Best Of XRT

Three men are accused of selling Spice, or K2, laced with rat poison out of their Lawndale convencience store. Plus the rest of the day's news, sports and weather forecast.

Len Kasper joins Lin Brehmer for the first iteration of Len & Lin of the 2018 baseball. Len breaks down the Cubs weekend split in Miami and the two look forward to next week's Opening Day Live Broadcast from Yakzies!

Illinois Public Health officials say synthetic pot, also known as Spice or K2, is causing users to bleed out. Plus the rest of the day's news, sports and chilly weather forecast.

There's a lot of gnarly news out there (Mayor Emanuel deposed in two wrongful death lawsuits, President Trump attacking Amazon) - so baseball fans are especially happy to hear the good news: Major League Baseball opens the 2018 regular season today. The Cubs are in Miami and the White Sox start in Kansas City.

Some Chicago aldermen are critical of Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson's decision to support an officer who shot and killed Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones in 2015. Johnson disagrees with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which has determined Officer Robert Rialmo should be fired. The Sun Times quotes aldermen Roderick Sawyer and others who say the shooting was unjustified. Plus...

Bloomberg reports Tim Cook may roll out new Apple products for the educational market at Lane Tech on the North Side, even as CPS students are off for spring break. Plus the rest of the day's news, sports and weather forecast.

The CEOs of the Social Network and Chicago-headquartered United Airlines are apologizing: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg for the data breach of users' profile data to Cambridge Analytica, and United's Oscar Munoz for the recent death and mishandling of dogs in transit. Plus the rest of the day's news, sports (Go Loyola/Gryffindor!) and weather forecast ...

The two candidates spent a total of $120 million of their own money just on the primary. Republican Governor Bruce Rauner wins a tighter-than-expected challenge from Wheaton IL Rep. Jeanne Ives; Democratic voters have nominated J-B Pritzker over Daniel Biss, Chris Kennedy and three others. Plus more election news, sports and the weather forecast.

We remind everyone to A) vote, and B) wear some pants today. Plus the rest of the day's news including early word of a shooting at a Maryland high school, as well as sports and the blustery forecast.

Early voting is brisk here, even as Facebook is called on the carpet. The New York Times and The Observer report a developer took data from a personality quiz app, and gave Cambridge Analytica access to 50-million users' profiles. The firm used that data to develop voter-profiling techniques for the Trump campaign. So anyway, get out and vote! Plus the rest of the day's news, sports and windy weat...

Berrios faces a primary challenge on Tuesday; he complains the Harris School study is unfairly political. Plus the rest of the day's news, sports (Ramblers! DePaul!) and St. Patrick's Day forecast.

The next research project may be on the health consequences of this discovery at SUNY, and whether we need to also study beer. Lin and I volunteer! Plus the rest of the day's news, sports and weather forecast ...

Thousands of kids are expected to demonstrate at 10 a.m. Chicago time. The national gun violence protest marks the one month anniversary of the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. Plus the rest of the day's news, sports, weather and an obituary for physicist Stephen Hawking.

The president has named CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace the embattled Tillerson; Deputy Director Gina Haspel is nominated to lead the CIA. Plus the rest of the day's news, sports and weather forecast.

Record Store Day holds a special place in our hearts here at XRT. When the list of releases was announced earlier this week, we had to record a podcast about it. The latest episode of Inside The Archives chats with certified vinyl junkie Ryan Arnold about all things Record Store Day.  We touch on this year's releases, the pillars of communities record stores represent, vinyl's resurgence, and...

... On Twitter, at least, say researchers from MIT. Plus the rest of the day's eyebrow-raising news, sports, and weather forecast.

Amazon executives say they're aware of the problem, which is that some Alexa-enabled device users report their devices are ignoring their commands and in some instances laughing at them. Plus the rest of the day's news, sports, weather and a shout-out to the winners of the Ring Lardner Awards.

Behind the scenes at hundreds of Chicago rock and roll events stands a giant. Jolly Roger. Lin Brehmer toasts him on the air for his 70 th birthday.

The CDC reports emergency room visits for opioid overdoses rose by 66% last year - the highest jump in the US. The city is suing opioid distributors for their role in the epidemic. Plus the rest of the day's news, sports and chilly weather forecast.

Moby released his 15th studio album 'Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt' this past March and took some time out to speak with XRT about the album and inspiration that went into it.

In the spirit of the Day of the Dude, the 20th anniversary of the release of "The Big Lebowski," we present you with the 8 a.m. news which features developments on the president's Tweets, a former Trump campaign aide melting down over a subpoena from the Mueller team, and anti-Nazi protests at Michigan State ... what say you, Dude? The Dude: It's like what Lenin said... you look for the person who...

Voting for the March 20th Illinois primary expands to more locations today through March 19, and we all know how civic participation is AWESOME. You can go to the Illinois Elections Board for more information. Plus the rest of the day's news, sports and weather.

We formally welcome the late 30-somethings to the Gen X club as the Pew Research firm puts the birth year cutoff between Millennials and the as-yet unnamed post-Millennials at 1996. Plus the rest of the day's news, sports and weather forecast.

Lots of news today, but first we learn that it is THURSDAY not Friday and that Lin met Mary's mom's neighbor. Plus Governor Rauner gets a bill to more strictly regulate Illinois gun dealers and Russia's Vladimir Putin is showing off new nuclear weapons that can strike Florida without interception. It's a small world, after all.

Dick's CEO says they'll stop selling assault-style rifles and high capacity magazines, and stop selling any guns to people under 21: “When we saw what happened in Parkland, we were so disturbed and upset. We love these kids and their rallying cry, 'enough is enough.'" The shooter at Stoneman Douglas High School bought at least one gun at a Dick's store. Plus the rest of the day's news, sport...