10 stories you may have missed this weekend
1. A conservative activist and liberal newspaper columnist meet in a pancake house ... the resulting chat is surprisingly sweet, and not just because of the saltwater taffy.
2. A Bloomingdale man behind the controls of a small, single-engine airplane was killed Friday when the aircraft crashed in a forest preserve near Bartlett. The pilot had done a quick landing and takeoff at DuPage Airport and had radioed in with "engine issues."
3. All this over some good ol' boys never meanin' no harm? The director of the Volo Auto Museum wants to stop PGA Tour star Bubba Watson from painting an American flag over the Confederate flag that adorns the roof of the original General Lee car from the TV show "Dukes of Hazard."
4. If you think Metra conductors are there just to take your tickets, think again. Transportation writer Marni Pyke spent a day with a Metra conductor to show what the job truly entails.
5. Dan Saunders was devastated a year ago to learn he had ALS, but he hopes to spend what time he has left not only living each day to the fullest, but also working to erase the disease as a death sentence for future generations.
6. Fireworks lit up the suburban skies this weekend for July 4, but there were some complications - including injuries from illegal fireworks in Elgin and a fire that halted the Arlington Park display for while.
7. In the summer of 1965, Lindy's Landing was born. And it has grown from a tiny shack to a successful restaurant and bar that's become a vital part of Wauconda's Main Street business district.
8. With bowling lanes a big part of Level 257 in Schaumburg and a planned Main Event entertainment center in Hoffman Estates, the sport may not be dead in the suburbs, but the iconic Hoffman Estates Lanes has seen its last frame rolled.
9. Authorities continue to investigate the apparent suicide of a man killed at Naperville's Ribfest when, officials say, he dove under the moving Pharaoh's Fury, a boat-shaped ride, and was struck repeatedly by its hull.
10. Mata Amritanandamayi, better known throughout the world as Amma or the "hugging saint", was in the suburbs Friday greeting her followers. And, as one might expect, there were plenty of hugs doled out by the Indian spiritual leader.