Stories by Blair Paddock

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.

Hank Sanders reported in an Oct. 20 story that consultants told Calumet City administrators the city’s stormwater infrastructure was in poor condition before flooding wrought by record September rains. Officials say Sanders continued to call and email city employees, drawing complaints including from Mayor Thaddeus Jones.

“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.

Clocks roll back to standard time at 2 a.m. Sunday.

With two months left in 2023, Chicago remains on pace for double-digit percentage declines in the number of homicides and shootings recorded in the city as violence crime rates return to pre-pandemic levels.

The bench trial of Robert Crimo Jr. is set to begin Monday in Lake County, more than 16 months after his son — Robert Crimo III — allegedly killed seven people and wounded dozens more during the Highland Park Fourth of July parade.

The 45-foot Colorado Blue Spruce will take centerstage during an official tree lighting ceremony on Nov. 17 at 6 p.m.

“Political and government-related bribery, extortion, fraud, conflicts of interest, theft of campaign funds, and tax cheating continue to undermine the public’s trust in government,” according to the report.

What migrants face as temperatures drop. The story of Chicago AIDS activist Danny Sotomayor. And Chicagoans mark Day of the Dead.

El Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Day, is a two-day celebration where people come together to remember their late loved ones. It’s a beautiful, colorful tradition with festivities, music and food.

Chicago’s temperatures are dropping. This brings a new set of challenges for the more than 2,800 migrants living at police stations — most of whom have never experienced a Chicago winter.

The late Chicago AIDS activist Danny Sotomayor didn’t just open doors at City Hall. He was also a political cartoonist and an organizer who used civil disobedience to wage war on city officials marginalizing the LGBTQ+ community.

“I had a good series of conversations,” said Mayor Brandon Johnston, who led the coalition. “I think we shared our sense of urgency and we shared this belief that we need funding, but really what we want is a longer-term solution.”

A dance series, film festival and Native American art usher in the weekend. Here are five things to do in and around Chicago.

This weekend, nearly 80 sites across the greater Chicago region will be collecting pumpkins for composting, part of a nationwide push to keep food waste out of landfills.

On a recent cool and sunny Saturday, 14 trash haulers mounted their trucks to compete in the annual Republic Road-eo. The competitors had a singular focus: to become one with their craft as they safely navigate an obstacle course of trash cans, traffic cones and judges.

Using sidewalks as exam rooms and heavy red duffle bags as medical supply closets, volunteer medics spend their Saturdays caring for the growing number of migrants arriving in Chicago without a place to live.

If the measure is approved, Chicago workers would be entitled to more time off than workers in New York City and Los Angeles, and would be the first to earn time off for any reason, not just if they or a family member falls ill.

The independent monitoring team that oversees the CPD’s consent decree implementation published its eighth semi-annual report this week, which found that although the department has reached some level of compliance with 85% of paragraphs, it has only fully complied with 33 out of 552 paragraphs.

City Council blocks a vote to transform a vacant lot into a migrant shelter. Why it takes so long for wrongfully convicted people to get legal representation. And Cook County’s state’s attorney on the elimination of cash bail.

A year from now, Chicago voters will for the first time decide who will run the city’s schools. But first, Illinois legislators have a lot of decisions to make about how that process will work. Chief among their responsibilities is dividing Chicago into 20 districts.

It’s been more than a month since Illinois became the first state to eliminate cash bail entirely. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said her office was preparing for almost 18 months before the Pretrial Fairness Act went into effect.

More than 3,300 wrongfully convicted people have been exonerated in the U.S. since 1989, according to the University of Michigan’s National Registry of Exonerations. That time on the inside adds up to more than 30,000 years unjustly spent in prison for many of those people.

Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st Ward) said he was “highly disappointed” by the decision by the mayor’s office to open a migrant shelter in his ward, but acknowledged he could not stop the proposal.

An ordinance amendment would require library hosts to obtain a permit before setting up a “public bookcase” in the public way, and would limit permit holders to institutions.

Chicago-based Conagra Brands must pay out $3.1 million in compensatory damages and $4 million in punitive damages, according to the Cook County Circuit Court verdict.