The Chicago History Museum –This is a privately endowed museum focusing on the rich history of the city. It’s $14 to visit, but every Monday it’s FREE!

This month, the focus is on the Lincoln Treasures, which tell the story of Abraham Lincoln’s rise to the presidency, his struggle to keep the country united, and how people remembered him after he died. Come see President Lincoln as a student, husband, father, friend, and a leader who changed the nation.

On display for a limited time, see Lincoln’s handwritten speech that helped the nation understand the reasons behind the country’s bloodiest war. Four months after the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln delivered his brief but powerful speech at the battleground for the dedication of the soldiers’ cemetery. See one of the five handwritten copies of the speech, on loan from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield.

Extended hours: the Museum will open at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays while the Gettysburg Address in on view, April 4 through May 3, 2009.

Here is another excellent entertainment option for free in Chicago: The Edge Comedy Club’s Big Fancy Stand-Up Comedy Open Mic. Every Wednesday night, from 8:30 to 10:30, pros and amateurs perform at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts (Phone: 312-733-6000) which is located at 777 N. Green St. (1 block west of Chicago and Halsted Avenues). Click here for a map.

This comedy show is borne out of the Edge Comedy Boot Camp, where you can learn to be a comic yourself. You will be impressed by the number of young comics showing off their skills; some have a bright future, some love to use their humor to deaden the grind of their regular 9-to-5,  and some need to pursue a different career before it is too late. But you will have fun one way or another.

You can get your taxes done for free in Chicago!

I know it is close to tax time but if you are like me, you are still pulling together paperwork.  With all the economic bad news impacting many Americans, I just recently found out that there is some good news — if you earned less than $35,000 last year, you can get your taxes done, for free, in Chicago just by placing a phone call.

A continuing program from the Center For Economic Progress and the City of Chicago can help.  Tax preparation services can help, but you’ll probably pay hundreds of dollars to have your tax forms filled out. Once again, the Center For Economic Progress and the City of Chicago have teamed up to provide this free tax preparation and electronic filing service for metro area residents.   Last year….”the tax counseling project did 20,000 returns and brought back $25 million in refunds to families and individuals throughout Illinois,” says David Marzahl, Center For Economic Progress. [Read more...]