It’s a silent epidemic that kills 100 young people in the United States every day; experts say if no action is taken in Illinois, 65,000 youths next year will be at risk. Suicide has become such a threat to young people that last year, the U.S. attorney general declared it a national health crisis....
Read on...

Lisa has smoked marijuana since 1998 to relieve pain from osteoporosis and two knee replacement surgeries. The suburban mother of two grown children knows that smoking pot is illegal in Illinois, but she says the benefits are worth the risk. “I have a terrible medical history, and smoking cannabis for medical purpose improved my...
Read on...

A new law in Illinois (SB212) allows doctors to provide medication to partners of people who have gonorrhea and chlamydia without having personally diagnosed those individuals. “It’s safe, it’s effective, it’s recommended by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention),” said John Peller, director of government relations for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Peller...
Read on...

The grim news is that every four minutes someone is diagnosed with blood cancer (lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma) and someone dies from the disease every 10 minutes. Nearly 140,000 Americans were expected to be diagnosed with blood cancer in 2009, accounting for 9.5 percent of new cancer cases diagnosed in the United States. The good...
Read on...

In a 48-to-1 vote, Chicago City Council passed a resolution Nov. 18 supporting a halt to the deportation of UIC junior Rigoberto Padilla and other undocumented students.  The resolution sponsored by Ald. George Cardenas (12th) called on Congress to pass the Dream Act of 2009, a bill introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that...
Read on...

On Tuesday, November 4th, Maine residents voted to repeal the rights of gays to marry. The next day, Chicagoans responded with a rally in support of gay rights. Reporter Tony Merevick brings us the story from Chicago‘s Thompson Center. Related articles by Zemanta Maine In Perspective (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com) “I think we have to seriously consider...
Read on...

By John O’Neill, LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program Most of the year, Michael Harris Jr. is a mild-mannered student at Austin Polytechnical Academy on the West Side. But this summer, Harris was transformed into “Solar Mike” — thanks to Youth Ready Chicago at the Science Institute at Columbia College. Harris was one of 20...
Read on...

The Active Transportation Alliance is partnering with RTA, CTA, Pace and Metra to encourage people to get around with transit or on bike and on foot, and asking you to consider joining the thousands of people around Chicagoland who will pledge to leave their cars at home for the inaugural Chicagoland Car-Free Day Sept....
Read on...

By Ed Finkel, LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program Residents of Chicago’s Near West Side will be able to shop at a full-service grocery store for the first time in four decades when Pete’s Fresh Market opens in 2011. The Chicago Reporter and Chicago Matter’s The Color of Money helps provide more context for this...
Read on...

By Cristobal Martinez of Neighborhood Sports Chicago This summer, the open space at 31st Street and Lawndale Avenue in Little Village has been overtaken by families. They gather on Tuesday nights as part of Project Play, a creation of the non-profit Beyond the Ball. At Project Play, kids, moms and dads are able to...
Read on...