Wednesday, February 22, 2012 - 4:58pm
On June 20, 2011, a 2-month-old baby girl died of smoke inhalation after a fire broke out in her house where there was no smoke detector. The family lived in Austin, a low-income neighborhood on Chicago's West Side.
Less than a year later, on Feb. 13, 2012, a 7-year-old boy died of smoke inhalation after trying to escape a house fire on Chicago's South Side.
On Jan. 16, 1947, four of James Hickman's children died when the one-room attic apartment that they rented on Chicago's South Side caught on fire.
For most of the modern-day tragedies, the news reports are all we'll ever know of the grief and speculation that will follow, long after the smoldering buildings have been extinguished. But about the tragedy of 1947, we know much more....
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - 9:36am
Two voter ID laws making their way through the state Legislature could end up keeping some of Illinois' poorest residents from exercising one of their basic democratic rights–voting. Come Election Day, voters would have to present a government-issued photo identification card at the polling place, if Senate Bill 2496, which was introduced last week, is ulimately approved by lawmakers. A similar measure--House Bill 3903 --was introduced in the lower chamber in December.
Most of us are surprised to hear that not everyone has a photo ID, but it's not always easy to get one. Illinois...
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - 6:08pm
Voter registration numbers released by the Chicago Board of Elections last week show that civic participation in the city has hit a new low.
For almost 28 years now, the number of Chicagoans signed up to vote in presidential primaries has been in a slow decline. What's new this year is the steep drop in voter registration numbers among African American adults. Registration in all majority black wards is down, on average, by 7 percent compared with the 2008 primaries, a Reporter analysis of elections data found. Citywide, registration is also down but by far less--only 2.2 percent.
The largest declines were realized in just 12 majority black wards. Check out the rankings and ward demographics for those wards, which...
Monday, February 20, 2012 - 12:40pm
Immigration activists are accusing Chicago Police officers of violating a 2006 ordinance that dubbed Chicago a “sanctuary city” for undocumented people by prohibiting city agencies from cooperating with federal immigration officials.
At the center of the allegations is Rose Tchakounte, a Cameroonian asylum seeker, who has been in federal custody since she was pulled over during a routine traffic stop on Feb. 15. When Tchakoute showed Chicago police an international driver’s license, the officer checked her record and found she had an immigration warrant. Police arrested her and turned her over to the U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement agency, said Tchakoute’s son Cesar Kamga.
By Friday morning, Tchakoute was issued an order of deportation, which means she can be deported at any time. She was released Friday afternoon with an order of supervision, said Monica Trevino,...
Friday, February 17, 2012 - 5:52pm
In the leafy Detroit suburb where I grew up, poor always seemed like a dirty word. But not when we were by my great grandmother "Blab’s" place.
As kids, we’d drive downtown to visit her at her high rise, River Towers, a project-based Section 8 building that sits on a prime piece of land at the bank of the Detroit River. My brothers and I would sit at the nook in her kitchen and nibble on government cheese and toast smeared with butter handed out at a food pantry that would set up in her lobby.
River Towers was massive. At 14-stories with 474 units, the building was four times the size of one of the high-rise public housing buildings that once stood at Cabrini Green or the Robert Taylor homes. Just like those notorious Chicago buildings, each one of the apartments was occupied by someone poor--just like my Blab.
For roughly four decades, she lived in public housing in Detroit. She...
Friday, February 17, 2012 - 3:58pm
Here's a roundup of election news that was on The Chicago Reporter's political radar this week:
As if 2nd District Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. doesn't have enough to worry about with the tough primary race he's in, there's now a Super PAC that's reportedly committed to his political demise. The Texas-based Campaign for Primary Accountability--which counts Joe Ricketts, the father of Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, as one of its largest donors--hasn't disclosed how it plans to spend its money on the race, but its opposition to Jackson is no secret. "There's a...
Thursday, February 16, 2012 - 2:06pm
A North Chicago immigration attorney and his twin brother were sentenced to 24 and 12 months, respectively, in federal prison on Wednesday for their roles aiding a marriage fraud ring.
Manny Aguja, who was expelled from practicing immigration law last month, and his twin brother Marc Aguja, both 55, were also ordered to each pay a $10,000 fine.
The brothers, along with another employee who worked at the law firm, pleaded guilty last April to conspiracy charges related to marriage fraud.
The Aguja brothers were indicted in November 2009, along with five Cook County employees who worked in the traffic division of the court system, following an undercover investigation by the U.S. Immigration Custom and Enforcement agency.
The indictment alleges that Maria F. Cruz, an employee in the Cook County courts system, recruited U.S. citizens to engage in...
Thursday, February 16, 2012 - 1:28pm
Is it 1912, or 2012? You'd be forgiven for being confused after reading an op-ed in this week's Washington Post by political scientist Charles Murray who writes that if there's an education gap in our society in which whites are out-performing other groups, it's because students flagging behind are just not smart enough.
"(C)hildren’s IQ is tied to that of their parents," Murray writes. "How genes and environment conspire to produce these relationships is irrelevant." Here's the entirety of the offending passage titled Five myths about white people, which was published by the Post Feb. 10:
It’s common to assume that upper-middle-class white...
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - 1:41pm
When it comes to the Illinois General Assembly, everybody’s number is up this year, which means some key legislation is likely to be stymied by the politics of November's general election.
Nonetheless, there's still some optimism, particularly among proponents of minimum wage and healthcare reforms, that a handful of bills just might gain some momentum in the Statehouse in 2012.
For years, 8th District state Sen. Kimberly Lightford has made raising the minimum wage a key legislative priority. Last year, the Westchester Democrat introduced...
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - 2:43pm
RACE is a contentious, inflammatory topic that can make for an awkward dinner conversation.
But Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet didn't shy away from the hot-button topic in his play, RACE, which delves into the racial dynamic between two high-profile lawyers–one black, one white–as they defend a wealthy white client who is accused of raping an African American woman.
Last week at the Barbershop Show, The Chicago Reporter asked RACE cast members Tamberla Perry and Geoffrey Owens about the difficulties of using racial (some might say racist) language in the play. Click through to watch their answers:
© Community Renewal Society 2012
