1. In Year One, Rauner Learned Difference Between Statehouse and Boardroom
Coming from the world of business, the new governor wasn’t used to how slow democracy works. The Tribune sits down with Bruce Rauner.
2. Chicago Paid Record Borrowing-Related Fees in 2015
The city’s perilous bond rating, and the costs of getting out of old deals, has raised the price of new ones. The Sun-Times tallies up the cash.
3. Digging Deeper into Vivian Maier’s Past
A retired business executive, obsessed with the mysterious photographer, is revealing new details about who she was. The New York Times profiles Ann Marks.
4. How to Build a “Post-Ferguson” Police Station
Chicago starchitect Jeanne Gang has transformed Chicago’s landscape. Now she wants to transform the architecture of law enforcement. Politico Magazine talks to the local legend.
5. City Hikes Fines for Snow-Shoveling Scofflaws but Doesn’t Plan to Write More Tickets
During last year’s dreadful winter, the city wrote a mere 226 citations. Despite making a big deal of new fines, don’t expect new enforcement. The Reader runs the numbers.
6. Predictive Policing Comes to Restaurants
Chicago designed an algorithm to predict which establishments would be in violation of health codes—beating inspectors by more than a week. The Atlantic explains.
7. On the Staggering Complexity of Pierre Boulez, Composer and Conductor
How the CSO fixture went from enfant terrible to grand old man of classical music, without giving up his edge. Chicago revisits his career.
8. Photographs Preserve a Bygone World of Railroad
Forty years ago, Dale Wickham was so fascinated by rail tramps that he took photo classes in order to document them. StoryCorps Chicago records his story.
9. Cult Heroes: Virgo—Obscure Chicago House Duo Full of Mournful Mystique
Two budding musicians who’d learned their trade in the city’s high schools released a dancefloor classic—and then disappeared. The Guardian traces their path.
10. Chicago’s Extreme Segregation Laid Bare in Red Line Ride
An 18-year-old Chatham native spent months photographing the divide for a self-published book. DNAInfo looks at the work of Austin Wyche.