Portside

I think this is a good time for all of us—Tribune included—to stop pretending that Rauner was the nobody from nowhere as depicted in his campaign commercials as opposed to a consummate insider whose firm once made millions managing state pensions funds during Governor Blago's reign.

Mayor Emanuel replaces the outgoing treasurer with another executive from his friend's investment firm.

Reader Comments - Karen Lewis starts recovery; Philadelphia Students Support Teachers; Towards a Socialist America; War on the Islamic State; Arming Rebels Does Not Work; Silicon Valley and Organized Labor; New Voters in Ferguson; Investing in Junk Armies; Gaza Reconstruction; Doomed Without a Wealth Tax; Rosenberg Sons' Statement; Announcements - New York and Chicago events; Palestine solidarity

Rahm Emanuel is vulnerable. True, he cleared the snow in the winter, the Chicago equivalent of making the trains run on time. But beyond that, his neoliberal policies have made him a lot of enemies. The ramifications of an Emanuel defeat go beyond Chicago. He has been central to the Democratic Party's rightward swing since the Clinton years. The potential for a Lewis victory is as yet unclear. The election is just five months away - she has yet to declare her candidacy.

Drug possession is the No. 1 reason people were in Cook County Jail last year. That’s been the case for the better part of the past decade. Since 2006, people have been booked and released more than 100,000 times for possession, according to jail records. And during that same time period, taxpayers have spent $778 million jailing people on the lowest-level possession charges.

This summer Jackie Robinson West become the first all-African-American U.S. Champion of the Little League World Series in 30 years. In 1959 another group of Chicago boys – Chatham’s Tuley Park Comets -- had a similar experience. They were the first all-African-American team to win the Chicago Park District’s Little League baseball championship, going undefeated at 32-0 that season. Their run also included winning the Thillens Stadium Tournament.

The revealing story of Chicago undercover officers Mo and Gloves

A union leader is being hailed as a possible mayor in Chicago while elsewhere mayors are pursuing policies Obama has been unable to enact on the national stage. Now Karen Lewis is seriously considering running against Rahm Emanuel in Chicago next year. She could win. A Chicago Sun Times poll last month gave Lewis a nine-point lead with 18% undecided.

Low birth weight, childhood lead poisoning, pre-term births, and infant mortality rate all go hand in hand with the crime rate—but there are significant differences in how neighboring communities are affected.