Chicagoland’s Don’t Panic, it’s a Distro plans a Sunday, Sept. 30, release of “DeKalb Brawl City,” a compilation CD featuring punk and metal bands from DeKalb. The 17-track CD features independently released music from both current and defunct bands from DeKalb. Ranging from punk and metal to folk and ska, “DeKalb Brawl City” dives down deep...

If there’s strength in numbers, Chicago’s outer-ring towns gained big-time muscle from 2000 to 2010, according to a new analysis of census data by NIU geography professor Richard Greene. During the century’s first decade, well-established edge communities such as Joliet, Aurora, Elgin, Waukegan and Kenosha added to their already burgeoning populations and strengthened their positions atop...