John Cook

It's a good thing Oscar can't furrow his gold-plated brow. If he could, a glance at the recent ratings for the sort of star-studded, glamorous awards show that he has come to personify would no doubt crease his shiny face with worry lines. The Grammys?...

"The Apprentice" winner Bill Rancic may be returning to the airwaves, this time from Chicago, where he will be--nominally, at least--overseeing the construction of the Trump International Hotel & Tower. The Hollywood Reporter reported Tuesday that NBC...

It's all about timing this year when it comes to pro golf in the Chicago area this year. The timing of the U.S. Open at Olympia Fields could make things tricky for the Western Open. Meanwhile, the timing of Annika Sorenstam's appearance in a PGA Tour...

Susan Crandall thought she had stellar credit, until computers at one of the nation's powerful credit reporting agencies decided she had serious money troubles. Crandall lived 50 miles from a woman who had filed for bankruptcy. They had similar names....

The Pentagon has taken pains to convince the American public that the Iraqi military has been violating the laws of armed conflict. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has decried the Iraqis' "brutality and disregard for the laws of war" and presented a...

I was living on Perry Street in the Unionville section of Farmington in 1955. We were playing down by the river in the afternoon and noticed that debris were starting to drift past us from up river and the river was rising. We returned to our house...

As the major television networks prepare to cover Tuesday's election, they insist that there will be no replay of the catastrophic failures of 2000, when every network wrongly projected Al Gore the winner of Florida, only to retract that call and later--...

In a renewed bid to resurrect its flagging prime-time ratings, ABC on Tuesday unveiled a new slate of programs for its fall season before a skeptical audience of media buyers and advertisers in New York. The network announced 11 new shows, including a...

Few and far between are the city neighborhoods capable of convincing visitors that they have stumbled upon a rural retreat. Yet, in Hunting Ridge, winding roads amid hilly terrain, giant oak trees more than 200 years old and ivy-covered stone cottages...

Walk into Cal's Liquors at the corner of Wells and Van Buren Streets 'round about 11 p.m. on any given Friday night, and you'll find yourself in a lone out-post of crashing noise and youthful ardor amid the quiet desolation that overtakes the southern...

It wasn't exactly a no-hitter, considering the five turnovers the Bears defense and special teams forced. But the struggling Bears brought their offensive problems home with them Sunday night as Phoenix squeezed out a 12-10 victory at Soldier Field. A...