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  • Chicago’s infamous sidewalk ‘rat hole’ removed by officials

    City officials made the decision after saying the sidewalk in Roscoe Village was damaged and needed to be replacedA Chicago sidewalk landmark some residents affectionately referred to as the “rat hole” has been removed after city officials decided it was damaged and needed to be replaced.The sidewalk, which had an impression that looked like the outline of a rat with claws and a tail, had been present in Chicago’s North Side neighbourhood of Roscoe Village for years. It found fresh fame in...

  • Chicago’s ‘rat hole’ removed after city determines sidewalk with animal impression was damaged

    Chicago's so-called “rat hole” is gone. A Chicago sidewalk landmark some affectionately call the “rat hole” has been removed after city officials determined the section bearing the imprint of an animal was damaged. A spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Transportation says the square section of sidewalk was placed in temporary storage. It contains an impression resembling the outline of a rat — claws, tail and all. But there is a rigorous debate over whether a squirrel is truly...

  • How moving from the US to Costa Rica’s ‘blue zone’ transformed this family’s life forever

    When Kema Ward-Hopper and her then-fiance Nicholas Hopper, both from the US, decided to get married in Costa Rica, they had no idea that they’d end up relocating there a few years later. But a series of devastating events led the couple and daughter Aaralyn, now 15, to a new life in the Central American country’s very own “blue zone,” one of the regions of the world where people live longest and are the healthiest. Ward-Hopper, a health and life coach, was diagnosed with breast cancer a few...