ity officials were excited to approve plans for a new Amazon warehouse in Bridgeport in November 2020. Maurice Cox, Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development, applauded Amazonâs development team for âwatching out for the public interestâ and âsetting a new standardâ for future logistics facilities. Not everyone was celebrating, though. Ten community organizations, […]
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Posted incoronavirus/COVID-19
Cook County Jail Starts Vaccinating Detainees for COVID-19
n Monday, February 1, authorities started vaccinating people incarcerated in Cook County Jail for COVID-19, beginning with a small number of the most vulnerable residents. Approximately 150 of the more than 5,000 people detained in the jail had been vaccinated in the first three days of vaccine administration. Vaccinations for guards and staff at the […]
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Despite Vaccines, Advocates Say COVID-19 Contact Tracing Remains Important
ast May, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced a contact-tracing program as part of its response to COVID-19. The programâs approach was unique: use community-based organizations (CBOs) to recruit contact tracers and train them in public health principles. The CDPH believed that hiring people through CBOs would help build trust between Chicagoans and […]
Posted inPolitics
Redistricting Reform Remains Elusive in Illinois
head of the 2020 Census, Illinois activists and politicians began to try and put an end to politically motivated gerrymandering by advocating for the creation of an independent, nonpartisan commission that would redraw legislative and congressional districts. So far, eighteen states rely on some form of such commissions to shape political boundaries, but in Illinois, […]
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How to File Your 2020 Taxes
s the 2020-2021 tax season is approaching, it is important to know how filing your taxes after a pandemic year may change and how different forms of relief granted this year affect taxpayers in Illinois. Since March, millions of people in the U.S. have applied for economic assistance from measures such as the Coronavirus Aid, […]
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Learning in Lockdown: Education in Illinois Prisons Under COVID
ike many students across Illinois, Phillip Hartsfield is about to complete his undergraduate degree in the midst of a global pandemic. And like many other students, Hartsfield, who has concentrated in the fields of law, psychology, and sociology, learned how to complete his classwork under less than optimal conditions in 2020. He has written analytical […]
Posted inNotes
CPDâs abuse of Black women caught on camera
Vaccination As we were putting out our last issue before the holiday break, the first COVID-19 vaccine was still awaiting approval by the FDA. Now, in the first week of January, two vaccines named Pfizer and Moderna (for the labs where they were created) are undergoing distribution by the Illinois Department of Public Healthâbut the […]
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The Unsolved Cases of Missing and Murdered Women
homas Hargrove, a retired investigative journalist, felt something was suspicious as he analyzed Chicago homicide data in late 2014. He identified several eerie patterns among a cluster of fifty-one unsolved female homicides: most of the victims had been sex workers or drug users, ninety-three percent of the murders occurred outdoors or in abandoned buildings, the […]
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As Remote Learning Continues, Reopening Plans Remain a Concern
t around 7:30am each weekday morning, John Siangho helps his sonâa second-grade CPS student at the Regional Gifted Center through Carnegie Elementary in Woodlawnâget ready for another day of remote learning. The two of them wash up, chat during breakfast, and at 8:30am, fifteen minutes before class officially begins, Sianghoâs son goes to his desk, […]
Posted inFood
Plant Chicago Connects Link Card Holders to Local Farms
âI’m more conscious when I go to the store,â said Sheila Jones, in describing how Plant Chicagoâs Link Box program has supported her and shifted her perspective during COVID-19. âI’m more conscious about what I’m picking upâwhere it’s coming from. ⊠Iâm just more aware of helping out the community,â The Link Produce Box program […]