News Net CPD seize 7000 pounds of weed worth about $20 million

Since sifting through dull newspapers, hyperbolic blogs, and overflowing RSS feeds for meaningful news can be an arduous process, News Net catches and compiles both the amusing and the significant reports that were overlooked throughout the workweek. Here are some things to think about as the weekend begins.

• An anonymous tip led police to a warehouse in West Englewood, where they happened to stumble upon 7,000 pounds of marijuana. The $20 million worth of pot was cleverly hidden amongst pallets of delicious and most likely innocent cilantro that was probably just trying to mind its own business. Police don’t know yet who it belonged to and no one is in custody.  

• A woman was found fatally stabbed to death in a River North hotel this past week. Sarai Michaels, of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, was found lying beside a bloody knife inside a room at the upscale Hotel Felix. The attacker is being held on $1 million bail. 

• After dining at chef Grant Achatz’ restaurant Next, legendary Spanish chef Ferran Adria has given Achatz his blessing to go forward with his El Bulli tribute menu he’s been pining for since January. Adria also said he would even send his own chef de cuisine and dining room manager to Chicago to collaborate on the menu. Also coming soon for Next, a nostalgia filled “Childhood” course that will be served in a variety of different vintage lunch boxes, including this little number.

• A 46-year-old Deerfield man confirmed everyone’s suspicions by finally discovering that heaven lies in a giant free beer truck. The man stumbled upon a refrigerated beer trailer Tuesday used by the Schwaben Verein German heritage club and Grove Banquets in Buffalo Grove. He then grabbed a nearby pitcher and naturally began drinking. Eventually he was found extremely intoxicated and police were summoned. Before being taken to the hospital, he told police he thought he had died and gone to heaven—a free beer truck.

• 39 weeks pregnant, Amber Miller gave birth hours after finishing Sunday’s Chicago Marathon. This caught Conan O’Brien’s eye as he realized their was no footage of the feat. O’Brien decided to reenact the feat on his show Tuesday, with some help from everybody’s favorite bar snack.

• Former Sun-Times critic Pat Bruno, dismissed last month after 27 years of service, is battling brain cancer. The writer was diagnosed in 2009 after suffering a seizure. Bruno penned a lengthy account of the struggle, as well as how he learned to make delicious Betty Crocker pot brownies in the Washington Post.

• Rahm Emanuel acknowledged Tuesday that Chicago’s public libraries will reduce their hours in 2012. Emanuel defended the cuts, pointing out more drastic cuts in cities like New York (25 percent). Similar cuts are being made in Newark (18 percent) and Houston (14.5 percent). Seattle even went as far as to shut down its entire library system for one week at the end of August. Sources say the reduced hours will be concentrated on two days, including Mondays, when usage is the lowest.