Columbia Program Links High School Students to Journalism
Find more photos like this on Columbia Links Sitting with his fellow Columbia Links graduates at the recent summer academy graduation, Solomon Davis said he was surprised when he was called up to receive the first-ever news literacy award through the journalism program for Chicago high school students. “It’s an honor that they felt I […]
The Importance and Pursuit of Education: The Story of Shahrukh Hasan
Shahrukh Hasan, IT coordinator for IQRA International Educational Foundation in Skokie, knows education is important to uplifting a community. As a first generation immigrant from Karachi, Pakistan, he works within the Muslim community to promote religious education. Find out more about him and what he’s doing at IQRA in my Cowbird.
Bring Together a Diverse Community
Cowbird is a storytelling platform that links one image with a story. They want to “build a public library of human experience, so the knowledge and wisdom we accumulate as individuals may live on as part of the commons.” ChicagoTalks wants to encourage reporters to try telling the kind of stories journalists have always told […]
Final call to a friend
Antanice “Niecy” Ward lets out a giggle when she remembers the funny faces her friend Soraya Gibson used to make when talking about people. “She was very silly, very goofy. She always had everyone laughing,” she says. As Ward sits in her cook’s apron in the Lake View High School cafeteria where she worked with […]
State lawmaker questions ALL KIDS program after audit
With the state finances reeling, one lawmaker is exploring how much money could be saved by restricting access to state healthcare benefits for undocumented immigrants. The potentially explosive issue already has come under scrutiny following a state audit that showed as many as 75 percent of the children covered under the state’s ALL KIDS program were […]
Legislators consider extending insurance coverage for Illinois dependents
Erin Watson, a 23-year-old Chicago native getting a business degree from Fordham University in New York, said she hopes to get a job with good health insurance after graduation, but added that if she doesn’t get one, she worries she will not be able to afford insurance. “It’d be helpful to have the extra money […]
Illinois mental health funding likely facing more cuts, despite Quinn’s promise of increase
Rita Winkeler thinks her developmentally disabled son has a bright future, but she worries it is being clouded by state budget cuts because the center where he son lives is closing. Winkeler’s son, and more than 250 others with mental and developmental disabilities, gets his care at the Warren G. Murray Developmental Center. Last year, […]
Union blasts legislators for underfunding in-home care
Herman Byrd’s prostate cancer diagnosis hit him hard. With Medicare paying for his radiation treatments, he lost over 20 pounds on his slight frame- and all hope. After 39 treatments, he was at risk for placement in a nursing home. He was depressed. He refused to go to a nursing home where he said he […]
To save money state considers restricting access to healthcare benefits for undocumented immigrants
With the state finances reeling, one lawmaker is exploring how much money could be saved by restricting access to state healthcare benefits for undocumented immigrants. The potentially explosive issue already has come under scrutiny following a state audit that showed as many as 75 percent of the children covered under the state’s ALL KIDS program were […]
Funding cuts upset disabled and elderly
Herman Byrd’s prostate cancer diagnosis hit him hard. With Medicare paying for his radiation treatments, he lost over 20 pounds on his slight frame- and all hope. After 39 treatments, he was at risk for placement in a nursing home. He was depressed. He refused to go to a nursing home where he said he […]
Logan Square theatre offers retro look, beer
Even as Orlando Torres casually leans against the arm of the tall, deep red squishy couches that line the retro, art deco design of the main lobby in the Logan Theatre, his jiggling foot and random hand clasps indicate that his mind is already onto the next three things he needs to do that evening. […]
Changes to CPS tier system will make school choice more difficult for Logan Square students
Logan Square eighth graders will have a tougher time getting into selective schools next year because of a revised citywide ranking system. Some neighborhood students will need higher test scores to get in to their school of choice, because several census tracts in Logan Square were assigned to a higher tier in Chicago Public School’s […]
Lathrop Home: Residents, City Disagree on New Development Plans
Residents and community leaders representing the Northwest Side’s Lathrop Homes public housing development blasted the city for not including their ideas in three redevelopment scenarios presented at two open houses earlier this month. “CHA [Chicago Housing Authority] has not responded to anything we’ve requested- their vision is very different from ours,” said Robert Davidson, president […]
Waldo runs for Illinois House District 40
It appears neither Democrat Rep. Deborah L. Mell nor Republican challenger Antoinette ‘Toni’ Puccio-Johnson is actively campaigning for the Nov. 6th election. “We’re not endorsing anyone [in the 40th District] as no one is getting back to us,” said Rich Whitehead, political action chair for the Independent Voters of Illinois, a non-partisan group. “The area […]