You don’t have to know Ernest Hood’s 1975 album Neighborhoods to understand what’s going on in the new compilation New Neighborhoods, but it doesn’t hurt. Born in 1923, Hood was a Portland jazz musician who kept up with new recording and production techniques throughout his life, and in 1964 he cofounded the listener-supported Portland radio […]
Tag: Decatur
Posted inNews & Politics
Downstate hate: A history of the bitter, nearly 200-year rivalry between Chicago and the rest of Illinois
The animosity between Illinois’s largest city and its smaller towns is almost as old as the state itself.
Posted inBlogs
Mayor Rahm the rainmaker
You watch, Chicago—before it’s all over Mayor Rahm will be doling out some TIF money to ADM.
Posted inBlogs
Fun with city ratings
Forget “best.” Break it down. Where in the Midwest are the places with the cheapest houses, skinniest people, and cleanest air?
Posted inArts & Culture
The Unauthorized Decatur, Illinois
Decatur, Illinois Understand one thing before you go to Decatur: it’s a company town. True, there are four or five companies instead of just one, and some are owned by distant investors who have even less interest in Decatur than you do. Nevertheless, in this place it’s much harder than usual to ignore the power […]
Posted inNews & Politics
This Is War
The Battle of Decatur: The labor movement knows that its meaning and credibility are on the line here. Can the revolution be far behind?