New bill proposes Metra fare discounts for college students starting in 2021
Jessica Grekowicz, Contributing Writer
February 3, 2020
A promising new bill has been proposed to the Illinois House of Representatives that would give a 50 percent discount on Metra fares to college students. The bill, filed by Representative Barbara Hernandez under the code HB4217, calls to amend the current Regional Transportation Authority Act. It p...
Illinois to continue voter registration program after error
January 28, 2020
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday that there are no plans to suspend Illinois' automatic voter registration program as election officials work to contain the fallout from more than 500 people being mistakenly registered. A "programming error” by Secretary of State Jesse White's office led to 545 people — who indicated they weren't U.S. citize...
Chicago’s low-income communities receiving a $20M investment
January 28, 2020
Underprivileged areas in Chicago will receive an estimated $20 million investment for revitalization efforts that prioritize affordable housing and economic development, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Monday. Fifth Third Bank is putting money into “Opportunity Zone” neighborhoods in the city's South and West sides. Th...
1-year-old Chicago toddler shot in parents’ gun struggle
January 28, 2020
A 1-year-old boy whose father claimed had been shot in the head by a gunman in the street was actually struck by a bullet as his parents struggled over a gun inside their Chicago home, police said Tuesday. The shooting happened Monday night. The bullet did not penetrate the child's skull and he is...
Martin Sandoval charged with red-light camera bribery
January 27, 2020
Federal prosecutors filed bribery and tax charges on Monday against a former Illinois state senator who led the powerful transportation committee, alleging he accepted payments in exchange for supporting the state's costly red-light camera program. The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago listed the...
State’s Attorney Kim Foxx talks expungement after Illinois cannabis bill
Mackenzie Murtaugh, News Editor
January 26, 2020
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx came to the Loop campus on Tuesday, Jan. 21 to speak with law students and professors alike about the decriminalization of cannabis in Illinois. The law that legalized recreational cannabis for adults over the age of 21 was put into place on Jan. 1. The flower’s...
Chicago woman becomes 2nd US case of new virus from China
January 24, 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Chicago woman has become the second U.S. patient diagnosed with the new pneumonia-like virus from China, health officials announced Friday. The woman in her 60s returned from China on Jan. 13 without showing any signs of illness, but a few days later she called her doctor to...
The 606 trail’s relationship with displacement
Brita Hunegs, Staff Writer
January 20, 2020
Last Wednesday, the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University released a new report, examining how the 606 trail has intensified the displacement of people in the neighborhoods surrounding it. The study was released just one day after the City Council, and the mayor, approved a six-month mor...
Illinois voter registration bill sparks controversy over implementation
Patsy Newitt, Assistant News Editor
January 20, 2020
Automatic voter registration seemed to be the only thing Illinois state Democrats and Republicans could agree on in 2017. The bill received not only bipartisan, but unanimous support by state senators, making Illinois the 10th state to sign in automatic voter registration in August 2017. Throughout th...
Community theatre celebrates MLK Jr.’s legacy as civil servant and peace advocate
Patsy Newitt, Assistant News Editor
January 20, 2020
The Writers Theatre’s 14th tour of the MLK Project: Fight for Civil Rights kicked off at the Chicago History Museum’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration this past Monday Jan. 20. The one-woman play follows young Chicagoan Alaya’s personal evolution after being assigned a project on the Civil...
Chicago reflects on King more than 50 years after Marquette Park violence
Patsy Newitt and Mackenzie Murtaugh
January 20, 2020
In an all-white Marquette Park on Aug. 5, 1966, Martin Luther King, Jr. was struck by a rock while protesting housing segregation. The civil rights leader and his supporters were met with extreme hostility by white residents and the march resulted in 30 injuries and 40 arrests. “I have seen many ...
Some DePaul students on ‘high alert’ as campus safety stagnates
Griffin Wright, Katie Kostelic, and Brett Balicki
January 20, 2020
Lincoln Park is thought to be a safer neighborhood of the city. According to some DePaul students, this may not be the case. Many DePaul students had their own run ins with crime around the Lincoln Park campus, and others believe the rates of these incidents have been increasing. As fall turns to ...
