Italian food and culture helped shape the history of Cook County

By Iacopo Luzi According to the last U.S. census, 18,000 Italians live in Cook County. That number includes Italian immigrants and Italians born in the United States. The group makes up the second largest European population in Cook County, just after the Polish. Giuseppe Quercia, from Naples, Campania, moved to the United States in 1968 […]

Happy Anniversary: Chicago Non-Profit celebrates 110 years of service

By Iacopo Luzi The Chicago Lighthouse has been serving the city’s blind and visually impaired for 110 years, making it one of Chicago’s oldest non-profit agencies. Located on the West Side, The Lighthouse serves more than 70,000 clients around the U.S. giving blind people jobs and hope. Around 700 people are employed at the Lighthouse. […]

Clay masks to remember the kidnapped students of Ayotzinapa

By Iacopo Luzi The Latino Cultural Center at the University of Illinois Chicago held an art workshop to remember the 43 Mexican students who disappeared in Iguala, Guerrero on September 26, 2014. After 2 and a half years, the students are still missing. It’s not clear if they were kidnapped and killed by a Mexican […]

Fire Station One

By Iacopo Luzi In Fire Station #1 on Emerson Street in Evanston, Illinois, every day is a new challenge for the firefighters who work here. Shifts start at 7 a.m. and last 24 hours. The call can arrive at any moment, and firefighters are always ready to face situations without fear. The mission is to […]

Where dreams are made of carbon fiber

By Xiumei Dong and Iacopo Luzi Composite Envisions LLC, located in Wausau, Wisconsin, produces carbon fiber composite materials for customers around the world. As the company moves to a bigger factory, 29-year-old founder Cory Thorson, who became rich as a teen-age entrepreneur, said he is excited about the emerging opportunities. “More space, more employees, more […]

Blind woman’s blog gives others view of her world

By Iacopo Luzi Sandy Murillo is a 28-year old woman who was born with glaucoma and lost her vision when she was just 2 years old. Since she was a teenager, she has dreamed of working in the media, so she studied journalism at the University of Illinois in Champaign. [vimeo 158552551 w=474]

The Hidden Treasures of East Side

By Iacopo Luzi and Yushun Wang Not many people know where East Side is, but since the 30s, the neighborhood has been home to one of the biggest steel production industries of the country. East Side is a neighborhood on the Illinois and Indiana border. It’s in the southern part of the city. In the […]

A day in the life of a Chicago Medical Examiner

By Iacopo Luzi Being a Medical Examiner is not an easy job. Every day work involves dealing with death. “Things that people shouldn’t see,” said Dr. Steven White, Assistant Medical Examiner and certified forensic pathologist at the Cook County Office of the Medical Examiner, in Chicago. Dr. White’s day at the office begins at 6:30 […]

Righteous Fighters: how boxing can save lives in Chicago’s Southside (Video)

By Iacopo Luzi 40-year-old Ramon Zavaleta is a 4th District police officer with the Chicago Police Department. He is not just a cop. Every day, when his shift is over, he goes to the Community Christian Church and he becomes a boxing coach. Four years ago, he took an empty room in an East Side […]

Police recruitment numbers down

By Iacopo Luzi In East Side, on a cold night with no one on the streets, the lights of Taylor Elementary School are turned on to welcome aspiring police officers. But almost no one shows up. Taylor is open to host a Chicago Police Department recruitment fair, organized by Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th Ward). […]