Colleen Mastony

MORNING Forget summer on the lakefront. The best time to jog or stroll along Lake Michigan is the dead of winter, when the paths are deserted, ice covers the concrete...

TO THE CITY'S OFFSHORE WATER INTAKE CRIBS As we planned our "Unauthorized Access" series, Chicago's mysterious offshore water intake cribs beckoned to us like sirens on Lake Michigan. So, in...

In Touch magazine reports that actor Owen Wilson (above), who is recovering from a suicide attempt, is defying friends who advise him to go to rehab, and instead is paying...

More than 150 authors left an imprint on the 23rd edition of the baiduhai Printers Row Book Fair over the weekend. Here are highlights from the presentations of six...

Today is the first day of spring. Not that you'd know it in Barrow, Alaska -- the town that boasts the lowest average temperature in the U.S. Wednesday's forecast predicted...

African revolutionaries don't walk through the church door every day in Plains, Ga., the hometown of former President Jimmy Carter. So Carter took notice when John Garang, the tall, bearded...

After a two-month disappearing act, the sun finally rose in Barrow, Alaska, this week. All eyes turned to the horizon, children pressed their faces against windows, and some climbed on...

JULY 18 "No saving these whales: New condo tower will cover 17-story landmark mural; artist is not happy" Chicago's "Windy Whales" mural has nearly disappeared. The 17-story mural along the...

OCT. 6 "Fly away home: Sunday is the biggest meet of the year for local pigeon racers -- and Harry Kroll is the man they want to beat." Harry Kroll,...

SEPT. 26 "The Critic of Everything: He's a waiter/bookstore clerk. But thanks to the Internet, he's also the oracle of the ordinary." Critic-of-everything, Kevin Elliott, 27, continues to bang out...