Dusty Rhodes: Fresh Ink | Wednesday, September 6,2006

Unfriendly persuasion

ISP veteran forced to restart career after becoming the target of sexual harassment

What I’m about to tell you doesn’t matter. I mean, if it were important, the Illinois State Police would have punished the guy who did it, right? Instead, ISP director Larry Trent allowed

Dusty Rhodes: Fresh Ink | Wednesday, August 23,2006

Scavenger hunt

Gathering supplies for school used to be much, much easier

By Dusty Rhodes

We’re approaching the fifth anniversary of an event that forever changed the fabric of American life, an event that shook us to our core — or might have, if anybody had bothered to notice.

Dusty Rhodes: Fresh Ink | Wednesday, August 16,2006

You're screwed

Power of prosecutors grows as defense resources wither

By Dusty Rhodes

Your insurance policy got canceled last month. Didn’t receive your notice in the mail? Me neither. I just happened to stumble across it recently while doing some research. The good news is, you&

Dusty Rhodes: Fresh Ink | Wednesday, July 26,2006

The badder the better

My homeboy cowboy loves getting bucked

By Dusty Rhodes

Tilden Hooper was 14 when he started riding wild horses — or at least started trying to. All his friends competed in rodeos, and Tilden figured he could ride bareback broncs, just as his father,

Dusty Rhodes: Fresh Ink | Wednesday, June 28,2006

Rocky's Road

The hairy tale of a missing raccoon

By Dusty Rhodes

Normally, I’m not what you’d call an “animal person.” I don’t think twice about eating chicken or beef or wearing leather shoes. I gave our last cat away when the doctor

Dusty Rhodes: Fresh Ink | Wednesday, June 14,2006

Last right

Gov. Rod Blagojevich denied every prisoner’s petition in 2005 — except one

By Dusty Rhodes

By the time Thomas Alan Banning got lucky, it was almost too late. His life, laid unvarnished on a single sheet of paper in big letters and plenty of spaces, reads like a country song with a

Dusty Rhodes: Fresh Ink | Thursday, June 1,2006

When Chatham girls go wild

Parents object to heavy-handed school administrators

By Dusty Rhodes

Next to “like,” I believe the most overused word in the English language is “ironic.” It’s, like, you turn 12, and you learn, like, this cool word, and you sudd

Dusty Rhodes: Fresh Ink | Thursday, May 18,2006

One of the good guys

ISP investigator Rodney Miller set the mark for honesty and tenacity

By Dusty Rhodes

When I met Rodney Miller, I was shocked to find him wearing blue jeans and a turtleneck. From all I’d heard, I expected him to be dressed in spandex tights and a cape, because people w

Dusty Rhodes: Fresh Ink | Thursday, May 11,2006

The new face of crime?

Updated symbol appears to recycle some old-fashioned prejudices

By Dusty Rhodes

There’s a new kid in town. He’s a shadowy figure — wears a mask and a backwards baseball cap. As the new icon of the common criminal, he’s slowly taking over the turf

Dusty Rhodes: Fresh Ink | Thursday, April 27,2006

Head start

If there’s no racism and no discrimination, why are things so lopsided?

By Dusty Rhodes

Today’s column is dedicated to my copy editor and my mom. My mom, see, skims everything I write, trolling for clues that might explain why the heck I turned out this wa