CHICAGOBUSINESS — POWERED BY CRAIN'S — Weekly Business Briefing CRAIN'S LISTS MARKETS GO TO MY ACCOUNT GO TO CHICAGOBUSINESS.COM TOP HEADLINES Monday, January 12, 2009 · Pump pain, part two · Allstate ready for price fight · Strip-mall owner faces reckoning · Obama's tax plan has appeal · Mike North's new direction FOCUS I resolve to . . . It's a new year, and conditions are certainly different than they were 12 months ago. We asked local entrepreneurs to share the resolutions they're making to survive in '09, and gathered expert advice for each. THE BUSINESS OF LIFE VIPs? Not so much For friends and associates of Barack Obama, fond dreams of attending glamorous balls and dancing with the president and first lady will run up against the reality of inaugural festivities. EDITORIAL INDEX for January 12, 2009 (Significant References only) Allstate AlphaMetrix ASK Public Strategies Boeing Caterpillar Comcast Cook County Costco Crain's Chicago Business Deere Inland Western Retail REIT Kraft State of Illinois SXC Health Solutions Wal-Mart Walgreen SIGN UP FOR CUSTOM ALERTS Industries Companies Executives » Account Settings ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Crain's Blogs. Now You're Talking. Introducing three blogs sure to peak your interest each business day: government and business, after-hours with Chicago's elite, and the business of sports.Click here to read what Greg Hinz, Shia Kapos and Ed Sherman are saying today. And talk back, we'd love to hear from you. THIS WEEK'S NEWS Pols lag people Ask any African-American teenager what kind of experience he's had with white Chicago cops, or any white woman what ... License to pill SXC Health Solutions Corp.'s expansion into pharmacy-benefits management puts it on a collision course with some big ... Soldiering on, so our readers can, too Among the many unpleasant side effects of hard times is the bewilderment that comes when an avalanche of bad news ... Letters to the editor What business would invest in a legal 'hellhole'? "Illinois economy: 'Doomsday' is here" (Dec. 15) details how ... Crain's Chicago Business 360 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60601