20,000 trees stretch their limbs toward a century of research
By Marisa Sloan Medill Reports A forest unlike any other hides among the Chesapeake Bay’s winding back roads. Viewed from above, it resembles a patchwork quilt the size of 25 football fields. Look closer, though, and you’ll discover that each square is home to a unique mixture of native tree species — from sweetgums and […]
Chicago This Week Episode 5
Chicago This Week Episode 4
What you need to know about your neighbor’s secondhand smoke – and what you can do about it
By Erin Warwood Medill Reports When a neighbor’s tobacco smoke keeps coming into your space, you may wonder what you can do to stop it – and you should. A 2020 study of German adults who had never smoked and self-reported at least an hour of secondhand smoke exposure per day were 59% more likely […]
For deaf kids, pandemic holds hidden consequences
By Marisa Sloan Medill Reports Although 3-year-old Esther Peterson was born with profound hearing loss in both ears, she is well on her way to learning four languages — spoken Norwegian and English and their sign language counterparts. It’s an impressive feat for any child, but perhaps more so for Esther and her hearing family, […]
Chicago This Week – Episode 3
By Amelia Burns Medill Reports
Chicago This Week – Episode 2
By Emilie Zuhowski Medill Reports
Illinois criminal justice reform law eliminates bail, but doesn’t erase bias in ‘risk assessment’ for pretrial imprisonment
By Leonna McAfee & Rodricka Taylor Medill Reports Posting bail to stay out of prison when charged with a crime will be a thing of the past in Illinois as of January 2023. Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Pre-Trial Fairness Act (HB3653) into law earlier this year. It ends a pretrial detention system that punishes those […]
Chicago This Week – Episode 1
Cameron Bopp Medill Reports
Indigenous researchers call for ethical genomics projects
Navajo geneticist Krystal Tsosie thought she would target her career toward cancer biology. She studied nano- and microparticle research but soon faced a dilemma in her research trajectory. “There are very few Native Americans in STEM fields and in research in general,” said Tsosie, a bioethicist with the Native BioData Consortium. “I felt like if […]