ProPublica Illinois

UPDATE: this account @ProPublicaIL will no longer be updated. ProPublica Illinois is not done, though — far from it — it’s being expanded to cover the entire Midwest. @ProPublica is still live. Read more about our expansion: propub.li/3hz2seb

New: Local governments have made efforts to revive commerce in neglected Black neighborhoods around the country. It hasn’t always worked. But Chicago can learn from their experiences. propub.li/38NQLwe

Welcome to Coffeyville, Kansas, where the judge has no law degree, debt collectors get a cut of the bail, and Americans are watching their lives — and liberty — disappear in the pursuit of medical debt collection. propub.li/3aE7kgQ

New: Michigan’s juvenile justice system is archaic. Counties act with little oversight, and the state keeps such poor data it doesn’t know how many juveniles it has in custody or what happens to them once they’re in the system. propub.li/3pbPfL5

New: Wallace’s Catfish Corner, a fish and soul food restaurant on Chicago’s West Side, was a neighborhood staple. Now the building is boarded-up and unused. Its messy history shows the challenges of rebuilding an area devastated by disinvestment. propub.li/389WMTG

Join us Tuesday for a virtual conversation about systemic disinvestment on Chicago's West Side and what can be done to restore neighborhoods faced with similar issues. Register bit.ly/3gBz5rg

On Tuesday, December 15, learn about the history of Chicago's Madison Street and how this once thriving business district continues to face failed policies and neglect. Register bit.ly/3n8ZbEi

Let's talk about Chicago's West Side. Join @propublica, @BlockClubCHI and @TheTRiiBE for a lively discussion about the rich history and the challenges facing this neighborhood. propublica.zoom.us/webinar/regist…

New: Congressional Democrats introduced legislation to ban schools from using physical restraints that can restrict students’ breathing, and from using isolated timeout. ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune last year revealed the harms of these practices. propub.li/3fi4G0l

New: Immigrant teenagers who work overnight shifts in suburban factories dream of a better life for children they don’t yet have. So did the author’s father. propub.li/36QodkR

Horrifying details in this @msanchezMIA exposé of child factory labor in America. propublica.org/article/inside…

New: Congressional Democrats introduced legislation to ban schools from using physical restraints that can restrict students’ breathing, and from using isolated timeout. ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune last year revealed the harms of these practices. propub.li/2UKuglc

I wanted to give a shout out to the exceptional artists who put a lot of love and care into the illustrations and images that accompanied our story today on child labor in American factories. First, Christie Tirado, who made this beautiful print for the story.

I spoke to more than a dozen Guatemalan teens who work overnight, sometimes dangerous factories shifts to pay smugglers and sponsors, their share of rent, and send money to their families. They are too tired to stay awake at school. Here is their story. propublica.org/article/inside…

New: During the day, immigrant teenagers attend high school. At night, they work in factories to pay debts to smugglers and send money to family. The authorities aren’t surprised by child labor. They’re also not doing much about it. propub.li/3kRrHZu

A half-century after Chicago’s uprisings in 1968, a once-thriving retail strip in East Garfield Park still suffers from broken promises, bad policy and neglect. propub.li/3kxCqYB

New: As lawmakers prepare to debate a statewide ban on seclusion and restraint, Illinois schools reported using seclusion — the practice of forcibly isolating a student in a small room or other space — at least 10,776 times in the 2017-18 school year. propub.li/2UxHCB8

New: As lawmakers prepare to debate a statewide ban on seclusion and restraint, Illinois schools reported using seclusion — the practice of forcibly isolating a student in a small room or other space — at least 10,776 times in the 2017-18 school year. propub.li/35DODHi

NEW data confirms what @jsmithrichards and I reported almost exactly one year ago in "The Quiet Rooms" investigation. Illinois schools put students in seclusion at least 10K times in one year. Lawmakers are still debating whether it should be legal. propublica.org/article/new-da…