Charges dropped against man shot by Chicago cop at Grand station
March 2, 2020
A man shot and seriously wounded by a Chicago police officer in a downtown train station won't face charges, as prosecutors on Sunday dropped the criminal case stemming from an incident captured on bystander video and shared widely. Cook County prosecutors moved to drop resisting arrest and criminal...
McKinley Park residents fighting for clean air try to block controversial asphalt plant on Chicago’s Southwest Side
Lauren Paris, Hector Cervantes, Francesca Mathewes, and Patsy Newitt
March 1, 2020
Robert Beedle moved to McKinley Park in 2015, looking to settle down with his wife in a family-friendly, tight-knit community on Chicago’s Southwest Side. The neighborhood seemed like a perfect fit until an aroma he described as mimicking gasoline mixed with burnt pavement started filling the ai...
Newly-vacant 12th district seat catches the eyes of many
Patsy Newitt, Assistant News Editor
March 1, 2020
The 12th district state representative seat is hotly contested. Big name candidate endorsements create a narrative of Mayor Lori Lightfoot vs. Gov. J.B. Pritzker, or the Chicago Tribune vs. the Sun-Times. Outside of the powerful endorsements and vying for constituent support is the fact that the se...
Coronavirus is ‘moving too fast’: With its third confirmed case, Illinois struggles to keep up
Mackenzie Murtaugh and Brita Hunegs
March 1, 2020
It was a tumultuous weekend in Chicago. On Friday, police shot a man traveling from train car to train car at the Grand Red Line stop. Sunday might have raised the overall mood of the city with the annual Polar Plunge, where thousands gather to take a dangerous leap into Lake Michigan to raise money an...
Illinois primary registration, early voting and polling places, explained
Brita Hunegs, Staff Writer
March 1, 2020
The primary election in Illinois will take place on March 17, the same day many Illinoisans will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Primary elections often have historically lower turnout than general elections. In 2018, turnout for all eligible voters was just 19.9 percent compared with the historic g...
Chicago unveils plan to fix Obama Center site housing concerns
March 1, 2020
Chicago officials have proposed a plan to address affordable housing concerns around the site of the planned Obama Presidential Center. The city would invest about $4.5 million in four programs to help low-income residents fix their homes, help others become homeowners and renovate vacant buildings,...
Illinois officials announce new positive test for coronavirus
March 1, 2020
Health officials say a person in Illinois has tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the third suspected case in the state after two confirmed patients. The Illinois and Cook County Departments of Public Health made the announcement in a joint statement Saturday night. Officials say the unidentified...
Chicago police boost mass transit presence amid crime spike
February 29, 2020
A spike in crime on Chicago's rail system and some recent high profile outbursts of violence has prompted the city's police department to put 50 more officers in trains and on platforms and assign four detectives to investigate nothing but Chicago Transit Authority crimes, officials announced Friday. Hours...
J.B. Pritzker: COVID-19 risk is low, but officials prepared
February 29, 2020
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The risk of contracting potentially deadly COVID-19 in Illinois remains low, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday as Chicago's mayor and state and city health officials joined him to detail the steps they're taking to halt the new virus. A respiratory illness caused by the novel...
Protests shut down Cook County State’s Attorney forum at DePaul
Bianca Cseke, Online Managing Editor
February 25, 2020
A forum for Cook County State’s Attorney candidates to answer questions from a moderator Monday evening at DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus was shut down early because of protestors. As moderator Kenneth Dotson was about to ask a third question, a member of the audience got up and said he had a ques...
Jussie Smollett pleads not guilty to restored charges
February 24, 2020
Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty Monday to restored charges that accuse him of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself last year in Chicago and falsely reporting to police that the phony attack was real. His lawyer, Tina Glandian, entered the not guilty pleas...
Donna More addresses concerns about North Side crime
Emily Reilly, Contributing Writer
February 23, 2020
Cook County State’s Attorney candidate, Donna More, hosted a public forum last Tuesday night to promote her campaign. As a Georgetown University Law graduate, More began her law career handling appeals at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office. Later in her career, she moved to the Illinois Gamin...
