1 Fiery crash in Bolingbrook
A small plane erupted into a fireball and crashed into a bank parking lot yesterday evening, killing one person and severely burning another. [Sun-Times]
2 $800M for Braintree
EBay, which owns PayPal, is buying Chicago online payment processor Braintree for $800 million. The deal, which has been rumored for weeks, is the city’s biggest since IBM bought SPSS for $1.2 billion in 2009, John Pletz reports. [Crain’s]
3 Corporate HQ spigots open
If Power Construction got $2.4 million from the city to move here from Schaumburg, how much will City Hall fork over to get Archer Daniels Midland’s global headquarters? [Sun-Times Voices]
4 Clown on the loose
A man wearing a clown mask has been robbing people at gunpoint in Lakeview, presenting a nightmare for coulrophobiacs (people who are terrified of clowns, which is everybody). [Sun-Times]
5 ‘Playful’ new private school
Here’s a place where the school isn’t hurting for cash: Lakeshore East, where the city’s newest high-end private school is building two playful towers to justify its annual tuition of nearly $30,000. [Grid]
6 Short sales on the rise
Short sales are surging in Chicago, suggesting that homeowners and lenders are skipping foreclosure to unload properties at a loss — which is good and bad for the housing market. [Crain’s]
7 Rahm on pensions
Mayor Emanuel says his plan to fix the city’s looming pension crisis requires “reform, revenue and time.” It’s not clear that any of those are forthcoming. [Tribune]
8 Hedy experience
As Hedy Ratner closes out her distinguished career as head of the Chicago Women’s Business Development Center, Grid asked her to sit down with a couple of young entrepreneurs. She shares some of what she’s learned in this month’s Conversation. [Grid]
