Hey! I’m at #NICAR26. Say hi if you’re here too!
Also on a panel this afternoon at 3:45 — Data in the world of audio — with the wonderful @jjw.bsky.social @hannahereale.bsky.social @claytonguse.bsky.social
Come to learn about how to talk about data on air and make sound rich data features!
A deeply underreported story. I know so many people struggling to pay their electric bills
#BirdLinks
Migration Dashboard is back! Spring is springing!
dashboard.birdcast.org/region/US-IL...
new: highlands reit, a small chicago-based real estate firm, is renting an empty prison it owns in colorado to ice and private prison giant geo group.
highlands is part of a network of private contractors hoping to get a cut of the $45 billion allocated to warehouse immigrants through 2029.
"These species genetically adapted over thousands of years and sustain the region’s ecosystems. That evolutionary inheritance makes them indispensable for restoring the nation’s remaining prairies, wetlands, and woodlands." Latest from @juanpab.bsky.social
www.wbez.org/environment/...
This is the second time a cop has charged with abusing ALPR data to stalk a former partner. (It is not the second time it has happened).
FWIW: cops abusing data to stalk partners is one of the most common reasons they are arrested.
More than 20 Sun-Times Guild members wear shirts with the Guild logo at the CPM office.
Guild members pose for a photo at the CPM office ahead of bargaining.
Chicago’s fake spring may be coming to a close, but that just means it’s bargaining season!
Today marked the start of negotiations to ensure Chicago Public Media respects and protects the Sun-Times Guild journalists bringing you hard-hitting local news.
"Meta is preparing to spend $65 M this year to boost state politicians who are friendly to the AI industry...To do that, Meta is quietly starting two new super PACs... The new PACs join two others already started by Meta, one of which is focused on California" www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/t...
Front page of the Chicago Sun Times on Thursday, February 12 with a headline that reads: 'Together we are' Chicago
Bad Bunny’s closing message builds on a centuries-old critique of the United States as the sole “America" local experts told me.
Data shows 1 out of 8 Chicagoans was born outside of the 50 U.S. states but in the countries and territories that make up the Western Hemisphere.
collaborators suddenly realize that they could cancel their contract for a concentration camp after insisting it wasn’t possible. a world of fascists who have never felt pushback once in their life, suddenly stunned to see everyone hates them. makes you think!
kansascitydefender.com/justice/plat...
Hello! If you tune into 91.5 fm today at either 5:04 pm or 6:32 pm you might hear a little bit of joyous sound from the Benito Bowl on All Things Considered from yours truly ☺️
Listen online here: www.wbez.org
NEWS: One of the Chicago police officers who fatally shot Dexter Reed during a traffic stop in 2024 has now been accused of threatening to beat up a fellow cop at a Norwood Park bar over the weekend.
Story by @sophiesherry.bsky.social
chicago.suntimes.com/dexter-reed/...
for my latest @us.theguardian.com talked to teens leading and joining anti-ICE walkouts from TX to MD to WI.
one NYC teen: "I feel scared [of ICE] every day... But I’m not going to let that stop me, because bravery is just the positive way to say you’re scared, and I’d rather be brave than scared."
Giancarlo Guerrero, artistic director and principal conductor of the Grant Park Music Festival, in what he called a “beautiful surprise,” had nine days notice to join the top-secret musical lineup of the Super Bowl halftime show, which featured powerhouse vocalists Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin.
More than 140 Asian immigrants were arrested during the first few weeks of Operation Midway Blitz. Powerful reporting from @estheryjkang.bsky.social
www.wbez.org/immigration/...
Please take the time to read what the children detained in Dilley wrote me in their own words: www.propublica.org/article/ice-... 10/
"God Bless America:" then he lists most of the countries in the hemisphere starting with Chile I think? this rules
Hundreds of Joliet Central and Joliet West high school students took to the streets to protest the actions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as part of a nationwide student walkout on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026.
DEVELOPING: Federal judge will let Marimar Martinez release text messages sent by Border Patrol agent who shot her
From @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/2026/02/06/f...
Thanks for reading! That's a great point. I'll see if I can add that to the tooltip of the online graphic.
Bar chart graphic showing that suburbs gained nonwhite residents while the city lost them, based on the percentage change in population by race and ethnicity from 2005-2009 to 2020-2024
One data point I want to highlight: Overall, an increase of more than 600,000 nonwhite suburban residents over the last two decades completely offset the region’s loss of white suburban residents.
Also, I think this graphic says a lot:
Took a data deep dive on Chicago area suburbs, where social services infrastructure sometimes don't keep up with how quickly the population is diversifying racially but also economically and culturally.
www.wbez.org/immigration/...
new: the first piece in a @chicagoreader.com’s series on quantum shore chicago looks at community resistance to the megadevelopment.
contributor grey lucas traces the neighborhood’s history of fighting disinvestment and environmental racism from the former south works steel plant to present-day.
Published my first piece at @wired.com today, about a string of AI thrillers that have bombed (most recent being the hopelessly naive Chris Pratt vehicle 'Mercy'), the backlash to Darren Aronofsky's YouTube slop take on the American Revolution, and a grotesque nostalgia-bait Super Bowl ad:
oh this is timely
Sinophobic Sinophilia www.nplusonemag.com/issue-52/the...
MPR NEWS: The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
DHS filed the motion Wednesday to expedite deportation proceedings in the family's case. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Well, turns out this was my last story for The Washington Post, 2,011 bylines later.
For nine years, it was a dream in every sense of the word, no matter how many of the company's leaders tried to make it otherwise. Thanks for being part of the ride.
