Kristin Maiorano/MEDILL
Metra riders wait for a train at the Vernon Hills station. The commuter rail agency will soon begin accepting credit cards online and at some stations.
While state and RTA officials tout Metra’s decision to begin accepting credit cards, the commuter rail agency is still working out how to logistically and financially make the change happen.
Chicago's Olympic bid includes plans for an 80,000-seat stadium that will be deconstructed into a less than 5,000-seat facility, an endeavor that has never before been attempted. While such a structure would save the city from having to operate and maintain yet another large sporting venue, nobody yet knows what legacy such a stadium would leave.
Chicago Police Department policy requires officers to purchase all their own equipment. Though officers receive subsidies to help defray the cost of equipment maintenance, critics of the policy argue that there are better, more economical ways to outfit Chicago's police force.
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The city and other organizations are working to create green jobs as planning, investment and training programs focus on the development of a green-collar workforce in Chicago. The future of these employment opportunities may depend on consumer demand for eco-friendly products and services.
Chicago's tax increment financing program, launched in 1984, has quickly spread across the city. And while most acknowledge that TIFs have spurred growth, some say the program has been overused and taxpayer money has been wasted.
The Art Institute of Chicago saw record attendance over the past month. After the Modern Wing opened on May 16, more than 204,000 people visited the museum.
Japanese scientist Kazuo Kawasaki talked at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design on Friday about his claim to fame as the designer behind Sarah Palin's glasses and his efforts to utilize the power of design to inspire peace.
It's a big week for the running world. Training begins for the Chicago Marathon and the lottery winners for the New York Marathon are announced. Though both marathons are months away, a lot of hard work and commitment go into running a marathon. Most view it as an immense physical achievement, but are we really built to run such long distances? Organs adapt, and muscle functions change, but what really goes on inside the body as you approach the 26 mile mark?
Inside the Mercury Café, a sprawling art studio of a coffee shop on Chicago Avenue, a dozen or so 20-somethings wearing jeans and dark t-shirts huddled Friday evening around a futuristic contraption rigged to the forehead of a young woman with close-cropped blue hair. This is what hacking looks like today. Meet this creative Chicago community.
President Barack Obama is no longer treating our country’s severe health care issue as an elective procedure – he’s rushing it to the emergency room. With 46 million uninsured Americans (and counting), he doesn't really have a choice. Right now the U.S. is lagging behind almost every other westernized country, lacking universal health care. So how do we fix our broken system? Some experts say they have the solutions.
Recent research indicates as many as 10 percent to 20 percent of children diagnosed as having an Autism Spectrum Disorder are able to lose their diagnosis as the result of positive response to early intervention. Experts disagree, however, as to what type of intervention is best, whether the tried-and-true behavioral therapy approach or the scientifically unproven biomedical approach.
Adolescents and young adults are contracting AIDS at rising rates compared to other age groups and the availability of better treatment may be increasing the risks by lulling fear. Teens and young adults under age 29 accounted for half of all new HIV cases in 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Audio:
Conductors bring safety and a friendly face
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Green Home Chicago Design Center
