9 County fairs struggle.

• Position: STATELINE

Attendance at Illinois' 104 county fairs is down, and so is state funding. From 2000 to 2013, the state cut $3.1 million, or 38 percent, for county fairs--from $8.16 million to $5.07 million--Bloomberg reports. Fairs are only one victim of spending cuts in Illinois, which is awash in unfunded benefit liabilities and budget shortfalls. In Macon County, about 180 miles south of Chicago, this year's scaled-back fair got no funding from the state because the fair still owed 2013 exhibitors about $36,680 in...