Chicago

January ended Tuesday with 40 homicides in Chicago, up 43 percent from 28 homicides recorded in January 2011, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found. However, as of Wednesday afternoon, Chicago has not seen a homicide since Jan. 24, when a 39-year-old woman was shot to death in Washington Park. This is the first time RedEye's homicide tracker has not had a homicide to report on in the previous week since it was created three years ago. No homicides have been recorded so far in February.

Chicago Sky standout guard Epiphanny Prince received a multi-year contract extension, head coach and general manager Pokey Chatman announced Friday in a press release. The terms of the contract were not yet disclosed, per team policy. Last season, Prince cemented herself as an all-star, becoming the first WNBA player since 1997 to score 30-points in three straight games. The 25-year-old led the team in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game while shooting an impressive 44 percent from the field.

We've put it off long enough, but it's time to take that first peek at our beloved baseball teams in spring training. First, some good news: The MLB is expanding the wild-card playoff format by two more teams. (Yes! Even more like the NBA!). Bad news: It won't include Chicago's two teams. Warning: This is going to be slightly to horribly painful. Let's go to the White Sox first. Here we have an example of how a team can really thrive amid "low expectations. " We are in rebuilding mode here, with no Mark Buehrle, Carlos Quentin or Sergio Santos.

Chicago is welcoming cats back to the stage. Not Broadway "Cats. " Literally, cats. Chicago-based “The Amazing Acro-Cats,” one of four traveling domesticated cat shows in the nation, is set to play four shows June 6 through June 9 at the American Past Time Theater, along with “The Rock Cats.” What exactly does the show entail? (Pun very much intended.) “…Feats of agility pushing carts, riding skateboards, rolling barrels, ringing bells, turning on lights, walking tight ropes, jumping through hoops and much more,” according to a press release announcing the shows.

Festival season is almost here! We've got a schedule of festivals to help kick off your summer planning now. > > View the full 2013 Chicago festival guide on metromix.com . Want more? Discuss this article and others on RedEye's Facebook page . 

Chicago on Thursday logged its 100th homicide of the year, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found. A 23-year-old man was shot to death Thursday in the 300 block of East Kensington Avenue in West Pullman, the Tribune reported. For the last eight years, except for last year, Chicago has logged its 100th homicide of the year in April. Chicago reached this mark on March 20 last year. Homicides are down 39 percent year-to-date compared to the same period in 2012 and down 6 percent compared to 2011.

Six homicides were recorded in Chicago on Saturday, making it one of the deadliest days of the year, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found. According to Tribune reporting: > > At 12:15 a.m., an 18-year-old man was shot to death in the 11500 block of South Wentworth Avenue. > > At 5:05 a.m., a 17-year-old girl was fatally shot in the 2100 block of West 35th Street. > > At 10:30 a.m., a 28-year-old man was shot to death in the 9200 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue.

What was the Lovie Smith era in Chicago? If you take the Bears' average record under Smith, you get nine years of 9-7 teams with a one-in-three chance of making the playoffs and an average playoff exit in the second round after winning the wild card game. Good morning, Chicago, it's mid-August, and your football team is about to go 9-7 with a one-in-three chance of making the playoffs. If they make the playoffs, they'll probably lose in the second round. Are you in? Keep in mind you don't have a choice.

Soho House, the boho-chic private members' club and hotel chain is coming to Chicago as part of an expansion to take place by 2014, the New York Daily News reports . The expansion of the group, which was founded as a club in 1995 and has grown to include restaurants, hotels and cinemas, will see new venues opening up in five destinations deemed 'cool' enough for the brand, long regarded as an arbiter of taste on London's art and media scene....

Months ago, rumors started swirling that Shake Shack , a popular fast-food eatery that started as a food cart in New York's Madison Square Park, would be opening a Chicago location.  This month, the company has made it official with an announcement that it is planning its first Illinois location at 66 E. Ohio St., which is part of the Shops at North Bridge complex.   The restaurant is slated to open in late 2014, according to Greg Waters, senior manager of marketing and communications for Shake Shack.  Details have not yet been released about the Chicago...

It's often best to stay out of your roommate's relationship drama. That's the advice a suburban woman allegedly gave to her boyfriend's roommate when he asked police officers to keep her out of his apartment, after a fight between the couple escalated Thursday. "You need to mind your own business," Shemekia Fulwiley, of Normal, Ill., allegedly told her boyfriend's roommate at his South Austin apartment when police arrested her for home invasion. She was at the apartment earlier in the day,...

Chicagoans take their coffee seriously, and not just when they're drinking it. "For a long time in Chicago, coffee shops were split into two camps," said Zaida Dedolph of HalfWit Coffee Roasters. "Ones that served Intelligentsia, and ones that served Metropolis. " While some pledge unyielding allegiance toward one of the city's two big-name roasters, a number of more modest, small-batch operations opening over the past few years have brought even more richness to the local coffee-roasting community.

The 'Hawks aren't on tonight, but the Falcons are playing right now in Chicago. Two recently hatched Falcons and their territorial mother are currently perched atop 1130 S. Michigan Avenue, and the property - in conjunction with Chicago's Field Museum - is broadcasting the scene for the city's viewing pleasure. The predatory bird first flew in to the West Loop property in 2010, after construction displaced the habitat on a nearby building. Greg Martin, Vice President of D and K Properties, notes that was the same year the Blackhawks won...

Chicago on Sunday recorded four homicides--the highest one-day total since January, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found. According to police: At 3:30 a.m., a 20-year-old man was shot to death in the 2800 block of East 76th Street in South Shore. Later that morning, an 82-year-old woman was found beaten to death in the 7800 block of Euclid Avenue in South Shore. At 4 p.m., a 21-year-old was fatally shot in the 6500 block of South Green Street in Englewood.

Chicago brothers Zach and Josh Sharpe will abscond to Frankfurt, Germany, at the end of May to help preside over the World Pinball Championship. They're the president and vice-president, respectively, of the International Flipper Pinball Association, the organization putting on a tournament for the best 64 pinballers in the world--a pool of players that also includes the Sharpe brothers, two of the world's top-15-ranked players. "I feel like Sy Sperling, the Hair Club for Men guy who also uses the product," Josh, 33, said with a laugh.

The Taste of Chicago is bringing back its Celebrity Chef du Jour series with a fresh line-up of big-name local chefs. Featured chefs for the fine-dining experience include Rick Bayless , Carrie Nahabedian, Giuseppe Tentori, Gale Gand, The Hearty Boys and Paul Kahan. A chef is scheduled to prepare a three-course meal for every day of the festival, which will run from July 10 to 14. Rick Bayless, Bravo's "Top Chef Masters" Season 1 winner and the mastermind behind Frontera Grill, Topolobampo and Xoco, will prepare the opening dinner July 10. The following day will...

 *** = Recommended shows On sale 10 a.m. Wednesday Fun, Delta Spirit, Wednesday, July 10 ($25, all ages) at Grant Park's Petrillo Music Shell. Neon Trees, The Mowgli's, Sunday, July 14 ($25, all ages) at Grant Park's Petrillo Music Shell. ***Robert Plant Presents the Sensational Space Shifters, The Lone Below, Friday, July 12 ($25, all ages) at Grant Park's Petrillo Music Shell. Jill Scott, Maxi Priest, Saturday, July 13 ($25, all ages) at Grant Park's Petrillo Music Shell.