Archive - Midwest
“I Can’t Breathe.” It Happens at Schools, Too.
Students in Illinois schools said “I can’t breathe” while being restrained at least 30 times over the time period we investigated, according to our analysis of the records. The practice of face-down restraint is still legal in Illinois.
The Nation’s First Reparations Package to Survivors of Police Torture Included a Public Memorial. Survivors Are Still Waiting.
Five years ago, Chicago approved historic reparations for survivors of torture under former police Cmdr. Jon Burge. The city promised to create a memorial. It hasn’t.
Republicans and Democrats Agree: GM Should Pay Back the Taxpayers of Ohio
“Ohio welcomes its long and continuing relationship with GM, but we want our money back. It’s just business,” wrote Attorney General David Yost.
Millions of Homeowners Who Need Flood Insurance Don’t Know It — Thanks to FEMA
It is FEMA’s job to warn homeowners about major flood risks, but its approach is notoriously limited. In Cook County alone, researchers found about six times as many properties in danger as FEMA estimated. Look up your address with a new tool.
How Dollar Stores Became Magnets for Crime and Killing
Discount chains are thriving — while fostering violence and neglect in poor communities.
I’ve Reported on How Chicago’s Ticketing System Has Hurt Black Residents. Now, the Conversation About Reform Is Changing.
The killing of George Floyd by police has sparked a reexamination of other systems in this country that are also weighted against Black people. Ticketing is one of them.
Slavery Existed in Illinois, but Schools Don’t Always Teach That History
Schools often teach the Civil War in terms of “free states” and “slave states.” Illinois complicates those definitions. We spoke with a historian and high school teacher about slavery’s legacy in Illinois.
The Prison Was Built to Hold 1,500 Inmates. It Had Over 2,000 Coronavirus Cases.
Prison overcrowding has been quietly tolerated for decades. But the pandemic is forcing a reckoning.
GM Closed the Lordstown Auto Plant. Now Ohio May Force a $60 Million Repayment.
General Motors received tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks to operate a massive assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, until 2027. The plant closed last year, and the state may force a repayment of more than $60 million, documents show.
Emails Reveal Chaos as Meatpacking Companies Fought Health Agencies Over COVID-19 Outbreaks in Their Plants
Thousands of pages of documents obtained by ProPublica show how quickly public health agencies were overwhelmed by meatpacking cases. One CEO described social distancing as “a nicety that makes sense only for people with laptops.”
A Sundown Town Sees Its First Black Lives Matter Protest
Most people I met in Anna, Illinois, wish the racist lore behind the city’s name would go away. Some say Anna’s first Black Lives Matter protest is a step toward real change. But what is next?
We Reported on Corporate Tax Breaks in the Rust Belt. Now Officials Want Tougher Enforcement.
Ohio officials are calling for stricter regulation of corporate tax breaks after a Business Journal and ProPublica investigation found half the projects that received tax abatements in Youngstown since the 1990s failed to deliver the jobs promised.
Police Brutality, COVID-19 and Overdoses in Chicago Follow the Same Deadly Pattern
Our country’s long history of structural racism stands at the center of why police brutality, COVID-19 and the opioid crisis are disproportionately killing black Americans, including in Chicago.
Senior Citizens in Subsidized Housing Have Been Dying Alone at Home, Unnoticed Because of Coronavirus Distancing
The patchwork system of well-being checks in some of Chicago’s public and subsidized housing was not enough to prevent deaths in heartbreaking circumstances.
Overdose Deaths Have Skyrocketed in Chicago, and the Coronavirus Pandemic May Be Making It Worse
Opioid-related deaths in Cook County have doubled since this time last year, and similar increases are happening across the country. “If you’re alone, there’s nobody to give you the Narcan,” said one coroner.
Bill to Ban Seclusion and Face-Down Restraints in Illinois Schools Gets Sidelined After Pushback From Administrators
After months of debate, lawmakers did not vote on a bill that would have banned the use of seclusion and restraint in Illinois schools. Administrators argued meeting with families for each incident burdens school workers.
The Financial Catastrophe That Coronavirus Brought to Small Towns
The federal government has abandoned America’s small towns as the coronavirus depletes their budgets. It’s flood season and local leaders have no idea how to help residents through natural disasters. “We do not see how we will survive,” one told us.
