The 312 - November 2011

12/15/11

"Chicago Story": Annals of Failed Cop Shows About Our Town

An ambitious show in a singularly unambitious era, it was Chicago Hope plus Chicago Code... plus half an hour. Then it disappeared from existence.

Posted at 2:39 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/30/11

The CME/Sears Tax Break Goes into a Coma, and Other Alternatives

Everyone's mad about the Illinois corporate tax hike, and the state legislature was unable to address CME's beef. One option: just get rid of it. Not just the increase, the whole thing.

Posted at 7:12 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/30/11

Americans Deeply Divided on Whether Occupiers Should Get Haircut, Get a Real Job

Why we can't all just get along: the Tea Party and the Occupy movement represent different things, and even basic questions of employment and hygiene are rending the country asunder.

Posted at 2:23 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/30/11

Theo's First Cubs Signing: Don't Mess With DeJesus

The Epstein era begins with the signing of David DeJesus, a well-regarded veteran outfielder who gives the Cubs a left-handed bat, a bridge to Brett Jackson, and sabermetric approval.

Posted at 12:32 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/29/11

Are the Cubs Interested in Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder?

Do the Cubs have Prince Albert in the can? How about his younger Brewers counterpart? Probably not, but speculating on bombshell Cubs free-agent signings might be the most entertainment the Epstein offseason gives us.

Posted at 1:33 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/29/11

Maya Lin on Landscape Architecture

The great landscape architect, famous since designing the Vietnam Memorial at the age of 21, gives a tour of her work at UIC.

Posted at 10:13 AM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/28/11

The CME/Sears Tax Break Inches Towards Passage: Where Will the Money Come From?

As the corporate tax break for Sears, CME, and the CBOE—accompanied by a modest EITC hike—approaches a vote, here's a look at how the closing of one tax break opens the door for another.

Posted at 6:36 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/28/11

RIP Lana Peters, Stalin's Exiled Wisconsinite Daughter

Born to the Soviet dictator, Svetlana Alliluyeva married and divorced powerful men—including Frank Lloyd Wright's engineer—and lived throughout the world. But her final home was a tiny community in central Wisconsin.

Posted at 4:38 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/25/11

Roundup: Remembering Maggie Daley

A collection of stories, tweets, and tributes chronicling the life and impact of Chicago's former first lady, including a 1994 article from the Chicago magazine archives.

Posted at 4:34 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/23/11

The Very Political Origins of Thanksgiving as a National Holiday

Giving thanks for the rebel prisoners, the war tax, the earth still unloading her manifold wealth: Thanksgiving during (Civil) wartime.

Posted at 4:39 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/23/11

Giving Thanks in Chicago, Circa 1858

For the judgment of the Almighty upon the perversity and wickedness of James Buchanan; for the subsidence of the Potato-rot, and for the improvement in the virtue of Congressmen; for Sewerage by and by; and other reasons Chicagoans were grateful.

Posted at 2:20 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (1)

11/22/11

Illinois Legislator: Secede From Chicago Now!

Decatur-area rep Bill Mitchell introduced a bill that would separate Cook County from the rest of the state, because they hold "different and firmly seated views" on "politics, society, and economics." Could downstate survive? Only if they convinced the collar counties to jump.

Posted at 8:13 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (1)

11/22/11

Midwest Highlights from the 'Postmodernism' Exhibit at the V&A in London

From the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex to Stanley Tigerman's The Titanic, a brief look at postmodernism's influence on the Midwest.

Posted at 5:33 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (2)

11/22/11

Hans Peterson Goes On Trial for the Murder of Dr. David Cornbleet

Yesterday the trial of Hans Peterson for the murder of Chicago dermatologist Dr. David Cornbleet began in Guadalupe. A shocking crime that dominated local news with the security-camera footage of the suspect, it's since fallen off the radar but will likely come to a conclusion this week.

Posted at 2:29 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/21/11

Chicago: Making Your Coffee Better

The era of cheap coffee is ending as the commodity increases in price. But for coffee snobs, that's actually okay: a good gourmet Chicago coffee is still cheaper than McDonald's, if you make it yourself.

Posted at 6:54 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (2)

11/21/11

Newt Gingrich's Child Labor Philosophy, Orphan Trains, and Japanese School Cleaning

The GOP's current not-Romney suggests that we fire all the janitors and employ poor kids to clean the schools. It's a bit like the Japanese idea of gakko soju... but also the opposite.

Posted at 5:09 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/21/11

Jay Cutler's Injury and the Bad News/Good News Bears

The Bears will lose their starting quarter back for the rest of the regular season, or most of it. But Cutler's not the most important element of the team, and Caleb Hanie has shown flashes of competence and confidence.

Posted at 1:17 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (1)

11/18/11

The Stopless Bus Route

A University of Illinois prof proposes a new form of public transportation that's somewhere between college drunk vans and Cuba's taxi colectivo system.

Posted at 6:10 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (1)

11/18/11

MF Global and the 99 Percent

As Occupy Chicago blocks the LaSalle Bridge and tens of thousands of protestors take to the streets of New York, one of the One Percent lets off some 99 Percent steam about MF Global and his missing money.

Posted at 1:13 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/17/11

Did the CTA and Metra Save Chicago?

Milwaukee's former mayor, in an interview with Grid Chicago, says the fact that Chicago held onto its public transportation network during the massive road-building of the mid-20th century preserved it from the collapse its Midwestern peers have faced.

Posted at 5:38 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/17/11

Corporate Graffiti, Ad Blight, and Chicago's New Bank of America Bridge Ads

BoA's chintzy, cheap—literally and figuratively—Wabash Bridge ads are a sorry point in the not-entirely-bad history of civic advertising, which can be done right if someone in the process cares to do so.

Posted at 3:32 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/16/11

Chicago in the 1970s: The EPA Photographs of John H. White

The Peanut Man, Savior's Day, the Bud Billiken Parade, the Kadats of America, and more images of Chicago's South and West sides from one of the city's legendary photojournalists.

Posted at 7:23 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (2)

11/16/11

The Chicago City Budget Crisis: How We Got There in 5 Graphs

In the wake of Rahm Emanuel's first budget, which passed today unanimously, five graphs that show how the city's imperiled finances got to be the way they are.

Posted at 4:47 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/16/11

Chicago City Budget Roundup

The vote on the city budget is due very shortly. Here's what to expect, since all signs point to an easy passage for Mayor Emanuel's first crack at Chicago's finances.

Posted at 11:15 AM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/15/11

Chicago Michelin Awards: Stix Nix Next Concepts, and Other Food News

Michelin Guide, Chicago Michelin awards, Next, Next Chicago restaurant, Doughnut Vault, McRib, McRib arbitrage, Orly's, in vitro meat, cultured meat

Posted at 5:52 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/15/11

This Week in Music in Chicago, and People Talking About It

Former Q101 host Electra on the disappearance of rock from the FM dial; how Chicago house and Detroit techno took over the world; our city's underground ball scene; and the Chicago premiere of a Nico Muhly choral work.

Posted at 4:36 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/15/11

SceneTap and Bar Profiling in Chicago

A new app uses facial-recognition technology to tell you the age and gender mix of bar patrons in specific Chicago watering holes, and whether or not they're "chill," "social," "hoppin," or "crazy." TMI? Not enough.

Posted at 1:43 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/15/11

Libya and Herman Cain's Brainfreeze

The conservative Ross Perot goes viral when he stumbles over a question about Obama's handling of the Libyan uprising. Here's video of what happens when you get trapped in the rules of the game.

Posted at 11:49 AM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/14/11

Immigration, Law Enforcement, and Economic Necessity

Two recent pieces cast light on our inability to deal with the overlap between immigration and criminality, an extension of our bewildering, confused approach to immigration. But there might be hope yet.

Posted at 2:49 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (1)

11/11/11

Veterans Day: Five Reads

London, ringed with fire; a Nazi terrorist in Chicago; America's secret war in Africa; when fairyland was the most sinister place people could imagine; and two dispatches from Sigrid Schultz, the Tribune's longtime Berlin correspondent.

Posted at 6:50 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/11/11

Chicago Bulls vs. the Chicago School: Michael Jordan, Labor, and the NBA Lockout

When Michael Jordan was a player, he repped as hard as he could for the players union. Now he's on the other side, and just as tough. Is he a hypocrite? Or just a rational economic actor?

Posted at 2:28 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/10/11

Should Penn State Get Rid of Its Football Program in the Wake of the Sandusky Scandal?

The sex-abuse scandal at Penn State has underlined the university's dependence on college football, both economically and emotionally. Should it end the football program? Seventy years ago, the University of Chicago did, and it succeeded against the presumed odds.

Posted at 4:57 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/10/11

This Week in Chicago Fees and Fines

Speeding cameras, cell-phone tickets, decriminalization, and water fees: the latest front in the city's scramble for revenue.

Posted at 1:52 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/09/11

Chicago's Most Dangerous (Abstract, Categorical) Locations

Your mother was right: don't go play in the street. Cars aren't that much safer, either. Clubs, offices, bars, and car washes, on the other hand, are quite safe (in terms of murders, at least).

Posted at 4:58 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (1)

11/09/11

Political News Roundup: Chicago and Illinois

TIF reform, speeding cameras, tax breaks, pension reform, Big Bellies, the money-purchase option, Sears, and more: it's heavy legislative season.

Posted at 10:14 AM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/08/11

Herman Cain's Tax Problem and #mencallmethings

No matter what happens with the Cain accusations, he's not going to win the election: he's doomed because of his political ideas before his private actions. It's a much more interesting story about power than it is about politics.

Posted at 4:20 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/08/11

Annals of Decriminalization

Drug use among teens, by race and drug of choice; the continued rise of prescription opiate abuse; no further insight into Emanuel's thoughts on decriminalization; and more.

Posted at 12:46 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/07/11

'Perry v. New Hampshire': Eyewitness Testimony on Trial

A Supreme Court case raises fascinating, eerie questions about the reliability of eyewitness testimony and how courts should deal with it. But the answers probably won't be as engaging.

Posted at 6:14 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/07/11

The Contentious Historical Origins of Spray Paint

The aerosolized spray paint can comes from the Chicago 'burbs, but the process of spraying paint on to things dates back to the Columbian Exposition of 1893 (and explains its "White City" name). Or maybe it doesn't.

Posted at 3:29 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/04/11

Chicago Budget: Mayor Emanuel Gets Pushback, and Gives

After criticism from the public and a healthy number of aldermen, the mayor cuts back on some of his cutbacks and spreads the sticker-fee pain a bit.

Posted at 5:28 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/04/11

My Favorite Song About Chicago

"Cars and Parties" by Edith Frost, a song by a Chicago transplant for Chicago transplants about the tension between going out and staying home.

Posted at 4:23 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (2)

11/04/11

How Do You Solve the Bill Cellini Problem?

The quiet, unelected power broker has long presented a dilemma for journalists and voters alike. Reining them in requires a lot of unsexy concentration from writers, readers, and legislators.

Posted at 2:00 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/03/11

The Expansion of Chicagoland and Midwestern Poverty

A Brookings study looks at changes in concentrated poverty during the last decade: the Midwest got hit the hardest, and across the country the gains of the 1990s have vanished.

Posted at 2:52 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/03/11

The Chicago Marijuana Debate Continues

The mayor and Joe Moreno weigh in on pot decriminalization and/or legalization; emergency visits from weed, inhalants, and pharmaceuticals; Portugal's approach to decriminalization; and more.

Posted at 1:25 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (1)

11/02/11

Chicago Homeless News: Old and New

As winter prepares to descend on Chicago, there's pushback against city cuts to services for the homeless, but the state cuts remain dramatic. Plus: Leveraging street charity, then and now.

Posted at 6:08 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/02/11

Five Questions for Fashion Designer Wes Gordon

The Chicago-born fashion designer, who visits the city this week for a showing of his spring designs, talks about business, tailoring, where he's from, and puppies.

Posted at 4:29 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/02/11

The MF Global Collapse: What Went Wrong

Chaos at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Wall Street, and the Illinois farm boy-turned-Wall Street titan who caused it.

Posted at 4:08 PM in The 312 | Permalink | Comments (1)

	12/15/11 "Chicago Story": Annals of Failed Cop Shows About Our Town An ambitious show in a singularly unambitious era, it was Chicago Hope plus Chicago Code... plus half an hour. Then it disappeared from existence. Posted at 2:39 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/30/11 The CME/Sears Tax Break Goes into a Coma, and Other Alternatives Everyone's mad about the Illinois corporate tax hike, and the state legislature was unable to address CME's beef. One option: just get rid of it. Not just the increase, the whole thing. Posted at 7:12 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/30/11 Americans Deeply Divided on Whether Occupiers Should Get Haircut, Get a Real Job Why we can't all just get along: the Tea Party and the Occupy movement represent different things, and even basic questions of employment and hygiene are rending the country asunder. Posted at 2:23 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/30/11 Theo's First Cubs Signing: Don't Mess With DeJesus The Epstein era begins with the signing of David DeJesus, a well-regarded veteran outfielder who gives the Cubs a left-handed bat, a bridge to Brett Jackson, and sabermetric approval. Posted at 12:32 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/29/11 Are the Cubs Interested in Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder? Do the Cubs have Prince Albert in the can? How about his younger Brewers counterpart? Probably not, but speculating on bombshell Cubs free-agent signings might be the most entertainment the Epstein offseason gives us. Posted at 1:33 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/29/11 Maya Lin on Landscape Architecture The great landscape architect, famous since designing the Vietnam Memorial at the age of 21, gives a tour of her work at UIC. Posted at 10:13 AM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/28/11 The CME/Sears Tax Break Inches Towards Passage: Where Will the Money Come From? As the corporate tax break for Sears, CME, and the CBOE—accompanied by a modest EITC hike—approaches a vote, here's a look at how the closing of one tax break opens the door for another. Posted at 6:36 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/28/11 RIP Lana Peters, Stalin's Exiled Wisconsinite Daughter Born to the Soviet dictator, Svetlana Alliluyeva married and divorced powerful men—including Frank Lloyd Wright's engineer—and lived throughout the world. But her final home was a tiny community in central Wisconsin. Posted at 4:38 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/25/11 Roundup: Remembering Maggie Daley A collection of stories, tweets, and tributes chronicling the life and impact of Chicago's former first lady, including a 1994 article from the Chicago magazine archives. Posted at 4:34 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/23/11 The Very Political Origins of Thanksgiving as a National Holiday Giving thanks for the rebel prisoners, the war tax, the earth still unloading her manifold wealth: Thanksgiving during (Civil) wartime. Posted at 4:39 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/23/11 Giving Thanks in Chicago, Circa 1858 For the judgment of the Almighty upon the perversity and wickedness of James Buchanan; for the subsidence of the Potato-rot, and for the improvement in the virtue of Congressmen; for Sewerage by and by; and other reasons Chicagoans were grateful. Posted at 2:20 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (1)
	11/22/11 Illinois Legislator: Secede From Chicago Now! Decatur-area rep Bill Mitchell introduced a bill that would separate Cook County from the rest of the state, because they hold "different and firmly seated views" on "politics, society, and economics." Could downstate survive? Only if they convinced the collar counties to jump. Posted at 8:13 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (1)
	11/22/11 Midwest Highlights from the 'Postmodernism' Exhibit at the V&A in London From the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex to Stanley Tigerman's The Titanic, a brief look at postmodernism's influence on the Midwest. Posted at 5:33 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (2)
	11/22/11 Hans Peterson Goes On Trial for the Murder of Dr. David Cornbleet Yesterday the trial of Hans Peterson for the murder of Chicago dermatologist Dr. David Cornbleet began in Guadalupe. A shocking crime that dominated local news with the security-camera footage of the suspect, it's since fallen off the radar but will likely come to a conclusion this week. Posted at 2:29 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/21/11 Chicago: Making Your Coffee Better The era of cheap coffee is ending as the commodity increases in price. But for coffee snobs, that's actually okay: a good gourmet Chicago coffee is still cheaper than McDonald's, if you make it yourself. Posted at 6:54 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (2)
	11/21/11 Newt Gingrich's Child Labor Philosophy, Orphan Trains, and Japanese School Cleaning The GOP's current not-Romney suggests that we fire all the janitors and employ poor kids to clean the schools. It's a bit like the Japanese idea of gakko soju... but also the opposite. Posted at 5:09 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/21/11 Jay Cutler's Injury and the Bad News/Good News Bears The Bears will lose their starting quarter back for the rest of the regular season, or most of it. But Cutler's not the most important element of the team, and Caleb Hanie has shown flashes of competence and confidence. Posted at 1:17 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (1)
	11/18/11 The Stopless Bus Route A University of Illinois prof proposes a new form of public transportation that's somewhere between college drunk vans and Cuba's taxi colectivo system. Posted at 6:10 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (1)
	11/18/11 MF Global and the 99 Percent As Occupy Chicago blocks the LaSalle Bridge and tens of thousands of protestors take to the streets of New York, one of the One Percent lets off some 99 Percent steam about MF Global and his missing money. Posted at 1:13 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/17/11 Did the CTA and Metra Save Chicago? Milwaukee's former mayor, in an interview with Grid Chicago, says the fact that Chicago held onto its public transportation network during the massive road-building of the mid-20th century preserved it from the collapse its Midwestern peers have faced. Posted at 5:38 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/17/11 Corporate Graffiti, Ad Blight, and Chicago's New Bank of America Bridge Ads BoA's chintzy, cheap—literally and figuratively—Wabash Bridge ads are a sorry point in the not-entirely-bad history of civic advertising, which can be done right if someone in the process cares to do so. Posted at 3:32 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/16/11 Chicago in the 1970s: The EPA Photographs of John H. White The Peanut Man, Savior's Day, the Bud Billiken Parade, the Kadats of America, and more images of Chicago's South and West sides from one of the city's legendary photojournalists. Posted at 7:23 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (2)
	11/16/11 The Chicago City Budget Crisis: How We Got There in 5 Graphs In the wake of Rahm Emanuel's first budget, which passed today unanimously, five graphs that show how the city's imperiled finances got to be the way they are. Posted at 4:47 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/16/11 Chicago City Budget Roundup The vote on the city budget is due very shortly. Here's what to expect, since all signs point to an easy passage for Mayor Emanuel's first crack at Chicago's finances. Posted at 11:15 AM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/15/11 Chicago Michelin Awards: Stix Nix Next Concepts, and Other Food News Michelin Guide, Chicago Michelin awards, Next, Next Chicago restaurant, Doughnut Vault, McRib, McRib arbitrage, Orly's, in vitro meat, cultured meat Posted at 5:52 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/15/11 This Week in Music in Chicago, and People Talking About It Former Q101 host Electra on the disappearance of rock from the FM dial; how Chicago house and Detroit techno took over the world; our city's underground ball scene; and the Chicago premiere of a Nico Muhly choral work. Posted at 4:36 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/15/11 SceneTap and Bar Profiling in Chicago A new app uses facial-recognition technology to tell you the age and gender mix of bar patrons in specific Chicago watering holes, and whether or not they're "chill," "social," "hoppin," or "crazy." TMI? Not enough. Posted at 1:43 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/15/11 Libya and Herman Cain's Brainfreeze The conservative Ross Perot goes viral when he stumbles over a question about Obama's handling of the Libyan uprising. Here's video of what happens when you get trapped in the rules of the game. Posted at 11:49 AM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/14/11 Immigration, Law Enforcement, and Economic Necessity Two recent pieces cast light on our inability to deal with the overlap between immigration and criminality, an extension of our bewildering, confused approach to immigration. But there might be hope yet. Posted at 2:49 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (1)
	11/11/11 Veterans Day: Five Reads London, ringed with fire; a Nazi terrorist in Chicago; America's secret war in Africa; when fairyland was the most sinister place people could imagine; and two dispatches from Sigrid Schultz, the Tribune's longtime Berlin correspondent. Posted at 6:50 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/11/11 Chicago Bulls vs. the Chicago School: Michael Jordan, Labor, and the NBA Lockout When Michael Jordan was a player, he repped as hard as he could for the players union. Now he's on the other side, and just as tough. Is he a hypocrite? Or just a rational economic actor? Posted at 2:28 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/10/11 Should Penn State Get Rid of Its Football Program in the Wake of the Sandusky Scandal? The sex-abuse scandal at Penn State has underlined the university's dependence on college football, both economically and emotionally. Should it end the football program? Seventy years ago, the University of Chicago did, and it succeeded against the presumed odds. Posted at 4:57 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/10/11 This Week in Chicago Fees and Fines Speeding cameras, cell-phone tickets, decriminalization, and water fees: the latest front in the city's scramble for revenue. Posted at 1:52 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/09/11 Chicago's Most Dangerous (Abstract, Categorical) Locations Your mother was right: don't go play in the street. Cars aren't that much safer, either. Clubs, offices, bars, and car washes, on the other hand, are quite safe (in terms of murders, at least). Posted at 4:58 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (1)
	11/09/11 Political News Roundup: Chicago and Illinois TIF reform, speeding cameras, tax breaks, pension reform, Big Bellies, the money-purchase option, Sears, and more: it's heavy legislative season. Posted at 10:14 AM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/08/11 Herman Cain's Tax Problem and #mencallmethings No matter what happens with the Cain accusations, he's not going to win the election: he's doomed because of his political ideas before his private actions. It's a much more interesting story about power than it is about politics. Posted at 4:20 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/08/11 Annals of Decriminalization Drug use among teens, by race and drug of choice; the continued rise of prescription opiate abuse; no further insight into Emanuel's thoughts on decriminalization; and more. Posted at 12:46 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/07/11 'Perry v. New Hampshire': Eyewitness Testimony on Trial A Supreme Court case raises fascinating, eerie questions about the reliability of eyewitness testimony and how courts should deal with it. But the answers probably won't be as engaging. Posted at 6:14 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/07/11 The Contentious Historical Origins of Spray Paint The aerosolized spray paint can comes from the Chicago 'burbs, but the process of spraying paint on to things dates back to the Columbian Exposition of 1893 (and explains its "White City" name). Or maybe it doesn't. Posted at 3:29 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/04/11 Chicago Budget: Mayor Emanuel Gets Pushback, and Gives After criticism from the public and a healthy number of aldermen, the mayor cuts back on some of his cutbacks and spreads the sticker-fee pain a bit. Posted at 5:28 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/04/11 My Favorite Song About Chicago "Cars and Parties" by Edith Frost, a song by a Chicago transplant for Chicago transplants about the tension between going out and staying home. Posted at 4:23 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (2)
	11/04/11 How Do You Solve the Bill Cellini Problem? The quiet, unelected power broker has long presented a dilemma for journalists and voters alike. Reining them in requires a lot of unsexy concentration from writers, readers, and legislators. Posted at 2:00 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/03/11 The Expansion of Chicagoland and Midwestern Poverty A Brookings study looks at changes in concentrated poverty during the last decade: the Midwest got hit the hardest, and across the country the gains of the 1990s have vanished. Posted at 2:52 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/03/11 The Chicago Marijuana Debate Continues The mayor and Joe Moreno weigh in on pot decriminalization and/or legalization; emergency visits from weed, inhalants, and pharmaceuticals; Portugal's approach to decriminalization; and more. Posted at 1:25 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (1)
	11/02/11 Chicago Homeless News: Old and New As winter prepares to descend on Chicago, there's pushback against city cuts to services for the homeless, but the state cuts remain dramatic. Plus: Leveraging street charity, then and now. Posted at 6:08 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/02/11 Five Questions for Fashion Designer Wes Gordon The Chicago-born fashion designer, who visits the city this week for a showing of his spring designs, talks about business, tailoring, where he's from, and puppies. Posted at 4:29 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (0)
	11/02/11 The MF Global Collapse: What Went Wrong Chaos at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Wall Street, and the Illinois farm boy-turned-Wall Street titan who caused it. Posted at 4:08 PM in The 312 \| Permalink \| Comments (1)

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