1. Want to Fix Gun Violence in America? Go Local

The pattern in Chicago, where a small number of its census tracts are responsible for the majority of its homicides, repeats itself across the country. The Guardian runs the numbers.

2. Obama’s Early Writing on Chicago Was Eerily Prophetic About America’s Future

What he saw after Harold Washington mirrors the end of his term as president. The Reader looks back, and forward.

3. How Police Shootings in Chicago Have Changed in Three Decades

A report from the early 1980s shows slow progress, similar patterns. Chicago magazine examines the history.

4. Anne Romagnoli, Who Ran What May Be Country’s Oldest Accordion Store, Dies at 90

She blamed the Beatles for the instrument’s decline, and learned Spanish to serve a new customer base. The Tribune profiles the Italian immigrant and boss of the Italo-American Accordion Co.

5. Icebreakers of the Chicago River: How Bubblers, Boats, and Brawn Keep the City Safe Each Winter

The city’s $9 million cutter can handle a foot of ice, but dire situations call for men with ten-foot chisels. WBEZ explores how we clear the water.

6. Obama Races to Overhaul Police in Baltimore and Chicago Before Trump Era

The president-elect’s choice for DOJ head believes consent degrees hurt policing. Can the current admin get one in under the wire? The New York Times examines the possibility.

7. Can Chicago Take On Police Union Contracts This Year?

The DOJ almost certainly won’t, so to get what they want, activists will need to buckle down. The Chicago Reporter focuses on the issue.

8. The Art of Artemi Panarin’s One-Timer

The Hawks’ winger is a master of shooting off a pass, impressing scouts (and a physics professor). The Athletic breaks down his shot.

9. Bruce Rauner and His Great White Whale

Is the governor’s obsession with conquering the House Speaker taking away from his mission and accomplishments as governor? Rich Miller makes the case in the Quad-City Times.

10. Zion’s Nuclear Fallout; Still Reeling from ’98 Closing

The absence of jobs, and the presence of nuclear waste that the federal government doesn’t know what to do with, haunts the town. The Sun-Times visits the northern suburb.