Fermilab on the trail for a new building block of matter and quantum computing power
By Sarah Anderson and Yuliya Klochan Medill Reports Researchers transported a gigantic electromagnetic ring from Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island to Fermilab near Chicago eight years ago in the search for a new building block of matter. While it wasn’t the secret spaceship bystanders thought it was, it did allow scientists to explore fundamental questions […]
A Wisconsin border town faces challenges with a pandemic-driven increase in Minnesota late-night guests and crime spike
By Sam Stroozas Medill Reports “I believe in it, I just don’t think it’s that bad,” said a man waiting for entry into a packed and mask-less restaurant on Second Street in Hudson, Wisconsin on a busy Friday night. There were no parking spots left, groups strutted out of vehicles quickly at red lights; mask-less […]
Queer Christian cover band reclaims church space
Queer Christian cover band reclaims church space by Caroline Love Medill Reports It started as an idea on Twitter. Now, it has 1.6 million views on TikTok. HERE’S THE PITCH: An all queer Relient K/Switchfoot cover band and we tour the country and put on shows for kids who were done wrong by their youth […]
Chicago Election Commissioners support bilingual voters, but still fall short of community needs
By Kelly Heinzerling Medill Reports When Sarah Cartagena went to Humboldt Park to vote with her predominantly Spanish-speaking mother, she was surprised to find that, though the materials and signs were in multiple languages, the poll worker she interacted with in this large Spanish-speaking community did not speak the language. For the 15.7% of Chicago […]
California students receiving free, reduced-price meals face accessibility challenges during pandemic
By Hannah Schoenbaum Medill Reports Jesus Garcia, 17, depended on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s free and reduced-price meals program during his time at Back Bay High School in Costa Mesa, California. When the school closed in the spring of his senior year to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Garcia struggled to find stable internet […]
Book it: During your stay-in-place days, check out these journalism and writing guides
By Winter 2020 Magazine Reporting Class Medill Reports Why not turn “stay in place” into “read in place”? Whether you’re interested in politics, craft or memoir, Medill master’s students offer their reviews of old and new books on journalism and writing.
Parting with Alaska
By Mackenzie Evenson Medill Reports During my junior year at the University of Alaska Anchorage, I was walking into an Applebees when my dad called and said, “They found a tumor in my brain.” He said it so nonchalantly that the appropriate response evaded me. In a few days, he would undergo emergency brain surgery […]
CPD’s ongoing battle with mental health calls
By Emine Yücel Medill Reports CHICAGO — In September 1987, answering a 911 call, Memphis police officers found a man stabbing himself more than 100 times with a butcher knife at LeMoyne Gardens, a public housing project. When police approached, they said, the man swung the knife towards them and they shot and killed him. […]
$750 million INVEST South/West initiative kicks off in Austin
By Alison Saldanha and Joel Jacobs Medill Reports Loud applause rang through the Kehrein Arts Center auditorium in Austin on the city’s West Side as newly appointed Chicago Planning Commissioner Maurice Cox presented Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s new INVEST South/West initiative earlier this month. Residents and business owners, hopeful for an economic renewal, attended to hear […]
Homeless women face heightened threats of violence on streets
The woman’s full name in this story is being withheld to protect her privacy. By Sally Ehrmann Medill Reports Jen struts through the Harold Washington Library Center, stopping only to drop a few fraying books into the return bin. She produces a deep guttural laugh as she steps outside into the brisk November air and […]