Features

How Does Your High School Stack Up?
by Dennis Rodkin
From teacher-student ratios and money spent per student to test scores and graduation rates, our statistical profile of 235 Chicago area high schools reveals which are making the grade-and which may need some remedial work.

Saving Sahara
by Carol Felsenthal
Last October, the brutal murder of a teenage runaway in Washington Park shocked Chicago. The victim, a 15-year-old girl named Sahara Moorer, had fled her Texas home to explore her biracial identity-though a darker secret may have started Sahara on her fatal course.

The Late, Late Show
by Eric Spitznagel
Chicago still rocks all night long. Our reporter took a walk on the wild side to check out disco bingo, midget wrestling, psychedelic bowling, amateur improv, and other hard-to-believe scenes.

Leaf of Faith
by Christine Newman
When a couple bought this 1905 house north of Lincoln Park, the entire yard was landlocked by cobblestones. But inside, a number of decorative leafy treasures were intact. Now they’ve brought it back and made it their own.

Departments

Letters

Contributors

Frontlines
Wilco’s long-awaited album; why Antonio Mora left Good Morning America; cheese for dummies; more

Style Sheet
by Stacy Wallace-Albert
This season’s totes are sharp-with sequins, signature designs, and floral prints.

Deal Estate
by Dennis Rodkin
A modernized Victorian in River Forest, a stylish Lake View penthouse, and a new life for Chicago’s former Swedish Club

Stage & Screen
by Penelope Mesic
In a revival of The Royal Family, Steppenwolf revisits the talented, dissipated Barrymore dynasty.

Real Lives
by Marcia Froelke Coburn
Premier performance artist Laurie Anderson, in a new show, shares her experience of journeys to destinations previously unknown.

Reporter
by Lucinda Hahn
A Gold Coast shopaholic finally got professional help-but not before she had swiped almost $250,000 from her employer to finance her habit. A judge let her off-but will the sentence stand?

Dining Out
by Dennis Ray Wheaton
Thai games: Any ambitious Thai restaurant must endure comparisons to the venerated Arun’s; Erawan, run by Arun alums, is the first in years to measure up.

Expert Witness
by Carrie Sager
Doug Zell and Emily Mange-the city’s Mr. (and Mrs.) Coffee-tell us how to make it hot.

Chicago Guides

Prime Time
In April: Funny, fast-thinking improv pros Colin Mochrie, Brad Sherwood, and Ian Gomez, plot to outwit one another during this year’s Chicago Improv Festival.

Restaurants
In the ‘Hood: Magnolia Café’s grilled calamari on spaghetti squash brings upscale to Uptown. On Wine: So many lackluster chardonnays out there; here’s a good one.