Poll: Will You Shop on Thanksgiving Night?

Major retailers Target, Walmart, Sears, and Kmart are planning to open for holiday shopping at 8 and 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.

  Some consumers may enjoy gobbling down a Thanksgiving meal and then running out to shop for pre-Black Friday deals that night. But as retailers start the holiday shopping season earlier and earlier each year, the idea isn't sitting well with employees forced to work the Thanksgiving night shift. Target employees are so upset about the company's decision to open stores at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving night, one worker has started an online petition asking the retailer to "give Thanksgiving back to families," and restore it to its rightful holiday status. As of Tuesday night, the petition had more than 200,000 signatures. This year, Walmart, Kmart and Sears are opening their doors at 8 pm Thursday, Nov. 22, according to their websites. Kmart is …

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Sears Lays Off 100

CHICAGO (AP) – Sears laid off 100 workers at its headquarters outside of Chicago on Thursday, two months after the company got a hefty tax credit for dropping a threat to move its headquarters out of state.

Patch Flash: ComEd Customers to Start Paying for Smart Grid in January

Chicagoland news to talk about: Glenview vintage vehicle collection goes for more than $4 million.

    The major piece of legislation that became law last week was the passage of a bill to allow Commonwealth Edison to construct a smart grid with the hopes of creating better infrastructure. Opponents point out that rates will cost consumers $3-a-month and that electric bills could rise dramatically over the next 10 years. The rate increase is expected to kick in this January. A Will County sheriff's deputy is accused in a lawsuit of breaking the neck of a private detective last year while responding to a dispute over a classic Pontiac Trans Am at a Plainfield auto repair shop. Matt Griebel, 30, is accused not only of fracturing a vertebra in Donald Swanson's neck, but also of pummeling him so severely his liver was damaged and clamping …

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Patch Flash: Winnetka Man Guilty of Murdering Childhood Friend

Chicagoland news to talk about: McHenry County man who found $150K gets his wish.

  On Tuesday afternoon, David Kraybill, 50, of Winnetka, was found guilty of first-degree murder of a childhood friend, Joel Cacharelis, 40, also of Winnetka. In February 2003, the victim was found facedown, with seven bullet wounds to the head and three bullet wounds on the back, on Forestway Drive beside the Skokie Lagoons. The jury also found Kraybill guilty of personally discharging a firearm that caused the death of the victim, according to police. After some residents complained that honoring a former mayor convicted of felony made Niles a joke, and others insisted the village honor the ex-mayor, Nicholas Blase, for successes during his 47 years in office, the Niles village board voted Tuesday to remove the "Nicholas Blase Plaza" …

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District 300 Leaders React to Possibility of Sears Deal Extension

The district released a statement Wednesday evening.

The Northwest Herald reports that District 300 leaders are reacting to the possibility that Illinois legislators are working on deals with Sears executives and village officials to extend Sears tax breaks for another 15 years. On Wednesday, the Daily Herald reported that the CEO of Sears Holdings Corp., Lou D'Ambrosio, met with state legislators about the company's future in its Hoffman Estates headquarters. To read more, visit the Northwest Herald.

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District 300, Sears Negotiating Tax Deal

The Northwest Herald reports there will be no public discussion as long as negotiations are ongoing.

District 300 leaders have been negotiating with Hoffman Estates-based Sears regarding the terms of its economic development area (EDA), according to an article in the Northwest Herald. The Sears EDA, passed in 1989 as a way to retain 2,000 jobs, is set to expire at the end of 2012, which will allow D300 to collect an additional $14 million a year annually in tax revenue. Cheryl Crates, CFO for the school district, said there will be no public discussion regarding the negotiations while they are ongoing, according to the article. To read more, visit the Northwest Herald.

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