Robin Kelly, Running for Jesse Jackson Jr.'s Seat, Has Some Good Connections—and Good Luck

Between her fundraising prowess and her connections to power via Toni Preckwinkle and her friend-of-the-Obamas campaign manager, Matteson’s Robin Kelly—most recently Preckwinkle’s chief administrative officer—has the inside track in the 2nd District. Being on top of the ballot won’t hurt in the packed race.

The Geography of Chicago's Second Languages

Looking at ESL speakers, the far north and northwest sides of Chicago have a great deal of linguistic diversity, with Belmont Cragin having a high number of non-native speakers, and West Ridge a breadth of languages. The far south side, on the other hand, is notable for its lack of non-English speakers.

Peoria's Ray LaHood: Is He Staying in Obama's Cabinet or Going… and Who Decides?

Barack Obama has been criticized for the lack of diversity in his cabinet: too white and too male. With two women departing and a third likely to—and Republican Chuck Hagel expected to become Secretary of Defense—could that leave white male Republican Ray LaHood, his well-regarded transportation secretary, without a seat?

Five Ways of Looking at the Flu Season

This year’s flu season is unusually intense, and literally off the charts—well, Google’s Flu Indicator chart at least, which tracks what people are searching for and uses it to predict the severity of the flu season. Hopefully it will remain not very deadly, however.