The Home Front

By Don DeBat Dark autumn clouds hang over Chicago’s North-Side housing market. Currently plagued by a shortage of listings, high prices and lofty mortgage-interest rates, buying or selling a home in late 2026 can be a pretty scary event. But what if a property listed for sale on this Halloween weekend seemingly has a haunted or paranormal past? Real estate brokers generally refer to such parcels as “stigmatized properties.” They include: sites of a natural or accidental death

By Don DeBat Many marriages don’t last three decades. So, the Chicago 16-Inch Softball Hall of Fame (HOF) is proud to celebrate its 30th-anniversary, and the birthday of its founding in 1996. The HOF includes 700 plus of the best male and female athletes in the sport since the 1920s, when softball began to take off in Chicago parks and gravel school yards. On October 24th, the HOF also will recognize the Class of 2026 Inductees and Honorees at its 30th annual dinner event

By Don DeBat Mayor Brandon Johnson’s “Protecting Renters Ordinance” (PRO) aims to rewrite landlord-tenant rules in Chicago in an effort to supposedly strengthen tenant protections and housing stability. However, the proposed PRO ordinance is “flawed and actually hurts affordability” by adding costs and restrictions for landlords, according to an expert analysis by Illinois Policy Institute, a non-profit taxpayer-research organization. An earlier version of PRO would have requ

By Don DeBat Back in the 1960s, Ralph Nader, the famed consumer advocate who authored a book titled “Unsafe At Any Speed,” lobbied for safer automobiles—especially against the Chevrolet Corvair and Ford Pinto. Today, in Chicago and across Illinois, the question Nader would ask: Are people unsafe on two wheels? Ralph Nader (right) As grim statistics on bicycle, electric scooter and motorcycle deaths keep piling up, the question in 2026 is how are people—especially risk-prone

(Above) Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood, where tight inventory has helped push median North Side home prices up 10.9% this year despite rising mortgage rates. Photo by 606 Vision. By Don DeBat For Chicago families seeking the American Dream of homeownership, the nation’s latest mortgage-rate and economic news is not looking bright. With autumn winds starting to blow, home-loan interest rates now hover at a lofty 7.28% nationwide for the first time since August of 2023. On Oc