1. The Lonely Crusade of Jim DeRogatis
He’s been doggedly pursuing the R. Kelly case for years—even when one publication after another passed on his investigations. Chicago magazine profiles the reporter and music critic.
2. The Decline of the Midwest’s Public Universities Threatens to Wreck Its Most Vibrant Economies
Cuts are causing tuitions to go up and professors to leave for wealthy private schools. The Atlantic tallies the damage.
3. The Rohingya Who Made It to Chicago
Muslims in Myanmar are facing a situation that “now borders on genocide.” 400 families that have made it out ended up in Rogers Park. The New York Times visits them.
4. CPS Secretly Overhauled Special Education at Students’ Expense
Outside auditors, with no expertise but ties to Forest Claypool, recommended changes that cut costs and raised barriers. WBEZ investigates.
5. Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Charnley House, Part 3
Who designed “the first modern house in America”? Chicago Patterns tours a masterpiece.
6. If Rauner Doesn’t Regret This Veto, He Should
State agencies have to tell the comptroller what unpaid bills they have only once a year. She can have a billion dollars worth dropped on her desk in one day. So why can’t we budget better? Crain’s makes the case.
7. The Foodways of Chicago’s New Immigrants
From Ukrainian coffee to Iraqi tashreeb, new residents adapt their traditions to American abundance. The Reader sits down at the table with a variety of Chicagoans.
8. Opening Closed Schools
Overton Elementary, a modernist structure designed by Perkins and Will, remains empty after four years—one of 17 closed in 2013 that remains unused. What to do with the Bronzeville institution? South Side Weekly explores the ideas.
9. Baseball-Loving Brothers, Now in 90s, Were Indispensable to Cubs, Dodgers for Decades
Yosh Kawano worked for 65 years at Wrigley—and the team helped get him out of a World War II–era Japanese internment camp. The Tribune profiles the Kawano brothers.
10. What Soot-Covered Birds Can Tell Us About the History of Air Pollution—and Its Future
Specimens at the Field Museum carry, on their feathers, the history of black-carbon pollution in the Midwest. Chicago magazine explains.