Brian Harrington remembers the water in prison.Sometimes it was brown, or maybe it had black particles. Sometimes it smelled bad, he said.“You would wake up, and it smelled like a sewer,” he said.Harrington was 14 when he was sentenced to 25 years for murder. He served just over half that time before Gov. J.B. Pritzker granted him a rare clemency in 2020.Now Harrington advocates for more humane treatment and better conditions for those incarcerated in the state prisons.He’s part of a coalition of groups that Monday petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, asking that officials...…Brian Harrington remembers the water in prison.Sometimes it was brown, or maybe it had black particles. Sometimes it smelled bad, he said.“You would wake up, and it smelled like a sewer,” he said.Harrington was 14 when he was sentenced to 25 years for murder. He served just over half that time before Gov. J.B. Pritzker granted him a rare clemency in 2020.Now Harrington advocates for more humane treatment and better conditions for those incarcerated in the state prisons.He’s part of a coalition of groups that Monday petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, asking that officials...WW…

SHARECity officials were closely involved three years ago in numerous steps leading up to the controversial relocation of the car-shredding operations of General Iron to the Southeast Side, a review of hundreds of pages of emails shows.The behind-the-scenes involvement with top officials of former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration are now among the activities being scrutinized in two federal civil rights complaints that allege as the city helped move a source of pollution out of the white, wealthy Lincoln Park neighborhood to a Latino-majority community in Chicago’s 10th Ward, which...…SHARECity officials were closely involved three years ago in numerous steps leading up to the controversial relocation of the car-shredding operations of General Iron to the Southeast Side, a review of hundreds of pages of emails shows.The behind-the-scenes involvement with top officials of former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration are now among the activities being scrutinized in two federal civil rights complaints that allege as the city helped move a source of pollution out of the white, wealthy Lincoln Park neighborhood to a Latino-majority community in Chicago’s 10th Ward, which...WW…

SHAREWhen The Loretto Hospital sought state approval to build a $2 million dialysis facility two years ago, it did so with a for-profit company owned by a business associate of one of its top executives.The hospital’s board confirmed Thursday that it was unaware of the relationship, adding to a series of decisions by Loretto’s senior executives now under scrutiny. The officer with the previously undisclosed business partner is Anosh Ahmed, who on Wednesday in the wake of a scandal involving misallocation of COVID-19 vaccines.The dialysis project was eventually scrapped but during the...…SHAREWhen The Loretto Hospital sought state approval to build a $2 million dialysis facility two years ago, it did so with a for-profit company owned by a business associate of one of its top executives.The hospital’s board confirmed Thursday that it was unaware of the relationship, adding to a series of decisions by Loretto’s senior executives now under scrutiny. The officer with the previously undisclosed business partner is Anosh Ahmed, who on Wednesday in the wake of a scandal involving misallocation of COVID-19 vaccines.The dialysis project was eventually scrapped but during the...WW…

SHAREIn a bid to vaccinate more people of color in neighborhoods hit hard by COVID-19, city officials Wednesday limited registration for United Center appointments to Chicagoans in a handful of South and Southwest Side neighborhoods.Anyone who lives in the 60608, 60619, 60620, 60649 or 60652 ZIP codes can sign up for an appointment at with the code “CCVICHICAGO,” or by reaching the multilingual call center at (312) 746-4835.Chicago residents from outside those ZIP codes who try to sign up will have their appointments canceled, according to a city flyer circulated by several community...…SHAREIn a bid to vaccinate more people of color in neighborhoods hit hard by COVID-19, city officials Wednesday limited registration for United Center appointments to Chicagoans in a handful of South and Southwest Side neighborhoods.Anyone who lives in the 60608, 60619, 60620, 60649 or 60652 ZIP codes can sign up for an appointment at with the code “CCVICHICAGO,” or by reaching the multilingual call center at (312) 746-4835.Chicago residents from outside those ZIP codes who try to sign up will have their appointments canceled, according to a city flyer circulated by several community...WW…

SHAREIn early May 2018, some of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s top aides were emailing each other about their concern that a pair of University of Illinois at Chicago researchers were about to go public with a study showing the poor air quality around the General Iron metal-shredding facility in Lincoln Park.Dr. Julie Morita, then the city’s commissioner of public health, was preparing to meet with the researchers. She kept Deputy Mayor Robert Rivkin and Chicago Planning and Development Commissioner David Reifman apprised of developments. Morita, in an email heavily redacted by city officials in...…SHAREIn early May 2018, some of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s top aides were emailing each other about their concern that a pair of University of Illinois at Chicago researchers were about to go public with a study showing the poor air quality around the General Iron metal-shredding facility in Lincoln Park.Dr. Julie Morita, then the city’s commissioner of public health, was preparing to meet with the researchers. She kept Deputy Mayor Robert Rivkin and Chicago Planning and Development Commissioner David Reifman apprised of developments. Morita, in an email heavily redacted by city officials in...WW…

SHAREA fourth person joined a hunger strike protesting the relocation of the metal-shredding operations of General Iron to the Southeast Side from Lincoln Park.Yesenia Chavez, a member of United Neighbors of the 10th Ward, is joining a high school teacher and two other local organizers to protest the proposed opening of a scrap metal operation at East 116th Street along the Calumet River.The protesters want Mayor Lori Lightfoot to deny an operating permit because of the potential pollution from the business in a community that already is . They say such action is taken by the city.“Our...…SHAREA fourth person joined a hunger strike protesting the relocation of the metal-shredding operations of General Iron to the Southeast Side from Lincoln Park.Yesenia Chavez, a member of United Neighbors of the 10th Ward, is joining a high school teacher and two other local organizers to protest the proposed opening of a scrap metal operation at East 116th Street along the Calumet River.The protesters want Mayor Lori Lightfoot to deny an operating permit because of the potential pollution from the business in a community that already is . They say such action is taken by the city.“Our...WW…

SHAREChicago is at least a month or two away from vaccinating essential workers for COVID-19 and initially there won’t be nearly enough shots for the large group that includes teachers, police, grocery store employees, manufacturing workers and others, the city’s top health official said.Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday that the city continues to focus on both in and outside hospitals as well as nursing home patients and workers.Next in line will be people 65 and older and essential workers. Arwady warned that the next priority groups will be so large that getting through vaccinations will...…SHAREChicago is at least a month or two away from vaccinating essential workers for COVID-19 and initially there won’t be nearly enough shots for the large group that includes teachers, police, grocery store employees, manufacturing workers and others, the city’s top health official said.Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday that the city continues to focus on both in and outside hospitals as well as nursing home patients and workers.Next in line will be people 65 and older and essential workers. Arwady warned that the next priority groups will be so large that getting through vaccinations will...WW…

SHARENewly hired as a coronavirus contact tracer, Ajamu Carter began reaching out to people who possibly had been exposed to COVID-19 in October.He quickly ran into a roadblock: Many of them, especially young Chicagoans, didn’t want to talk to him.“It can be difficult to deal with the millennials, which is interesting because I’m a millennial myself,” says Carter, who’s 30.A COVID survivor with experience working in health care and a degree in biology, Carter hopes to go to medical school. When the city of Chicago was looking for contact tracers this past summer, he jumped at the...…SHARENewly hired as a coronavirus contact tracer, Ajamu Carter began reaching out to people who possibly had been exposed to COVID-19 in October.He quickly ran into a roadblock: Many of them, especially young Chicagoans, didn’t want to talk to him.“It can be difficult to deal with the millennials, which is interesting because I’m a millennial myself,” says Carter, who’s 30.A COVID survivor with experience working in health care and a degree in biology, Carter hopes to go to medical school. When the city of Chicago was looking for contact tracers this past summer, he jumped at the...WW…

SHAREMedical, community and religious leaders on the South Side are racing to build a new health care model to address chronic illness, poor access to treatment and a pandemic that is disproportionately hitting Black and Latino neighborhoods.The coalition will seek millions of dollars in state money to fund what’s being called the South Side Health Transformation Project, an initiative led by University of Chicago, Advocate Trinity and St. Bernard hospitals to address the decades-old problem of an overwhelmed medical care system that’s been exasperated even more by COVID-19.“Looking at the...…SHAREMedical, community and religious leaders on the South Side are racing to build a new health care model to address chronic illness, poor access to treatment and a pandemic that is disproportionately hitting Black and Latino neighborhoods.The coalition will seek millions of dollars in state money to fund what’s being called the South Side Health Transformation Project, an initiative led by University of Chicago, Advocate Trinity and St. Bernard hospitals to address the decades-old problem of an overwhelmed medical care system that’s been exasperated even more by COVID-19.“Looking at the...WW…

SHAREA woman in Little Village sobs after learning she is the latest member of her family to test positive for COVID-19. She fears she won’t be able to take care of her grandson.A worker at a West Side food-processing company explains how no precautions are taken to protect employees who are herded into a small room to punch timecards.A young woman is frustrated that the customers at her small Lake County store won’t social distance or wear masks.These are stories told to contact tracers, the people who investigate interactions between those infected with COVID-19 and their family, friends...…SHAREA woman in Little Village sobs after learning she is the latest member of her family to test positive for COVID-19. She fears she won’t be able to take care of her grandson.A worker at a West Side food-processing company explains how no precautions are taken to protect employees who are herded into a small room to punch timecards.A young woman is frustrated that the customers at her small Lake County store won’t social distance or wear masks.These are stories told to contact tracers, the people who investigate interactions between those infected with COVID-19 and their family, friends...WW…