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January, 2012
It’s a new year with new resolutions. And I’ve got some for local and federal housing authorities.In 2012, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development should resolve to be courageous and slow the money that flows to landlords running an arsenal of dilapidated housing stock for Chicago’s low-income residents.HUD should stop lining the pockets of irresponsible landlords and instead force...
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November, 2011
It is with a heavy heart that I offer my farewell to The Chicago Reporter. After 12 years with the Reporter, having served as a reporter, then senior editor, and finally editor and publisher, I am leaving this esteemed news organization to become a senior investigator with the Better Government Association.It has been a true honor to have served as the Reporter’s leader for nearly four years...
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September, 2011
I love flowers. I’ve always loved flowers. Let me lay out in a field of daisies all day, and I’m content.So it wasn’t too surprising that when I was about 8 years old, I grabbed a plastic flower as my mother walked my sister and me down the aisle at a crafts store. It wasn’t until we were in the parking lot loading the trunk that my mother noticed the unpaid flower still in my hand. She then...
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June, 2011
Perhaps if more minorities got state contracts, there would be fewer minorities out of work.That’s a stretch, but perhaps it’s partly true. In The Chicago Reporter’s current cover story “Empty jackpot,” reporter Megan Cottrell tallied how many businesses benefitted from a state program that grants contracts to businesses owned by minorities, women and people with a disability.The state pats...
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April, 2011
It’s hard to root for the bad guys. And I’m an optimist, so I’m always the person at the movies hoping for a happy ending.But the work that we do at The Chicago Reporter isn’t always so clear-cut. This month’s cover investigation is a prime example. Reporter Angela Caputo has unearthed some startling statistics that poke holes into commonly held perceptions about a group of people many of us...
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March, 2011
I was talking to my neighbor last fall when an unfamiliar man walked out of a house and stood in the driveway talking to a group of teens. "Who's that? A new neighbor?" I asked my neighbor. "Yes," she replied as her kids kicked a ball around at her feet. "From what I've heard, he's the boyfriend of the woman who lives there with her children. I hear he's a sex offender. But if you look at...
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January, 2011
The next mayor of Chicago is going to have a big burden on his or her shoulders trying to ensure that "the city that works" really works.
In this issue's cover story, "Loopholes," Reporter Angela Caputo gives us a glimpse of the city's job market. In recent years, this story has been told in Chicago from the lens of the number of people who are unemployed. We all cringed when the...
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November, 2010
Before you read this issue, I dare you to pick up the phone and call your mom. Ask her if anybody in your extended family has been sexually abused. I bet that if you can get a straight answer, eight out of 10 of you will get a "yes." You might not get all the gritty details, but you'll finally find out that a child in your extended family was sexually abused.
For some of you, the answer won'...
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August, 2010
I have student loan debt that's been looming for years. Every time I think about it, my heart races and my brain calculates how much overtime I'd have to pull to pay off the debt in a year.
I run to my financial planner and she says the same thing: Pay the debt and your anxiety will go away. But, you will have funneled tens of thousands of dollars into paying off something that won't make...
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