Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant – it all happened across our sites this week! Another banner week at Chicagoist started off with daily reports from food writer Lisa Shames on her attempt to eat only locally grown and raised foodstuffs all week as part of a farmers market…

A new permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History is already making its own history as the first to require entrance fees. One part of Butterflies and Plants: Partners in Evolution, planned to open in November, will cost visitors about $5. Much of the exhibit will be free, but an admission fee will be attached to a two-tier butterfly pavilion, similar to New York’s American Museum of Natural History butterfly habitat. We’re…