Kate Rockwood

Starting an independent, feminist publishing house in the Midwest may not seem like the surest business model, but having that press concentrate solely on poetry sounds like the kiss of death. The editors of Switchback Books, Chicago’s only feminist press, didn’t let that stop them from setting up shop in the Windy City, or using the f-word...

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Originally published May 2007, VenusZine

A hospital operating room and an airplane hanger may seem worlds apart, but A layoff prompted Mark Leybla to make the transition. After 14 years as a mechanic with United Air Lines, Leybla lost his job when the company closed its Indianapolis maintenance shop in 2003. Rather than join thousands of displaced coworkers in an extended job search, he seized the chance to pursue a career in nursing.

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Originally published May 31, 2007, Medill Reports.

Shakespeare it's not. But "Shear Madness," the long-running comedic whodunit currently at the Chicago Theatre, plays as fast and easy with the laughs as it does with the flamboyant characters, playful plot and nudge-nudge-wink-wink audience participation. Of course, where some will see nothing but swishing stereotypes, others will find a tongue-in-cheek jab at the lighter side of hair salons. Trashy, campy fun or stone-age stereotype? Either way, the crowds are laughing. Loudly.

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Originally published May 18, 2007, Centerstage Chicago. 

It is often said that Tom Stoppard is a playwright of ideas, but under the apt direction of Charles Newell at Court Theatre, Stoppard's "Arcadia" transcends far beyond the purely cerebral. It is a dazzling, at times hilarious, production and its intellectual weight is not diminished by this production's physicality. Instead, the result is a smooth, sumptuous marriage of thought and body, page and stage. It is an apt and joyful note on which to end Court's season...

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Originally published May 18, 2007, Centerstage Chicago. 

Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. is tabling the idea of selling its Mariott Lincolnshire Resort until at least the end of the third quarter this year, CEO Laurence Geller announced Thursday when discussing first-quarter results of the Chicago-based company. Strategic, the operator of high-end luxury hotels and resorts, reported to shareholders a wider loss of $9.6 million, or 13 cents per diluted share, on early debt repayment and unfavorable foreign exchanges, from a year-earlier loss of $1.4 million, or 3 cents per diluted share...

Originally published May 4, 2007, Daily Herald

Kraft Foods Inc. plans to roll out a new line of cheese products at the Food Marketing Institute show in Chicago on Sunday, in an effort to cash in on the latest consumer trend toward nutritionally enhanced foods. The Northfield-based food giant will unveil a line of probiotic cheese cubes and individual cheese sticks, under the sub-brand LiveActive, that includes living microorganisms aimed at balancing naturally occurring gut flora and at aiding consumer digestion...

Originally published May 3, 2007, Daily Herald .

Organic food demand is growing but with big-name grocers like Whole Foods Market and Wal-Mart entering the mix, supply has become increasingly tight, meaning organic produce in supermarkets is as likely to be shipped in from California as grown near Chicago. So some consumers who balk at the idea of eating produce that’s traveled thousands of miles are guaranteeing themselves a local supply by buying in advance a share of a small farm's produce. The device is called community-supported agriculture, or CSA.

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Originally published April 26, 2007, Medill Reports.

When Naperville residents finally raise a glass at the newest Morton’s steakhouse, scheduled to open early next year, odds are strong they’ll be sipping a “Heavenly Mortini” cocktail and rubbing shoulders with a decidedly younger set. But they won’t be the only ones raising a glass to Morton’s hot new bar concept...

Originally published April 25, 2007, Daily Herald