The late Chicago journalist was a young staffer for this magazine when he captured the pulse of the city shortly before it elected its first black mayor. Read more
The new governor's criminal justice-reform proposals could be popular with his opponents, while his controversial "employee empowerment zones" will be a tough sell with the courts. Read more
It was so bad, Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson hosted an hour-long live call-in show that allowed residents to bombard top bureaucrats with questions, capturing history (and the collapse of a mayoral administration) as it happened. Read more
The counties with the highest rates of poverty tend to be the ones where Pat Quinn lost—and where Bruce Rauner will need to tread carefully while cutting government spending. Read more
Imagine your own personal El car, running quietly along a small track and taking you directly to the station you request. It almost happened—in Rosemont. Read more
Fundraiser A: My Fight for Freedom and Justice, out April 2015, tells the sad story of the governor's brother who was indicted along with him. Read more
Michigan's legislature is putting a sales-tax increase to voters in order to combat their crumbling roads—with the support of Republican governor Rick Snyder. If Illinois's new Republican leader decides it's necessary, he's got political momentum within his own party. Read more
