Happy anniversary, Marktown: 100th year surviving
By Jingzhe(Kelly) Wang Marktown, in East Chicago, Indiana, is less than a half hour drive from the south side of Chicago. It’s in a different state and is in many ways in its own world. Built in 1917 as a planned community for a steel company, Marktown welcomed more than one thousand residents living in […]
East Chicago residents face risk of high lead
By Cloee Cooper Sarah Willis lives near a former U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery, Inc. plant with her husband and granddaughter in East Chicago, Indiana. The area was designated as a Superfund site, a federal government program designed to fund the cleanup of sites contaminated with hazardous substances and pollutants. While residents in the nearby […]
Hurting from neglect: Election Day mattered in historic Indiana worker community
By Cloee Cooper Out of nine congressional districts in Indiana, two re-elected Democratic congressmen on Nov. 8. One of those was in the 1st Congressional District, where East Chicago’s historic community Marktown is located. Democratic Rep. Pete Visclosky who has been in office since 1985, was re-elected. Although Marktown voted Democratic, as it usually does, […]
Tales from the ‘overseen’: East Chicago residents line up to vote
By Cloee Cooper “I think we got screwed this year,” said Ashley Zavala, a 28-year-old custodian at a public school in East Chicago, Ind. She voted for Hillary Clinton, but said her option this election was between worse and worst. “When you have a small town like East Chicago, you are overseen,” said Jose Rodriguez, […]
