Illinois politicians admire John Filan's ability to balance a budget. Not all of them admire his way of doing it.

In the future, we'll study different cities for how they managed the great urban turnaround at the end of the 20th century. We'll go to Philadelphia to learn how to revive a downtown and manage homelessness. We'll study Chicago for urban vision and street beautification.

This is a season of lamentation for believers in the American federal system, or at least for those who believe state governments ought to occupy a position of honor and respect within it. States and their advocates complain that they are being bullied and pushed around by every branch of government in Washington: preempted, mandated, zeroed out, lectured to and generally dissed.

Courts are trying to make their proceedings less baffling and more bearable to jurors.

SUVs Send Cities To the Redrawing Boards