Stories by Nick Blumberg

The Better Government Association reports that some Illinois municipalities struggling with high debt loads and troubled budgets could be looking at bankruptcy as an option to get out of a financial hole -- even though it's technically illegal.

Specimen Products is the brainchild of Ian Schneller. He's an artist and musician who makes and repairs stringed instruments and audio equipment. He also runs a school that teaches people to make a variety of instruments and audio equipment; but Schneller's real hope is that his students discover the disappearing art of making things by hand without the aid of a computer.

Vape? Bae? Lumbersexual? What do you think the Word of the Year for 2014 should be? Share your nominations in the comments section below. And join us on Wednesday, Dec. 17, when we hear from linguists who tell us what words were on everybody's lips this year and why.

Time is winding down for Chicago high-rises to comply with the Life Safety Evaluation Ordinance. We get the latest from the Department of Buildings Commissioner Felicia Davis.

National Geographic explorers Mike Libecki and Cory Richards tell us about their trek to a never-before climbed 2,000-foot summit in Antarctica called Bertha's Tower.

The price tag for the new DePaul University arena slated to be built on the Near South Side appears to be growing dramatically -- as much as 75 percent more than the original estimate.

Residents in Chicago and the suburbs complain that changes to takeoff and landing patterns at Chicago O'Hare International Airport are making previously quiet neighborhoods excessively noisy.