The centerpiece of this evening of dance is a celebrity dance-off featuring Chicago television, business and sports personalities. Each celebrity will be paired with a professional instructor and receive personalized choreography and coaching, all, donated by Arthur Murray Dance Centers in Chicago. In addition to the celebrity dance-off, the evening is filled with professional shows, a live auction and the chance to dance the night away, all to help beneifty the Chicagoland affiliate of Susan G. Komen For the Cure.(Source)

For more info on this event go here: www.dancingwithchicagocelebrities.org

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O’Connor Casting Co., a ChicagoChicago reviews-based casting agency, is looking for South Siders whose lives are centered on Gym, Tanning and Laundry,  for a reality show similar to the controversial Jersey Shore, but Chicago-style, reports the Southtown Star.

Read more here: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Jersey-Shore-South-Side-Style-85972722.html#ixzz0h8mc9M0C

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A 16-year-old AustinAustin reviews High School student accused of bringing a gun to the West SideWest Side reviews school Tuesday has been charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon, police said.

Police received a call around noon Tuesday that a gun was on the Austin campus, a police spokesman said. When police arrived at the school, 231 N. Pine Ave., they recovered the gun and arrested the student, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile. 

Monique Bond, a ChicagoChicago reviews Public Schools spokeswoman, said the gun was found inside a locker inside the building. She said ”movements inside the school were restricted” while police searched for the gun.

She said officials from the district’s safety and security department were investigating how the gun got inside the building. She said metal detectors are located at the school.

Read Full Story Here: Austin H.S. student charged with bringing gun to school

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Tribune staff report | Retired NBA star Earvin “Magic” Johnson said he was unable to reach a deal to buy Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Co., publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines, iconic African-American media brands.

Despite “advanced talks,” Johnson said in a statement that, “unfortunately, we were unable to reach a definitive agreement. We will
continue to look for opportunities to invest in African-American media.”
Johnson, chairman and CEO of Los Angeles-based Magic Johnson
Enterprises, said he saluted  Linda Johnson Rice and the Johnson family
for pioneering the magazines.

“Ebony and Jet have been permanent fixtures on coffee tables in African-American homes for many years,” said Johnson.

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Dow Jones Newswires-WSJ | Canadian property giant Brookfield
Asset Management Inc. is readying a bid to take a large stake in U.S.
mall owner General Growth Properties Inc., according to several people
familiar with the matter, aiming to top an unsolicited bid made last
week by mall rival Simon Property Group Inc.

Brookfield’s planned bid, which could be unveiled as soon as this week,
would allow General Growth to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings as
a standalone company, with Brookfield as its largest shareholder, these
people said. The Simon bid values General Growth equity at about $3 billion, or about $9 a share. Simon would also pay off in cash the company’s unsecured creditors, who hold $7 billion in debt, valuing General Growth at around $10 billion.

Brookfield’s plan, while still being worked out, would value General Growth equity at a little more than $3 billion, the people familiar with the matter said. Unsecured creditors, however, would have to accept equity in General Growth, along with some cash.

The plan would make Brookfield the largest buyer in a massive stock sale General Growth intends to make to raise capital for emerging from bankruptcy court. Brookfield would invest at least $2 billion, these people said, though some of that would likely include forgiving General Growth debt currently held by Brookfield.

The size of Brookfield’s proposed ownership stake and the value it will attach to General Growth couldn’t be learned.

Brookfield, which has been readying a bid for some time, has lined up a consortium of other investors, many of whom are already General Growth debt holders, said people familiar with the matter. They didn’t identify those investors. “It is a friendlier, more consensual deal from the General Growth point of view,” one of the people said.

The ultimate amount of stock that General Growth would sell hasn’t been determined. Brookfield wants to be a “substantial investor in the company,” said a person familiar with the situation, with an eye toward operating General Growth and expanding it.

In rejecting Simon’s bid last week, General Growth executives said they intended to look into all options for exiting bankruptcy, including soliciting other buyout bids and selling stock to raise money for paying debts.

A spokesman for Simon said its bid was the better option for General Growth. “Simon’s firm, fully financed $10 billion offer provides immediate 100% cash recovery of par value plus accrued interest and dividends to all unsecured creditors, plus more than $9 per share in value to shareholders. It is the only offer which provides a full cash recovery for unsecured creditors while reducing risk and providing potential upside,” the spokesman said.

Chicago-based General Growth sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy last April after failing to refinance portions of its $27 billion debt as they came due. The competing efforts of Brookfield and Simon come ahead of a key March 3 hearing in its bankruptcy case.

At the hearing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper is to decide whether and by how much to extend General Growth’s exclusivity period. During that period, only the company’s board can propose plans for exiting bankruptcy. Once the period expires, creditors and outside parties can do so.

Brookfield’s plan is likely to get mixed reactions from General Growth’s creditors. It is unlikely that General Growth’s stock sale will raise as much as $7 billion and that all of that money would be used to pay unsecured debt. Thus, General Growth’s strategy is likely to call for paying part of its creditors’ claims in cash and the balance in stock, people familiar with the matter said. That would appeal to creditors who wanted the potential to reap more than what they are owed if the stock rises.

Simon, based in Indianapolis, has offered to pay the unsecured claims entirely in cash. That appeals to some creditors who want to immediately settle their claims and prefer not to gamble on the stock rising.

Further complicating matters: Brookfield last year bought roughly $1 billion of General Growth’s unsecured debt, giving it a voice among General Growth’s creditors. Simon, too, has bought some of the debt, but how much isn’t known. Brookfield is being advised on its bid by Goldman Sachs Group and law firm Willke, Farr & Gallagher, people familiar with the matter said.

The unsecured creditors will be one of many constituencies the judge weighs when he determines which plan best suits all of General Growth’s creditors and shareholders. It remained unclear whether the judge would allow a Brookfield plan to compete with Simon’s offer, since it wouldn’t pay unsecured creditors in cash. But if enough creditors preferred getting a chunk of stock instead of cash, Brookfield could attempt to seek enough votes to confirm the plan, assuming the judge allows creditors to vote on it.

Toronto-based Brookfield manages more than $98 billion in assets, specializing in infrastructure, power plants and commercial property. It has long coveted retail property in the U.S., having made a failed bid for discount-mall owner Mills Corp. in 2007. And It bid unsuccessfully to provide General Growth with emergency financing when the mall owner sought bankruptcy last year.

In the past year, Brookfield has raised roughly $5 billion, mostly from institutional real estate investors contributing to its newly created fund for making acquisitions.

 – By Jeffrey McCracken And Kris Hudson Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

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GLENWOOD (STMW)  — Two south suburban men have been charged with allegedly operating a “mobile meth lab” out of their home and minivan.

Kevin Halter, 51, was arrested while driving the minivan from his Glenwood home Friday night. His roommate, George Wagner 56, was arrested later that night at their home, where more drugs and lab equipment were seized, according to a Cook County Sheriff’s office press release.

Bond was set at $75,000 for Halter on Sunday, while bond for Wagner was set at $50,000, the release said. Both men remained at the Cook County Jail on Monday.

County officers and federal agents spent the weekend going through their rental home before turning it over to the owners — who were notified it must be decontaminated before it can be rented out again.

Methamphetamine is made with a mixture of household chemicals and over-the-counter drugs, the release said. It is considered to be highly addictive and can be extremely volatile when mixed.

Halter was pulled over about a block from his home and in the back of his Nissan quest, with police finding 11.7 grams of methamphetamine, worth about $1,100, along with an ammonia tank, tubes, piping and glass, as well as several drugs and chemicals used to manufacture the drug.

Halter had spent three years in prison for methamphetamine charges out of Lawrence County, Ill. and had just been released from parole on Jan. 30, the release said.

He told investigators he works as a truck driver and sells his drugs to those parked at truck stops, but he also sells it to people from his home.

Investigators raided his Glenwood home and arrested Wagner, while also finding three more grams of methamphetamine, valued at $300. Additionally, police recovered more tanks, including restructured fire extinguishers and tubing to mix the chemicals.

Halter is charged with six felonies — unlawful possession of anhydrous ammonia, unlawful participation in methamphetamine manufacturing, unlawful possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, unlawful possession of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of anhydrous ammonia in an unauthorized container and unlawful use of property under the methamphetamine manufacturing act, the release said. Police also charged him with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia for a digital scale found in the minivan.

Wagner is charged with four felonies — unlawful possession of methamphetamines, possession of methamphetamine manufacturing materials, unlawful use of property under the methamphetamine manufacturing act, as well as unlawfully participating in methamphetamine manufacturing.

Both men will appear for a preliminary hearing on March 16 at the Markham courthouse.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

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