Sorting out the new ward boundaries

01/25/2012

I’ve never seen my South Loop neighbors as emotional as they’ve been since the City of Chicago ward remap passed the city council 41 to 8 last week. The levels of both elation and despair have reached heights unsurpassed by the grandest of the grand opera. You can hear both cheers and the wails on the streets of Big Bill Dawson’s old stomping grounds.
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Judges for sale in Cook County

01/18/2012

Hey bud, would you like to buy a judge? Judges in Illinois can be bought by cash or votes. The Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Cook County buys judges with the promise of votes, naming them to the party’s official slate in exchange for implicit support.
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New ward boundaries turn Chicago into political sausage

01/11/2012

Well neighbors, here we are in the final stretch of legislative redistricting and reapportionment that takes place every 10 years after the census. Do you feel the excitement? I don't.
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Raoul's year in review

One view

01/04/2012

Happy New Year! As we begin 2012, it's only fair that we reflect on 2011 and the progress we've made. Last year, as I traveled the district I noted that for some the holiday season is one filled with grief, sorrow, and loneliness because they've undeservingly lost a loved one due to Illinois' failed death penalty experiment.
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The conundrum of buying local

12/28/2011

I guess you could say that the quest for “buying local” this Christmas season officially began in my South Loop social circles at a book club gathering several weeks ago. We had just finished reading Dr. Dale Moyer’s book The Flash and Outbreak of a Fiery Mind. We were impressed. We loved it.
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Shutting down Blagojevich apologists

12/14/2011

Blagojevich's sentencing is being discussed heatedly around town, and everyone has an opinion. Is his 14-year prison sentence too long? In his defense, two arguments continually get repeated. One: he's no different from other politicians in what he did. The other: there wasn't any cost to his misdeeds - it was a victimless crime.
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Spreading holiday cheer in the West Loop

12/07/2011

My family has nearly always had a real tree for Christmas. When I was a kid, we did everything from chopping one down in Wisconsin to crossing our alley and shopping at a local lot. But one way or another, it was our holiday tradition to go get a real tree and bring home some Christmas cheer.
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Rebranding the South Loop

11/23/2011

The neighborhood meeting full of announcements a few Saturday mornings ago was moving along just like Greater South Loop Association meetings generally do: news about a new grocery story definitely coming to 16th and Clark; reports from the 2nd and 3rd ward aldermen on topics such as how the infrastructure is improving, new plans for rebuilding parts of Grant Park, a new building being built for East-West University unveiled.
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A tutorial from Chicago's school chief

From the publisher

11/16/2011

He talks about the great principal and the failing principal. And test scores don't come up. No mention of data or technology. Rather, Jean-Claude Brizard, the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, describes walking into two Chicago elementary schools, neither in the affluent neighborhoods of the city, and knowing almost instantly that one principal was a high flyer, the other rudderless.
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Engaging Chicago's political youth

11/16/2011

With the Occupy Chicago movement so visible, understanding what young voters want is pressing. What are their issues and their agenda for change? And will they vote and determine the outcome of the 2012 elections?
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