Next-generation solar cells might power personal electronics such as watches and backpacks that could recharge your cell phone.
These solar cells are being tested and prototyped in a research hub launched this year by the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern University.
The ISEN research hub, named Glovebox Inert Atmosphere (N2) Thin-film Fabrication and Testing or GIANTFab, allows academic and commercial users to explore new materials for solar cells in a set of connected and airtight glove boxes that eliminate air interference. The goal is to find more efficient alternatives to expensive and rigid silicon solar cells, a game-changer for solar energy.
The GIANTFab is the only publicly accessible user facility in Chicago that offers a one-stop solution for users to both build and test solar cells without the interference of the air, said Nathan La Porte, ISEN’s Operations Director of the GIANTFab. Continue reading →
With the March 17 primary fast approaching, six candidates are vying to fill the 12th District House seat held by former State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, the Chicago Democrat recently appointed to fill former Illinois Senate President John Cullerton’s seat.
The district consists of parts of Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Near North and Uptown and includes Boystown, Chicago’s main LGBTQ neighborhood. The district is heavily Democratic, so the winner of the Democratic primary will almost certainly become the next representative.
Meanwhile, the 12th District Democratic Committee has accepted applications to appoint a temporary legislator to the seat, which has been vacant since Jan. 21, when Feigenholtz officially stepped down and replaced Cullerton. The appointee will be selected by the committee after an open forum on Sunday at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N Halsted St.
More than 300 brave souls took a dip in freezing-cold Lake Michigan on Jan. 25 to raise money for three Chicago families in need, part of the shivering tradition of the annual Chicago Polar Bear Plunge.
The event raised over $35,000 for families, to be split evenly. Jumpers paid a $30 registration fee and then chose to set up funding pages to raise more money for the cause from their donors. Other donations came from sponsors like Tito’s Vodka, FT Cares Foundation and Blake’s Seed Based foods. Continue reading →
More African Americans are out of school and out of work than among any other racial group in Chicago, according to a new report released recently by the Great Cities Institute of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Professor Teresa Cordova, director of the Great Cities Institute, linked this disparity to the city’s declining population trend, especially among blacks. As of 2017, Chicago’s population has dropped by 904,500 to 2.7 million, or 25% since 1950. Some black majority neighborhoods have lost more than 50% of their population in less than four decades. Continue reading →
Thousands of people gathered in Grant Park on Saturday to march for climate change solutions, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights and getting out the vote, issues highlighted at the annual Women’s March since the 2016 election of President Donald Trump.
Women’s March Chicago organized the event and estimated that 10,000 people participated this year. Despite rain and snow, marchers rallied with enthusiasm and zeal with their, chanting, hoisting homemade signs and wearing pink hats.
Jill Conrad drove more than 80 miles from Ottawa to attend and many people arrived from out of state. Conrad carried a vibrant blue banner that read “Any Functioning Adult 2020,” a message that garnered lots of thumbs up as people snapped picture. Conrad described the experience as one filled with “lots of good ideas.”
Summing up the protest, she said “It was a great day” and the best part was seeing the unity among the marchers, she said. “It’s good to see people out here together, men and women, black, white, all of [us]. That was the high point.”
About 10,000 people gathered in Grant Park for the fourth annual Women’s March on Jan. 18, the anniversary of the first march held in 2017 to protest the election of Donald Trump as president. The march signifies an effort to bring awareness to important issues such as immigration, voting rights and health care as well as reproductive rights.
Women’s March Chicago organized the Jan. 18 march, which kicked off in Grant Park, crowding down Adams Street as marchers headed west from the park. During Chicago’s 2017 inaugural Women’s March, an estimated 250,000 people attended.
Marchers and other attendees noticed the smaller crowd this year. Shaun Stephan, a vendor who has been selling women’s march merchandise since the movement’s inception, said he felt the cold, snowy weather contributed to the lowered participation. But the passion matched previous years, he said. “It’s still strong, and I think there’s a lot of passion and emotion when it comes to showing everybody’s here for women’s rights.”
Despite 20-degree temperatures with a mix of rain and snow in the forecast, marchers came prepared. Dressed in hats, scarves, gloves and snow boots, they walked and chanted, “Donald Trump has got to go!”
Marchers made their way to Federal Plaza at Adams and Clark Streets. Women’s March Chicago recognized five major concerns to address during this year’s march: the 2020 census, taking control of climate change, gun violence prevention, women’s health rights and getting out the vote. As marchers moved through the city, these issues along with many others carried their weight with lots of handmade signs, banners and chants.
Chicago police lined the route, some riding horses or bikes and some on foot, helping to guide traffic and marchers.
Mother-daughter duo Katie and Heidi Ramirez made the trek from the western suburbs to participate in this year’s women’s march. They said they are marching for a host of issues including climate change, female reproductive rights, voting rights and immigration reform. They handmade custom ponchos to match their homemade signs.
Chicago native Ellen Pinkham has attended the women’s march since its inception in 2017. She marches with her Trump puppet every year. She said she supports the current impeachment effort against the president and was marching for more change in Washington. “We really need new people in the government, we just have to get rid of these people who do not have the best interests of the large majority of people of the country at heart.”
From left to right: Debbie Cavult, of Kildeer; Samantha Saunders, of Elmwood Park; Sheil Davis, of Kildeer, and Marietta Sorendo, of Bloomingdale all marched together and were thrilled to be a part of the movement. They felt the march created a strong sense of community. “Sometimes when you’re alone in the suburbs you think, ‘Oh, everybody’s Republican, everybody likes this idiot.’ But here, you can feel like you’re part of a group.”
From right to left: Isabella Murk, 20, Sophie Murk, 24, Rachael Caise, 29, Emma Faith, 22, and Alissa Pienkowski, 30, were all young, first-time marchers at this year’s event. They expressed their excitement at participating in the movement and drawing together with the crowd,
Demonstrators from the organization Refuse Fascism wrap up their banner at Federal Plaza as the march comes to a close.
Women’s March Chicago has organized four mass marches to date. It’s mission is to advocate for women’s rights, promote intersectional feminism and challenge the political system regarding issues affecting women. Women’s March Chicago is planning its next event in March, to get out the vote for the Illinois primary elections.
Photo at top: Thousands of supporters attended Women’s March Chicago’s annual march on Saturday, January 18, carrying homemade signs that highlighted a variety of issues. (Shirin Ali/MEDILL)
Some 2,602 hospitalizations and 57 deaths nationwide are now associated with e-cigarettes and vaping since the outbreak began in summer 2019, reported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month in a status update.
The CDC also revealed Illinois has some of the highest concentration of e-cigarette and vaping associated lung injury (EVALI) hospitalization rates in the country. The Illinois Department of Public Health estimates over 30 counties across Illinois have reported cases of EVALI, with the most recent count at 214 cases and five deaths. Continue reading →
Republican presidential candidate Bill Weld, former Massachusetts governor, discussed his run for the presidency at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics.
His free-wheeling talk Jan. 27 covered the uphill battle campaigning against an incumbent, his support for impeachment and the bleak future he sees for the Republican Party.
“I would not be doing this if it was 2017 and the president had just been elected. We didn’t know enough then about how he was going to conduct himself in office. I felt, as time wore on, certainly by the beginning of 2019, that we were in extraordinarily dangerous times that I hoped I would never see in the U.S.,” Weld said.
He is one of two Republicans challenging Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary. Former Illinois congressman and conservative talk show host Joe Walsh is the other contender. A recent poll from The Economist and YouGov showed Weld polling nationally at 2%, with Walsh at 3% and Trump coming in at 89%.
When Chicago politicians redrew the 24th Ward in 2011, it contained a notable addition — a narrow, hook-like appendage that extended over a mile south, widening at the bottom to include the Cook County Jail.
As a result, jail inmates accounted for approximately one in six people in the new 24th Ward.
The City Council draws ward boundaries every 10 years based on the U.S. census, which counts jail inmates as residents of the place they are incarcerated at. On April 1, 2010 — the last Census Day — 9,633 people were held in the Cook County Jail. The following year, wards were redrawn with around 54,000 people each.
Even though the Cook County Jail’s population has dropped precipitously in the past decade, it still holds more than 5,500 inmates on average. With the 2020 census coming up this year, the question remains how the jail population will factor into next year’s redistricting. Continue reading →
Just after sunset on a December afternoon, squeals and laughter filled the basketball court of the Chicago Jesuit Academy, on Chicago’s West Side, as 60 students ages 8 to 13 dribbled balls and ran back and forth.
With a clipboard in his hand and a pen tucked behind his ear, coach Brandon Wilkerson called out to players to come forward, one by one, and try shooting into the basket. At 28, Wilkerson works in the after-school program run by the Westside Health Authority in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. As the floor pulsated with the pounding of basketballs, he said, “I see myself in these kids.” Continue reading →
The Chicago Police Department plans to tap a city-wide liaison to the LGBT community, police officials told Medill News Service, months after an on-duty sergeant allegedly raped a transgender woman. The move follows the release of a report by the National Center for Transgender Equality that paints a bleak picture of how the city’s police treat transgender people.
Glen Brooks, director of community policing for the Chicago Police Department, said that while this will be the department’s first formal city-wide LGBT liaison, CPD officers have for years made informal connections with the LGBT community. Brooks said the new role is part of a consent decree between the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois aimed at reforming the department. The role will ultimately be tasked with ensuring that the department’s policies are inclusive and respectful.
