Filmmaker Carlos Martinez interviews Marciala, a Logan Square tamale vendor, about why she came to America, the competitive business of selling tamales, and the spirit of giving. Read more
The homicide rate, the privatization of city services, and the coming political and legal fight over pension reform: a roundup of the stories that will be big in the coming year. Read more
A Michigan judge tosses an Indiana woman in the slammer for muttering frustrated nothings, after she was given the run-around by his courthouse on a traffic fine. It's not the first time he's come down hard on someone who didn't take kindly to his office. Read more
A study of how kids in Illinois view Northern and Southern accents finds that stereotypes take hold early and harden with age. But it's not regional bias: kids from Tennessee feel the same way. Read more
There was some notable weather this year in Chicago, but it's notable for its lack of snow, rain, and cold. This year was all about heat and dryness, but it did stay humid enough for us to surpass the city's mold-count record in August. Read more
It's a truism that being identifiably part of the Irish diaspora, at least on a ballot, is a huge advantage in Chicago's provincial, low-information electoral contests. But a look at judicial elections, among the lowest-information of all, indicates that the advantage is barely statistically significant. Read more
Judicial appointments in Cook County are generally considered to be lifetime appointments; no judge has lost his or her job since 1990. But in 1990, we fired seven of them, almost as many as have been recalled in every other election combined. What happened? Read more
When Charles Dickens toured America for the last time, he gave Chicago the cold shoulder, as well as his widowed Chicago sister-and-law. The local press attacked him as a Scrooge and a hypocrite, but the real story was a sad and complex one closer to Bleak House than A Christmas Carol. Read more
A hot plate used for warmth in an unheated West Englewood apartment that lacked smoke detectors is believed to have caused the deaths of two young, unattended children on early Saturday morning. Read more
