FEATURES

14 End Of the road? by Gayle Worland
Illinois has always been a winner in the race for federal
highway dollars. Now other states are revving up to pull ahead.

18 On Standby by Frank Vinluan
Can the state's regional airports pull out of an economic
nosedive? Downstate communities are banking on it.

21 Designated hitter by Jennifer Davis
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie has
learned that you can't always hit home
runs in the Illinois legislature.

24 Snapshots
Pals, chits and moles: Federal prosecutors target
bribery and fraud from one end of the state to the other.

27 Editor's choice
An end-of-summer sampler:
Demons, devolution and capital punishment.

DEPARTMENTS

3 A Conversation With Our Readers
by Ed Wojcicki

4 Editor's Notebook
by Peggy Boyer Long

6 State of the State
by Donald Sevener
Dearth of a salesman

8 Briefly
by Donald Sevener

30 People
by Jennifer Davis

34 Letters

37 A View From Chicago
by James Ylisela Jr.
We'll keep the light on, Ma

38 Politics
by Charles N. Wheeler III
Why ethics is like alligators