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?
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.
David Axelrod, Team Obama’s winning strategist, on ditching the campaign trail for a friendlier milieu: the University of Chicago
Illinois has the most restrictive pension laws in the nation, so almost anything the legislature does to try to cut benefits is almost certain to be challenged in the courts. Getting each other to agree on what’s fiscally sensible and politically survivable is hard enough; agreeing on what’s legally sound is no easier.
On the New York mayor’s list of “dream choices”: Hillary Clinton, Charles Schumer, and Ed Rendell. Why not Rahm?
The cell phone ban in Cook County courthouses, scheduled to go into effect next week, is meant to protect witnesses and others in court—but could it put victims of domestic violence at risk?
Chicago’s a pretty safe city to drive in, but it’s got a drinking problem: a high percentage of fatal crashes involve intoxication. It’s a problem in the North and the West, while far fewer fatal, intoxicated crashes occur in the South.
Less than a decade ago, intercity bus service looked like an industry in terminal decline. Since 2006, it’s started to recover, with discount carriers adding over a thousand daily operations. Megabus pushed the dying giants to innovate—but the improvement of big-city downtowns has also taken the stigma out of bus travel.
BREATHTAKING HIKING: The last outpost of civilization before wild Patagonia
SPAS AND RUINS: Just an hour from Cancun but a world away from Spring Break madness
