The Chicago Reporter

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 was compiled by the Chicago Board of Elections and...

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, spokesperson for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. This isn't Tchakounte's first brush...

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 popular sentiment, [Jackson] has his negatives," said Curtis Ellis,...

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 kids win more slots in top universities than middle-class or working-...