It seems as if church membership may determine school attendance when C.P.S. resumes classes on September 2, as clergy across the city are sending families mixed messages.

On Friday, when Governor Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain's VeePee pick, no one really knew who she was.

One fact I found doing a fast google was that her degree (the only one) is a bachelor's in journalism.

Another fact... she actually worked in television news.

Now... here's the video to prove it.

Eternity Gaddy should be picking out an outfit to wear on the first day of school. Eternity Gaddy should be thinking about what she wants to become when she grows up.

There are so many things this precious little girl should be doing right now. But sadly enough, she will never get the chance.

The 13-year-old practical joker, who loved her friends, music and makeup died yesterday. She was struck in the head by a stray bullet early Sunday morning during a visit to her old Humboldt Park neighborhood.

CLTV has been covering the planned boycott of the first day of classes for Chicago Public Schools throughout the day today. Below are reports from Randi Belisomo and Carlos Hernandez Gomez. Stay tuned to CLTV for continuous coverage and weigh in on the topic by leaving a comment.

It’s a situation we see more often than we would like to in this country.
And once again, the issue of teen pregnancy is back in the national spotlight.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you must have heard the news that presumptive Vice Presidential Nominee Governor Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter –Bristol - is 5 months pregnant.

I've worked in television long enough to know that sometimes, things are in the TelePrompTer that aren't supposed to be there.

Perhaps that explains the faux pas from the co-chair of the Republican National Committee on Tuesday night.

In front of the entire convention (and presumably a national audience), Jo Ann Davidson of Ohio made a pretty noticeable slip of the tongue:

"We are holding a convention that will nominate a Republican woman, Governor Sarah Pawlenty, our next vice president," Davidson said.

Watch it for yourself:

The Republican National Convention finally got underway last night with speeches from President Bush (via satellite) and Laura Bush, who was in Minneapolis. Below are excerpts of their respective speeches as well as Sen. Joe Lieberman's speech.

Olympic Golden Boy Michael Phelps is in Chicago today, clocking some face time with Oprah and promoting the city's bid to get the Games in 2016. As part of his visit, he'll be hosting an live video chat on Chicago2016 site at 5:15 pm today. Now's your chance to ask him if he really eats all that food for breakfast.

It was an Olympic-sized event that only the big O could pull off.

More than 170 Olympic athletes were in Chicago's Millenium Park for a taping of the season premiere of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Video after the jump.

In the words of Diana Ross, Sarah Palin is "Comin' out."

Palin spent more than a half hour in prime time selling herself to the American people.

But as much time as she spent hocking the John McCain brand to the nation, she used equal time trying to dissuade the public from buying into the Barack Obama brand.

Here's a sample:

Gov. Sarah Palin delivers a powerful and pointed speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. Listen to unedited video from her speech below.

Tonight is in many ways a dream come true for John McCain. As he formally accepts the Republican nomination for president it will be the culmination of a years-long journey, tasting the victory denied him by then-Texas Governor George W. Bush in 2000.

After a week of blistering partisan speeches including an explosive one by his running mate Sarah Palin, it appears McCain will strike a more bipartisan tone in his address tonight.

Here's one excerpt from his forthcoming acceptance speech:

“Again and again, I’ve worked with members of both parties to fix problems that need to be fixed.”

The venue is even being retro-fitted to give the Xcel Energy Center more of a town-hall feel, except without the back and forth of a question and answer session between McCain and the party faithful.

Advisors say the format will make McCain, not known for his oratory in more formal settings, more comfortable.

It brings up a question.

Given the positive reviews (even by critics who disagreed with the contents) of Obama's speech to a gargantuan crowd of more than 80,000 last week, is the bar lower for McCain?

And can he top the roof-rising response Palin received Wednesday? Does he even want to?

Weigh in here

Sen. John McCain delivers his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention with a warning, "Change is coming." See McCain's speech below.

The Chicago Bears got their first victory of the year, beating down the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night. Don't tell me you thought that would happen. Nobody, I mean nobody in Chicago was picking them to go to Lucas Oil Field and win. But does this change your mind about the Bears? Are they for real or is this just a fluke? They ran the ball well and the quarterback didn't lose the game. The Bears have a way of breaking everyone's heart. Is this just another cruel way of showing what they can do, but not coming through in the end?

I am talking about my 90’s era MTV music awards. When the show was filled with “aaaaah” moments. When you called up your friends and asked them if they just say Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie kiss or if they saw Run DMC and Kid Rock perform ‘Walk This Way’ or when Guns and Rose closed the show with “Welcome to the Jungle.” Those are the moments that define pop culture … but lately MTV has not been holding up to their end of the bargain.

The national media is taking the easy way out.

Late Tuesday, Senator Barack Obama went on the attack. He called the McCain/Palin campaign's reformist image "putting lipstick on a pig".

"The other side, suddenly, they're saying 'we're for change too.' Now think about it, these are the same folks that have been in charge for the last eight years," Obama said to the crowd.

"You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. You can wrap up an old fish in a piece of paper and call it change. It's still going to stink after eight years. We've had enough," he exclaimed.

Watch the video here:

Instead of covering the issues, the press is covering a darned pig statement.

Something stinks. I think it's the reporting barnyard they're wallowing in.

I was sound asleep, I was getting ready to attend Columbia College in a week and I was trying to soak in my last couple days of pre-college life. When my mom comes bursting into my room screaming, “a plane has just hit one of the World Trade Center towers.” I remember I looked at her and said “huh?”and put the pillow over my face. She pulled the covers off me and grabbed me by the legs and yanked me down and said, “If you really want to be a journalist you will wake your behind up and come to the TV.” Enough said. I got up and stumbled into her room as I sat on her bed rubbing my eyes trying to wake up. My mother was at her vanity getting dressed. I opened my eyes just in time to see the second plane hit the tower and I started screaming. My mom came running out of her dressing area asking me what was wrong and all I could do was point and say, “This is big, this is bad.”

Below is a listing of Sept 11 Events and Ceremonies happening around the Chicago area.

Chicago-area residents saw a tense and violent week. These are the most viewed videos on cltv.com for the Week of Sept 5th through the 11th.

Are the gloves coming off?

Check out this memo from Obama's campaign manager and strap yourself in.

TO: Interested Parties
FR: David Plouffe, Campaign Manager
RE: Heading into the Final Stretch
DA: September 12, 2008
______________________________________________________

Summary

With both conventions and the vice-presidential selections behind us, the campaign is now heading into the final stretch. The race has settled into a tight race nationally with Obama well-positioned in the key battleground states, a historic enthusiasm gap, and a debate being waged on Obama’s home turf – change.

In recent weeks, John McCain has shown that he is willing to go into the gutter to win this election. His campaign has become nothing but a series of smears, lies, and cynical attempts to distract from the issues that matter to the American people. But as Barack Obama said earlier this week “enough is enough.” This election is too important and the challenges too big to spend the next 54 days talking about trivial non-issues.

Today is the first day of the rest of the campaign, and today we are releasing two new ads that go directly at the fundamental issue in this race: John McCain is out of touch with the American people and unable to address the challenges facing the country in the 21st century and bring about real change, and that Barack Obama is the candidate who will bring about change that works for the middle class.

We will respond with speed and ferocity to John McCain’s attacks and we will take the fight to him, but we will do it on the big issues that matter to the American people. We will not allow John McCain and his band of Karl Rove disciples to make this big election about small things.

Residents on the city’s northwest side, in parts of Des Plaines, and Midlothian woke up early this morning to find their streets and basements filled with water.
Yikes.
The National Weather Service says at least 6.63 inches of rain fell at O’Hare International Airport yesterday.
We also say the rainiest day in Chicago ever. Wow.
And for the first time in six years the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District opened the sluice gates and locks near Navy Pier to flush storm water and sewage from the Chicago River into Lake Michigan (fyi, I had no clue the city had the ability to do that – its so cool).

Here's a listing of helpful links concerning information on the flooding in Chicago:

Traffic and Road Conditions: Chicago Traffic Report

Illinois Dept. of Transportation (IDot): http://www.dot.state.il.us/

Flight Delays and Information: chicagotribune.com's Flight Tracker

Latest news on the flooding: Tribune's Breaking News Center

Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications held a press conference Sunday morning addressing the flood situation in the Chicago area.

Firefighters work to rescue victims of the flooding during Saturday night's heavy rains.

Van Buren Street just west of of River Road in Des Plaines

Cook County Sheriff drives through water in Des Plaines

More photos below.

Click here for more photos from FlickR user *eye*try

Heavy and relentless rains doused the Chicago area all weekend, causing flooding, road closures and evacuations. Below is CLTV's video coverage of the weather.

North Park Flooded

Chicago flood 9-13-08 Foster and Avers

Are you worried about your money???????
Make that.. worried about your money, stocks, mortgage, insurance, etc. now that all these big banks/investment houses, i.e. Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, are seemingly in a tailspin? How is affecting you? Tell us how you are weathering the financial meltdown.

Residents in northwest Indiana have been forced from their homes because of last weekend's downpour. CLTV's Randi Belisomo is reporting from Munster today. Stay tuned to CLTV for continous coverage of the record flooding and its aftermath. And watch more video reports on the flooding here.

Embattled governor Rod Blagojevich has already been called a sociopath, so when Mayor Richard Daley called him "cuckoo," he wasn't the first to publicly challenge the governor's sanity.

It arose after the Governor accused the CTA of being responsible for it's budget shortfall, while the Mayor and CTA blame Blagojevich's unfunded mandate of free rides for all seniors (just one in a long line of populist programs designed to show Blagojevich as champion of the people).

It marks a change, for months, throughout the dysfunction in Springfield, Hizzoner wouldn't call the governor out personally but the funny gloves are now definitely off.

Blagojevich's response, "I don't think I'm cuckoo."

Think about it. You might be "cuckoo" if you were locked in a political battle with most of your own political party, had approval ratings lower than President Bush and to top it off had the feds invading every one of your pores with their pesky corruption investigation.

So here's today's question, who's cuckoo? The governor? Daley? or better yet the voters?

Weigh in here, after watching the video.

CLTV's Monica Schneider reports on how to cope with the recent market meltdowns.

CLTV's Aaron Baskerville reports from River Forest where residents are cleaning up after last weekend's damaging floods. For more video coverage on the record rains, click here.

The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting on a proposal that would make bars in Wrigleyville stop serving beer and other alcohol after the seventh-inning stretch. It's the same rule the ballpark follows. The rule would be instated only if it's a "clinch game" and sales would resume when the game is over.
What do you think? Is this a good idea? How well do you think it will be enforced? Would you be more willing to attend a game? Less willing to go to a bar in the neighborhood? Weigh in by leaving your comment below.

A new health study of Italians shows that a small square of dark chocolate daily protects the heart from inflammation and subsequent heart disease.

Those researchers even have the amount you should eat down to 1/10th of a gram.

Folks, it seems that being a daddy has meant some house cleaning for Clay Aiken. Specifically, when it comes to his closet.

In the latest issue of People magazine, Aiken finally acknowledges he's gay.

We all know that sex sells. But a college grad from California is adding a twist. She’s selling her virginity.

Turns out that staying in school makes a lot of sense for students and taxpayers.

A new study out of Boston's Northeastern University found taxpayers - get this - lose $221,000 over the course of a lifetime for each Illinois student who drops out of school.
All I can say is, wow! Now, that's money that could be in my savings account.

I was talking to the folks who run "Suicide Prevention Services" here in Chicagoland. It's basically a Hotline to call if you're on the edge (your area code plus 482-9696). I wanted to know whether they were getting more calls since we saw the markets tank last week, Lehman Bros. went belly-up and now the Bush administration and Congress are working on that 700 Billion dollar bailout (which though it'll help the banks, may not necessarily help you keep your house).

Anyway, even -before- the shxx hit the fan last week, the Batavia-based Hotline was getting more calls. Those working there told me their call volume is up at least 35-percent over the same period last year. And yes, a lot of calls are over financial woes. Supposedly folks just want to talk at this point and no one's indicating they want to throw themselves off of a tall building (like in the Great Depression). But could that be next? I hope not.

PS The Hotline folks say they're so busy, that they really need MORE VOLUNTEERS to man the phone lines.

We got a lot of response from a story we ran yesterday on a new device that helps people improve their hearing. WGN's Dina Bair has the full story.

Ok, so I know it’s not as smooth as “Rumble in the Jungle” but not much rhymes with Mississippi… and the only other option was “Showdown in Mississippi.”
Well, America – tonight is the night. The first Presidential Debate of the 2008 Elections and the number one question on the minds of most Americans … surprisingly is not “what about the economy?” But, will McCain be there. We have less than 40 days until we march to our respective polling locations to select the 44TH President of our great but financially crumbling nation (in case you haven’t heard WAMU just got snagged up by Chase.)

The presidential contenders squared off for the first time on Friday, for what could become the most watched presidential debate in American history.

So, who came out the winner?

Many pollsters are giving round one to Obama.

A CNN opinion research poll found 51 percent of those polled said Obama did a better job, compared to 38 percent who said McCain was better.

Some would argue newspapers are past their prime. But I wouldn’t say that to the folks at the Chicago Tribune. The 161-year-old paper is getting a “lift.”

Growing up in Chicago, I always remember the Trib as being somewhat "stuffy."

Chicago Police Office Nathaniel Taylor Jr.was shot early Sunday morning on the city's south side and later died at Advocate Christ Hospital. He was a 14-year veteran of the police force and is the third Chicago officers to be killed this year. CLTV's Regina Waldrop has a full report.

Daley Plaza is the place to be for any Cubs fan today. A rally for the team kicks of at noon and CLTV will be airing it live. Baseball Hall of Famer Billy Williams, WGN Radio's Ron Santo, Mayor Richard Daley, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and actor Jim Belushi are expected to be there and the event is free.
If you can't make it downtown, tune in to CLTV for live coverage and go Cubs go!
(If you'd like to watch it streaming live on the web, log on to wgntv.com)

Cubs fans got a jump on the push for the playoffs on Tuesday and flocked to Daley Plaza in support of their team. Below are clips from the day's events.