1. Teen Stands Up to Gang and Nearly Loses His Life

After refusing to join the Latin Kings in his Little Village neighborhood, this 15-year-old boy was stabbed and left in a garbage can to die. The Tribune profiles Victor.

2. Why Chicago’s ‘MasterChef’ Star Killed Himself

Josh Marks, the runner-up on Gordon Ramsay’s reality show, was a rising talent in the culinary world. Then everything came undone. Chicago magazine traces his path.

3. How Bruce Rauner Used a Legal Loophole to Get a $2.5 Million Campaign Donation

The “millionaire’s amendment” was meant to level the playing field. Instead, if a wealthy, self-financed candidate is in the race, it just means all bets are off. The Reader explains.

4. A Financial Time Bomb in Chicago

The city’s declining credit rating could trigger interest-rate swaps, further increasing its debt—with disastrous consequences. The Sun-Times investigates.

5. Chicago Is Your Big (Friendly) Brother

The city is working on a system of environmental sensors to better understand the metropolis at a micro level. Introducing: The Array of Things. Bloomberg View looks at its future.

6. You’d Think Bike Shops Would Hate Divvy. You’d Be Wrong.

Local retailers are finding that the bike-share system has increased shoppers’ interest in practical commuter bikes. Crain’s asks the experts about Divvy’s effects.

7. How the World Cup Made These Chicago Seniors and Brazilian Students Internet Buddies

Residents of the suburban Windsor Park Retirement Community are helping young Brazilians learn English through informal video chats. Huffington Post Chicago talks with the participants.

8. Board Games

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is understaffed and aging badly. To fix it, advocates are navigating the typical morass of Illinois politics. The Illinois Times recounts the complex battle.

9. It’s Official: The Boomerang Kids Won’t Leave

Why would a 27-year-old with a Loyola degree live in Downers Grove with her mom? It’s the economy (and the student loans). The New York Times reports from the Chicago suburbs.

10. Where Chicago’s Bike Commuters Live

College and post-college neighborhoods are the dominant choices, but the commuters’ numbers are rising all over the city. Chicago magazine maps them.