Q’s on the Quad: College of Charleston
By Samone Blair and Emine Yücel Medill Reports The majority of the College of Charleston students surveyed Sunday by Medill School’s Q’s on the Quad expressed no interest in voting for former Vice President Joe Biden in the presidential primary, although a recent East Carolina University poll found 37% of likely South Carolina Democratic voters […]
Coffee & Incubation: How Chicago’s Little Village plans to fight youth displacement and gentrification
By Justin Horowitz Medill Reports Authentic Mexican restaurants, clothing stores and bodegas line Chicago’s historic 26th Street in the Little Village neighborhood. Beautifully colored murals brighten buildings, and flags of Mexican independence hang from storefront windows. Street vendors and patrons chat on the busy sidewalks that make up one of the most profitable commercial corridors […]
How prisoners count: the politics of prison gerrymandering in Illinois
By Joel Jacobs Medill Reports In Illinois, each person’s vote is not counted equally. A single vote for a state representative in Cook County is likely to wield less influence than one in Randolph County downstate. Why? Because Randolph County is located in Illinois House District 116, which is home to the Menard and Pinckneyville […]
Facebook groups establish community in one of Chicago’s newest neighborhoods
By Amy Sokolow Medill Reports Nicole Rohr Stephens moved back to Chicago from Alabama last year and almost immediately found out she was pregnant. The 34-year-old marketing manager had previously lived on the city’s North Side, but after relocating to the South Loop, she realized she had no idea where she would eventually send her […]
The evolving, not disappearing, presence of ethnic cuisine in Chicago
By Annie Lin Medill Reports “What is authentic?” Rooh’s executive chef Sujan Sakar remarked. “Nothing is authentic.” “I am having a hard time with the definition of authentic anyhow,” said longtime Chicago Tribune restaurant critic Phil Vettel. He thinks that it is going to be impossible to find authentic or traditional restaurants. In recent years, […]
How Chinatown’s public library is adapting to its senior population, along with others around the country
By Michael Lee Medill Reports On the second floor of the Chicago Public Library Chinatown branch, a group of older men huddled around tables in a study room playing Chinese chess, a strategy board game often played in China. Wearing beanies, ball caps and winter coats, they slid the circular, wooden pieces around the board […]
Becoming ‘social equity’ is nearly a must for opening an adult-use cannabis dispensary in Illinois
By Yun Hao Medill Reports With “the status of social equity applicant” worth one-fifth of the entire 250 points of the state’s evaluation, many applicants seeking an adult-use cannabis license in Illinois are now trying to affiliate with individuals or groups that can qualify them as social equity applicants. A social equity applicant, according to […]
A grandfather’s battle against the lead in drinking water
By Henry Ren Medill Reports Hyde Park resident Gordon Berry had never imagined that the drinking water in his century-old house could be contaminated by lead, until his 2-year-old granddaughter, who resided with him, had a routine blood test in January 2016. “They found lead in her blood,” Berry said. Horrified by the result, Berry […]
Incumbent doesn’t object to challengers’ nominating petitions despite their expectations
By Samone Blair Medill Reports “We know the games that they unfortunately play and the tactics they utilize to basically try to silence the voices of anyone who dares to challenge the establishment,” said Anthony Clark, Democrat candidate for Illinois’ 7th U.S. Congressional District in the March 17, 2020 primary election. Sure enough, Kina Collins, […]
Leaders prepare for census throughout city, focus on hard-to-count areas
By Samone Blair Medill Reports City officials are teaming up with civic organizations to prepare for the 2020 Census, especially in hard-to-count neighborhoods like predominantly Latino Humboldt Park. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Chicago households responded to the 2010 census at a rate of only 66% whereas 74% of households responded nationwide. […]
