By Noah Isackson, Nora O’Donnell, and Jennifer Wehunt
Don’t hate them because they’re beautiful. These 20 singles—a top table-tennis player, a nightlife impresario, and a gallery owner among them—are smart and talented, too. Read more
Whether helping a wage earner plot a savvy investment strategy or a wealthy entrepreneur preserve his riches, these local financial pros earn high marks by giving smart advice and putting their clients first Read more
Fifty years ago this April, a young man from Woodstock, Illinois, named Johnny Stompanato was stabbed to death in the bedroom of his lover, the movie goddess Lana Turner. Stompanato was a minor hoodlum and notorious Lothario, and news accounts eviscerated his character in the media frenzy after his death. Now a writer, also from Woodstock, follows a fading trail to find how a small-town Midwesterner landed at the heart of one of Hollywood's most enduring scandals. Read more
Last Labor Day, Steve Fossett—the investment wizard turned record-setting adventurer—took off in a plane from a remote Nevada airfield. He hasn't been seen since. Read more
From our February 2008 issue: Rod Blagojevich was something of a golden boy when he became the governor of Illinois—a young, charismatic champion of change with powerful backers and presidential aspirations. Now he may be the most unpopular governor in the country. A look at how things fell so completely apart Read more
At the turn of the 20th century, the country's most famous antismoking crusader was a sharp-tongued, stern-faced zealot from Chicago who nearly succeeded in achieving a statewide ban on cigarettes. Now, as a new antismoking law takes effect in Illinois, her nearly forgotten story gets a fitting coda. Read more
As a U. of C. grad student, Sudhir Venkatesh talked his way inside a crack-dealing gang at the notorious Robert Taylor Homes and befriended its charismatic leader. Now, in a new book, this "rogue sociologist" tells of his up-close—at times perhaps too close—encounter with gang life Read more
Our Chicagoans of the Year for 2007 are a champion of the disabled, an African American publisher, a world-renowned chef, a mother who turned loss into hope, a lifesaving animal lover, a kid helping other kids, and a longtime advocate of tolerance and diversity. Read more
