Politics & Labor
Unlikely Oases
While food deserts remain a persistent problem in Chicago, the reality is not as grim as it seems. A report released last month contained a heartening and perhaps unexpected message: “We feel the awareness war has been won, as evidenced by this week's arrival of our nation's First Lady.” »
Holding Up the Line
Cecilia Butler spoke before the Chicago Transit Board for the second time in four months. The 63-year-old woman repeated what she had already said four times before: that the historic station house across the street from the Garfield Green Line stop could and should be a building operated by and for the community. »
Playing the Advantage
Juan Moreno stands at the edge of a small astroturf soccer field and motions around at the encompassing school building that his architecture firm JGMA designed. This freshly built structure at 51st and Kedzie houses the United Neighborhood Organization’s (UNO) Soccer Academy, a school designed to incorporate academics with a soccer training campus. »
Swept Under the Rug
In a meeting with housekeepers on April 7, University of Chicago administrators announced their plans for major changes to the current housekeeping staff. The proposal calls for a consolidation of Housing personnel, the full-time housekeepers who serve the residence halls, and Facilities staff, who work in on-campus buildings. »
Because we are
Roundtable discussions led by aldermen and local activists detailed new efforts to promote “creative solutions” by inspiring informal leadership—everything from education to crime prevention to neighborhood beauty. »
The Mayor & The Machine
The politics of Chicago are not those which governed the city one hundred years ago, and the terms “machine politics” and “Chicago Style politics” are getting thrown around loosely. The original meanings of these words are part of a far deeper history than any of these passing references indicates. »
The Runoff
In the Bridgeport of 2011, Maria’s Dry Goods and Community Bar is bringing politics and booze together again. »
UCMC’s critical distance
“How can you ignore? We’re bleeding on your floor. How can you ignore? We’re dying at your door!” Last Friday, November 12, a crowd of about sixty chanted and carried signs across the University of Chicago quadrangle to protest the lack of a trauma center at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC). It... »
