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Chicago attorney representing Guantanamo detainees discusses complexity of prison closure by Agnes Masnik.
Categorized as Public. Tagged with guantanamo bay, human rights, obama and prison.Prisoners sit in an 8-by 6-foot cell, built from a wire frame. The cells sit in two rows facing each other out in the open air. They are covered with a tin roof, which traps the heat of the sun. There are no fans or air conditioner provided.
As President-elect Barack Obama takes office, one of his highest executive priorities is to close Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, but the new administration will face difficult challenges on how to process the detainees for trial and possible release.
Jeffrey Colman, a Chicago attorney who has represented prisoners at Guantanamo, said he still has two clients imprisoned there indefinitely.
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Chicago-based Project Harambee works to fight African AIDS epidemic by Jessica Rosenberg.
Categorized as Public. Tagged with africa, aids, berwyn, chicago and united nations.Kathleen Harrison was never that interested in Africa.
But that was 2001 - before the former Loyola University medical professor visited an orphanage for HIV positive children in Kenya. On the long trip home, the images of the parentless children played back in her head. She knew she wanted to help, but was discouraged by the fact that she was just one person.
That's when she took matters into her own hands.
Shelter to school conversion sign of the times in South Loop by Christine Iversen.
Categorized as Public. Tagged with chicago public schools, jones college prep and south loop.With the demolition of the former Pacific Garden Mission building on South State Street complete, Jones College Preparatory High School is gearing up for big change in 2009. Chicago Public Schools has changed construction plans for the now-empty lot immediately south of the school from an extension to a new seven-story, $130 million building.
The school council announced the change at an open meeting in late November where students, parents and community members gathered to discus the expansion. According to the council, the new building will hold up to 1,200 students, a 60 percent increase over current 750-student capacity.
"I think it's a good thing," said Christina Richards, a student at Jones, "because a lot of people don't like that there's not a gym right now. It will probably bring more people here."
Uptown food pantry seeing more in need during economic slump by Evan Minsker.
Categorized as Public. Tagged with economy, jewish united fund, lakeview pantry. greater chicago food depository and uptown.An economic downturn sprouts many worries. Topping the list for food pantries across the country is, "Will we run out of food?"
That's the issue the Jewish United Fund (JUF) is addressing. A financial crisis means more people in need.
"We're definitely seeing more people coming to us for help as a result of the economic downturn," said Linda Haase, the associate vice president of marketing communications with the JUF.
And to a food pantry, more people means less food.
Sudanese Lost Boy committed to improving life in Chicago community, homeland by Erica Christoffer.
Categorized as Public. Tagged with human rights, lost boys of sudan, rogers park, sudan and truman college.Standing outside the Deluxe Diner on the North side of Chicago in Rogers Park, Peter Magai Bul towers over the people around him. An acquaintance from the neighborhood swerves around sidewalk pedestrians on his bike and affectionately gives Bul a nod, calling him "Manute Bol" as he passes.
At 6 feet, 6 inches, Bul doesn't quite reach the retired NBA star's stature at 7 feet, 7 inches. But they do have other things in common: They were both born in Sudan and they both fled the brutal civil war. Now, in the U.S., they both work as activists seeking to educate the community and create change in their homeland.
Bul serves as president of the Ayual Community Development Association. Maketh Mabior, a fellow Lost Boy and lifelong friend, described Bul as someone who always has a plan, someone who has the answer and someone who works extremely hard.
"He's somebody who would put himself on the line," Mabior said. "He makes himself busy every day. Sometimes I say, ‘Peter, you have to take a break.' The man is everywhere. He's like an ambassador."
Daily January peace vigil aimed at Obama's agenda by Curtis Black of Community Media Workshop.
Categorized as Public. Tagged with election08, hyde park and obama.Dec. 31, 2008 - Peace groups from around the region will hold a daily vigil throughout January in Hyde Park, blocks from the home of President-elect Barack Obama, to show support for the progressive agenda on which Obama ran.
"We are trying to remain hopeful, but we understand that there is tremendous pressure on Obama to step away from the positions he took during the campaign," said Dan Pearson, an organizer for Camp Hope 2009. "We want to show that there is support for him to implement all the changes that he campaigned for."
Spearheaded by Voices for Creative Nonviolence and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Kathy Kelly and joined by groups advocating immigrant rights and action on climate change, Camp Hope will maintain a daily presence at Drexel Square Park, 51st and Drexel, from Jan. 1 to Jan. 19, the day before Obama's inauguration.
Legal groups' Cook County judicial recommendations has little sway on voters by Heidi M. Stallings.
Categorized as Public. Tagged with chicago bar association, cook county and election08.Dec. 30, 2008 - When Judge Vanessa A. Hopkins was reelected as a circuit court judge with nearly 70 percent of the vote last month she felt relieved, grateful and vindicated by the voters of Cook County.
Hopkins is one of three Cook County judges who won reelection despite not having the endorsement of one of the most prestigious law associations.
"The Chicago Bar Association did not elect me. The people did," said Hopkins.
Obama win stirs mixed feelings in biracial community by Meha Ahmad.
Categorized as Public. Tagged with election08, obama and race.Dec. 29, 2008 - When Angela Pham looks at President-Elect Barack Obama, she sees a black president.
Pham, 22, who is half Vietnamese, half white, says Obama doesn't truly represent other biracials, citing a speech about race given in March, where Obama focused chiefly on the black community.
Pham said she's seen Obama reach out to the black community and wishes the president-elect spoke out more to the biracial and multi-racial voters.
Raised by her white mother, Pham doesn't have strong Vietnamese features. She may consider herself "more white" but identifies as biracial and checks "biracial" or "other" on government forms and college applications.
She knows what it's like to be raised by the "white side" of the family like Obama, who was raised by his white mother and later by his maternal grandparents, so she wants to be able to better relate to him.
Richard Schaefer, a professor of black world studies and racial attitudes at DePaul University, said racial identity in American society is socially rather than biologically constructed.
Chicagoans complain about access to city council by Elisa Tavares Bell.
Categorized as Public. Tagged with chicago city council, city clerk miguel del valle. better government association and transparency.Dec. 26, 2008 - Chicagoan Bruce Jordan took a day off from work to attend a Chicago City Council Committee meeting last summer, but he sat waiting for almost two hours before learning his alderman would not be there.
Jordan, president of Concerned Citizens of Auburn-Gresham, said Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. (21st) did not attend the August zoning meeting at which Jordan and other community residents wanted to voice their safety concerns about a commercial district the alderman wants to develop in their southwest side neighborhood.
"I'll take off work for important issues," said Jordan, an 11-year Chicago resident. "But when we go for nothing, it's inconvenient and disappointing."
Board to study how Cook County awards contracts to women and minorities by Travis Truitt.
Categorized as Public. Tagged with business, contract, cook county board of commissioners, minority and women.Dec. 24, 2008 - Looking to save money and increase efficiency in the way minority and women-owned businesses secure contracts, Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman (17th) proposed eliminating a county department earlier this month.
Gorman’s move to approve two ordinance amendments that would eliminate the county’s Department of Contract Compliance elicited a request for a roll call vote from Commissioner William Beavers (4th), and later in the board meeting Gorman agreed to send her proposals to a committee for further study.
Groups on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate fight for change in Illinois by Erica Christoffer.
Categorized as Public. Tagged with gay rights, illinois general aseembly, proposition 8 and same-sex marriage.Dec. 23, 2008 - Lauren Hasselson and Christy Fairbairn of Bloomingdale know they're up against a tough fight. The couple, who demonstrated against the approval of California's Proposition 8 in Downtown Chicago last month, plan to wed May 2 in a commitment ceremony. They want nothing more than their vows to be recognized under Illinois law.
Momentum has gained on both sides of this controversial debate since Nov. 4 when three states - Florida, Arizona and California - passed referendums against same-sex marriage.
Protect Marriage Illinois board member Peter LaBarbera said his group would like to see even stronger legislation enacted in Illinois.
Dec. 22, 2008 - As Welles Park in the Lincoln Square neighborhood creeps towards its 100-year anniversary, a group of local residents want to restructure the park's playground.
The Friends of Welles Park Play Lot is raising money for the rejuvenation project and hopes to have the necessary funds by the end of the year. The group, formed in 2006, hopes to raise an additional $330,000, combining it with $470, 000 from the Chicago Park District.
