The Lean Mile
COVID, crime, and online shopping are emptying Michigan Avenue’s swankiest stretch. Will it ever be magnificent again?
Custom Placements: News Lead
Once a Proxy for the Slavery Debate, Now Illinois Takes on Abortion
Our position in the middle of the country — surrounded by states with abortion bans — quite literally centers us in the rights controversy.
The Big Truth
University of Chicago professor Robert Pape has spent the past year and a half examining the January 6 insurrectionists — and sounding the alarm about the future of democracy. Is America listening?
Illinois Officials React to the Overturning of Roe v. Wade
Lightfoot, Pritzker, and other Democrats in the state vow to fight, while Republicans celebrate.
Op-Ed: Chicago’s Bitter Pill of Violence
A former mayoral candidate says that rather than blaming young people and looking for silver bullet solutions, the city needs to take a longer view of the policies that have ramifications for years and decades to come.
(Under)counting on Illinois
The state was undercounted in the 2020 Census by 65,000 to 440,000 people — but Edward McClelland’s experience as an enumerator suggests the number could be even higher.
Mr. Competent
Why will J.B. Pritzker likely be reelected governor? Because he’s neither corrupt nor a screwup. In Illinois, that’s a rare combo.
Mayoral Power Rankings 2023: May 2022 Update
Our latest update to who has the best shot at becoming the city’s next mayor.
The Case for Pushing Back the Illinois Primary
The state chooses its candidates earlier than any other state — making it feel as though politics never ends.