As the app-based informal economy grows, its many low-wage workers are demanding the same protections and benefits that many other full and part time workers have – to limited success in Chicago.
Equity
Posted inInvestigations
Landlord Pushes Tenants Out Despite Getting State Money
Tenants at an Englewood apartment building are left out in the cold after their landlord pockets rental assistance with little oversight from the state.
Posted inEducation
Could a Ride-Sharing Network Help Get Chicago Students to School?
Chicago Public Schools has had early conversations with HopSkipDrive, a transportation network company designed specifically for students. Here’s how it operates in other cities – and what it would take to work here.
Posted inFollow-Up
Alderpeople Want Meetings With CHA Boss After Investigation Revealed Vacant, Decaying Properties
City Council leaders, including the housing committee chair, renewed calls for CHA officials to attend regular hearings after an Illinois Answers/Block Club investigation found the agency is sitting on hundreds of vacant homes.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
As City Battles Housing Shortage, CHA Lets Hundreds Of Empty Homes Decay
The Chicago Housing Authority is supposed to provide affordable homes for those in need. But the agency has nearly 500 scattered-site units that are vacant — many causing problems for their neighbors.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
5 Ways Lawmakers Could Boost Equity in Illinois’ Stalled Cannabis Industry
“If we don’t provide real, intentional help for these social equity dreamers, we’re going to let them down as a state. All of their money will be lost,” a key lawmaker said.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
Illinois Doled Out Millions to Pot Growers. It Still May Not Be Enough to Save the Industry.
As independent ‘craft growers’ in Illinois struggle to secure financing for their cannabis businesses, a state-backed fund has emerged as a key lifeline.
Posted inInvestigations
Repeat Violators Leave Families Out in the Cold
Hundreds of buildings across Chicago have been cited repeatedly for violating heat-requirement ordinances, which are in effect from November through May.
