Assessing the Midwest economy--a longer view

The Midwest, referred to as the Rust Belt since the wrenching adjustments of the early 1980s, has recently been performing more like a well-tuned machine than a region in decline.1 Its remarkable turnaround has been widely reported.2 The Midwest economy performed above the national average during the early 1990s recession. This was a remarkable achievement for a region that is dominated by manufacturing and the production of durables, sectors that tend to contract at a faster pace than the national economy during an economic downturn. We see further signs of the region's comeback in an unemployment rate that has been below the national average in each of the past four years-in each of the …

Consumer confidence in January further darkens

A private research group says that Americans' mood about the economy has darkened even further in January.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index edged lower in January to 37.7 from a revised 38.6 in December. That's a historic low for the widely watched …

SIGMUND FREUD // Giant of the mind still towers over his critics

Freud A Life for Our Time. By Peter Gay. Norton. $25.

Our truly great are seminal thinkers, who bet their lives ongrand insights, who discover and map new universes. They dare all inthe name of art or science, and they alter our world, so that everygeneration is transformed, and sees these giants fresh.

No great man or woman risked more than Sigmund Freud, or, it maybe argued, suffered more in one embattled lifetime - rejection,ridicule, betrayal, persecution, cancer, exile - and above all,mistranslation and misinterpretation. He has been dead almost half acentury; he has been reviled and revised, in and out of fashion,mourned and mocked; but his name is a household …

Obama text on debt deal with congressional leaders

WASHINGTON (AP) — Text of President Barack Obama's remarks on the debt-ceiling deal with congressional leaders, as provided by the White House:

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Good evening. There are still some very important votes to be taken by members of Congress, but I want to announce that the leaders of both parties, in both chambers, have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default — a default that would have had a devastating effect on our economy.

The first part of this agreement will cut about $1 trillion in spending over the next 10 years — cuts that both parties had agreed to early on in this process. The result would be the lowest level of annual domestic …

Misheard comment leads to evacuation of nuclear power plant

Hundreds of employees were evacuated from a Wisconsin nuclear power plant for several hours Tuesday because a clerk at a nearby convenience store misunderstood a comment by a new plant worker.

A man entered the store about 7:15 a.m. and asked for directions to the Point Beach nuclear power plant, the clerk told police in Two Rivers. As the man was leaving, the clerk heard him say he "came to blow up the place," authorities said.

She called police, who tracked down the man's rental car at the power …

Proud to serve on jury

I was recently called for jury duty in Will County, for the first time.

After reporting on my first day, I was picked for a trial and thought, "This is really going to take away from my time." But once I got into the courtroom and the judge explained everything and thanked everybody for showing up, I …

PICTURES OF HOME

PICTURES OF HOME

Janet Al Muradi's "Alleyways of My Memories" at Davies-Reid

Among the pieces that hang this First Thursday at Davies-Reid is Village of the North, an impressionistic bird's-eye view of the small town in Northern Iraq where artist Janet Al Muradi was born and raised.

It's from her most recent collection, "Alleyways of My Memories," most of which are acrylic on canvas or paper and have been painted from photographs Al Muradi has taken. Her work is often architectural, depicting landscapes or buildings, from important civic structures to dilapidated doorways.

Born in a tiny mountainous village in northern Iraq, Al Muradi was raised by her …