Black Gold
By Rebecca Fanning Medill Reports Ed Hubbard has been dreaming up worm businesses since before he could drive. Now the 54-year-old has turned that passion into a business, transforming Chicago’s food waste into valuable soil one crawler at a time.
Salvadoran immigrants fret as future of special protection status in peril
By Mariana Alfaro Medill Reports The Salvadoran consulate in Chicago is tucked away in a small office above a Chick-Fil-A and a mattress store, in a building next to the State and Lake train stop in the heart of the Loop. On a wintry morning, the consulate’s waiting room was packed, as usual, with Salvadorans […]
Beyond the itch: The real cost of bed bugs
By Sydney Boles Medill Reports Andrea Sturm was teetering on the edge of homelessness in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood when the bed bugs came. Too itchy to focus, furious at her landlord for allegedly neglecting the problem, Sturm sprayed her apartment with alcohol to kill the pests. Then she lit a cigarette. The burn marks covered […]
Prominent Chinese Environmentalist Ma Jun Visits Chicago
By Siobhan Neela-Stock Medill Reports M a Jun, a prominent Chinese environmentalist and former journalist, achieved the unimaginable in 2013. He, along with 25 other NGO partners, convinced the Chinese government to release real-time online monitoring data on the 12,000 largest factories operating in China. This was the first time this information had been made […]
Under the sea: The search for potential miracle cures
By Yvaine Ye Medill Reports What mysteries lurk in the blue water that covers more than 70 percent of the earth’s surface? No one truly knows, not even scientists. But many suspect the next miracle cure could be swimming in vast oceans amongst tiger sharks and stingrays.
Ice Monster Number One
By Rebecca Fanning Medill Reports It’s noon on a sunny Thursday in October and “Diver Dave” Oliva is sprawled on a black inner tube wearing only a speedo; his mask and snorkel leave a wet mark on the concrete beside him. He waves to passersby, some seem to know him, others just wave back, amused. […]
Former Marine Uses Lessons He Learned in the Military to Thrive in the Business World
By Xinyi (Ethel) Jiang Medill Reports Before starting 3rd Coast Imaging, Inc., veteran George Chrisopulos was an electronics communications technician in the Marine Corps. His time in the military prepared him for life after the Marines. “When I was a marine, everything was on paper, and we had to have three copies. And every single […]
Hiplet: The Baby of Modern and Classical Ballet
By Eunice Wang Medill Reports Hiplet, the fusion of hip-hop and ballet, started back in 1990 as Homer Hans Bryant’s rap ballet. As a dance teacher, Homer has always been fascinated by classical ballet and what dancers can do en pointe. Homer wanted to give back to his community by teaching kids of color the […]
A female tattoo artist makes her mark, beating the boys at their own game
By Hannah Wiley Medill Reports Emily Fong started tattooing professionally when she was 19 years old. Now, at 21, she’s overcome gender stereotypes and doubts about her youth to become an accomplished artist. Fong’s career started when she decided that her childhood love for drawing was something she wanted to pursue as a career, specifically […]
‘Fake news’ about flu shot
By Yvaine Ye Medill Reports Baby boomers, Gen X-ers and millennials hardly ever agree with each other on the same issue, but more than half of them have found common ground on the flu vaccine. They are not fans. More than 7,000 people died as a result of flu and flu-related disorders such as lung […]