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
Preppy by Nature J. McLaughlin (jmclaughlin.com), the über-preppy brand known for its bright colors and two-way stretch fabrics, celebrates the opening of its third Chicagoland location (53 S. Washington St., Hinsdale; 630-468-2597) with a party on Thursday, March 15 from 6 to 8 p.m... Read more
Readers ask questions, and our real estate expert answers. This week, a reader named Connie asks if home sales or condo sales are doing worse on the market. Read more
Emanuel is expected to go to City Hall tomorrow for the final push on speed cameras—armed with data and talking points from a consulting company that shares ties with For a Better Chicago and the speed camera company. Lost in all this has been the legitimate case for the legislation—and how the incidents the city's used to make its case bring up other critical pedestrian-safety issues. 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
To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day beyond Chicago city limits, consider the comparatively understated charms of the Quad Cities region of Rock Island and Moline (in Illinois) and Davenport and Bettendorf (in Iowa). Among the area’s weekend festivities... 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
