Economists say the Great Recession officially ended in 2009, and with each passing month, politicians tout the economic progress made throughout the country. But the recovery is still a long way off for many and a new study shows that states with large minority populations are disproportionately struggling to dig themselves out of the economic disaster. The Center for Social Inclusion's report
(PDF) looks at housing, jobs, health, and socio-fiscal factors to
create the Recession Impact Index, which breaks down the effect the
recession has had on individual states.
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That is the number of Chicago-area
renters who are “severely burdened” by rental costs, spending at least
half their household income on rent and utilities, according to a 
A range of housing counseling programs didn't survive the cuts Congress and the White House agreed to to keep the federal government 
The current group of Chicago aldermen has seemed pretty comfortable bucking the Daley administration on some important mayoral priorities over the last month or so. In March, members of the council's Committee on Aviation 