Stories by Shelby Hawkins

President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs are set to take effect on his first day in office through executive order, and they’re already drawing concern from economists about global and local impacts.

The Chicago Department of Transportation is taking steps toward transforming an abandoned railway into what’s known as El Paseo Trail in Pilsen, reigniting a discussion about the fear of further displacement for the predominantly Mexican American neighborhood.

The Chicago Children’s Museum is now hosting the “Aim High: Soaring With the Tuskegee Airmen” exhibit, an interactive space that encourages play as a means to learn.

Satirical news publication The Onion won the bidding for Alex Jones’ Infowars at a bankruptcy auction last week, backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims whom Jones owes more than $1 billion in defamation judgments for calling the massacre that killed 20 children and six adults a hoax.

After eight years in office, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is passing the torch. Foxx was among a cadre of so-called progressive prosecutors to take office around the country eight years ago. She became the first Black woman to assume the role in Cook County, promising to reshape the criminal justice system.

“Blue” follows a Black family after they lose their son to police violence, all while the father serves as a police officer. The production explores injustice and finding healing through faith and community.

A recent report from the Chicago Urban League and the South Side Community Reparations Coalition focuses on 10 neighborhoods: Douglas, Englewood, Fuller Park, Grand Boulevard, Greater Grand Crossing, Oakland, South Shore, Washington Park, West Englewood and Woodlawn.

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.