Welcome to hivemindswikis.com

How much is a life worth? Cook County prosecutors said today that a man charged with kidnapping accepted $700 to set his victim free.

Charged with felony aggravated kidnapping after prosecutors said he held his victim for ransom, the tables were turned today on Terrance Warren, who was ordered held in the Cook County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

On Jan. 9 at 9:45 p.m., Warren, 26, of the 4400 block of West Iowa Street was riding in a sport-utility vehicle with two other people when they allegedly turned it in front of another vehicle, causing it to crash near Roosevelt and Pulaski Roads.

When the driver of the crashed vehicle exited it, prosecutors said, one of the SUV's occupants punched him in the face before he was subdued and forced into the back seat of the SUV.

The SUV t...

Thousands of green-clad revelers lined downtown streets Saturday for the annual St. Patrick's Day parade as South Side residents adjusted to a more "family-friendly" atmosphere than previous years.

At the downtown St. Patrick's Day parade along Columbus Drive, revelers wore green top hats, raincoats and plastic ponchos as the Rev. John Trout, a Roman Catholic priest from Ireland who serves at a Buffalo Grove parish, fielded prayer requests to "send the rain back to Ireland."

The persistent 38-degree drizzle failed to keep the parade route from coming alive for three hours. Irish dancers kicked up their heels. Men in kilts blasted their bagpipes. And dogs, their coats dyed green, marched with owners in tow.

As Mayor Richard Daley's family marched without Chicago's first lady Maggie, who recently underwent leg surgery as she battles cancer, parade watchers shouted well wishes.

Dan Tremore, 21, said he misses the untamed tenor of the South Side parade. A regu...

A stretcher is lowered down to an emergency worker (right) to pull up a taxi driver who was struck by a vehicle along Interstate 90 near O'Hare International Airport early this morning. (Lane Christiansen / Chicago Tribune)

A taxi driver was seriously injured this morning when he stepped out of his passenger van and was struck by a vehicle on the Jane Addams Tollway near O'Hare International Airport.

Shortly after 5 a.m., Illinois State Police responded to a call of a person hit in the eastbound lanes of the Jane Addams (Interstate Highway 90) near the airport.

The man stepped out of his taxi to change a tire, state police said. The man was hit by a Jeep SUV and thrown over a guardrail approximately 40 feet...

This past week we took stock of the terrible economy and pondered all the horrible side gigs, endorsements and moonlighting jobs video game characters have been forced to accept just to put bread on the table.

2c-b had the best of the quick-and-dirty sign swaps, because putting methadone with Mario is on-its-face funny. Patient, lots of people had Peach going into prostitution, porn or stripping, but only you thought to put Toad giving a fists-up woo-hoo to the fact she was a feature dancer, and that's why you made it. My favorites? A toss-up between Kobun's Pope Patrol and Kyosen's Shepard-as-janitor.

Here's the top 20 'shops of the past week, gang. Small housekeeping note: No 'Shop Contest tomorrow as I am not going to be in next weekend to administrate it. So we will pick this back up on Sunday, March 28. Thanks again to all the smart 'shoppers who participated!