If Chicago wins the 2016 Olympics, many will question whether the city's guarantee to cover any financial setbacks from the Games will ultimately hurt taxpayers. But there's one sure-fire guarantee we won't have to question in terms of the Olympics' impact on Chicago: people will be displaced and parts of...

President Barack Obama recently made his fourth trip to job-starved Elkhart, Ind., a city whose plight has come to embody the American economic crisis. But the nation's sympathy and support for Elkhart might have never materialized if it were an all-black community.

I can say that with confidence since there...

I can never hold back the tears when I watch this video. Daniel Beaty delivers this poem with such force and such passion; you can't help but be moved. They are the most powerful words I've ever heard in describing the pain left by a father's absence. I've...

When The Chicago Reporter broke the news that the Illinois State Police had ignored thousands of court orders to expunge or seal criminal records of some ex-offenders, all hell broke loose.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan expressed her outrage, demanding compliance. Some black state lawmakers expressed their outrage with...

Somebody should pay.

Deep down, we've always known that the world of Illinois politics, or more precisely Chicago politics, is a messy place. But we've been able to sufficiently keep a lid on it until former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's arrest, and things just got worse with the controversy surrounding Sen....

Considering all of the jobs lost to the current economic crisis or to cheaper labor overseas, this may be the tightest job market most of us have ever endured. You know things are tough when thousands of people line up to fill out applications for jobs as school custodians or...

Once again the eyes of the world are upon us as America swears in its first African-American president--and how fitting that it comes a day after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This historic moment has again paved the way for hours of commentary, emotion and tears, all suggesting that change...

While many college football fans have called for an end to the Bowl Championship Series in favor of a playoff system, including President-elect Barack Obama, it's the BCS that may actually be the only thing that can finally put an end to the sport's mythical national championship.

The BCS was...

This idea has already surfaced in the blogosphere. But fanatics of the popular cable series The Wire have to act. We may finally have the perfect pitch to David Simon, the journalist who turned his knowledge of Baltimore's underground drug economy and its connections to that city's political and...

No, really, we can't stand poor people.

We pass by them on downtown street corners as if they weren't really there. We price them out of our "new" neighborhoods--also known as their "old" neighborhoods--with little remorse. We don't drive or ride public transportation through poor parts of town. We shun...

In case you hadn't noticed, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has already won.

I'm not talking about a debate, or even the election itself. Before a single vote has been counted, or cast for that matter, Obama has captured something that may be far more precious than even the American...

Here are some thoughtful words for those Cub fans lucky enough to snag tickets to playoff games at Wrigley Field this year: Get the hell out of the way!

If the Cubs are in the field, and you're sitting in the first couple of rows in foul territory, please do...

I can't tell you much about organic food.

I can't tell you how it's grown. I can't tell you why it's healthier. And I can't tell you where to find it. Until a few years ago, I never thought much about organic food and was pretty content with my diet...

There are a lot of questions about the Rev. and state Sen. James Meeks' school boycott to protest inequitable school funding in Illinois. You can question whether asking parents to keep their children out of Chicago's public schools is the right thing to do--for any cause. You can also question...