Recent Contributions
Fermilab Making Career Switch
by MICHAEL LIPKIN | May 22, 2011
When scientists at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory announced last month that they may have discovered a new elementary particle or fundamental force of nature, it was likely the swan song of the lab’s Tevatron accelerator, once the most powerful atom-smasher in the world. That title now belongs to the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland,
Outside of Chicago, Fire Departments Face Cuts
by DAN MIHALOPOULOS and MICHAEL LIPKIN | May 13, 2011
Chicago is virtually alone among major U.S. cities in avoiding cutbacks in fire protection, with tight budgets forcing cost-saving efforts at the fire departments of New York, Los Angeles and other cities. (Read the accompanying story In Tough Times, Fire Department Untouched) In his first term since being elected in 2007, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter
In Tough Times, Fire Department Untouched
by DAN MIHALOPOULOS and MICHAEL LIPKIN | May 13, 2011
During the year that Robert Hoff became a Chicago firefighter, in 1976, 156 people died in fires in the city. By 2010, when Hoff became the department’s commissioner, that figure had plummeted to 27. The number of fires that the department was called to put out also dropped dramatically in recent decades. What has hardly
Incumbency Little Edge in Runoffs, History Shows
by MICHAEL LIPKIN | Apr 4, 2011
Of the 14 City Council runoff races Tuesday, 10 involve incumbents who are fighting to save their jobs. If history is any guide, incumbents who fail to receive an outright majority in first-round voting only have a slightly better than 50 percent chance of winning another four years in office.