Edwidge Danticat's new novel, "Claire of the Sea Light," describes the economic difficulties of life in Haiti, even before the 2010 earthquake.

Before Sandy hit New York, New Jersey, and the United States, it made its way through the Caribbean. Haiti received some of the worst damage — More than 10,000 Haitian houses were destroyed.

Though billions of dollars of aid was promised after the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti two years ago, much reconstruction work remains to be done.

A just-released study says texting donations for crises like the Haiti earthquake could become the new norm.

Illinois state legislators raised the state income tax from 3 percent to 5 percent, a 66 percent hike. In plain terms, if you owed the Illinois…