60604 - News, Photos and More on the Windy Citizen

The Chicago Department of Public Health's soon to be released Tuberculosis Morbidity Report for 2007 shows a downward trend in TB cases throughout Chicago.

But the proportion of cases among foreign-born Chicagoans is growing.

Of all TB cases reported in 2007, 51.4 percent occurred among foreign-born Chicago residents, compared with 45.2 percent a year earlier. Last year, there were 20.8 cases of TB per 100,000 foreign-born residents compared with a 2006 figure of 21.1 cases per 100,000.

Communications experts are of mixed opinions about WiMAX, the wireless system being built in Chicago. Derek Kerton, for one, who's a principal at the Kerton Group, a San Jose-based wireless consulting company, remains dubious.

"It is risky … Nowhere has there been a commercially launched, large scale WiMAX network like the one Sprint and Clearwire" are envisioning, Kerton said in an interview, "It could be fantastic, but the eyes of the world will be on Sprint, will be on Chicago, D.C. and the other test cities to see how well this works.”

With contract negotiations between the governor’s office and Illinois’ largest public-service union now at stalemate, workers and organizers took to the streets statewide Thursday, picketing at 40 locations.

The union contract is set to expire June 30, frustrating state employees looking for a better deal.

As fuel prices push airline fees higher and higher, travelers are being forced to cut back on spending wherever possible. So when it comes to getting to the airport, the more affordable shuttle buses are winning out over more costly limousine services.

Limousine companies, which earn approximately 80 percent of their revenues from rides to and from the airport, have been hit especially hard.

“Some operators are saying they are 10 to 30 percent off from where they were last year,” according to Martin Romjue, editor of Limousine & Chauffeured Transportation magazine.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index continued its downward trend in May, hitting a 16-year low of 57.2, down 5.6 points from 62.8 in April.

It was the fifth straight month that the Index has fallen.

The Present Situation Index, which measures consumer sentiment about the current economic environment and job market, decreased to 74.4 from 81.9 in April. The Expectations Index, which gauges what consumers expect from the economy and job market in the near future, declined to 45.7, down 4.3 points from 50 in April.

When 33-year-old Joanna Rudnick found out she had genetic mutation that gave her an extremely high risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer, the risk was not all she was scared about.

“My biggest fear when I found out I was positive was, ‘How am I ever going to tell this to a partner?’” Rudnick said.

So she documented her experience navigating through a new relationship while faced with the decision of whether or when to surgically remove her breasts and ovaries.

Fewer people were killed in Chicago last year: Between 2000 and 2007, the murder toll dropped 30 percent.

That would seem to be good news, but not if you talk to people in North Lawndale or East Garfield Park.

In those neighborhoods and seven others, it’s a different story.

After spending 10 years in prison for crimes he did not commit, Dana Holland has a surprisingly positive outlook.

“We’re only human, and people make mistakes,” says the 40-year-old Chicago native. “There are ways to show the truth and keep people honest, and there’s lots of good in the system, too.”

A tall man with a shaved head and a slight mustache, Holland has an easy-going demeanor and a quick smile. He now helps other inmates who believe they were wrongfully convicted.

What's the new trend gaining market share in snacks? It isn’t chocolate, and it isn’t candy. It's consumers looking to get more from their snack time.

The trend is evident in the rise of functional snack products on display at the All Candy Expo that opened Tuesday at McCormick Place in Chicago.

“When people look today at their meals, they really look like the snacks of a few years ago,” said Jill Manchester, vice president of immediate consumption at Northfield-based Kraft Foods Inc., during a presentation on industry trends at the show.

Imagine a wave of intense heat suddenly enveloping your body, flushing your skin red and leaving your clothes drenched with sweat.

Your heartbeat accelerates to a gallop as you choke for air.

Minutes pass before the crippling heat begins to subside.

Now, think about experiencing this up to 25 times a day, sometimes six time in one hour, and you can picture what life was like for Bianca Kennedy of Chicago.

Kennedy was one of the many breast cancer survivors in America afflicted by debilitating hot flashes.