Aug. 27--Ninety-two percent of American adults own mobile phones and 82 percent believe they hurt conversation in social gatherings, yet 89 percent of cellphone owners used one at their last get-together, a Pew Research Center survey found. Seems inconsiderate but -- wait, tweeting this -- so yeah.
Second City's offices were destroyed in an extra-alarm blaze firefighters spent about 2 1/2 hours putting out. They might have ended it sooner if they'd heard the piano.
The NLRB has voted to tie major corporations more closely to employees of their franchisees and subcontractors. It's believed this will help fast-food workers should they ask for something besides whether you want fries with that.
StarKist tuna consumers between February 2008 and October 2014 might be eligible to apply for free fish or cash, thanks to a class-action settlement. StarKist, which denies wrongdoing, was accused of underfilling some cans. Sorry, Charlie.
The architect of Chicago's Barack Obama Presidential Center will be selected through a global search. So Obama's own monument to his time in the White House may itself send work overseas.
Consumer Reports tested 300 packages of hamburger meat -- everything from organic and grass-fed to conventional -- from 103 grocery, big-box and natural-food stores across 26 U.S. cities. All contained bacteria signifying fecal contamination. Just a reminder that ground beef can be part beef, part ground.
The Philadelphia Phillies reportedly plan to extend their ballpark's protective netting because of the league-wide spate of flying objects from the field hitting people in the stands. Historically in Philadelphia, there also has been the risk of flying objects from the stands hitting people on the field.
Northwestern University awarded an honorary Master's of Innuendo and the Snappy Comeback to Charlie McCarthy, NU alum Edgar Bergen's wooden sidekick, 77 years ago Friday. It was the first degree ever given a dummy, but hardly the last.
philrosenthal@tribpub.com
