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Joel Hood

First-grader handcuffed for 'talking in class'

Last updated Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - 10:14am

CHICAGO -- The attorney for a family suing Chicago Public Schools over the alleged handcuffing of a first-grader in 2010 said Tuesday the boy was among several 6- and 7-year-olds who were detained and handcuffed for hours for talking in class.

Schools, Children, School security, National Read more Comments

Despite advances, storm forecasts far from perfect

Chicago Tribune, Joel Hood, William Mullen

Last updated Tuesday, February 1, 2011 - 5:57pm

CHICAGO -- By Wednesday night, you'll know whether the stronger, faster computers of today are any better at predicting severe storms than the weather balloons and pen on paper used in the old days.

The same advanced computer software and satellite images have been tracking this storm's movement since it churned off the coast of Los Angeles late last week.

The brunt of the massive storm sweeping in from the south was expected to bring high winds and inches of snow, including as much as two feet in parts of Chicago

If you're among those who said, "I'll believe it when I see it," you're in good company.

The unpredictable nature of severe storms has always made weather predictions a bit of a guessing game. On Jan. 26, 1967, the forecast was for four inches of snow in Chicago. The city got 23 inches. On Jan. 13, 1979, the forecast again was for four inches, but 18.8 inches of snow fell. On Jan. 1, 1999, the forecast was for six inches of snow, but the city got 21.6 inches.

Features, Weather, Weather forecasting Read more Comments

Scott Strazzante/Chicago Tribune/MCT
Dr. Richard Ready, pictured in Hinsdale, Illinois, in November 2010, became addicted to Tylenol with codeine during his surgical residency. His tale of addiction is not uncommon in hospitals.

Doctor's drug abuse not pretty or rare

Chicago Tribune, Joel Hood

Last updated Monday, December 13, 2010 - 12:14pm

CHICAGO -- Richard Ready had been a drinker most of his life, but by the time he became chief resident of neurosurgery at a prominent Chicago-area hospital, it was drugs, not alcohol, that kept him going.

Ready took stimulants to keep alert through his daily rounds. He took heavy pain relievers to numb his emotions after his mother's death. He wrote himself a prescription for the sedative Tranxene to calm his nerves before an important seminar.

In the second year of his residency, Ready became a regular user of a type of Tylenol mixed with codeine. He'd steal them by the dozens and carry them inside a little plastic baggy in the pocket of his lab coat. His tolerance was so high he was taking up to 70 pills a day to stave off withdrawal.

Features, Addiction, Doctors, Drug abuse Read more Comments