The Evening Rush for October 25, 2012

Jimma, a 27-year-old male rhino at Brookfield Zoo, seemed to enjoy a Halloween treat–a pumpkin. During the fall season, many of the zoo’s other animals will be receiving pumpkins too.

Photo courtesy of the Brookfield Zoo

Lakeview fire: A fire in a high rise in the 2600 block of North Lakeview Drive in the Lakeview neighborhood has traffic snarled as the Chicago Fire Department responds. The call came in to fire officials around 3:40 p.m.

Presidential butter and jam: President Barack Obama is in town today – for less than three hours total – to cast his early vote in the upcoming election. It’s also the day that a bust of the president made out of butter is making its way to an art exhibit. Coincidence? Either way, only one of those things is going to cause major traffic headaches during rush hour and here’s the latest on upcoming street closures for Obama’s visit.

DNA twist in Gacy case: New DNA tests reveal that a victim of serial killer John Wayne Gacy was misidentified by authorities. The mother of Michael Marino says the tests confirm her suspicion that her son wasn’t killed by Gacy. Now her search for Michael continues and authorities are left with another unidentified victim.

Not so SuperPAC for Walsh: While money is still rolling in for congressional races across the area, it looks like one SuperPAC who had promised a few million dollars to Rep. Joe Walsh’s campaign may not make the big spend after all.

City’s jobs jump: Chicago’s unemployment rate dropped to eight percent in September, the lowest that number has been in four years. It’s also down 2.1 percent from the same time a year ago.

Unwelcome guests: Exterminators have had to pay a visit to Cook County’s juvenile detention center which suffered an outbreak of bed bugs recently.

Here comes the judge: With election season upon us, so are endorsements from newspapers and watchdog group. Yet, once more, perhaps one of the most important sections on the ballot – judges – is the one voters know the least about.

The Bright Ones

Lynn Sweet breaks down Florida’s role in the upcoming election; Neil Steinberg ruminates on Richard Mourdock and God; Mary Mitchell talks about a new high school basketball tournament that will feature the nation’s best; Richard Roeper slams Donald Trump’s latest stunt; Thomas Connor has more on R. Kelly’s latest projects; and Andy Ihnatko gives Apple a thumbs-up on their iPad mini pricing. Natasha Korecki is busy tracking President Obama as he prepares to cast his early ballot.

Transit troubles

• Work on the Blue Line will mean passengers have to board and exit all trains on the Forest Park-bound side of the platform at the Belmont and Austin stations while trains in both directions will operate on the same track between Irving Park and Logan Square, resulting in minor delays.
• Work on the Orange Line will mean passengers should board and exit all trains on the Loop-bound side of the platform at the Pulaski station while trains in both directions will operate on the same track between Kedzie and Midway, resulting in minor delays.
• Reroutes on south-bound No. 8 Halsted buses in the Back of the Yards neighborhood implemented this morning due to construction remain in place.

Weather or not

After a balmy few days, fall will blow in with a vengeance thanks to a cold front that’s bringing wild weather to a large chunk of the country. A cluster of storms in the western part of the state will move through tonight and temperatures will plummet, hitting as low as 40 by the time morning comes.

And finally: A shark fell from the sky in San Juan Capistrano, California because of course it did.