U.S. Drought Monitor — droughtmonitor.unl.edu

Animal owners face higher prices for feed, dwindling supplyThe lush green pastures that usually provide a summer's worth of food for Robin Broughton's horses have dried up, leaving only nubs of parched grass that poke out of the cracked earth. Her riding arena is so dry and dusty that it has lured a large snapping turtle to lay eggs there.

Inquiry can target 2004 Koschman beating, police investigation, prosecutors' actions and the role of current state's attorneyWhen special prosecutor Dan Webb, a former U.S. attorney in Chicago, begins his investigation into the 2004 death of David Koschman, there will be no shortage

31st Street facility to open in May with room for 1,000 boatsEvanston attorney David Rapoport put his name on the waiting list for a Chicago harbor boat slip a few years ago, listing the popular DuSable Harbor downtown as his first choice.

Ideas that could help city's park-poor neighborhoods away from the lakefrontIdeas are bubbling that can help Chicago fix the dismaying lack of open space away from its park-rich lakefront.

Lakefront's parkland disguises severe shortage in many inland neighborhoodsChicago's high-toned Latin motto, "Urbs in Horto" (City in a Garden), makes it sound as though the expansive open spaces of the city's lakefront extend to every corner of the city.

New program training clinicians in psychology of combat is an attempt to help fill the gapWhen Daniel Brautigam tried to tell therapists how he felt having urine thrown in his face at Guantanamo Bay, he experienced the same frustration as thousands of other returning veterans who have sought counseling.

Many recruits do not make cut, leaving Chicago area facing shortageA hiring experiment is being conducted at the main air traffic control center for the Chicago region to recruit controllers with the talent and experience needed to eventually become certified to work every position in the radar facility.

UP vows staff increases after 6 trains are canceledStaffing increases should ensure that Metra trains run normally Tuesday, officials said, after a shortage of engineers upended train — and commuters' — schedules on the Union Pacific West Line.

For 16-year-old Ondelee Perteet, life has had no shortage of challenges.

CDOT forum expected to elicit several proposals that could provide quick solutionsWhether at bus stops or inside local transit think tanks, there is no shortage of ideas to improve public transportation on Chicago's South Side.

Both sides lobbying hard as governor faces decision on death penalty banGov. Pat Quinn has had no shortage of advocates on both sides of the death penalty debate trying to sway him in a state where the issue has a high-profile and troubled past.

Air conditioning, more seating among planned amenitiesIts Corinthian columns help make Chicago Union Station an imposing landmark. But passengers often go away remembering how sweltering it gets inside the train depot's Great Hall as well as the serious shortage of places to sit down, from waiting