Editor and reporter for Block Club Chicago. I'm often tracking politics, rooting for the Cubs & the Cats, and listening to Curtis or the Clash.
Chicago
Joined February 2009
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As Chicago schools struggled to respond to a surge of students still learning English, teachers got creative, using Google Translate, using online resources--and in at least one case, traveling to Mexico and Guatemala to learn Spanish.
By @reemadamin @mina_bloom_ & Kae Petrin
Chicago has been slow to provide many schools with the bilingual resources they need to serve English learners, a Block Club + @chalkbeatCHI analysis found.
The result: students are left waiting for an education they’re legally entitled to. blockclubchi.co/4kXE9Gx
Mick Dumke retweeted
Last year, @mina_bloom_ and I found that many migrant kids settling down on Chicago's South and West sides often weren't getting the help they needed.
This year we wondered: How well resourced are schools that are supposed to have bilingual ed programs?
chalkbeat.org/chicago/2025/0…
ICE failed to respond to my FOIA request for basic information about arrests in Chicago. They're required to under the law.
So we're suing.
@blockclubchi, our nonprofit neighborhood newsroom, is suing ICE over immigration records.
We believe in the public's right to know what its government is doing.
blockclubchicago.org/2025/05…
Due to a housing shortage, Chicago officials say they have to "prioritize" which homeless people are connected to apartments while others wait--and they do so via an often-secretive process that leaves many people desperate and confused: "It's defeating."
I spent the last few months trying to understand the system meant to connect people experiencing homelessness to housing options, how many feel about it and how “Accelerated Moving Events,” like the one at Gompers Park, fit into the process. My latest: blockclubchicago.org/2025/04…
Mick Dumke retweeted
It's not just you. ICE has refused all our requests to provide basic information about the number of people arrested, their criminal history and what's happened to them since.
An ICE spokesperson hasn't been willing to provide a reason for the silence. wgntv.com/news/wgn-investiga…
In the days after Trump took office in Jan, immigration authorities reportedly arrested about 100 people in Chicago.
But ICE still won’t reveal exactly who their agents arrested in the city, what they were arrested for or what’s happened to them since.
blockclubchicago.org/2025/03…
In the days after Trump took office in Jan, immigration authorities reportedly arrested about 100 people in Chicago.
But ICE still won’t reveal exactly who their agents arrested in the city, what they were arrested for or what’s happened to them since.
blockclubchicago.org/2025/03…
Many of the most powerful people make a sport of villainizing the most vulnerable.
Here's someone who chose to spread compassion instead.
Remembering Tuyet Le, a champion of civil rights, community empowerment + laughter.
Le helped build Asian American political power and fought for immigrants, refugees + disabled people.
She inspired so many people she met — including investigative editor @mickeyd1971. buff.ly/4i9FcS9
Mick Dumke retweeted
With Dorval Carter retiring I want to highlight some of our reporting coming out of the pandemic. We were accused of having an axe to grind with CTA leadership, but our position was always about accountability. Here are some stories worth revisiting. blockclubchicago.org/2025/01…
Mick Dumke retweeted
This huge news comes after many months of dogged reporting from @_ManuelRamos_ @mack_liederman about Carter's poor leadership & the system's failures
Manny & Mack have covered it all, from Carter's pay hikes to his rubber stamp governing body
blockclubchicago.org/2025/01…
A year ago the CHA said it would fix up dozens of vacant homes & hire new managers for its buildings.
So far it's finished fewer than half the rehabs.
And most managers remain unchanged, tho residents made 116k requests for help w mold, rodents & other issues.
By @rrhinton:
"A new day at CHA"? Residents say they're still facing "ridiculous" conditions in public housing buildings. buff.ly/4gyO2bu
Mick Dumke retweeted
I spoke to some alders who voted on Daley's infamous parking meter deal in 2008.
“So it was a bad deal and it was a mistake made, and now we’re living to regret it,” one told me.
Read my latest to see what they said. 📝
thetriibe.com/2024/11/toda...
Mick Dumke retweeted
Mayor Johnson’s budget proposes significant cuts to police therapist positions.
CPD has struggled to hire one therapist per police district as officer suicides persist.
W/ @mickeyd1971 @BlockClubCHI
blockclubchicago.org/2024/11…
Mick Dumke retweeted
It was "doors closing" yesterday for Pastor Jarixon Medina — the only one of five Mayor Johnson appointees voted down by City Council for a seat on the powerful board of the Regional Transportation Authority.
Full @BlockClubCHI story below.
blockclubchicago.org/2024/10…
Mick Dumke retweeted
Behind the official announcement of Scott’s exit, multiple sources told us Johnson is cleaning house at the CHA. “After Turbulent Tenure, CHA CEO Tracey Scott Out: 'Residents Were Suffering In The End'” with @mickeyd1971
blockclubchicago.org/2024/10…
One of the debates raging in Chicago this week (and many other weeks): Does every mayor end up becoming a jerk?
And yes, this question matters....
After Monday's combative presser, we wanted to look back at previous mayors.
On today's @BlockClubCHI pod @mickeyd1971 - who has experienced many contentious mayoral moments - looks back at why this seems to be a feature of Chicago politics, not a bug.
tinyurl.com/53389fm5
I can attest that Nora is right, especially since the ass at issue here was mine.
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As the city struggles with a housing crisis, Chicago Housing Authority residents are demanding the agency do more.
No one has spoken out like Francine Washington—who's also on the CHA board.
Fascinating look at this longtime activist & Chicago housing politics by @rrhinton:
‘We’ve Been Tired For A Long Time’: Inside A Public Housing Advocate’s Push To Oust The CHA CEO blockclubchicago.org/2024/09… my latest for @BlockClubCHI
In summer 2023, CTA Prez Dorval Carter went to a 4-hr lunch at Navy Pier w the tech firm ZeroEyes.
The CTA won't say who set up the conversation.
Then the agency made a no-bid deal w ZeroEyes to launch an AI gun-detection pilot.
via @_ManuelRamos_:
blockclubchicago.org/2024/09…
When the permanent chemistry teacher left and the substitute didn't know anything about chemistry, Carolina began teaching the class.
She was a sophomore herself.
She went on to teach the class for 2 months.
Yet CPS officials say her high school doesn’t have staffing issues.
My latest for @BlockClubCHI (with great photos by @colinbphoto) is a portrait of one Chicago high school — and how a teacher shortage, school politics and a lack of funding is having a detrimental impact on student learning
blockclubchicago.org/2024/09…
