Recent Contributions
County Jail a Large Mental Ward: Dart
by BRIDGET O'SHEA | Feb 20, 2012
The sounds of chaos bounce off the dim yellow walls. Everywhere there are prisoners wearing orange, red and khaki jumpsuits. An officer barks out orders as a thin woman tries to sleep on a hard bench in a holding cell. This is a harsh scene of daily life inside what has become the state’s largest
ComEd’s Multi-Billion Dollar Bet
by BRIDGET O'SHEA and JAMES O'SHEA | Jan 23, 2012
Substation No. 505 in Oak Park, with its nondescript cluster of bulky transformers and web of power lines, seems an unlikely place for Commonwealth Edison to start the $2.6 billion smart grid it says will prepare the region’s antiquated power system for the digital age. Arguments raged over legislation, approved last year over Gov. Pat
Mental Health Cuts: Voices of the Affected
by DON TERRY and BRIDGET O'SHEA | Dec 26, 2011
Some of Chicago’s most vulnerable citizens — those who depend on public financing for mental health services — face a new year that may bring less of something they deeply need: help. Their plight focuses on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s recent budget, which would close 6 of the city’s 12 mental health centers serving poor and
A Street Transformed by Foreclosures
by MERIBAH KNIGHT and BRIDGET O'SHEA | Oct 28, 2011
Thomas Burton remembers exactly when he closed on his West Wilcox Street home. It was Sept. 6, 1962, at 3 p.m. Eager to begin a homeowner’s life with his wife and their six children, he got off early from his shift as a driver for C&K Snacks to make the closing. “This was my first
The Shady World of Immigrant Notarios
by JESSICA WEISBERG and BRIDGET O'SHEA | Oct 19, 2011
On May 6, just hours before his final asylum hearing, Mario De La Rosa, a Mexican immigrant living in Waukegan, waited in the parking lot of a CVS pharmacy hoping the person representing him in his immigration case, Margaret Carrasco, would arrive. She never did. Eventually, De La Rosa said, he drove to Carrasco’s home,
Abandoned Home Shows Effects of Predatory Lending
by JAMES O'SHEA and BRIDGET O'SHEA | Oct 3, 2011
In November 2004, Wanda Carter bought a home at 6548 South Morgan Street on the South Side and thought she got a good deal. A bank lent her $142,000, which covered the sale price and loan fees, and provided $20,000 to fix up the place. To Carter, it seemed as if the bank was paying
When the Veterinarian Comes to Your Pet
by BRIDGET O'SHEA | Aug 29, 2011
Besides the bleak landscape of boarded-up houses and empty lots, residents of economically struggling Chicago neighborhoods must contend with thousands of stray pets. The feral dogs and cats roam neighborhoods throughout the city looking for food and shelter. Some lucky ones may be candidates for adoption; others are subject to impoundment or even euthanasia. Pet
Centers Help Day Laborers Get a Hand and Get Paid
by KARI LYDERSEN and BRIDGET O'SHEA | Aug 24, 2011
Every morning, rain or shine, Miguel used to head for the corner of Belmont and Milwaukee avenues and wait at an informal gathering spot of day laborers near a BP gas station in hopes he would be hired to set tile, pour concrete or lay sod. After the job, sometimes he would be paid as
Pets of the Homeless Find Shelter, Care
by BRIDGET O'SHEA | Jul 18, 2011
People are not the only victims of the dismal economy. Pets are also being forced to cope. Several Chicago-area animal shelters report a sharp uptick in the number of abandoned dogs and cats in the last four years. “We certainly have seen an increase in dogs surrendered,” said Dr. Robyn Barbiers, executive director of the
Foreclosed Home Stock Balloons
by BRIDGET O'SHEA and JAMES O'SHEA | Jul 8, 2011
Although it never shared the notoriety of Miami, Los Angeles and Phoenix during America’s foreclosure crisis, the Chicago area now has the nation’s largest inventory of foreclosed homes because it is harder to unload troubled properties here than in most other metropolitan areas. The inventory data compiled by RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks housing