Free Republic

The Labriola family dog, Spuddy, was something of a legend on his Blue Island block, where neighbors stopped to give the 15-year-old mutt a friendly pat on the head or toss him a treat. One of those neighbors this summer tried to explain to a police officer that the old dog wasn't a stray but belonged to the Labriolas, on the 12200 block of Maple Avenue. By the end of that June day, however, Spuddy had been shot four times in the head by another officer who believed the animal was near death. His remains were thrown into a garbage...

If this isn't a perfectly representative Illinois politician story I've never seen one. There's misuse of public facilities, influence abuse, nudity, binge drinking, sexual harassment and a death… all the elements of the Chicago Way style of politics. It only lacks the bribes and payoffs that we always see, but as the cops become more involved, likely that'll come along in due time. Phil Kander has the odd tale of intrigue, wild partying, and death in the SouthTown Star of the southern suburbs. As it happens, Freddie Bilotto, the president of the Blue Island Park District Board, thought it would...

CHICAGO - Julio Huertas, a Navy Seal from Blue Island Illinois, has been cleared by a military jury of failing to prevent the beating of an Iraq prisoner suspected of masterminding a 2004 attack that killed four American security contractors. The burning death of the contractors became a major turning point in the Iraq war. There bodies were dragged through the streeets of Fallujah and two were hanged from a bridge over the Euphrates River.

Law: American heroes are arraigned for allegedly punching a terrorist in wartime. What happens to Tiger Woods isn't vital to our country's future. What happens to Matthew McCabe, Julio Huertas and Jonathan Keefe is. People are more likely to recognize the names of Tiger's alleged bimbo eruptions than the names of these three Navy SEALs we sent into battle. They are not household names in a nation consumed with Climate Gate, the public option and the antics of billionaire athletes. An administration consumed with apologies has said the architect of 9/11's massacre, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, must be given all the...