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What We're Reading: Weatherwise, We Got It Good. Really.

By DNAinfo Staff | August 6, 2015 3:15pm | Updated on August 6, 2015 3:16pm

 A man digs out his car along a snow-covered street on February 1, 2015
A man digs out his car along a snow-covered street on February 1, 2015
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Getty Images/Scott Olson

At DNAinfo, we're always on the lookout for interesting stuff. Here's what we're reading today:

Chicago's Got it Good: Though Chicago has seen heat waves, blizzards, flooding and tornadoes, it's among the best places to live if you're looking to avoid natural disasters, according to a New York Times analysis reporter Kelly Bauer is reading and watching. The analysis reviews which natural disasters most frequently hit different regions of the country and how much they cost. The Times describes the Midwest and Northeast as "a land of extremes," but it's less prone to natural disasters than the rest of the United States. "If avoiding acts of God is your only concern, hope you don't mind the cold," the Times reports.

Not LIke Dad: Cook County Jail executive director Nneka Jones Tapia — basically, she's the warden — recalls as a child police raiding her double-wide trailer in North Carolina and arresting her father on charges of selling pot. "I think about my own life and how I was probably one bad decision away from being in a correctional institution myself," the 37-year-old says in a New York Times profile. Instead she became a psychologist, including earning a doctorate in the mental health field. With nearly a third of the inmates suffering from some form of mental illness, her centerpiece effort is a mental health transition center.

Senior editor Andrew Herrmann recommends watching a five-minute accompanying video if you've ever wondered what goes on in there. One inmate incarcerated after a domestic battery says he feels "like a different person" after finally getting the right medication for his depression.

Nneka Jones Tapia is seen in this shot from the New York Times video. 

Love is a battlefield: The creator of 10-month-old free app JSwipe, which uses Tinder's model of swiping right or left to meet other singles, has been slapped with a lawsuit by Spark Networks, the behemoth parent company that operates dozens of dating sites including JDate.com, a paid site for Jewish singles, Observer.com reports.

At issue is JSwipe's use of the letter "J," which Spark Networks argues is a violation of its trademark.  To defend itself in the lawsuit, Jswipe's founder, Davis Yarus, has launched a crowd sourcing campaign, "David vs. Goliath."  So far, almost $20,000 has been raised toward an $180,000 goal.

Between a Rock and the Soft Side: Even as Six Corners has been reborn with dozens of new shops and restaurants, residents have kept a wary eye on Sears' fluctuating fortunes, worried that a decision by the retailer to close up its mammoth store in the heart of the shopping district could torpedo efforts to bring new life to the area that touts itself as the downtown of the Northwest Side. Business Insider had some bad news about Sears latest sales figures, which dropped 14 percent in the most recent quarter. In addition, the company, which also includes Kmart stores, has lost more than $6 billion since 2012. The story quotes an analyst speculating that Sears could collapse as soon as next year.

The Sears store at Six Corners in the 1980s.


 

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