We know you're headed toward the Chicago River Saturday night to see what could be the neatest fire ever, but before you go, we want to make sure you read these stories that you might have missed:
• Iraq War vet Ray Casper once approached songwriter Mark Irwin — the man who wrote Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift's "Highway Don't Care" — while working at Joe's on Weed Street.
"I have so much inside of me that I can't get out, that I want to put into a song," Casper told Irwin. "If I came down to Nashville, would you write a song with me?"
The song they created, "One Night in Iraq," was the beginning of CreatiVets, a nonprofit headed by Casper that helps veterans deal with post-traumatic stress disorder with all-expense paid trips to Nashville to write a song.
• This is something you wouldn't expect to find in a Humboldt Park garage: an eight-foot-long ball python.
An alley near North and Talman avenues was the site of a bizarre scene Wednesday night as six to eight police officers worked to corral the python, while avoiding its bite.
No snakes or police officers were harmed in the incident. The snake was taken to Animal Care and Control.
• Ever see an historic mansion drive down the street? Now's your chance.
The Harriet F. Rees House, which has stood at 2110 S. Prairie Ave. since 1888, is moving down the block.
Ahead of the main event of moving the main house to 2701 S. Prairie Ave. on Nov. 3, crews drove its 187-ton brick coach house 400 feet north on Wednesday.
This is an understatement: It was a site to behold. We've got video.
• McKinley Park residents, and their alderman, are fed up by an Archer Avenue speed camera that simply doesn't make much sense to them. Ald. George Cardenas (12th) hates the camera so much that he has said that he wants to get rid Mulberry Playlot Park, which the cameras supposedly protect.
The cameras are still there. Don't expect this issue to slow down anytime soon.
• Two early Frank Lloyd Wright homes in Kenwood may have found new life.
Both the George Blossom house, 4858 S. Kenwood Ave., and Warren McArthur house, just next door are considered "bootleg" homes designed by the famed Wright off the books while working for the Adler and Sullivan architecture firm.
The homes were in rough shape ahead of their sales — both sold at discounts from their original $1.5 million asking prices.
Neighbors nixed a plan last year that would've allowed the Pritzker family to run the homes as bed-and-breakfasts.
• Back when we were kids, school was all about reading, writing and arithmetic.
Kids today get to add 3-D printing, Minecraft and coding to the list.
Old Town's Catherine Cook School features a new "IDEA Lab," built in its old library, where the kinds are playing with 3-D printers and laser cutters.
"This lab is really about returning to craft," said JD Pirtle, a former researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Electronic Visualization Lab who now runs the Cook School lab. "It's about knowing how things work. Knowing what’s inside of something. How to fix things. How to make things.”
• Our gift to you: Here's the most comprehensive map of places to get a cup of coffee in Chicago. We hope it helps you get your fix wherever you are in the city.
• Chicago's newest train station? The Lincoln Park Zoo.
The zoo unveiled the Lionel Train Adventure, a track-less electronic locomotive ride, on Thursday to the delight of animal-loving children.
Rides on the train cost $3 per passenger, but will be free to zoo members through Sunday. The train will operate between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekends in October, weather permitting.
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