Long Reads on Softball, Pot, School Violence, and Lynch Law
16-inch softball’s aristocratic roots; investigative journalism from Ida B. Wells; a teacher and a librarian get busted for a Bridgeport grow-house; and a violent year at Harper High.
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Obama Campaign Tweaks Romney on Free Cars for Welfare Recipients
After being accused of trying to end welfare reform as we know it, the Obama camp responds by bringing up the Massachusetts welfare-to-drive-to-work program, itself a descendent of the 1996 welfare-reform law.
Blago's GOP Flirtations and Other Juicy Stories in New Book 'Golden'
In their upcoming book on Rod Blagojevich, Chicago Tribune reporters Jeff Coen and John Chase write that the former gov once threatened to fire an aide if he revealed a secret: that Blago had voted for George H.W. Bush. “If you ever repeat this, first I’ll deny it, secondly I’ll wait a little bit, then I’ll fire you,” Rod had told the aide…
Tastemakers Richard Wright and Valerie Carberry on Their Favorite Things
OUTDOOR MODERN: The auction-house owner and gallerist pick Persol sunglasses, Marni boots, and more
Mitt Romney, Waivers, and the End of Welfare
In Elk Grove Village this week, Mitt Romney accused the president of destroying welfare-to-work and bringing about a new culture of dependency. Here’s how a bit of bureaucratese turned into the latest front in the culture war.
Fred Eychaner and Ken Griffin, Chicagoans on Top Donors Lists
Lists just out from Politico ranking donors to the two presidential candidates show that, on the Democratic side, Chicagoan Fred Eychaner ranks number one. On the GOP side, at number nine with $2.3 million for Mitt Romney and other Republican PACs and candidates, is Chicago hedge fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin…
The Hottest July Ever, By the Numbers
Last month was the second-hottest July in recorded Illinois history, and the nation’s hottest in 118 years of records. And that heat, and the dryness that came with it, hit the state and its neighbors the hardest.
Fast and Furious, False Flags, and the Second Amendment
Tracing mass-shooting conspiracy theories back to their source in the lush garden of irrational explanation that the Web plays host to, but one that rarely surfaces aboveground.
Richard Speck, the Sikh Temple Shooting, and Measures of Mass Murder
Mass public shootings, like all forms of violent crime in America, rose during the end of the 20th century, peaked in the 1990s, and have been in decline since.
The Illinois Drought Plateaus, But the Forecast Isn't Good
Drought conditions didn’t worsen much in the last period, but the outlook for August is scary, and for the next three months as well, as drought and heat push a vicious cycle.