Stories by Blair Paddock

Housing at Stateville Correctional Center is “not suitable for any 21st century correctional center.” Logan Correctional Center is “inefficient, ineffective, and unsuitable for any population.”

A nonprofit celebrating the work of Black women and gender-nonconforming media makers opened its doors Friday. The Sisters in Cinema Media Arts Center, 2310 E. 75th St., will offer screenings and workshops to the community.

The move comes seven months after the NLRB found merit or partial merit in the Howard Brown Health Works United’s allegations. This complaint reiterates those allegations, including declaring an impasse and refusing to bargain over layoffs.

State lawmakers overwhelmingly approve a hybrid elected school board for Chicago. More trouble at an embattled migrant shelter in Pilsen. And the race for Cook County state’s attorney heats up.

Developers have a massive underground warehouse dream for the Southeast Side. But for some, the project is potential environmental and public health concern.

Cook County Jail provides medications for opioid use disorder to incarcerated people. Where frustration comes from advocates — and local officials — is the limitations of the Illinois Department of Corrections’ medication programming in prisons.

The West Side gallery is in line with work the Prison + Neighborhood Arts Project has been doing for over a decade: connecting teaching artists and scholars to incarcerated students through classes, workshops and lectures.

The Illinois Department of Corrections has awarded a new contract to the controversial Wexford Health Sources, the same private health care provider that’s been handling medical care in the state’s prison system since 2011.

The Illinois secretary of state’s office, which oversees a number of library grant programs, said the new law does apply to prison libraries as they are eligible for grants.

Once powerful Ald. Ed Burke now a convicted criminal. A proposed shelter site on the Far South Side may be contaminated with pollutants. And Texas’ governor flying migrants to Chicago on a private plane.

A data analysis by WTTW News and the Hyde Park Herald/South Side Weekly found the disparity between access to quality nursing home care for Black and White Chicagoans is stark, with highly rated homes concentrated on the city’s North Side and housing majority White residents.

Evanston residents are getting a new neighbor: an $800 million rebuilt Ryan Field. Evanston City Council on Monday voted yes on the field revamp and on a controversial zoning change to allow concerts.

Terri Hemmert is the Queen of Chicago Rock and Roll radio and a proud member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This year, she celebrates 50 years since she first walked into the doors at WXRT.

It’s the second time Howard Brown Health Workers United has taken to the picket line this year. The first strike in January was largely over 61 unionized workers being laid off as management pointed to drastic budget shortfalls.

The name of the practice is debated — “medical aid in dying” to some, and “physician-assisted suicide” to others. Either way, advocates are hoping the issue comes up in Springfield soon.

A powerful alderperson gets stripped of plumb roles after confrontation with his colleague. And jury selection underway in the Ed Burke trial as COVID-19 sidelines proceedings for a week.

Migrants left out in the cold as Chicago officials beg Washington for more money. And previewing the historic corruption trial of former longtime alderperson Ed Burke.

“They make an environment where it’s easy to be a beginner, it’s easy to not know people and find someone to talk to and work on a trick together,” longtime skateboarder Randi Rogers said of froSkate, a Chicago collective centered around women, people of color and queer people.

The lyrics take on new life with new music and will be performed at the Salt Shed on Nov. 6 by a collection of actors, musicians and local news people, including “Chicago Tonight” co-host Paris Schutz.

The city moves forward on plans to build a tent base camp in Brighton Park despite pushback. And Chicago police Supt. Larry Snelling vows to remove extremists from the department.

U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago, and U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Chicago, joined “Chicago Tonight” to discuss aid to Israel, the House Speaker race and a growing number of migrants arriving to Chicago from the southern border.

An Evanston mother and daughter held hostage by Hamas are released. And immigration protests turn chaotic as a Chicago alderwoman gets physically assaulted.

The push for the Bring Chicago Home proposal comes as the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless found an estimated 68,440 people experienced homelessness in the city in 2021. That’s a 2,829-person increase from the previous year.

No property tax hikes in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s $16.6 billion spending plan — but are his progressive goals met? And Chicago City Council members in disagreement over a resolution supporting Israel.

Chicagoans are set to see a new office on their ballot in November 2024. For the first time, voters will elect members to the Chicago Board of Education. While election day is set, the districts that board members will run in have not been decided.

A report from the Anti-Defamation League finds an increase in antisemitic incidents, hate crimes, white supremacist propaganda and more in Illinois.