Blair Paddock

Job Night: Courtroom at Mouse Arts and Letters Club, 555 W. 31st St., will be on Thursday, March 5 at 7 pm. Join us for our first ever job night, this one focused on courtrooms. Job Night is an exciting new event series that brings together people from particular industries to explain their work. Our first ever Job Night will focus on courtrooms and feature a courtroom sketch artist, a public defender and a court reporter. As in News Night, the event mode will be a big, friendly group conversation.

Have you ever wondered what it was like to work in a courtroom? Join us at Mouse on Thursday to hear from a courtroom sketch artist, a public defender and a court reporter about their jobs.

An Incarcerated Pregnant Woman in Illinois Was Forced Into Induced Labor, Lawsuit Alleges “Just because we are going through something with our criminal past does not have anything to do with our reproductive rights,” said Amy Hicks, who was previously incarcerated at Logan Correctional Ce...

An incarcerated pregnant woman in Illinois was forced into induced labor, a lawsuit alleges. Prison employees told her that an induction of labor scheduled by officials was the policy for all those pregnant — regardless of individual medical need or consent, it states.

news.wttw.com/2026/03/02/i...

A PR Push on the Public Dime: Chicago Police Podcast Records Peel Back Layers of Expanded Communication Costs Podcasts are a new avenue for police to reach the communities they serve. A monthslong public records battle with CPD identifies the cost of the podcast “Roll Call.” It is the latest evidence of the h...

The “Roll Call” podcast is just part of a larger push in recent years to expand CPD’s communications operation.

Comms have vastly expanded over the past decade, and costs rose along with it.

Heartland to Close Three Chicago Shelters for Unaccompanied Children, Lay Off About 145 Employees Due to federal funding cuts, the nonprofit Heartland Human Care Services is closing three Chicago shelters that have been used to house unaccompanied minors coming to the U.S.

NEW: Due to federal funding cuts, the nonprofit Heartland Human Care Services is closing three Chicago shelters that have been used to house unaccompanied minors coming to the U.S. news.wttw.com/2026/02/23/h...

This Wednesday!

I made pączki. One filled with kaya; the other sudachi curd *<:-)

Illinois Law Allows Those in Jail Voting Access. How Do Counties Make That Happen? | FIRSTHAND: Democracy Would be better saying: County jails and local election officials in Illinois are required to allow those in custody the opportunity to vote. To see how local sheriffs and election officials have actu...

Illinois law allows those in jail voting access. How do counties make that happen? @jaredrutecki.bsky.social and I reached out to every county jail in IL to see. www.wttw.com/firsthand/de...

News Night, February 25 @ 7 PM

Inside ICE’s Only Contract with a Blue State As part of a 287(g) contract between state officials and ICE, Massachusetts continues to release prisoners into deportation—even as state lawmakers look to ban other forms of ICE collaboration.

NEW in Bolts: As part of a 287(g) contract between state officials and ICE, Massachusetts continues to release prisoners into deportation—even as state lawmakers look to ban other forms of ICE collaboration.

“I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end...

Please take the time to read what the children detained in Dilley wrote me in their own words: www.propublica.org/article/ice-... 10/

Children in ICE Detention Skyrocket in Trump’s Second Term With a six-fold jump in children in detention, advocates allege harrowing conditions are putting kids’ lives at risk.

The number of children in ICE detention on an average day has skyrocketed 6x since Trump took an office. Families complain of poor medical care and worm-infested food.

"It’s only a matter of time before we see a child die," one advocate said.

www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/29/i...

Cook County State’s Attorney Reverses Course, Diverts Nonviolent Gun Cases to Restorative Justice Courts The county’s Restorative Justice Community Courts reroute young people with nonviolent charges from criminal courts to an alternative program. Upon completion, the charge is dismissed.

NEW: After a year hiatus, the Cook County State’s Attorney reverses course and has restarted diverting nonviolent gun cases to restorative justice courts news.wttw.com/2026/01/28/c...

a medieval illustration of an anatomically accurate woodcock perched in the floral margins of a manuscript

the "medieval people didn't know how to draw animals" crowd has been real quiet ever since john siferwas dropped the Perfect Woodcock

The 5-year-old arrested by ICE In Minnesota is detained at Dilley. We reported on conditions there in the below article.

Parents said the food was contaminated with mold and worms & that children were so under so much stress that they were hitting their own faces & wetting themselves.

At one time, Illinois was a top oil producer. Today, that legacy is a $160M problem. Abandoned oil and gas wells pose environmental and public health risks. For three decades, the state has mismanaged funds earmarked for minimizing the threat.

had no idea illinois was a major oil producer through the second world war

www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/18/i...

Mouse Arts And Letters, A New Bridgeport Social Club, Brings Artists And Writers Together Located in an old bank building, the arts social club will serve as a co-working space and host a variety of free events revolving around arts, literature, history and politics.

Join us today as we open Mouse! :-) blockclubchicago.org/2026/01/16/m...

Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE custody was homicide, recording says A fellow detainee says he witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos being choked to death by guards at the ICE detention center in Texas on Jan. 3.

SCOOP from Douglas Macmillan

Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE custody was homicide, recording says

www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Looking forward to this conversation with @aliceyin.bsky.social and @ctoner.bsky.social and people interested in Chicago journalism on Friday night!

Group That Sends People in Prisons Supportive Cards and Letters Adjusts to Illinois’ New Mail Rules Since 2013, the prison abolition collective has processed mail from largely LGBTQ people incarcerated in Illinois. How those materials are delivered has recently changed.

I spoke with the folks at Pushing Envelopes Chicago, who sends letters to a network of 600 incarcerated people each week, to hear their reaction to IL prisons now digitizing all physical mail: news.wttw.com/2026/01/13/g...

:-)

Updated with a note from the Kane County Sheriff:

Four Illinois Sheriff’s Offices Ignored Sanctuary Laws by Transferring People Into Federal Custody, AG Report Finds Four Illinois sheriff’s offices defied the state’s sanctuary laws and transferred individuals into Department of Homeland Security custody in 2024, according to a new report.

Four Illinois sheriff’s offices defied the state’s sanctuary laws and transferred individuals into Department of Homeland Security custody in 2024, according to a new report. (via @blairpaddock.bsky.social)

Four Illinois Sheriff’s Offices Ignored Sanctuary Laws by Transferring People Into Federal Custody, AG Report Finds Four Illinois sheriff’s offices defied the state’s sanctuary laws and transferred individuals into Department of Homeland Security custody in 2024, according to a new report.

NEW: Four Illinois sheriff's offices defied state sanctuary law by transferring people into DHS custody in 2024. That, according to a report released from the IL AG on Dec 23. news.wttw.com/2026/01/08/f...

New Interview: www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

‘An impossible situation’ - Chicago Reader Beginning January 1, the City of Chicago will ban unhoused people on the sex offense registry from seeking shelter on public transit.

NEW: beginning january 1, chicago will ban unhoused people on the sex offense registry from seeking shelter on public transit.

it’s the latest in a concerted effort by mayor johnson’s admin to criminalize homelessness on cta trains + buses and in public parks during the coldest months of the year.

Roseland Hospital Failed to Monitor a Patient During a Mental Health Crisis, Regulators Say. Now He’s Charged With Killing His Wife Since 2023, Roseland Community Hospital has received at least four immediate jeopardy citations. That warning is the most serious deficiency a health care facility can be cited for, according to feder...

State regulators cited Roseland Community Hospital with an “immediate jeopardy” warning after a suicidal patient left the ER without supervision. His case is part of a troubling pattern tied to deaths and neglect. Investigation by @ndblumberg.bsky.social.
news.wttw.com/2025/12/16/r...