Shutterstock / Rus S

Top chefs and legendary bakers are among the new breed of pizzaiolo.

Grant Condon/Jennifer Bui

Ask 10 people to tell you which region can lay rightful claim to pizza -- and you'll get 10 different answers.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

America goes to the polls in less than 3 weeks, there's a lot at stake for the majority of voters -- namely women. Unfortunately women also make up another majority -- those working for our pathetic $7.25 an hour minimum wage.

Katja Kircher via Getty Images

Perhaps the advent of cameras will help us all to see better, to understand another perspective, and maybe we can hold everyone -- citizens and police -- equally accountable.

The Chicago Tribune endorsed Bruce Rauner in the GOP Primary and it's now endorsed him for the General Election too. This comes as a surprise to no one.

David McNew via Getty Images

An increasingly divisive debate is raging among politically engaged Latinos right now over how to respond to our political leaders' incapacity to reform our immigration system. This should worry politicians in general and Democrats in particular.

While football might not be as big in Illinois as it is in the South, particularly the Southeastern Conference -- where University of Alabama Head Coach, Nick Saban, made $5.4 million last year -- coaches at Illinois' public universities are still earning six-figure salaries.

"Men are crafty, yes, and we help them by choosing to ignore the red flags in the relationship. If we're comfortable, and we like the guy, we're going to wear our blinders and hope for something more."

Politicians talk about unemployment nonstop. But 'jobs' have become just another talking point, a measure of political job performance, a launching pad to discuss bold new plans for economic development and schemes to use other people's money to prop up big business.

At Tuesday's Illinois gubernatorial debate, candidates Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn and Republican Bruce Rauner clashed about issues important to the African-American community, such as jobs, education and dealing with violence in communities.

All together, the 10 candidates for statewide office spent more than $42 million from July 1 to Oct. 1. The candidates for governor, Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn and Republican Bruce Rauner, spent more than $35 million.

Jeff and son Spencer Tweedy join me to talk about their new album, Sukierae, as well as about autographing Dominick's receipts, a band called Sexfist and much more. Plus, they perform "You Are Not Alone," a song Jeff wrote for Mavis Staples.

October is in full swing and Halloween is only a few short weeks away. That can only mean one thing: goblins and ghosts and ghouls have arrived in Illinois -- or at least stories about goblins and ghosts and ghouls.

We must start somewhere. Raising our minimum wage to $13.00 an hour in the City of Chicago is that starting place. But $13.00 an hour by 2018 is truly a floor-base-minimum to ensure that our city has a viable workforce for a vibrant economy in the 21st century.

Though Illinois has passed laws against patent-trolling shakedowns, the head of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association believes this is a battle only the federal government can fight.