The rope used by a pair of inmates to escape from the MCC downtown // Scott Olsen/Getty Images

• Things got Hollywood weird and crazy today as two inmates managed to escape from the Metropolitan Correctional Center by shimmying down a long rope made out of bedsheets tied together and are now on the lam. To repeat: two inmates scaled the side of the prison in the middle of downtown Chicago to escape and no one saw a thing. Andy Dufresne has nothing on these guys. [Sun-Times]

• Several bus lines may have gone to the great bus terminal in the sky but the CTA is holding off on one controversial new plan: they've scrapped - for now - the proposed $5 fare for all Blue Line lines originating from O'Hare because apparently there are enough reasons already to discourage people from ever stepping foot in the airport. [Tribune]

• The Illinois Education Association dismissed a suggestion to arm teachers in the wake of last week's tragedy in Newton, Connecticut. [Sun-Times]

• A murder-suicide that happened in Las Vegas on Friday has Illinois ties. [Associated Press]

• I'm shocked - shocked! I tell you - that a Chicago agency is doing a poor job of handling large sums of money. [Sun-Times]

• The circus that is the Drew Peterson case got a new sideshow. [CBS 2]

• A unisex Easy Bake Oven means now the guys in the mens college dorm will feel less self-conscious when baking treats after they get stoned. [Sun-Times]

• It looks like the city's snow drought could end in a big way on Thursday. [Skilling]

• Hire whoever you want, Bears, but keep your hands off of Sean Payton. He belongs to New Orleans. [ChicagoSide]

• BRIGHT ONE: Music critic Thomas Conner reviews the much-anticipated major label debut from controversial Chicago rapper/raconteur Chief Keef. [Sun-Times]

• TO CHECK: Sudoku; Weather - clear for now; Transit - all clear; Traffic Map

• FINALLY: North Korea has finally put the body of Kim Jong Il on display ... a year after his death. [SeattlePI]