1. Three Years of Nights
Tribune crime reporter Peter Nickeas covered 500–600 shooting scenes in just three years. After a while, he couldn’t remember being around people just being happy. He looks back on the toll for Chicago magazine.
2. Librarians Continue Disappearing from Chicago Schools
They’ve been cut from 454 to 160 in just four years, with 80 jobs going in this year’s round of cuts. WBEZ shines a light on the trend.
3. The Wonk’s Guide to What Works, and What Doesn’t, When Policing Violent Crime
Some of what does work will be familiar to Chicagoans, despite recent rises in crime. The Trace goes down the list.
4. Video Games Level Up to High Art
Young Chicago artist Willam Chyr has been building a puzzle-based game that’s one of the year’s most anticipated titles. Can it bridge the gap? The Reader profiles him and the forthcoming Manifold Garden.
5. Fed Officials Challenge Decades of Accepted Wisdom on Inflation
Our understanding of one of the fundamentals of economics is changing, and the Chicago Fed chair is taking the lead. Bloomberg Markets explains.
6. Get Behind CeaseFire to Reduce Chicago Violence
The famous program has been the victim of state budget cuts. Maybe it’s time for the city to pick up the job. James O’Shea makes the case in the Sun-Times.
7. Your State Is Keeping Medical Marijuana Data Secret
Does it work? Is the program equitable? It’s hard to tell without the information. The Kind investigates.
8. Jabari Parker’s “Chicago”
Jabari Parker’s dad went from Chicago to the NBA—and came back to help the kids there. Now his son is trying to figure out how he can do the same. The Simeon grad and Milwaukee Bucks star tells his story in The Player’s Tribune.
9. How Will the Obama Library Impact the Area Around Jackson Park?
The experience of Little Rock with the Clinton Library is an encouraging sign. Chicago magazine finds out.
10. Aimee Boorman, Simone Biles’s Chicago-Born Coach, Is Gymnastics’ ‘Ditka’
She grew up with a single mother in Rogers Park, started coaching gymnastics at 13, and won a city championship at Lane Tech. Now she’s coaching one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. The Tribune follows her to Rio.