Public housing for ProPublica Illinois

I had the opportunity to work with Molly Parker and ProPublica in an examination of the conditions in Illinois’ public housing projects where the HUD inspection failure rate is among the worst in the nation. In Peoria, the housing authority has delayed replacing one property for more than a decade and in Chicago, a property has gone 20 years since major repairs were made and the deteriorated complex is in need of a multimillion-dollar renovation.

Billion dollar potential

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker sees industrial hemp as a potential billion-dollar industry for the state. After the Illinois Department of Agriculture began issuing licenses to growers on April 30, it has been one-small-step-at-a-time learning process for farmers interested in the new crop.

The legal version of industrial hemp is related to marijuana, but with far less THC, the psychoactive component that gets people high. It’s grown for its fiber and its oil, which is used to make CDB products. Now that the state’s first harvest is under way, the challenge for growers is to find a market for the crop, which is not corn or soybeans.

 I photographed the harvest of a small test plot on a Sangamon County farm. Owners believe in the potential and have plans to expand production season over season.

 

The Best Scholar Athletes

I am proud to highlight some of the best high school students who excel in their sport. It was an honor.

All about the shoes

 

Southeast's Raven Moore is alone in first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.16 at the Girls City Track Meet Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at Southeast High School in Springfield, Ill.

Reagan Miles

 

Rochester High School's Reagan Miles, who has committed to the University of Illinois Springfield, recently passed more than 500 career strikeouts.

View courtesy Amtrak

 

A short story: one foggy morning, I took the train to Chicago. But the sun came out, it was a beautiful night with beautiful people, and the @thecactusblossoms were in full glorious bloom. And of course, the lake👍🏻.

Basic Color

 

Some of the earliest images I made 39 years ago as a college photography student at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. The pictures were for C&P 322, Basic Color Photography taught by Gary Kolb, who I’m happy to say is still a friend and mentor. The course focused on the theory, technique and aesthetics of color photography but I admit that I really had no idea of what I was looking for. I was also completely incapable of approaching a stranger, engaging them, and ultimately asking if I could take their picture. It’s a skill that took me a long time to develop so the faces here are rare, and the encounters long forgotten. The palette from color negative film, though, I sure miss.

Inaugural moments

 

J.B. Pritzker was sworn in as the 43rd governor of Illinois, and the state’s other five constitutional officers took the oath of office during the Illinois Inaugural Ceremony. It gives Democrats control of the governor’s office and the General Assembly.

Polly Poskin

 

Polly Poskin is the only executive director that the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault has ever known. Retiring after a 36-year career, Poskin reflects on work the coalition has done to, among other things, eliminate the civil statute of limitations in both child and adult sexual assault cases and the criminal statute of limitations in child cases.

First snow, early snow

 

The first snow of the season arrived in early November, a little unusual for our spot on the planet. So I took to the bike for an early morning picture hunt.

To smile, or not

 

Athens High School running backs Nic Laird, left, Caleb Orme, Dalton DiGiovanna and Kameron Floyd create a balanced offensive attack for the team. High school athletes want to present a tough look and smiling is usually frowned on, and done only if the others are, too.

Remembering 1968

 

Bernie Sieracki had just finished serving with the Army in Korea and Vietnam and was a student in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.He recalled someone from the SDS — Students for a Democratic Society — an activist group, asking him how many babies he had killed. “I thought, ‘You stupid people.’ That’s the kind of perspective I bring to this.”

Taylor Pensoneau covered the 1968 Democratic National Convention for the St.Louis Post-Dispatch. He said some demonstrators used “calculated provocation” toward authorities, and some protesters wrested billy clubs from police and beat them. He said the protestors he had contacted before the event and met with regularly to get updated on what was happening in the parks, intended to be peaceful. “They were as upset as I was,” at the violence, Pensoneau said.

Dennis McMurray remembers the lingering smell of "stink bombs" at the Hilton Hotel during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which had been used by police to disperse the crowds. A college student at the time, he said his history professor told him he'd see "history in the making."

'Beyond the four walls'

 

Four views of the Rev. Samuel Hale, Jr., retiring after 34 years as pastor at Zion Missionary Church.

"My concept of ministry was always beyond the four walls, yet my ministry was building up what was inside. If you don’t have a strong base, you can’t have a strong outreach,” Hale said.