1. Village with a Vision
Austin Village, the “black Bridgeport,” is an island of diverse middle-class stability in a poor neighborhood, the result of years of determination from its residents. The Tribune tours the West Side enclave.
2. Chicago Brought Its Murder Rate Down (By Not Counting Murders)
Why massaging the numbers to make it look like crime is down makes it easier to commit crime. Vox analyzes Chicago magazine’s crime-stats coverage.
3. Left Out of Economic Recovery, Workers Go Underground
With the off-the-books employment reaching Great Depression-era levels, many Chicagoans take what they can to get by. WBEZ explores the gray ares of our local job market.
4. Clerk Dorothy Brown’s Campaign Paid Her Husband $90,000
Already under fire for his involvement in the controversial Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, the Cook County Clerk’s husband is in the news again. The Sun-Times investigates.
5. Hobby Lobby May Not Be the Most Important Court Ruling on Monday
An Illinois case about union-dues requirements is in the shadow of the contraceptive mandate—but it could have massive repercussions. The New Republic explains.
6. What Chicago’s ‘Array of Things’ Will Actually Do
Soon the city will begin rolling out a series of environmental and pedestrian-traffic monitors within the Loop. Here’s why. Chicago magazine details the program.
7. The Pursuit of Radical Acceptance
A Chicago Bears star wants to be for mental health “what Magic Johnson is for HIV.” ESPN the magazine talks to Brandon Marshall.
8. Community Organizer Amara Enyia Is Taking on Rahm Emanuel to Make a Point
The well-educated 31-year-old daughter of Nigerian immigrants hasn’t raised much money, and probably won’t break five percent of the vote. Here’s why her campaign matters. Gapers Block profiles the West Garfield Park resident.
9. A 1931 Cartoon Map of ‘Chicago’s Gangland,’ Brimming with Wry, Macabre Details
Is it “Designed to Incubate the Most Important Principles of Piety and Virtue”? Not really, no. Slate takes a glance at our past.
10. Chicago Program Designed to Prevent White Flight Gets Renewed Attention
In the 1980s, the city set up “home equity taxing districts” to keep residents from departing to the suburbs. They still exist—and one of the obscure funds has $9.6 million in taxpayer money. WBEZ’s Natalie Moore reports on the story for NPR’s Morning Edition.