America's Civic Finance Problem Goes Back Before the Great Recession

By Whet Moser

Cities across the country have felt the pinch because of the Great Recession—but also the one before that. Well before the economy tanked, salaries and wages stagnated, causing declines in sales and income taxes in advance of the economy's collapse. Read more

Grant Achatz on the Future of Dining at the Chicago Humanities Festival

By Whet Moser

The Next and Alinea chef discusses his schedule (it starts late, but runs really late) and the future of cutting-edge dining (he doesn't think you'll like it) and other upcoming possibilities. Read more

The Cost of Phone Calls In Cook County Jail To Drop

By Whet Moser

Thanks to reporting by Rob Wildeboer, the county is set to reduce the high fees jail inmates are charged to make phone calls. It sounds very Chicago, but we're hardly alone: the FCC might tackle the cost of prison phone calls in coming months. Read more

Who Goes to Jail in Cook County and Why

By Whet Moser

The number one reason people go to jail in Cook County? If you guessed drug possession, you're right. But violent crimes actually make up a bigger proportion than drug charges, and the number one violent crime—and the second-most likely charge for people who go to jail in Cook County—is domestic battery. Read more

The Slow Grind of Cook County Justice

By Whet Moser

Cook County's court system has long lagged behind the city in its use of data, frustrating journalists and open-data advocates. It's finally adopting an electronic case-management system, which may help with the court's problem with timely dispositions. Read more

Where Our Money Came From, 1950-2005

By Whet Moser

A look at how Illinois has tried to pay for itself over the years—mostly income and sales taxes, though riverboats have kicked in. The real revenue expansion was from 1960 to 1970, when the state got an income tax and a corporate income tax to pay for the wave of baby boomers and new social programs. Read more

This Week in Chicago Maps: Segregation and Hyperspectrum

By Whet Moser

A look at segregation patterns in Chicago in recent years actually suggests some good news, as cultural and legal barriers to desegregation have fallen. Plus: Cook County wetlands in hyperspectral glory. Read more

Educational Chronicles of a Death Foretold: Are People Less Likely to Go to College When They Know They're Going to Die Early?

By Whet Moser

A study by a U. of C. economist looks at how victims of Huntington's disease respond to their diagnosis in terms of education and job training—and suggests that more people are going to college in the U.S. because we're living longer. Read more

Is Brandon Marshall Right About Viagra Helping Football Players?

By Whet Moser

He's probably right that players have tried using Viagra as a performance enhancing drug, but until the NFL puts a team in Beijing or La Paz, it's not likely to do anything for anyone that it doesn't already promise on the TV. Read more

The Geography of Chicago City Employees, and City Layoffs

By Whet Moser

Chicago, like the national government and governments throughout the country, has been cutting back on headcount throughout the Great Recession. Which neighborhoods is that hitting the hardest? Read more

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