Ulta Beauty posts strong growth, price surges
By Charlene Zhang Medill Reports Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA) stock soared 7.6 percent on Friday after the company announced strong fourth quarter results Thursday following market close. Helped by a tax benefit, net income increased 48.5 percent to $208.2 million, or $3.40 per diluted share, compared with $140.2 million, or $2.24 per diluted share, […]
Harvest Christian Bookstore deflects internet with customer service
By Richard Foster-Shelton Medill Reports “In these times of online stores and books that can be delivered immediately to your favorite device, one independent bookstore on the South Side of Chicago has weathered the storm by turning to a very specific demographic: Christians. Harvest Christian Bookstore, at 10600 S. Western Ave., specializes in Christian products. […]
M1 Finance users double after firm ends trading fees
By Jinman Li Medill Reports Can a securities brokerage make money without charging transaction fees? M1 Finance LLC, a Chicago start-up, removed fees for its customers’ trades in December 2017, and has witnessed its number of users more than double to 25,000 since then. The company’s assets under management now total $100 million. Brokerage firms […]
Election night dims early for State Sen. Daniel Biss
By Elizabeth Beyer Medill Reports The crowd of roughly 350 staffers, volunteers and supporters of State Sen. Daniel Biss (9th) shifted from joyful to somber in just two hours after the polls closed across Illinois earlier this evening. Billionaire businessman J.B. Pritzker won the Democratic gubernatorial primary race with more than 45 percent of the vote, nearly […]
Cricket in Chicago kicks off league games in April
By Annnaya Medill Reports Cricket is all the rage in Southeast Asia where India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka revere this pastime as more than a major league sport and something closer to a religion. Actual shrines in India are dedicated to Sachin Tendulkar, one of the game’s greatest players. Immigrants who move here miss the […]
West Side substance abusers find an oasis for free treatment
By Yunyi (Jessie) Liu Medill Reports Nichelle Groves hesitated for a while before entering the door near the intersection of Lake Street and Sacramento Boulevard. Since her insurance wouldn’t cover any more inpatient hospital care after a month, Groves followed a recommendation to the Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center, though she didn’t really believe she could get […]
Pain management remains vexing in opioid epidemic
By Juliette Rocheleau Medill Reports When Hercules faced the Hydra of Lerna, he learned the hard way that cutting off one of its many heads would only result in two more growing in its place. As the U.S. attempts to battle its own Hydra in the form of the opioid abuse crisis, victory remains similarly […]
Chinese festivals bring diverse students together at the Pretoria Chinese School
By Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan Medill Reports The traditional Chinese drum team joins together students of diverse origins and is part of the celebration for Chinese festivals at the Pretoria Chinese School in South Africa. As drumbeats rang in the Year of the Dog in February, the school came alive with a bang. Singing and dancing, students and staff dressed in […]
Chinese students find love and community in the Werewolves Club
By Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan Medill Reports Anqi Hu, a 27-year-old Chinese graduate student, didn’t expect to find the love of her life in the Chinese Werewolves Club at Northwestern University. “If it were not for the club, we wouldn’t have met each other,” said Hu, in her 5th year as a mechanical engineering Ph.D. student. […]
Pilsen Garden looks to grow beyond stalled plans for the El Paseo Trail
By Nathan Ouellette Medill Reports The raised plant beds that dot the wood chip-covered pathways of Pilsen’s El Paseo Community Garden begin sprouting vegetation in early spring.. These community and volunteer-run growing stations are not merely an aesthetic choice but a necessity. Years of lead smelting and other industrial usage has left the soil of […]