CPS attendance data tells a mixed story this fall. It's apparent fear did keep some students home for days. But also apparent is the steely determination of parents, teenagers, teachers and communities that children should be in school.
w/ @sskedreporter.bsky.social
www.wbez.org/education/20...

This week, DHS claimed they were responsible for a "historic drop in crime" in Chicago, citing numbers but no sources.

@araceligomezaldana.bsky.social and I fact-checked that claim.

Our analysis shows the blitz had little impact on an ongoing decline in violent crime.
www.wbez.org/data/2025/11...

There’s no medical staff or services at Broadview. No food preparation. No beds. That’s all by design because the facility was created for holds less than 12 hours.
@bylaurenfitz.bsky.social @adrianacardmag.bsky.social
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Earlier this summer, they formed the CKO Tenant Union after digging thru public records to reveal a common investor in their 31 buildings. They were able to get the city officials, the mayor, and some of the investors to the negotiating table.

But this lack of transparency creates problems for tenants. A group of tenants on Chicago's South Side dealt with rodent infestations, no heat, and crumbling buildings for years w/o knowing who was responsible. This is Russell Carter, who had no working bathroom for 4 months.

Who owns your building? Chances are, it's an LLC.

We looked at ~26m property records in Chicago and found LLC ownership of large rental properties went up nearly 4x in the past two decades.

New story + data out from me and @estheryjkang.bsky.social

www.wbez.org/housing/2025...

Chicago has most the lead pipes in the country.

A team of excellent reporters and I mapped them all on a searchable tool.

Huge s/o to @juanpab.bsky.social @keertigopal.bsky.social @peteraldhous.com and @compatibilism.bsky.social for this monumental effort. Relevant links threaded below!

Trying to find census documentation is still a nightmare. Documentation pages for the ACS and decennial census both show 404 errors. www.census.gov/acs/www/data...
www.census.gov/content/dam/...

Btw this is the same company that targets seniors in Chinatown and Uptown with hourly shuttle buses to the casino (photo is from Nov ‘24)

There's a lot of talk about the inroads Trump made in Chicago, but a large part of why many communities shifted right was b/c of a staggering drop-off in the number of Democratic votes cast for Harris vs Biden, not a gain in votes for Trump www.wbez.org/government-p...

Pretty incredible turnout at tonight’s meeting at the Broadway Armory asylum seeker shelter discussion