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It might appear that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and football star Tom Brady have nothing in common. But maybe they do. Both were party to collective bargaining agreements they moved to end.

The political wrangling over collective bargaining and unions has brought public sector workers into focus. In February, teachers, nurses and other civil service workers took over Wisconsin’s state capitol building.

Each Monday here on Venture, we aim to give you a headstart on the week's business news in Chicago. We want to get insight into the health of the economy by exploring how people all around us are experiencing it.  

Since his death March 16 at the age of 53, there’s been an outpouring of grief and praise for the late Chicago businessman James Tyree. Even President Barack Obama called Tyree a quintessential Chicagoan.Tyree grew up in Beverly on Chicago's South Side.

If the Republican-led House has its way, federal funds for all public broadcasters will soon end. The House Rules Committee recently voted 6-5 to defund NPR. The bill will now move to the floor for debate. At stake are hundreds of millions of dollars for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Though many think NPR could live without government funding, that may not be the case for many stations that serve small cities and rural areas.

There are billions of dollars of business that flow every day between the Midwest and Japan.As Japan tries to recover from the devastating natural disaster there, companies located in the Midwest are starting to assess how it will affect business here.Here, this report on how deep the economic ties