Stories by Shelby Hawkins

Illinois residents are preparing for President-elect Donald Trump to make good on his campaign promises and dramatically reshape what the demographic landscape looks like in a state that is home to more than 400,000 undocumented immigrants.

Former President Donald Trump ran a campaign with messages on mass deportation, higher tariffs and anti-transgender rhetoric that drew in swaths of voters from the coveted swing states needed to secure the win.

Early intervention, or EI, comprises an array of developmental and social-emotional services like speech and language, occupational and physical therapies and social work that are designed to improve the long-term outcomes of a child and family’s life.

Brown founded her first company and namesake, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, at a time when the industry rarely catered to a large array of skin tones. Her approach offered shades for women of every color, helping to establish a standard for inclusivity. 

Chicago is set to overhaul its migrant shelter system by the end of this year, capping guaranteed beds at 3,800 for asylum seekers who have been in the city for less than 30 days. This shift is part of the new One System Initiative, designed to streamline services for both migrants and long-term unhoused residents.

Latinos account for the largest share of new HIV diagnoses and infections among men who have sex with men — more than any other ethnic and racial demographic, according to an analysis from KFF News-Associated Press. There are over 22,000 people living with HIV in Chicago and the city saw 700 new HIV diagnoses in 2022.

The South Side community experiences a large amount of flooding made greater than its counterparts on the North Side because of a lack of preventative infrastructure, which can cause significant damage to homes and businesses.

Chicago Public Schools has been at the center of an intense media frenzy over the past week. Tensions continue to rise between Mayor Brandon Johnson and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, and the district’s financial crisis is at a standstill while the CEO, mayor and Chicago Teachers Union all publicly voiced different methods to solve it.

Chicago is a city known for its parks and green spaces, but not every resident has the same access to lush greenery or playgrounds. According to data from the Trust for Public Lands, Latino communities have 41% less access to green spaces than the average Chicagoan.

A local nonprofit hosts Austin Farm-to-Table Trolley Tours where neighbors visit community gardens, learn about health and wellness and see a cooking demonstration with a professional chef. The predominantly Black neighborhood of 96,000 is considered a food desert.

Those in favor of the expansion believe the TIF district could help fix economic and developmental challenges, while those opposed think it may further gentrify the community and push long-standing residents out of the beloved enclave.

Even though statistics show improvement, a 2023 Gallup poll revealed that three-quarters of Americans believe crime has worsened across the country, including in their hometowns.

“We’ve been sharing a lot about phone and text scams, but people are less on guard when they talk to a real person,” said Grace Chan McKibben, the executive director of the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community.

A study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research reveals that immigrants have consistently been incarcerated at lower rates than U.S.-born citizens. However, so-called “migrant crime” has become a major talking point this election cycle.

Last week’s presidential debate introduced one of the most memed moments of this election cycle when former President Donald Trump asserted the debunked claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are stealing and eating people’s pets. There’ve since been at least 30 bomb threats reported across the Ohio town.

Latinos are one of the fastest growing minority groups in the country, and the demographic has become a key voting bloc to secure a candidate’s path to the White House. However, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris may need to court a lesser-known subgroup: Latino evangelicals.

Black Restaurant Week was conceived in 2016 in Houston to address the financial hurdles faced by many Black chefs and restaurateurs.

The Australian comedian is known for being open about their life — from talking about growing up as a lesbian in a place where homosexuality was illegal until 1997 to navigating relationships as an autistic person.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump go head-to-head for the first time at Tuesday night’s debate. 

Vice President Kamala Harris made her case for the presidency last week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago where she zeroed in on a problem plaguing many Americans: affordable housing.

Martinez said he has not been told by anyone in the Johnson administration that his job is on the line, and in an interview on “Chicago Tonight” Monday evening, maintained there’s “never been better alignment between our district, our board … the city, the mayor, and I would argue even the unions” as they all know and want CPS to have more money.

The report, which concluded a three-year investigation, uncovered that at least 973 children died while under the care of these institutions, with many more expected to have suffered similar fates. These schools were established to forcibly assimilate Native American children — often through violent tactics.

While the majority of Black voters tend to vote Democratic, not all are lining up to endorse Harris. In a recent statement, the advocacy group Black Lives Matter has called into question Harris’ candidacy and the process by which she’s been nominated.

Through a decade of research and dozens of personal anecdotes, the book challenges conventional ideas around adoption in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.

Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) is proposing to reduce Chicago’s citywide speed limit from 30 mph to 25. Advocates of the ordinance say the small change could significantly curb the amount of traffic injuries and fatalities, and improve public safety.

Today, 80% of Port-au-Prince remains under gang control, ravaged by the ongoing violence, according to interim Prime Minister Garry Conille.