You find an apartment, get accepted, sign the dotted line, shake hands with your landlord and move in. Roll out the welcome mat, and you’ve got yourself a new home. But sometimes, renting isn’t always that cut and dry.

Spencer Leak, Sr. sees the impact of violence first hand; many of his clients have been violently murdered. As the owner of Leak and Sons Funeral Homes, Leak aims to provide families who have lost loved ones to violence with closure.

Good teachers are crucial to student learning, but just how do you measure a teacher’s effectiveness? That’s something many districts in Illinois and around the country are grappling with as new laws prompted by Race to the Top go into effect.

This month, students are finding out whether or not they’ve been accepted to attend a selective enrollment or magnet school in the fall, so it seems like a fitting time to check in Katie Ellis. Ellis is Chicago Public Schools’ executive director of access and enrollment.

Listen to this conversation Is demolition a solution to the housing crisis in some of the Chicago area's most depressed communities?Nowadays, many foreclosed homes end up in states of disrepair. Left vacant, they’re stripped of all valuable materials.

You could say that the Chicago area cranks out Irish-American politicians as fast as green beer sells on St. Patty’s day.  Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but in some regards, it’s not so far from truth.  Think of how many local politicians come from Irish decent; there’s Gov.

Despite having actor George Wendt as an uncle, Jason Sudeikis didn’t act growing up. Speech and debate was as close as it got to any kind of performance, he told Steve Edwards Tuesday on the Afternoon Shift.