Free Republic

Souplantation, the popular buffet-style dining brand founded in San Diego 42 years ago, is closing all of its restaurants permanently, a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic that is likely to be the death knell for all self-serve eateries. The permanent closing of the 97 restaurants, including 44 in California, was announced Thursday after weeks of efforts to salvage San Diego-based Garden Fresh Restaurants, the parent company of Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes. The closing will mean lost jobs for 4,400 employees. “The FDA had previously put out recommendations that included discontinuing self-serve stations, like self-serve beverages in fast food, but they...

Wheeling police are investigating the slaying of two men found shot near a shopping center early Monday in a predominantly Russian neighborhood of the northwest suburb. Police responding to a disturbance call about midnight found the bodies of Roman A. Drobetskiy, 34, and Arkadiy Stepankovskiy, 29, behind Garden Fresh Plaza in the 700 block of South Widgeon Drive, Deputy Chief John Stone said. Stepankovskiy, who lived in Des Plaines with his wife and 5-year-old daughter, worked as a private security guard and ran two Russian martial arts schools. His wife, Ekaterina, said the couple had lived in the U.S. for...