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An employee at a Joliet cell phone store was shot and wounded Monday night during an armed robbery by three masked men, authorities said.

The employee, described as a man in his 20s, wasn’t seriously injured at the shooting that occurred at about 9 p.m. in the 2500 block of West Jefferson Street, Joliet police said. The victim was taken to an area hospital and treated for his wound, police said.

At about the time the business was supposed to close, the three masked gunmen entered and demanded merchandise, Joliet police Lt. Dennis McWherter said. The robbers were able to flee with some merchandise and money, though police weren’t sure exactly how much.

Joliet police detectives remained on the scene late Monday, McWherter said. Police didn’t immediately have a description of the robbers.

–William Lee

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Bus and train riders who encountered the CTA at far less than its best on the first weekday of major service cuts should prepare themselves to slog through snow during Tuesday’s commute.

The CTA implemented a winter action plan Monday to ensure that bus motors start in the morning and that the fleet — downsized by almost 290 buses because of the service cuts — can get out of garages and storage yards and onto streets.

Snow-sweeper trains were to have operated through the night to make sure tracks are plowed for the approximately 130,000 CTA passengers who travel by train from 6 to 9 each morning, officials said.

Riders voiced frustration after putting up today with longer waits at bus stops and at rail station platforms, as well as enduring crowded conditions and longer travel times.

Carolyn Ephraim, who is financially supporting five grandchildren, said she worries that the CTA cuts will make her late for work at the Daley Center downtown.

“That jeopardizes my job,” said Ephraim, 55, who on Monday left home in ChicagoChicago reviews’s Marquette Park neighborhood 20 minutes earlier than usual to offset any delays. Ephraim said she arrived barely on time.

She used to take the No. X49 Western Express bus, but it stopped operating Monday, and she now has to wait for the local Western Avenue bus, Ephraim said. “It’s slower than ever,” she said.

Lynneé Spencer, a South Sider who commutes to downtown Mondays and Wednesdays for college, said the No. 26 bus was crowded this morning, more so than usual.

Usually, when Spencer leaves home at 6:45 a.m., the bus is not crowded. That was not the case today. The Red Line this morning, which she takes to get her kids to school, was also unusually crowded, she said.

“I don’t know about the wait, just the capacity was an issue,” Spencer said.

It didn’t help that the number of CTA employees who failed to report for work Monday was twice the normal rate, officials said, declining to provide specific numbers.

Employees on standby filled in as much as possible. But on top of the reduced service, the CTA was forced to cancel 33 bus runs in the morning rush, officials said, out of a total of almost 1,500 runs.

Overall ridership on Monday appeared to be slightly lower than normal in response to the widely reported warnings of an 18 percent reduction in CTA bus service and a 9 percent cutback in train operations.

All Gloria Fleming, a social worker, wanted when she got off work Monday evening was a seat on the bus.

But when she saw there were no empty seats on the southbound No. 26 South Shore Express bus just after 5 p.m., she let the bus pass her by. Fleming let another packed bus pass, before resigning herself to stand on a third bus.

“I’ve been working all day. I just want a seat,” Fleming said.

Meanwhile, CTA President Richard Rodriguez called on union officials representing bus and rail employees to meet with him this week to try to negotiate a quick end to the service cuts, which resulted in the layoffs of about 1,100 employees.

UnionThe Union reviews officials agreed to meet, but no date was immediately set. They said they wanted to confer with their memberships before starting negotiations.

Rodriguez said he has a menu of ideas to chisel away at a $95.6 million budget deficit. CTA officials in late January offered the Amalgamated Transit Union a list of proposed union concessions totaling more than $76 million.

The unions have not agreed to any of those terms. But union leaders said they will gauge their membership’s support for $90.6 million in savings that the union chiefs recently proposed on their own to the CTA.

Darrell Jefferson, president of the bus drivers union, said he remains hopeful that the 903 members who were laid off from Local 241 will return to work once an agreement is reached.

“I just want the CTA to meet us in the middle of the road,” Jefferson said.

Robert Kelly, president of the rail workers union, said he will conduct a membership meeting Tuesday. But he said his rank and file in Local 308, which lost 112 members to the layoffs, has up until now opposed making any contract concessions.

Although it won’t be enough to cancel the service cuts, the CTA reached a tentative agreement with its trade unions to save 38 jobs, officials announced. The trade unionists, who perform maintenance and construction at CTA facilities, accepted proposals to take unpaid days and defer some wage increases in exchange for flexibility from the CTA side on issues important to them, CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said.

More comments from CTA riders on Twitter

–Jon Hilkevitch, Serena Daniels and Angie Leventis Lourgos

Click HERE for a WGN-TV report on this story.

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Authorities today identified a Stickney man as the person found strangled and beaten in the city’s Little Village neighborhood over the weekend.

An autopsy performed this morning determined that Luis Rodriguez, 25, died of strangulation and blunt head trauma in an assault and the death was classified a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Rodriguez’s body was discovered in an alley at about 6:45 a.m. Sunday in the 3000 block of South Christiana Avenue, ChicagoChicago reviews police said. He suffered from obvious trauma to his head and upper body, police said. Rodriguez, of the 4000 block of Oak Park Avenue in Stickney, was pronounced dead at 9:15 a.m., a medical examiner’s spokesman said.

Police today had no new details on the case, adding that no arrests had been made.

–William Lee

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An area winter storm warning has been issued for late Monday through early Wednesday with up to 12 inches of snow expected to blanket the area, according to the National Weather Service.

WGN-TV’s Tom Skilling thinks there’s a possibility the final totals could be closer to 14 inches, making this storm the worst of the winter for ChicagoChicago reviews. According to the WGN Severe Weather Blog, the storm could last 35-40 hours, affect three rush hours, and generally make life unpleasant until at least Wednesday.

The warning takes effect at 9 p.m. and will continue until 4 a.m. Wednesday. The heaviest snowfall is expected Tuesday afternoon and early evening. Blowing and drifting snow with near blizzard conditions in open areas can be expected Tuesday night, the weather service said. Both surface and air traffic are expected to encounter severe difficulties.

By 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.

Travel is expected to become difficult by late tonight. Both morning and evening rush hours Tuesday are likely to suffer.

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. This will result in severe blowing and drifting snow in open areas.

The potential exists for ground blizzard and near white-out conditions to develop in outlying areas late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. The blowing and drifting snow will make it difficult for road crews to keep highways clear of snow.

Over 200 flights have been canceled for Tuesday at O’Hare International Airport due to the winter storm passing through the eastern portion of the nation and in anticipation of the storm expected for the Chicago area, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. As of 6 p.m., flights were delayed 25 to 35 minutes to Minneapolis and the East Coast because of snow conditions.

Southwest Airlines canceled all flights at Midway Airport from 10 a.m. Tuesday to 10 a.m. Wednesday in anticipation of the winter storm expected for the Chicago area. More than 30 flights were delayed one hour or more Monday evening due to the winter storm conditions on the East Coast.

Forecasters said a strong surface low is expected to develop over the Mississippi Valley Monday and make its way into Kentucky by Tuesday and then into Ohio by Wednesday. That low is the culprit behind the heavy snow warning for north central Illinois Tuesday.

The warning covers all of the areas in the north central part of the state, including Chicago and Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.

Meteorologists earlier issued a hazardous weather outlook covering Monday through Saturday and officials cautioned that the area can expect strong northerly winds to develop late Tuesday into Wednesday. Portions of the lower Fox River will remain flooded because of ice jams.

Illinois State Police will have a few extra officers on duty in the Chicago area over the next couple of days in anticipation of hazardous driving conditions. They expect there to be an accumulation of 11 to 15 inches of snow between Monday night and Wednesday afternoon. State Trooper James Gawel urged drivers to be cautious throughout the storm.

“Visibility is probably going to be down, so I would caution everybody to drive with what the weather conditions require,” said Gawel.

City of Chicago officials said today that they are approaching the storm the same way they have the other storms this winter, with salting, sanding, plowing, and social service programs for at-risk groups like seniors and the homeless. All of the cities’ snow-fighting trucks are expected to be on the streets. 

But Rich Rodriguez, the president of the CTA, acknowledged that this storm will likely make things a “little more difficult” for mass transit users because of the recent service cutbacks caused by budget problems.

“Buses are going to be at capacity throughout the entire day,” he said, cautioning riders to build an extra 30-45 minutes into their commute time. “Individuals may not necessarily be sitting any more on a bus, but the goal is to try to get them on the bus.”

– Staff report

Click HERE for a WGN-TV report on this story.

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UPDATE: Police said tonight that Patrycia Bochmulski returned home. No further details were released.

ChicagoChicago reviews police said tonight they are looking for a 16-year-old girl last seen a week ago at Prosser High School in the city’s Belmont Cragin neighborhood.

Patrycia Bochmulski, of the 5400 block of West Addison Street, was spotted at Prosser at noon on Thursday, police said in a missing persons alert.

Patrycia is described in the alert as Caucasian, 5-foot-4, 130 pounds, with a fair complexion, green eyes and brown hair.

She was wearing a black jacket, black T-shirt and blue jeans, police said.

Anyone with information about Patrycia’s whereabouts should call the Grand Central Area’s Special Victims Unit at 312-746-8365.

–Jeff Finkelman

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A 42-year-old Hanover Park man was sentenced in Cook County Circuit Court today to 20 years in prison for his role in a series of home invasions that began nearly two years ago in the northwest suburbs.

Daniel D. Suddoth, of the 2200 block of Walnut Avenue, pleaded guilty in Rolling Meadows branch court to home invasions in Elk Grove Village, Schaumburg and Streamwood. Suddoth was arrested in May 2008 following a home invasion in the 1500 block of Stafford Circle in Elk Grove Village in which the 51-year-old resident was beaten by four men, authorities said.

Police learned the Suddoth and the other three men were involved in home invasions in the 1900 block of Keystone Place in Schaumburg and in the 700 block of Russet Lane in Streamwood. In each case, residents were beaten and cash and electronic items were stolen, Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Gerber said.

During the hearing, Assistant Public Defender Scott Slonim told Judge Kay Hanlon that Suddoth is a heroin addict who has an IQ of 64. Suddoth’s three accomplices all pleaded guilty last year and received prison sentences.

–George Houde

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The City of ChicagoChicago reviews today was awarded possession of a 161-year-old cemetery that lies in the path of a future runway at O’Hare International Airport and could begin moving about 1,200 graves within weeks.

DuPage County Judge Hollis ordered that the title of the 5.3-acre St. Johannes Cemetery in Addison Township be transferred from St. John’s United Church of Christ to the city. She also ordered that Chicago pay the church $630,000 for the land, which stands between two segments of a new runway that are already under construction. The acquisition was considered one of the last major impediments to the $15 billion O’Hare Modernization Project.

Webster ruled in December that Chicago had a legal right to use eminent domain proceedings to acquire the site from the church, which has argued against the city’s plan. On Monday she approved the city’s motion to acquire the site under quick-claim proceedings after the city said a delay in the runway project could unnecessarily increase the project’s price tag.

City officials said Monday that the current schedule calls for the graves to be moved by the spring of 2011, allowing for the new runway to be opened by June 2013.

 Webster ordered that no graves be moved for at least 20 days to allow church attorneys to file an appeal. The weather also could impact when the graves are moved. The church also can argue the $630,000 figure at a future date.

The church has argued for years that the removal of the graves violates the religious beliefs of the church.
 
According to testimony, the city has already hired a company to handle the disinterment. City officials said the city will work with next of kin to have the graves moved to whatever cemeteries they want, within reason, and will pay the relocation costs. About 15 graves already have been relocated by survivors on their own.

The cemetery has existed about a half mile north of Irving Park Road in Addison Township since 1849 but has averaged only about one burial a year over the past 20 years, according to testimony.

–Art Barnum

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Allison loses her hearing following the kidnapping of a deaf girl. Since she cannot hear, Joe helps Allison and investigator Keener
with the case.

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Ambulances were sent to the Tinley Park Mental Health Facility in Maple Hall after a fire was reported there about 4:30 p.m., according to Tinley Park police officials.

Police and fire were on the scene at 7400 W. 183rd Street, a police dispatcher said.

No other details were available.

– Staff report

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Overwhelmed by the number of hipster, young, gay Chances parties happening in Chicago? No need to be.

Here’s the deal:
Chances is now hosting three parties monthly.
Off Chances still happens at Danny’s Tavern every 2nd Tuesday. Chances still happens at Subt every third Monday and apparently Chances at the Hideout is happening every first Saturday as a benefit for its Critical Fierceness Grant, a new Grant program that assists queer artists. The Hideout Dance Party with Chances is $5 and starts at 11:30pm so that bands can finish up. It’s specifically a DJ driven dance party, very much a mix or retro, electro, progressive dance. Now that you know the 411, you’ve got no excuse for missing another Chances.

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Monica “Danger” Leon is in police custody for allegedly attempting to burn down an apartment complex.

The “For the Love of Ray J” vixen was detained by L.A police after a fire erupted in her apartment building. Ms. Leon is
well known for her erratic behavior is under “observation” as investigators determine if there is enough evidence to charge
her with arson.

Via: GB

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Members Only AV kicked off its new, 18-and-up electro party Delorean Nites this past weekend at Lincoln Hall and Time Out was there to capture all the dance floor action.

Photos: Brendan Lester

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André Leon Talley has already finished filming the fourteenth season of America’s Next Top Model. He replaces J. Alexander on the
judging panel. (Miss J will return to fixing the contestants’ busted runway walks.) Talley signed on for three seasons of the show,
and tells WWD that Vogue editor Anna Wintour had “no hesitation at all” about him appearing on it, even though neither of them
had ever watched an episode. But now, Wintour’s going to start:

“Her reaction,” said Talley, “was, ‘Fine, André. Just let me know when you’re going to do it and how it’s
going.’” (Reached for comment, Wintour said through her spokesman, “André is always onto new things on television, and I
think his latest adventure sounds like a lot of fun and I look forward to watching him on the program.”)

Talley believes the winner is a Vogue-quality model, but could not confirm she would appear in the magazine. “That’s not my
decision, that’s Ms. Wintour’s,” he told WWD.

Tyra Banks tried to get Talley on the show before it even started. They had lunch, discussed Tyra and the reality show she planned to
start, and then probably talked about Tyra some more. Talley said no because he didn’t know if the show would succeed or how it
would turn out.

But after thirteen seasons, Talley believed he could bring something different to the program. And that doesn’t stop at the thirteen
Chado Ralph Rucci graduation robes Talley had custom made, and which ought to be worth tuning in for alone, Tyra’s crazy aside.

“I went to Ralph Rucci when I started this thing,” Talley said. “We came up with these wonderful designs that are based
on 17th-century Edo samurai tunic-coats. And Ralph, who is extraordinarily gifted, understood my desire to have something that would pop
on TV.”

So Talley is finally bringing to this program what it has lacked in the entirety of its thirteen-season history: high fashion. Also,
eyes that not only judge a bulging abdomen or a stumpy neck or thin frog lips or a horribly obnoxious personality, but the clothes
people wear. Even Tyra Banks felt intimidated.

“This is the most clean you will ever see me in the history of ‘Top Model,’” she said. “I am wearing a chignon
every single day. I went back to Yves Saint Laurent 1991, honey. I said, ‘This is André Leon Talley! No earrings, no nothing. Just
me and the gahhment.’”

Talley said he took his role as a reality star “very seriously.” And no such role is complete without a catchphrase. His is
“dreckitude”:

… a melding of dreck, one of his “favorite” words, and “quackitude,” a term he’d heard on Rachel Maddow use on
her show. “‘Dreckitude’ was whipped out when I thought the challenge was not met or if [the contestants] showed up in
perhaps an outfit that I just couldn’t wrap my mind around,” he explained. Such as? “I was constantly repulsed by the
complete popularity of what I call the Cult of the Ugly Shoe – that is, a very clodhopper, high platform-y, clunky-clunk sort of shoe,
which they would favor. And I kept saying to them, ‘You can also be very elegant in a Sabrina flat.’”

Such wise words. But perhaps a little too wise. What are the chances that the America’s Next Top Model contestants know what dreck
means? Or understand the quirky intellect of a late-night cable-television news host? Do they even grasp the meaning of cult? Smize has
gone global. Dreckitude might not even catch on. But this is only Talley’s first season. We can’t expect him to craft made-up
words worthy of their own superheroes just yet.

Via: The CutIn the Cut reviews

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Riders today were scrambling to get to their destinations after Pace trimmed dozens of routes to help plug a $6.5 million budge hole.

Unlike the CTA, Pace officials won’t be laying off employees to help plug its shortfall for 2010 and instead chose route eliminations hoping to save $1.5 million and prevent a fare hike.

 Paleontology student Andy Stavrinou, 28 of Arlington Heights,
waited for more than a hour for the curtailed PACE 696 bus after his
morning class Monday at Harper College in Palatine. Last week the wait
was five minutes after class.

“Now it’s all screwed up,” Stavrinou said, catching up on some
reading in a lobby near the stop. “I don’t drive and I’m totally
dependent on it.”

It was a long, circuitous journey this morning
for Chelsea Knight, 25, a paralegal student from Glenview, who made it
to her first class at Harper this morning with only minutes to spare.

“I usually like some study time when I get here and now I have to run,” Knight said.
 
Knight,
who takes three connecting buses to get to school, not only had to wait
longer at each stop, she had to hike an extra block to catch one of the
buses after a stop was eliminated. While the morning trip was more
challenging, her bus route home in the evening has disappeared
altogether.

“Now I have to get picked up, because there is no bus anymore,” she said. “It’s not a very efficient system.”

Unsure
of how the changes would affect his two-route commute, Ethan Davis, 24,
of Des Plaines, missed his morning class completely at Harper College.

“I
waited an extra hour at Woodfield,” said Davis, an education student
who also holds down two jobs and uses the bus to get to work. “I’m
going to tell my teacher, but I’m sure she’s not going to believe it.
Now I’m going to have to get to school 45 minutes early just to make my
class.”

The cutbacks were especially painful for John Beacham,
coordinator of NoCTAcuts.org and an instructor at Harper College, whose
daily commute from Rogers Park to Palatine takes more than two hours
each way via the CTA Red Line and PACE.

Waiting for the 696 bus
at the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg — the final leg of the journey –
he bemoaned the even more grueling schedule he now faces.

“Because
of the elimination of one of the Harper buses, I had to leave an hour
earlier than I normally do, said Beacham, 42. “I had to get on the Red
Line at 9:20am in order to get Harper College by about noon. My commute
is so long that it makes my day an hour longer.”

– Robert Channick