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Fri, Aug. 30, 2013

Car talk. During a discussion Wednesday at a City Council Zoning Committee meeting on a proposed Ford dealership in the city’s 32nd Ward, Committee Chairman Daniel Solis (25th) took a break from commenting on Ford's lack of minority-owned car dealerships to praise the company's products. "I have a Fusion Hybrid and I think it's probably the best car I've had in a long time, especially as far as gas mileage [goes]," Solis said.

Guys’ night out. Mark Wahlberg dined with Mayor Rahm Emanuel at Piccolo Sogno in River West Tuesday, Shia Kapos of Crain’s Chicago Business reported. Wahlberg, who has been unabashed by his fondness for the mayor, was in town filming scenes for the upcoming “Transformers 4” movie. Emanuel’s Hollywood agent brother, Ari, represents Wahlberg.

The copper age. Springfield Journal-Register columnist Dave Bakke did some digging to find out the truth behind rumors that the copper-clad doors recently installed at the state Capitol as part of a $50 million renovation of the building’s west wing cost $240,000-a-piece. After attempting to speak with several state officials this week about the rumors, Bakke learned from Capitol Architect Richard Alsop III that the information he had heard was not far off. The price to procure and install the six doors in three doorways was $669,608 – or about $223,000 per doorway.

Chicago, as it was. Smithsonian.com published an interactive map that shows Chicago as it appeared in 1868, three years before the Great Chicago Fire. When hovering the lens over the shoreline of Lake Michigan on the map, one can see where the city filled in the lake to expand its footprint to the east while rebuilding after the fire.

The Queen bids adieu. Ina Pinkney, the restaurateur behind Ina’s Kitchen, located at 1235 W. Randolph St. in the Fulton Market District, will close the beloved Chicago breakfast spot after a final serving on New Year’s Day. “Everything has it’s season, … and I think it’s just my time to say thank you so much, Chicago, I have loved every day,” Pinkney told CBS Chicago. The “Breakfast Queen” opened her first Chicago restaurant 33 years ago.

-Tom Butala