The Chicago Reporter articles from July 2008

The Chicago Reporter archives from July 2008

An immigrant by any other ethnicity.(EDITOR'S NOTE: Reporter News)
July 1, 2008... Call it the "Tale of Two Immigrations," but the immigrant story varies depending on which country people come from and where they decide to settle in the Chicago region. In some suburbs, the presence of immigrants has been billed as a selling...

To the editor.(EDITOR'S NOTE: Reporter News)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... Karl Lydersen's piece in the May/June 2008 issue of The Chicago Reporter entitled "Won't You Be My Neighbor" is an important addition to the dialogue surrounding mixed-income communities. Ms. Lydersen's piece evaluates the [Chicago Housing...

Correction.(EDITOR'S NOTE: Reporter News)(Correction notice)
July 1, 2008... The story titled "An 'Island' in the desert, but grocery rate still lags" in the May/June 2008 issue should have listed the rate of grocery stores in white neighborhoods as 4.63 per 10,000 residents.

Reporter news.(EDITOR'S NOTE: Reporter News)
July 1, 2008... Heartland Alliance presented The Chicago Reporter, the Chicago Community Trust, the Chicago Public Library, Chicago Public Radio and WTTW11 with the Midwest Light of Human Rights Award for the 2007 media collaboration Chicago Matters: Beyond...

A bumpy ride.(SPINOFFS: Keeping Current)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... The news: Flashing neon signs and solid red taillights signaled another start of construction season on the Edens Expressway. Behind the news: This year, the city will head to the local streets, spending millions to repair...

Not all arrests lead to deportation.(SPINOFFS: Keeping Current)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The news: Saul Arellano, whose mother, Elvira, received national attention by seeking sanctuary at Adalberto United Methodist Church to avoid deportation, returned to Chicago for the May Day March. Arellano had...

Trouble passing the 'Taste' test.(SPINOFFS: Keeping Current)(Taste of Chicago)
July 1, 2008... The news: Last year, 790 people reported becoming ill with salmonella heidelberg--a common form of salmonella poisoning--after eating hummus dishes served at the Pars Cove booth during the Taste of Chicago. Behind the news: More...

Shootings increase after CeaseFire's budget cut.
July 1, 2008... The news: This summer marks the one-year anniversary of a veto from Gov. Rod Blagojevich that cut more than $6 million of state funding for CeaseFire, a community outreach and violence prevention initiative. The veto meant that state...

Divine inspiration: cafe serves up job training, with extra miracles on the side.(Q&A: Lisa Nigro)(Interview)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lisa Nigro thought her goal in life was to protect the community. She enlisted in the police academy and became a Chicago Police officer. But on the job, she kept getting labeled by her colleagues as the "social...

A renter's nightmare: foreclosures burn tenants who find themselves wrongfully evicted when their landlords can't keep up with the payments.(COVER STORY: Illegal Evictions)
July 1, 2008... The blinds were closed and no one was home at 2910 W. Warren in East Garfield Park one frigid January afternoon. Four Cook County Sheriff's deputies were parked outside. In his hand, one deputy held a court order to evict the owner, Kevin Rice,...

Black areas at highest risk.(COVER STORY: Illegal Evictions)
July 1, 2008... Nearly one in every six Cook County foreclosures last year were on small apartment buildings, endangering the leases of thousands of renters, according to a Chicago Reporter analysis of foreclosure filings. Ninety-six percent of the...

Rental runaround: renters evicted because of foreclosure have trouble finding new housing.(COVER STORY: Illegal Evictions)
July 1, 2008... Renters finding themselves evicted when their landlords go into foreclosure are having a hard time finding new housing in an already-saturated rental market, particularly if they are poor, experts said. Chicago has an 80,000-unit shortage...

D.C. renters buffet storm: model legislation protects renters from displacement, but is no panacea.(COVER STORY: Best Practices)
July 1, 2008... As the nation's housing foreclosure crisis sweeps through the District of Columbia, the group best prepared to buffet the storm is renters. Like New Jersey and New Hampshire, Washington, D.C., is one of three U.S. jurisdictions where a...

Suburbs slow to get on board: officials find that when it comes to welcoming immigrants more action, less talk is needed.(INVESTIGATION: Immigrant Integration)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the basement of city hall, Adelita Hernandez is an outfit of one, The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Hernandez was hired in 2006 by the City of Evanston to provide verbal and written translations for its...

Unity through dialogue: Streamwood group aims to help immigrants adjust.(Best Practices)
July 1, 2008... These days, he goes by "H.H.," but Hormoz Hormozi still remembers when he couldn't speak a lick of English. As an Iranian exchange student in 1959, Hormozi worked at a restaurant in the kitchen. At first, he had no clue what the cooks were...

June 8, 2008.(PARTING SHOT)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Chinmayi Bhatt (left) paints a flower on the face of Paul Anghel, as part of a 5K fundraiser in Lincoln Park for Apna Ghar, a domestic violence shelter serving primarily Asian women and children.