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May, 2013
For many Chicago residents, gun control is a personal issue. Gun violence, or the threat of it, pervades everyday life. As the debate over how to curb gun violence takes center stage at the national level and the Illinois statehouse, Chicago finds itself at the center of attention. The city has become a leading example of gun violence in urban America and the testing ground for expansive gun-...
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May, 2013
For many Chicago residents, gun control is a personal issue. Gun violence, or the threat of it, pervades everyday life. As the debate over how to curb gun violence takes center stage at the national level and the Illinois statehouse, Chicago finds itself at the center of attention. The city has become a leading example of gun violence in urban America and the testing ground for expansive gun...
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April, 2013
The debate over how to stop the bloodshed in Chicago headed south in March as Illinois lawmakers took up a bill that would put more people with guns behind bars—for longer time.There is a logic behind HB 2265, which was introduced by state Rep. Michael Zalewski, a Democrat from west suburban Riverside. The argument: that felons, gang members and just about anyone convicted of carrying a loaded...
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January, 2013
In the summer of 1975, Stephan Garnett was fresh out of college and in his first journalism job at The Chicago Reporter. He was assigned to investigate the Chicago Park District’s funding practices.He soon ran into an obstacle: The district would release data on the number of seesaws or soccer fields in the parks--but not how much money went to each park.So he followed the advice of Reporter...
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January, 2012
Robert J. Quinn’s tenure as commissioner of the Chicago Fire Department spanned the Daley Machine era. Quinn took over the department in 1957, two years into Mayor Richard J. Daley’s first term. His subsequent 21 years in office made him a Chicago institution in his own right. Today, the city’s fire academy bears his name as a tribute.But the beginning and end of Quinn’s career were marked...
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September, 2012
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July, 2012
For the second time in two years, Illinois legislators approved a bill to greatly expand legal gambling in the state.Governor Pat Quinn says he won’t sign it, but now the issue seems to be a seasonal recurrence.In a floundering state economy, are more casual rules on gambling one answer to injecting money into the economy and reducing unemployment? Or is any economic benefit outweighed by issues...
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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...
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January, 2012
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