campaign began running negative advertising the day after Giannoulias won Tuesday's primary. (Read More...)

L OS ANGELES (Michael Jackson's doctor pleaded not guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter in the death of the pop star at a brief hearing that had all the trappings of another sensational celebrity courtroom drama. Prosecutors today charged Michael Jackson's personal physician with involuntary manslaughter in connection with administering a combination of surgical anesthetic and sedatives blamed in the music legend's death last summer. Conrad Murray, a cardiologist caring for the 50-year-old pop icon during an ambitious comeback attempt, of causing Jackson's June 25 death by acting "without due caution and circumspection". (Read More...)

A fter a day off Sunday, the Bulls return to practice today to prepare for their game Tuesday against the Pacers in Indianapolis. Del Negro specifically cited Brad Miller, who logged 40 minutes, 13 seconds against the Hawks and 36:26 against the Heat while filling in for injured starter Joakim Noah. The Bulls were without forward Tyrus Thomas, who was suspended by the team for one game for unspecified "conduct detrimental to the team," and Noah, who's shut down with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. (Read More...)

E ach May, chefs, restaurants and food writers are honored in a variety of categories in a ceremony held in New York. The 2010 nominations won't be announced until March 22, but Chicago already has a winner: Calumet Fisheries, the nondescript fish shack on the Southeast Side, has been named one of five winners of the 2010 America's Classics Award. The honor is given to small, regional, down-home eateries that make an impression on the awards committee. (Read More...)

S tarting today, riders can use credit cards at 76 outlying Metra stations where there is a ticket agent on duty and at vending machines at the 14 busiest Metra Electric stations. Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano said it marks the first time Metra has accepted plastic at any of its stations in the suburbs. "The tickets you can buy will be one-ways, 10-rides, monthlies and weekend tickets," he said. (Read More...)

A University of Notre Dame theology student has turned her concerns about the plight of feral cats into a program that traps and sterilizes felines to reduce their numbers. Since September, the Michiana Feral Cat Initiative has trapped and neutered 66 cats in the South Bend area. Smith began spaying and neutering those cats, but soon realized that cats were running wild, and breeding, all over the city. (Read More...)

A nother trade show is pulling out of McCormick Place, but this one has canceled its show due to its own attendance concerns. A spokesman for one of the show sponsors, the Telecommunications Industry Association, said Monday that the show is being shelved "based on projections that we have seen". Last year, the show counted 1,800 attendees at its keynote speeches and featured more than 120,000 square feet of exhibition space

T he Dow Jones industrial average closed below 10,000 for the first time in three months Monday on nagging concerns about debt loads in Europe. Shares of big banks pulled the market lower, extending a slump that has led to four straight weekly losses. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 9.45, or 0.9 percent, to 1,056.74, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 15.07, or 0.7 percent, to 2,126.05. (Read More...)

R ep. John Murtha, the tall, gruff-mannered former Marine who became the de facto voice of veterans on Capitol Hill and later an outspoken and influential critic of the Iraq War, died Monday. He died at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., with his family at his bedside, the hospital said. Ethical questions often shadowed his congressional service, but he was best known for being among Congress' most hawkish Democrats. (Read More...)

T he state Dept. of Children and Family Services is investigating the death of a 19-month-old northwest suburban boy found unresponsive Sunday at his grandmother's West Side home. Hamad Moore of Oxford Dr. in Carpentersville was taken from the 900 block of N. Long Ave. in Chicago and pronounced dead at Children's Memorial Hospital at 6:54 p.m. Sunday, according to a Cook County Medical Examiner's office spokesman. DCFS spokesman Jimmie Whitelow said Monday morning the agency is investigating allegations of abuse in connection with the death. (Read More...)

W hereas most 8-year-olds prefer grape or strawberry jelly on their peanut butter sandwiches, Ryan Jaskowski of Yorkville takes a different approach altogether. How about avocado, soy sauce and scallions on that PB&J? Although it might sound odd, Ryan's version of the classic sandwich is so delicious that he is a finalist in a national contest by Jif to pick the best sandwich in the country. But something sounds fishy about how Ryan Jaskowski came up with his concoction for Jif's Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Competion. (Read More...)

B ut one of the great debates waged in the days leading up to Super Bowl on Sunday was whether Manning was the greatest ever. But his performance in the Colts' 31-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints was more the norm than the anomaly -- at least in the postseason. Heading into the game, Manning's playoff record was 9-8, and he had completed 404 of 647 passes for 4,831 yards with 27 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. (Read More...)