Illinois Issues, February 16, 2017 — The police took away a 70-year-old Moline woman’s car when her grandson drove it with a revoked license. “Why am I being punished?” Judy Wiese asked a reporter last year at the Rock Island County courthouse. After the story made headlines, a lawyer stepped forward and helped her out, pro… Continue reading Civil Asset Forfeiture Critics Complain Innocent People Pay
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Q&A with Steve James
Wilmette’s Robbie Fulks up for first two Grammy Awards on Sunday
Pioneer Press, February 9, 2017 — When Robbie Fulks began making his 12th studio album, he set a lofty goal for himself. The country-folk singer-songwriter-guitarist, who lives in Wilmette, recalls saying: “It’s boring doing the same thing over and over again. So how can we raise the game?” That’s when he decided he’d try to… Continue reading Wilmette’s Robbie Fulks up for first two Grammy Awards on Sunday
Foot Fight: Subway sandwich suit raises class action questions
ABA Journal, February 2017 — In January 2013, Australian teen Matt Corby posted a photo on Facebook of a Subway “foot-long” sandwich he’d bought next to a ruler that showed it was an inch short. The post went viral—and within weeks, people across the United States began to file lawsuits, claiming they’d been shorted by… Continue reading Foot Fight: Subway sandwich suit raises class action questions
Chicago police were condemned in 1904 for drinking, slouching, ignoring crime
Chicago Tribune, January 29, 2017 — Too many of Chicago’s cops weren’t doing their jobs. Slouching in unkempt uniforms, they drank whiskey in saloons when they should have been walking their beats. And they ignored crimes happening right in front of their eyes. These were the findings of an investigation in 1904 called the Piper Report. “Chicago’s police… Continue reading Chicago police were condemned in 1904 for drinking, slouching, ignoring crime
Favorite Concerts of 2016
January-February 2017 Theater Preview
Ike Holter and ‘The Wolf at the End of the Block’
Playbill, January 2017 — For a playwright who has received the highest praise from critics, Ike Holter is disarmingly modest. “I’m pretty dumb,” the 30-year-old Chicagoan says, struggling to explain how he writes his riveting dialogue. “I have no way of saying how it comes out.” Dumb? Really? That’s just about the last thing you’d say after… Continue reading Ike Holter and ‘The Wolf at the End of the Block’
Favorite Albums of 2016
Newberry Library’s Shakespeare Exhibit
Playbill, December 2016 — As the world marked the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, Chicago had good reason to boast. Even though it’s an ocean and half a continent away from Shakespeare’s home turf in England, the city hosted the largest celebration of the Bard in 2016. “There’s really nothing that matches Shakespeare 400… Continue reading Newberry Library’s Shakespeare Exhibit