Finding trends in Chicago crime is always tricky, but one thing seems clear over the past couple decades: murder victims are much more likely to be found outdoors instead of indoors, and in the public way instead of in a residence.
State representative Lou Lang thinks his years-long battle to legalize medical marijuana in Illinois is finally within reach in the House. Meanwhile, a similar bill is likely to be proposed in the Indiana legislature, with the support of the head of that state’s police force.
A look at where Chicagoans live, based on the industries they work in, reveals some patterns: managers cluster from the Loop up through Lincoln Park; public administrators group in Mt. Greenwood and Ashburn; and construction and manufacturing workers can be found on the northwest and southwest sides.
An animated map shows where jobs are distributed in Chicago—and how that distribution changed from the run-up to the economic collapse to its aftermath. The difference between 2008 and 2009 is stark.
His incumbency was a huge advantage (and as with many incumbents, may have played a role in his ethical lapses), and his focus on building a Chicago machine while bringing federal aid was a cornerstone. But Jackson was also one of the most reliably progressive votes in the House—to an extent that cost him on the national level.
THE NAKED TRUTH: Can the torrid ritual purge the bashful author’s bodily impurities and his lifelong inhibitions?
The late mayor on “a crisis of leadership in Chicago”; reflecting on the first half of his first term; and discussing the legacy of Richard J. Daley, whose long reign overshadowed Washington’s brief but critical tenure.
“The media estimated that somewhere between 200,000 and 500,000 mourners passed by Washington’s open casket in the days leading up to Washington’s funeral. Only 25,000 amassed in Memphis to view Elvis Presley’s. It may be crass to compare two famous men by counting heads at their funerals, but how better to make the point that the reaction to Washington’s death resembled the death of a celebrity more than that of a local politician?” An excerpt from the new edition of Gary Rivlin’s classic Fire on the Prairie.
How Morton, Illinois, the world canned pumpkin capital, subsidizes a tiny town in Mexico; the rich life and quick death of mince pie as America’s pie; why Black Friday doesn’t tell us anything about the Christmas economy; and more
In 1906, the Chicago Tribune encouraged Christmas shoppers to begin the shopping season early, so that “the condition of the tired and overworked shopgirl should be taken into account.” Over the next 50 years, “early shopping” became “Black Friday,” years before that phrase came into use.
