Chicago -
By Steve Rhodes
White-on-white crime is out of control. Starring Ernie Banks, Hub Arkush and Laura Washington. Plus: More false frames! And: Pretenders and contenders take on Rahm. Finally: The Super Bowl is a circus on Mars!
Posted on January 31, 2015
By The Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has won its four-year Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over secret legal interpretations of a controversial section of the Patriot Act, including legal analysis of law enforcement and intelligence agency access to census records.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday filed a motion to dismiss its appeal of a ruling over legal opinions about Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the controversial provision of law relied on by the NSA to collect the call records of millions of Americans. As a result of the dismissal, the Justice Department will be forced to release a previously undisclosed opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) concerning access by law enforcement and intelligence agencies to census data under Section 215.
Posted on January 30, 2015
By The Heartland Alliance
By many accounts, Illinois should be a national leader on addressing poverty: Illinois is the fifth largest state, has a rich mix of industries, is home to world-class educational institutions, and has a state economy larger than that of many independent nations. But when it comes to the well-being of its people, particularly those at the bottom of the economic spectrum, Illinois is not stepping up to be the leader it should be.
While there are some bright spots, on the whole, Illinois has plenty of room for improvement:
Compounding Illinois’s poor showing on these various indicators is the mounting state budget deficit and a tax structure that demands proportionately more from those who have less.
Posted on January 29, 2015
By Steve Rhodes
Let’s not reduce him to a wind-up toy. Plus: Do We Really Need More Police Officers? Neither Side Wants You To Know; The Many Problems Of Political Polls; and Rahm Vs. The Field.
Posted on January 25, 2015
By Margaret Ramirez/The Hechinger Report
When 3-year-old Julian started throwing tantrums in preschool, his teachers were unsure how to handle him. His screaming, inconsolable crying and violent outbursts soon escalated to the point where he threw a chair at a teacher. He was subsequently kicked out of the childcare program.
His mother, Angelica Pabon, knew the reason for Julian’s anger and aggression: A few months earlier, the young boy had witnessed his father being shot to death. To recover from the traumatic experience, Julian needed a preschool capable of working through his emotional problems while supporting his academic growth.
After a referral from a social worker, Pabon enrolled Julian at Erie Neighborhood House, one of the few early childhood programs in Chicago offering educational and mental health services for young children. There, he received close attention from teachers in a therapeutic classroom to control his anger. He also attended one-on-one “play therapy” sessions with a psychologist. That was six years ago. Today, Julian’s mother says, he is a 9-year-old doing well in fourth grade at a Chicago public school.
Posted on January 20, 2015
By Steve Rhodes
Dark roasted and devious. Plus: My Jerky Throat; The U of C Screwed The Obama Library Pooch; John Fox Is The Fixer; Chuy Garcia Has Lost Me; and This Week’s Worst Journalist In Chicago.
Posted on January 17, 2015
By Sara Neufeld/The Hechinger Report
As New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ushers in a huge expansion of after-school programs for middle schoolers, educators and advocates are debating whether the new programs are academic enough. How students and teachers should spend their time when kids are behind is among the most pressing and vexing questions in education today, and it’s one we have spent the past year exploring.
Related: NYC’s ramped up after-school programs offer safety, supper and sports
Our Time to Learn series has taken us from New York to Chicago, Detroit, Santa Ana and beyond. Examining the length and content of regular school days and after-school and summer programming, we’ve heard a common refrain of quality over quantity. In other words, if you’re going to give students more time to learn, it must be quality time if you want to get results.
Posted on January 16, 2015
Another Beachwood Special Report
* Rename the U of C “Columbia University.”
* Shift bid to Columbia College and hope for confusion.
* Ply selection committee with Bruce Rauner’s wine.
* Sorry, Lucas, we need that lakefront site back!
Posted on January 15, 2015
By Steve Rhodes
There’s a difference between being against terrorism and for free speech – and everything that entails. Plus: I’ve Been Sick But Zeke Emanuel Has Not; Bloodshot’s Big Weekend; Inside Seinfeld; and Is Anita Alvarez Charlie?
Posted on January 11, 2015
By Michael Grabell/ProPublica
Illinois regulators revoked the business license last month of a check cashing store featured in a ProPublica investigation of temp agencies and labor brokers in Chicago.
The revocation order is the latest in a string of government and legislative actions taken in response to a ProPublica series on the growth of temp work in the United States.
Illinois regulators said they learned of the store’s unlawful collection of fees from our story in April 2013.
According to the order, the 26th and Central Park Currency Exchange arranged a deal with a labor broker to funnel temp workers to its check-cashing business. Under the arrangement, the temp agency gave the workers’ paychecks to the labor broker who then brought them to the check cashing store. The store distributed the checks only after it had deducted fees for the broker and for its services, according to the order by the state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
Posted on January 9, 2015
