en Strange News 15 <p>Lights all over the Chicago area will be switched off on Saturday to participate in a world-wide Earth Hour. One hour in the dark won't do much to solve the country's energy problems. But as Steve Chamraz reports, some businesses say it has inspired them to look for solutions. <br />&#160;</p> <p>The International Olympic Committee may be seeing a side of Chicago that Mayor Daley probably wishes they wouldn't. Chicago police officers will be picketing City Hall when the committee comes to town next Thursday. Craig Wall explains why.</p> <p>Many Chicagoans are dialing 3-1-1 to complain about Chicago pitted roads. Now road crews are working to fill more than 13,000 of those reported potholes. In addition to getting federal help, city leaders are also considering a plan that involves corporate sponsorship. Darian Trotter has the story.</p> <p>In this economy, everyone's looking to save money. We're here to help, doing some bargain hunting for you. Our shop 'til you drop diva, Darlene Hill, found a place that focuses on items for your little ones.</p> <p>These days, finding that special somebody is hard enough. When one woman went looking for her soul mate, she ended up broke and broken hearted. Instead of falling in love, she fell for the latest scam. Mark Saxenmeyer has more on this web of lies in this special report.</p> <p>An intense early spring storm system is coming towards Chicago this weekend. Fox Chicago News Chief Meteorologist Amy Freeze says the showers will begin as a rain and snow mixture on Saturday afternoon then change over to all snow on Saturday night.</p> <p>Brookfield Zoo's oldest gorilla -- one of the oldest female gorillas in captivity in North America -- died Thursday. Alpha, 48, was euthanized, after staff discovered she had end-stage kidney failure, according to Kim Smith, vice president for animal care at the west suburban zoo.</p> <p>A 21-year-old north suburban man was in jail Friday morning after police discovered a marijuana-growing operation in his home.</p> <p>Chicago soon might be getting some help in filling all those potholes. City workers have already filled 300,000 this winter...and as you well know, there's a lot more out there in need of fill. Traffic reporter Sondra Solarte brings us up to date.</p> <p>Every weekday a crowd gathers in the living room of Nancy Evans' Memphis home to enjoy their favorite soap opera - The Young &amp; the Restless - and croon away to the show's timeless theme song.</p> <p>Did I mention they're all dogs?...</p> <p>The mayor of Evergreen Park says if the city's South Side doesn't want to host the South Side Irish Parade any more, then his town would be interested. More from Nancy Loo in Evergreen Park.</p> <p>Conditions in Fargo, North Dakota turn from bad to worse. The red River is reaching record flood stage. The temperature in in the single digits. And miles of sandbags are beginning to be breached. More on the scene from Mindy Mizell.</p> <p>Today's Finance Committee vote on splitting up potential Olympic business leading up to 2016 was supposed to be a slam dunk. It wasn't. At the last moment, African-American alderman demanded a bigger slice of the pie. And as Anne Kavanagh reports, they got it!</p> <p>Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva raised eyebrows when he commented on the global financial crisis, suggesting it has been caused by "white people with blue eyes."&#160; Brazil's President made the remarks while meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Thursday.</p> <p>A taxi has crashed into a Manhattan pizzeria and sent seven people to the hospital. The Fire Department says the taxi slammed into Mama's Pizzeria on the Upper West Side on Friday afternoon.</p> <p>The Freedom Tower is out. One World Trade Center is in. State officials said the name of the tallest, most symbolic of five planned office towers would demonstrate the country's triumph over terrorism.</p> <p>President Barack Obama has nominated former Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus to be the secretary of the Navy. The White House made the announcement in a statement Friday.</p> <p>Shaquille O'Neal (@THE_REAL_SHAQ), Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong), Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) and the editorial staff of The Chicago Tribune share something: they all really tweet.</p> <p>"I'm mad as hell, and I can't take it anymore!" Sound like you when it comes to traffic cameras? Many people are in the same boat and efforts to fight the system are now gaining in popularity.</p> <p>A former State Department lawyer tells The Associated Press that the Bush administration panicked after 9/11 and tortured prisoners. Former President George W. Bush denied anyone was tortured.</p> <p>The lights are going down from the Great Pyramids to the Acropolis, the Eiffel Tower to Sears Tower, as more than 2,800 municipalities in 84 countries plan Saturday to mark the second worldwide Earth Hour. McDonald's will even soften the yellow glow from some Golden Arches as part of the time zone-by-time zone plan to dim nonessential lights between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to highlight global climate change.</p> <p>Jimmy Carter came to Notre Dame in 1977. So did Ronald Reagan in 1981 and George W. Bush in 2001. The University of Notre Dame has a tradition of inviting new presidents to speak at graduation. But this year's selection of President Barack Obama has been met by a barrage of criticism that has left some students fearing their commencement ceremony will turn into a circus.</p> <p>A police officer was placed on administrative leave Thursday over a traffic stop involving a National Football League player whom he kept in a hospital parking lot and threatened to arrest while his mother-in-law died inside the building.</p> <p>What's one way to make fast food sexy? Have a beautiful TV host/former model in a commercial devouring a burger in a provocative way. It might just be a winning strategy for Carl's Jr. who is releasing a new ad promoting its Western Bacon Cheeseburger featuring "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi.</p> <p>Halfway home. Chicago made its presentation to the International Olympic Committee yesterday in Denver, hoping to win the 2016 Summer Games. Next week, the IOC comes to Chicago for a first hand look. Anita Padilla looks at how thinks went.</p> <p>More states logged double-digit unemployment rates in February, with North Carolina and Rhode Island seeing their rates hit record highs. The U.S. Labor Department's report, released Friday, showed the terrible toll the recession, now in its second year, is having on workers and companies alike.</p> <p>So a bobcat walks into a bar ... it might sound like the beginning of a joke, but it really happened in Cottonwood, Ariz. on Tuesday. Officers called to the Chapparal Bar arrived to find the bobcat in the parking lot, and they shot and killed it. Tests were ordered to determine if the animal was rabid.</p> <p>Japan is preparing itself for a North Korean rocket launch. The Japanese defense minister has ordered the military to prepare to shoot down any debris that could fall on Japanese territory if the rocket launch fails.</p> <p>The rising Red River broke a 112-year record early Friday and threatened the dikes fortifying the city, but the mayor pledged to "go down swinging" as he called for more evacuations and additional National Guard troops to prevent a devastating flood. Across the river in Moorhead, Minn., city officials asked about one-third of the households in the town of about 35,000 to voluntarily evacuate because of the flooding threat.</p> <p>Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard in the wake of a major spring storm that's dumped heavy snow across his state. Winter conditions persisted into the night as the storm moved to the southeast toward Kansas and Oklahoma.</p>