Illinois’ comeback story starts here.

Julie McCabe-Sterr

Julie McCabe-Sterr

“I don’t want to give up on people, and I don’t want them to give up on themselves. “Sometimes [ex-offenders] have been given up on so many times: by family, by friends, by teachers, that we’re the first people that don’t give up on them. And if we don’t give up on them and we...

Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow

Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow

“We have individuals who commit violent crimes that have to be punished. We’ve got people who commit financial crimes that destroy people, we have to prosecute them aggressively. “But someone who is recreationally using drugs, we’ve always criminalized it and now we’ve seen that we’ve been banging our heads against a wall and it doesn’t...

Illinois lost 56 manufacturing jobs per workday in 2015

Illinois lost 56 manufacturing jobs per workday in 2015

Though neighboring and Great Lakes states added a combined 200 factory jobs per workday on net in 2015, an average of 56 Illinois manufacturing workers, on net, received pink slips each workday during the same time.

By Michael Lucci

Fred Long

Fred Long

“I grew up in Roseland. “We lived in a two-flat with a basement and one bathroom: me and 25 other family members. Drug problems, gang violence, all of that was the reality. “Vocational school was vital for me and I thank God I got a job. It’s a cliché but that totally changed my life....