|
January, 2012
The news: Shortly after taking office, Mayor Rahm Emanuel pledged to reform the Tax Increment Financing District program and return the city’s use of the economic development tool to its “roots” of revitalizing blighted communities.Behind the news:In the next two years, TIF districts with a healthy tax base will continue to raise a large amount of funds for new development, while poor districts...
|
January, 2012
|
March, 2011
The news: A Chicago Tribune/WGN poll showed Rahm Emanuel as the front runner in the race to be the city's next mayor, with a wide lead among white voters. Behind the news: Gathered around the table at Carter's Barbershop in North Lawndale, The Chicago Reporter's staff fiercely debated on its weekly radio show whether there's such a thing as a consensus candidate for mayor for...
|
|
January, 2011
The news:
Chicago is expected to face its largest budget deficit ever with a shortfall of more than $650 million.
Behind the news:
Litigation against the city is contributing to Chicago's financial woes. During the first nine months of 2010, the city has settled more lawsuits filed against its departments and paid heftier fees than it did during the same period in 2009–"despite a new...
|
January, 2011
The news:
By the Nov. 22 deadline, 20 people–"including seven African Americans, three Latinos and one Asian–"filed their petition to run for mayor.
Behind the news:
If voting patterns from recent citywide elections are any guide, none of the 11 minority candidates can count on easy votes from their respective communities, as minority voters did not always vote along racial and ethnic...
|
December, 2010
The news:
The U.S. Census Bureau reported in September that 11.7 million households reported participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps–"a 19.8 percent increase from the previous year.
Behind the news:
The use of food stamps saw an increase of more than 20 percent among Asian and Latino households in Cook County between July 2009 and...
|
|
June, 2010
By all accounts, Fayette County is one of the whitest regions in Illinois, but you wouldn't know it by the latest census count. The secret to Fayette's diversity is the Vandalia Correctional Center, the local prison where 95.7 percent of the county's black population sits behind bars.
Like Illinois' other overwhelmingly white, rural prison communities, Fayette officials count on the...
|
May, 2009
March 6
The Illinois State Police responds to The Chicago Reporter's Freedom of Information Act request, sending a table of statistics indicating the agency voided about 8,500 orders from 2004 to 2008.
March 9
Paul P. Biebel Jr., presiding judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County Criminal Division, learns about the number of voided orders from the Reporter and meets impromptu with legal...
|
May, 2009
Ex-offender advocates in Boston knew that something had to be done. They were making little progress in helping Massachusetts ex-offenders whose criminal histories–" officially referred to as "Criminal Offender Record Information"–"are logged in the state database.
So in 2004, Massachusetts Alliance to Reform CORI, a statewide coalition of advocates, led the push for an ordinance to...
|
