Recent News Posts
In These Times: Illinoisians call for minimum wage update
July 1, 2011 by Kari Lydersen CHICAGO—Among various policies that former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has touted as proving he fought for the common man was a 2006 bill that raised the state minimum wage automatically each year through 2010. Several days after Blagojevich was convicted on 17 federal corruption charges, minimum wage workers in…
» Read More
Progress Illinois: Number Of The Week: 14,395
June 17, 2011 by Aricka Flowers That’s the number of homeless people in Illinois in 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). According to the federal government, homelessness has gone down in the state by 7 percent since 2007. But the numbers also showed that homelessness did increase in Illinois…
» Read More
Homeless CPS students head to college
June 16, 2011 by Erin Meyer, Tribune reporter Like many recent high school graduates, Miguel Noyola and Michael Young are preparing to start college in the fall. Noyola plans to study to be an automotive technician, and Young wants to apply to the nursing program at Truman City College in Chicago. Both share something few…
» Read More
Chicago Muckrakers: The devastated housing market on Chicago’s South and West sides during the Daley era
June 5, 2011 Former Mayor Richard M. Daley will be remembered for the rise of shiny, new downtown condominiums and the fall of towering public housing buildings. But his tenure should also be remembered for declining homeownership and the dramatic rise of cost-burdened renters and home owners in many of Chicago’s South and West side…
» Read More
Community Media Workshop Newstips: Grassroots Victory: SB 620 passes
June 1, 2011 by Curtis Black In a major victory for grassroots school activists, a bill reforming CPS facilities planning and school closing procedures passed the General Assembly yesterday. SB 620 passed the House unanimously and the Senate by a vote of 59 to 1. The bill will require CPS to create a ten-year facilities…
» Read More
Chicago Tribune: Williams lets it rip on ‘rock’ night
May 22, 2011 By Kevin McKeough, Special to the Tribune Lucinda Williams has mixed her tough and tender sides throughout her long career, but this weekend the 58-year-old Louisiana singer-songwriter emphasized them separately in a pair of concerts at Park West. Saturday, she dubbed a “rock ‘n’ roll night” (she would play a quieter evening…
» Read More
Progress Illinois: State Services For The Homeless Face Severe Cuts
April 13, 2011 By Robert Dietz There’s a constant stream of news about drastic cuts to next year’s state budget that will reduce or eliminate important services. We’ve pointed out the impact Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget would have on immigrants, schools, and the Department of Human Services. Now, advocates for the state’s homeless are protesting…
» Read More
Progress Illinois: Council Members Pass Again On Approving Daley-Backed Bill
April 11, 2011 By Micah Maidenberg The current group of Chicago aldermen has seemed pretty comfortable bucking the Daley administration on some important mayoral priorities over the last month or so. In March, members of the council’s Committee on Aviation declined to take a vote on a proposed 25-year concessions lease at O’Hare’s international terminal,…
» Read More
WBEZ: Aldermen slam Daley administration in affordable housing flap
April 11, 2011 By Sam Hudzik Walter Burnett: ‘I feel like I’m playing with some rotten kids.’ Some Chicago aldermen lashed out at the Daley administration Monday for putting the brakes on an affordable housing bill, while pushing the mayor’s own proposal. Ald. Walter Burnett from the West Side’s 27th Ward, has long championed what’s…
» Read More
Chicago Journal: Sweet Home Chicago ordinance shelved as Daley pushes his own plan
March 30, 2011 By Matthew Blake, Contributing Reporter After a long and unsuccessful battle, Ald Walter Burnett (27th) said he will wait until Mayor Richard Daley leaves office to resuscitate the “Sweet Home Chicago” ordinance, legislation that requires Tax Increment Finance money go to affordable housing. “I will just deal with the new mayor about…
» Read More
In These Times: Illinoisians call for minimum wage update
July 1, 2011 by Kari Lydersen CHICAGO—Among various policies that former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has touted as proving he fought for the common man was a 2006 bill that raised the state minimum wage automatically each year through 2010. Several days after Blagojevich was convicted on 17 federal corruption charges, minimum wage workers in…
» Read More
Progress Illinois: Number Of The Week: 14,395
June 17, 2011 by Aricka Flowers That’s the number of homeless people in Illinois in 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). According to the federal government, homelessness has gone down in the state by 7 percent since 2007. But the numbers also showed that homelessness did increase in Illinois…
» Read More
Homeless CPS students head to college
June 16, 2011 by Erin Meyer, Tribune reporter Like many recent high school graduates, Miguel Noyola and Michael Young are preparing to start college in the fall. Noyola plans to study to be an automotive technician, and Young wants to apply to the nursing program at Truman City College in Chicago. Both share something few…
» Read More
Chicago Muckrakers: The devastated housing market on Chicago’s South and West sides during the Daley era
June 5, 2011 Former Mayor Richard M. Daley will be remembered for the rise of shiny, new downtown condominiums and the fall of towering public housing buildings. But his tenure should also be remembered for declining homeownership and the dramatic rise of cost-burdened renters and home owners in many of Chicago’s South and West side…
» Read More
Community Media Workshop Newstips: Grassroots Victory: SB 620 passes
June 1, 2011 by Curtis Black In a major victory for grassroots school activists, a bill reforming CPS facilities planning and school closing procedures passed the General Assembly yesterday. SB 620 passed the House unanimously and the Senate by a vote of 59 to 1. The bill will require CPS to create a ten-year facilities…
» Read More
Chicago Tribune: Williams lets it rip on ‘rock’ night
May 22, 2011 By Kevin McKeough, Special to the Tribune Lucinda Williams has mixed her tough and tender sides throughout her long career, but this weekend the 58-year-old Louisiana singer-songwriter emphasized them separately in a pair of concerts at Park West. Saturday, she dubbed a “rock ‘n’ roll night” (she would play a quieter evening…
» Read More
Progress Illinois: State Services For The Homeless Face Severe Cuts
April 13, 2011 By Robert Dietz There’s a constant stream of news about drastic cuts to next year’s state budget that will reduce or eliminate important services. We’ve pointed out the impact Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget would have on immigrants, schools, and the Department of Human Services. Now, advocates for the state’s homeless are protesting…
» Read More
Progress Illinois: Council Members Pass Again On Approving Daley-Backed Bill
April 11, 2011 By Micah Maidenberg The current group of Chicago aldermen has seemed pretty comfortable bucking the Daley administration on some important mayoral priorities over the last month or so. In March, members of the council’s Committee on Aviation declined to take a vote on a proposed 25-year concessions lease at O’Hare’s international terminal,…
» Read More
WBEZ: Aldermen slam Daley administration in affordable housing flap
April 11, 2011 By Sam Hudzik Walter Burnett: ‘I feel like I’m playing with some rotten kids.’ Some Chicago aldermen lashed out at the Daley administration Monday for putting the brakes on an affordable housing bill, while pushing the mayor’s own proposal. Ald. Walter Burnett from the West Side’s 27th Ward, has long championed what’s…
» Read More
Chicago Journal: Sweet Home Chicago ordinance shelved as Daley pushes his own plan
March 30, 2011 By Matthew Blake, Contributing Reporter After a long and unsuccessful battle, Ald Walter Burnett (27th) said he will wait until Mayor Richard Daley leaves office to resuscitate the “Sweet Home Chicago” ordinance, legislation that requires Tax Increment Finance money go to affordable housing. “I will just deal with the new mayor about…
» Read More
