Stories by Blair Paddock

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas talks about the disparities in delinquent houses and how she’s working to reduce the problem. 

What’s it like to be a first-time delegate celebrating this year’s virtual convention? We ask Melissa Conyears-Ervin, the Chicago city treasurer, and Krystal Garcia Centeno, a member of the Progressive Turnout Project.

CPS will start the school year with an all-remote learning plan, but Catholic schools in the city and suburbs are taking a different approach. How will the school system keep everyone safe, and are teachers and parents on board?

There’s a very real anxiety that Chicago’s main shopping districts are on the precipice of falling apart. And without the revenue generated from those areas, the city faces a potentially disastrous fiscal future.

Thursday marks the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. Where the fight for ballot access goes next.

Where the fight for intersex rights is headed after a recent victory in Chicago. We speak with activist Pidgeon Pagonis and Dr. Ellie Kim of Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Standardized college entrance tests like the ACT and SAT may soon be a thing of the past. More than half of all U.S. colleges and universities have dropped the requirement for ACT and SAT scores due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hospitals are on the front lines of healing gun violence victims, but some are taking more than just an emergency room role. We learn about the Chicago Hospital Engagement, Action and Leadership Initiative, or HEAL.

Amid a pandemic and a renewed focus on police brutality, some say the center’s work is more critical than ever. We speak with the newly appointed president and CEO of the Chicago-based nonprofit.

We discuss the role of feminists in the fight against racism and police brutality with the author of “Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that the Movement Forgot.”

With a global pandemic and ongoing protests against police brutality, LGBTQ organizations are returning to their revolutionary roots as they celebrate Pride Month.

A conversation with the Rev. Martin Hunter, the great uncle of Laquan McDonald, whose fatal shooting by a Chicago police officer in 2014 sparked widespread calls for police reform.

After two months of performing only emergency procedures, dentist offices in Illinois are now fully reopening. But the experience will be very different — for both patients and dentists.

While Chicago is in phase two of its plan to reopen, churches are allowed to have 10 or fewer people inside the building during services. But some churches are defying that rule, and want to reopen immediately.

Businesses across the state are preparing for an eventual reopening under the governor’s Restore Illinois plan, but some industries fear the plan moves too slowly, including child care centers.

Illinois has spent more than $238 million on resources related to the pandemic, even entering into occasional bidding wars with other states for supplies. We ask Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza about state spending — and budget shortfalls.

Researchers are studying the use of convalescent plasma therapy — and it’s already showing positive results at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Uptown.

Custodial workers are on the front lines of the coronavirus, but some of them say they’re not being treated as such. We speak with two workers who have more than 40 years of combined experience at Stroger Hospital.

The monthlong celebration of Ramadan begins this week. What’s supposed to be a month of fasting and reflection while surrounded by family is instead marked by social distancing. How one local mosque is celebrating.

Calls to reopen the state’s economy are fueling a nationwide protest. We talk with an organizer behind a local effort.

Chicago Public Schools has just started its remote learning program, but schools in other cities have been holding virtual classes for weeks. We speak with a Palatine native who is the vice principal at a school nearly 8,000 miles away.

Whether working from home or reporting from the street, journalists provide information to keep communities safe and healthy. We check in with some members of the local independent media to see how they’re faring with this developing story.

The future for many small businesses is unclear. To create some security, the federal government has stepped in with $349 billion in loans for small businesses, but the programs have had a bumpy start. 

College students across Illinois are asking their universities for some amount of tuition refund as schools move their students off campus and their classes online due to the coronavirus.

Northfield-based Medline Industries bills itself as the largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies in the U.S. We talk with CEO Charles Mills about the company’s efforts to address the pandemic.

Among those most vulnerable to the coronavirus are jail and prison populations, where people live in tight quarters, with potentially limited health care and access to basic needs like soap.