Stephen Franklin

Bucking overwhelming evidence that the nation`s economy is in trouble, Illinois` unemployment rate fell 1.3 percentage points to 5.9 percent last month as the U.S. rate remained at 5.7 percent....

A family on a shopping spree can still walk out of a Sears, Roebuck & Co. store with new power tools for Dad, a new dress for Sis and an...

Antoine Banks` eye was on the basketball court, but his mind was stuck on a new pair of sneakers. Not just any pair, but a pair of Nikes, he said,...

There is not enough food for her family, and Selama Said says she is physically tired of having children, but she will do nothing to prevent future births. ''They are...

Michigan`s Republicans hooted, hollered and huffed themselves into two competing delegations over the weekend for the party`s national convention in New Orleans this summer. Saying they had to ''restore order''...

Most of the people in Kenosha and Detroit never knew they were battling head-to-head-until last week, when Detroit won. When Chrysler Corp. announced its intention to close its Kenosha auto...

Telephone taps and bugs planted by FBI agents in the house of at least one major American neo-Nazi figure show how an ''underground'' of racist and anti-Semitic leaders coordinated bank...

As the Lady Bulldogs` van zipped by the hilly, yellow and brown fields, they were hailed for mile after mile. ''Pig out on victory, Lady Bulldogs,'' beamed a banner in...

Once again the foreman was hollering at her, and her body was shaking in anger. But the stream of words she usually tosses back wasn`t forthcoming, forcing Sandra Dowell to...

Sudden wind shifts were detected shortly before Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed after takeoff at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, killing at least 157 people, federal safety officials said Tuesday. The sharp...