The G8 is gone. It’s not coming to Chicago. The entire city breathed a giant sigh of relief when the news broke. It’s a win.

But the NATO summit is still sticking around.

While the G8’s departure may bring down the overall rabidness of the Occupy wherever protestors and general anarchists from across the globe, they’ll still be here in Chicago. And anyone who thinks that they won’t still be excited for a meeting of the heads of state of the world’s biggest military organizations is kidding themselves.

On top of that, for South Loop residents, many of the headaches will still be in place. For example, motorcades. The G8 only had eight countries who were set to meet. NATO will have closer to two dozen. And any time those folks move from one place to another, you can bet your ass they won’t be walking or taking the CTA. There will be many, many motorcades. And God forbid you have to talk across — or even drive across — their path. Get ready to wait, and add an hour to your commute time.

We’re still waiting to hear what the impact will be here in terms of street closures and such, but again, rest assured that it will be pretty difficult to get to your condo, home or apartment regardless, particularly if you live south of 16th street.

Just be prepared, that’s all. Just because the G8’s gone doesn’t mean your life won’t still be a pain.

We’re so, so disappointed that Rosie O’Donnell apparently couldn’t make it work at Harpo. We knew that Oprah had a very special pull on people, but we didn’t realize just how magnetic she really was.

O’Donnell’s had big trouble booking stars on her show in Chicago, and her ratings have reflected that.

At this point, her departure seems like a foregone conclusion. So the question is, what should go into that space?

There’s no lack of huge, warehouse-like spaces in the West Loop. It’ll be hard to distinguish this one. But just two blocks away from the new Green Line stop at Morgan, it’s got a lot of potential.

The best option is probably demolition and a total redevelopment. Maybe a big hotel, if someone thinks it’s sustainable. No grocery stores, though.