Local Politics

Illinois public universities gave away a record $13.5 million last year in free tuition to more than 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students through a controversial legislative scholarship program, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s annual tuition and fee waivers report. The 164 members of the Illinois General Assembly who participate in the program...
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Sen. Antonio “Tony” Munoz continues to reign in the 1st District, keeping alive his 10-year streak in the Illinois Senate with a win in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. The incumbent received 69 percent of votes, giving him an overwhelming majority against his challenger, Adolfo Mondragon. Munoz, who was not available for comment during the week leading up...
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Incumbent state Sen. Heather Steans easily held onto her 7th District seat in Tuesday’s Democratic primary election, with scant numbers of voters braving the cold and snow to choose her over challenger Jim Madigan. Steans, who is currently serving her first senate term, tallied more than 13,900 votes, or 65 percent of her district, according...
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State Rep. Dan Burke (D-Chicago) didn’t breathe easy until early Wednesday morning, when it became official that he had indeed held off Rudy Lozano, Jr. to secure his name on the November ballot. It was the first time Burke had faced a challenge in a primary in nearly two decades of representing the 23rd House...
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Don’t be a dope when it comes to issues that affect you every day. Politicians influence your health insurance costs, whether you get unemployment insurance, how much you can get in student loans, and what taxes you pay for a coffee or soft drink. How much lower might your rates be if the Cook...
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Chris Drew is a master of the silkscreen. He runs a youth art program at Uptown Multi-Cultural Art Center and has for years. Drew’s program at UM-CAC works “to promote the multicultural diversity of Uptown and Chicago by bringing together artists of many ethnic backgrounds to establish art exhibitions and workshops.” Read more...
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From Lake Effect News It’s not often that elected county officials visit the West Ridge and Rogers Park backwater, but visit they did, arriving with an entourage of TV news cameras and a prominent TV newscaster to a Democratic candidates’ forum for the Cook County Board President’s seat. Sunday’s forum was organized by a new neighborhood group...
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It was a full house, with over 200 women and a handful of men in an audience that was anxious to hear what the next Cook County Board president would do to protect and better serve women and men who are victims of violence. The forum, Violence Against Women, held at Loyola University, is one...
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Local school councils are out, Renaissance 2010 is in, and the fight against the machine has only begun. Activists and experts have taken a stand to bring back public schools and public involvement in education; they said they are fighting for their voice. Pauline Lipman, policy studies professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago,...
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Officials at a Far West Side organization fear if client demand continues to rise, more and more recently released prisoners will be left fending for themselves. Roger Ehmen, director of Westside Health Authority’s Prisoner Re-Entry Center, said a recent jump in numbers shows the dire need for the program in Austin. Ehmen said the center saw...
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