A survey of American music preferences by state suggests what you might already expect about Illinois—collectively we like just about everything, but in distinct moderation. Read more
Only five contemplating days 'til the next local election. In the contentious Cook County Clerk's race between Dorothy Brown and Rick Munoz, the crucial issue might just be information technology and access to data. Read more
The Tribune calls into question City Hall's data on red-light cameras and traffic fatalities, as the mayor gets a priestly cameo in the fight for extending the system to speed cameras. Read more
The Bears have had one thousand-yard receiver in the past decade, and two Pro Bowl receivers in the past 40 years. Today they added a three-time Pro Bowler who's had five straight seasons with that many yards—and a new backup quarterback to boot. Read more
Great Lakes ice cover hit its lowest level in recorded history this year. Most of that can be attributed to the unusually warm winter, but over the past four decades the trend is towards substantially lower ice cover. Read more
The Cubs' multimillion-dollar-man went from not worth the money to awful by any measure last year. But he did it in a way that suggests 2012 could be a bounceback year, replacing some of the offense that the team gave up this offseason. Read more
Daylight Saving Time and time zones have caused controversy (and an identity crisis) in Indiana for decades. For a few years now, the state's been on DST and off "Indiana time"—and it's been good for business, if not for the environment. Read more
The "middle-class rich" want the things that define middle-class America, and they want them in the country's wealthy big cities. Meanwhile, the really rich are pulling away from them at an increasing clip. It's no wonder they're pessimistic. Read more
Plus: Sunspot images, "The New Optimism," means of determining the optimal baseball batting order, and a forthcoming social-services finder for Chicago. Read more
The latest figure to arise from the president's past is a controversial Harvard Law prof, captured in grainy video by PBS and popularized by the late provocateur Andrew Breitbart. Bell was indeed radical—but he spent most of his career in conflict with liberals. In lies a much more rich tale than a few minutes of pseudo-scoop tells. Read more
