The house next door to mine was torn down. My neighbors don’t quite remember the year, but the resident local historian, Maurice, who has lived on the block since the late 60s, was shipped off to Vietnam and, upon his return in 1972, the house had vanished. The product of “slum clearance” on Chicago’s west […]
Tag: Chicago Sun-Times
Posted inPress releases
[PRESS RELEASE] Baim stepping down as Reader publisher end of 2022
The board of directors of the Reader Institute for Community Journalism (RICJ), publishers of the Chicago Reader, has announced that Tracy Baim is stepping down as president and publisher at the end of 2022.
Posted inColumns & Opinion
Not a dream
As I lay in bed drenched in sweat, battling COVID, it came to me as in a fevered dream . . . The city council had overwhelmingly approved Mayor Lightfoot’s idea to spend untold millions on a casino. Even as Alderperson Brendan Reilly warned them that it may wind up being as bad as the […]
Posted inPress releases
Chicago Reader formally completes transition to nonprofit
Sale documents were signed May 16, 2022, to transfer ownership of the Chicago Reader to the Reader Institute for Community Journalism, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Posted inOn Politics
Jussie justice
Let’s start with an apology to readers tired of reading about Jussie Smollett—because having watched last week’s sentencing, I just got to get something off my chest . . . 150 days! Are you kidding me? My Smollett-hating readers, I realize, have a point—there are far more compelling matters to discuss, what with the species […]
Posted inColumns & Opinion
That coddlin’ town . . .
Daley, Burke, and Rahm have been too generous to Trump and his tower, and taxpayers are paying the price.
Posted inNews & Politics
A silence louder than words
How allegations of sexual abuse exposed cracks in the foundation of Young Chicago Authors, Free Write Arts & Literacy, and the city’s spoken word community
Posted inColumns & Opinion
The mark of Cain
The mob, the Man, and hassling gay bars in pre-Stonewall Chicago
Posted inNews & Politics
Politics of fear: Are youth really to blame for the carjacking spike?
Cops say masked teens with a thirst for violence and joyrides are terrorizing the city. An examination of arrests reveals a narrative built on shoddy data and anecdotal evidence.
Posted inColumns & Opinion
We should rename Chicago’s shoreline highway DuSable Drive, but we don’t have to drop LSD
Renaming the landmark for Chicago’s Black founder would be a game-changer, but we can still also refer to Lake Shore Drive by its iconic appellation.
Posted inArts & Culture
Chicago History Museum keeps the virtual lights on
Departing president Gary Johnson talks about going digital in a pandemic.
Posted inColumns & Opinion
The first step
Thank you, Chicago teachers, for forcing the powers that be to take a small step toward doing the right thing.