Restorative Justice Community Courts (RJCC) are making a resurgence. Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has instructed her office to resume sending qualifying cases to RJCC.

New work requirements for SNAP kicked in Feb. 1, endangering benefits for nearly 400,000 Illinoisans. Safety net community ...

As of mid-2025, the Cook County Jail population was higher than before the Pretrial Fairness Act, according to a Loyola University report. Burke has defended the strategy, saying her office is ...

Step into the community darkroom at Tuley Park Cultural Center, stewarded by The Darkroom Chicago, for a guided walk led by the young people who bring it to life.

Connect with others who care about civic life in our city Be in community with folks building a more informed Chicago No agenda and no pressure, just good coffee and good people.

A Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) is a legally binding contract between a community and a developer that includes commitments the developer will make to the neighborhood, in exchange for the ...

This story was produced by City Bureau, a civic journalism lab in Bronzeville, and co-published by the Chicago Reader. For the last century, housing cooperatives have provided residents of major ...

It wasn't until Michelle Kennedy left Bronzeville for City Planning graduate school in the 1990s that she learned her Chicago neighborhood’s name. After observing a classmate's presentation on the ...

Experts say an eviction avalanche is coming. But thousands of Chicago renters have already been pushed to the brink of the housing cliff. Andre Wallace* has wanted to move for months. The West ...

Marion Turner moved to Wicker Park in the 1950s when vacant buildings and crime were common and the city’s disinvestment in the neighborhood was painfully apparent. In the 70s, Turner started looking ...

Five recently arrived migrants say criminal trespassing enforcement at a Southwest Side Home Depot has escalated to alleged physical assaults by security personnel, including multiple off-duty Chicago ...

This story was reported and published in collaboration with Injustice Watch, a non-partisan, not-for-profit journalism organization that conducts in-depth research exposing institutional failures that ...