Labor and business
Crain's investigation: Unpaid wages a growing problem for Chicago-area workers
Crain's Chicago Business, 12/13/10
Wage theft -- a broad term that encompasses practices like skirting minimum wage or overtime -- is on the rise in Chicago.
Two-layoff families
Crain's Chicago Business, 11/2/09
Double layoffs have thrown Chicago-area families into chaos, tightening finances and ripping away a sense of security.
Legalize it
Chicago Reader, 5/28/09
The City of Chicago doesn't license street vendors who sell food. Instead, it tickets the popular sellers of corn and fresh fruit, eating away at their already meager profits.
Job loss puts crimp in social ties
Crain's Chicago Business, 4/20/09
"You tend to dance around the fact that neither of you is working, because there's a bit of ego and social stigma involved. You feel a bit like the scarlet letter, like you're somehow tainted."
WARN-ing signs
Crain's Chicago Business, 3/9/09
Workers at several Chicago companies are suing their employers for violating the federal WARN act, which says businesses must notify employees before shutting down.
Travel
Googling Romeo
World Hum, 8/30/10
This is what happens when you meet a handsome actor overseas and can't leave well enough alone.
Stratford-upon-Avon: Where Shakespeare lives, even today
Shore, May 2009
"Shakespeare is inescapable in Stratford-upon-Avon. The town trades on the name of its most famous son, so there's Shakespeare's Hostelrie, Cafe As You Like It, Othello's Bar & Brasserie, Much Ado About Toys and a discount bookstore called The Works."
Where the Ripper prowled
Signature Brandywine, March 2009
"It was darker than it should have been for that hour and latitude. It was only 7:30 p.m., but the clouds had flattened the sky, leaving only a band of sun at the horizon, turning London gloomy and, as usual, threatening rain."
Chicago: Birth of a new era starts in Windy City
The New Zealand Herald, 1/21/09
"Please. I am begging you. If you come to Chicago to see where the next
President of the United States hails from do not go to the top of the Sears Tower."
Moor Spain
Shore, May 2008
"Here is what remains of the Muslims in today's Spain: orange trees on city streets, flashes of bright-colored ceramic tile on balconies and doorways, Arabic-derived Spanish words like azucar for sugar and alfombra for carpet, World Heritage sites, the figures zero through nine, algebra, walled gardens."
World tour travel columns
The News Journal, June - December 2006
A collection of 13 columns written in the bars of 12 countries on four continents during a six-month trip around the world.
News
Justice deferred
Time Out Chicago, 9/30/10
A little-used Illinois law gives rape victims another way to hold their attackers accountable.
Why don't more women sue their rapists?
Slate, 5/26/10
A decade later women have yet to recover the legal advantages they lost in 2000 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the portion of the Violence Against Women Act that allowed women to sue their rapists in federal court.
Why is the Catholic Church firing women?
Slate, 12/17/09
The Catholic Church is dismissing workers who dissent privately from the Vatican's teachings, and U.S. labor law doesn't protect them.
Catholics push for Mary's canticle to be heard
Women's eNews, 12/21/08
Some progressive Catholics are pushing the church to include more readings about women at Sunday worship services.
Economy stretches gender gap in Obama's favor
Women's eNews, 11/01/08
The economic crisis pushed women, already inclined to vote Democratic, even further toward Sen. Barack Obama as they worried about their own jobs, health care access and financial stability.
Trouble at CHA's charity arm
Chi-Town Daily News, 7/11/08
Financial stress and planning problems are forcing the Chicago Housing Authority to reconsider the role of Windows of Opportunity, its 19-year-old affiliated nonprofit.
Church that served public housing residents closes its doors
Chi-Town Daily News, 5/19/08
"The primary population that we served and that we do serve is that of Lathrop Homes," said Rev. Edie Lenz. "That is who we still are, and that is not who our neighborhood is anymore."
Phone problems dog Lathrop Homes
Chi-Town Daily News, 4/16/08
AT&T and the Chicago Housing Authority blame each other for poor telephone service at a local public housing development. Meanwhile, residents still have to pay their monthly bills.
Catholic outposts push advent of female ministry
Women's eNews, 12/2/07
The "underground church" gives Catholic women who feel called to leadership roles a place to use their talents.
Catholic women press their fitness for priesthood
Women's eNews, 8/26/07
The Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement continues to ordain women despite condemnation from Rome.
Arts and lifestyle
Learning to fly: A day in the life of a Joffrey ballerina
Shore magazine, September 2008
A rising star at Chicago's Joffrey ballet company talks about pointe shoes, physical therapy and life at center stage.
Redecorating after divorce
Divorce360.com, October 2007
"Buy new bedding for the master bedroom. Enough said."
