This page contains descriptions of and links to articles picked up by the newspaper clients of Capitolwire.com, as well as stories I wrote for the Medill News Service as a graduate journalism student at Northwestern University.
Capitolwire.com is a subscription-only service, so most of my clips are not available for public viewing. If you would like to see more of my work, please email me at erin@erinhalasz.com. I will send you PDFs.
Happy reading!
PennDOT’s plans for federal bailout
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation released a list of highway, bridge and public transportation projects that could be funded if Congress passes a federal stimulus plan that includes money set aside for transportation infrastructure. PennDOT’s list includes about $1.5 billion in spending on transportation projects statewide. The money would come from the $825 billion stimulus plan proposed Thursday by Democrats in the U.S. House. Under the federal plan, $90 billion would be earmarked for infrastructure spending, with about $30 billion for highways and bridges.
The Altoona Mirror
January 17, 2008
Dissecting the phenomenon of a Sarah Palin rally
John McCain and Sarah Palin may have lost, but a week before the election, Palin’s attitudes and energy captivated conservatives, perhaps leaving her political future wide open. In Bowling Green, Ohio, I observed this political-cultural event.
Medill Reports: Chicago
November 6, 2008
Photos: Chicago Marathon Elites at RunnersWorld.com
This year’s Chicago Marathon wasn’t quite as hot as the 2007 race, but the elite runners burned up the course. These photos show them in action.
RunnersWorld.com Slideshow: Chicago Marathon Elites
October 14, 2008
RunnersWorld.com Slideshow: Chicago Marathon Faces in the Crowd
October 14, 2008
Renters face eviction, betrayal in landlord foreclosure
More and more renters nationwide are being evicted and displaced, not because of anything they have done wrong, but because of their landlords’ financial woes. As landlords continue to lose properties to foreclosure, renters have become the collateral damage of the foreclosure crisis.
Medill Reports: Chicago
August 28, 2008
In tough financial times, stopping crime can pay
Now more than ever, crime pays. But it isn’t paying the criminals. Instead, tipsters who provide law enforcement with information that leads to arrests or convictions are increasingly cashing in on their good deeds.
Medill Reports: Chicago
May 29, 2008
Nationwide drop in murders skips some West Side, South Side neighborhoods
Murder has remained high in some West and South Side Chicago neighborhoods, even as homicide dropped 26 percent citywide between 2000 and 2006. To explain Chicago’s continued violence, some point to the mostly vacant land on which the Robert Taylor Homes once stood and wonder what happened the gangs that once trafficked drugs there.
Medill Reports: Chicago
May 22, 2008
The Windy Citizen
May 23, 2008
Austin Weekly News
May 28, 2008
Nationwide drop in murders skips some Chicago neighborhoods
Murder has remained high in some South and West Side Chicago neighborhoods, even as homicide dropped 26 percent citywide between 2000 and 2006. To explain Chicago’s continued violence, some point to the mostly vacant land on which the Robert Taylor Homes once stood and wonder what happened the gangs that once trafficked drugs there.
Medill Reports: Chicago
May 21, 2008
Recession, new services draw patrons to libraries
Chicagoans borrowed 34 percent more books, CDs and DVDs in April of this year than in the same month last year. Some library patrons said they have started using the library more because of economic concerns, and others cited the new online reservation system as a reason for increased visits.
Medill Reports: Chicago
May 15, 2008
As murder migrates, neighbors point to high-rise demolition
The number of murders in Chicago decreased by 30 percent so far this decade — from 633 on 2000 to 443 in 2006. But a Medill News Service analysis found that murder rates vary greatly in South and West Side neighborhoods. Some expert observers attribute the disparity to the Chicago Housing Authority’s plan for transforming public housing, and a resultant migration of crime.
Medill Reports: Chicago
May 14, 2008
Reduce violence by creating summer jobs, Blagojevich says
Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced a $150 million initiative that could help young people living in impoverished communities to escape a world of joblessness, drugs and violence. The plan, Community Investment Works, is meant to reverse a trend that has prevented many adults from finding work.
Medill Reports: Chicago
May 6, 2008
The Windy Citizen
May 6, 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV: For most players, it’s just a game
In the video game Grand Theft Auto IV, players steal cars, visit strip clubs and run drugs though a virtual city modeled after New York. Many say its realistic violence is a bad influence, but the hundreds of people who waited in the cold for the game to go on sale disagreed.
Medill Reports: Chicago
April 29, 2008
The Windy Citizen
April 30, 2008
With SWAT on the streets, residents fear harassment
Thirty-six people shot, nine of them dead. In response to recent violence, police are sending SWAT team members on street patrol. But what police see as the most effective way to keep people safe, community members believe only hurts the already stressed relationship between them and police.
Medill Reports: Chicago
April 24, 2008
The Windy Citizen
April 25, 2008
Austin Weekly News
May 7, 2008
Ten years later, beetle scourge officially over
Ravenswood residents celebrate the eradication of the Asian longhorned beetle from Chicago — and remember a time without trees.
Medill Reports: Chicago
April 17, 2008
The Windy Citizen
April 21, 2008
Expert says gangs lure the very young into lawbreaking by offering cash
Dope money. Drive-by shootings. Twenty-four school students shot dead. In parts of Chicago, gangbangers control the streets, scaring uninvolved neighbors with their street fights and gunfire. James Wagner, the president of the Chicago Crime Commission, discusses gang activity in Chicago.
Medill Reports: Chicago
April 16, 2008
Rezko probes possible tie between Levine, Bush
Stuart Levine testified that after he promised to raise $100,000 for President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign he was appointed by Bush to a prestigious museum board. However, the prosecution’s star witness in the Rezko case insisted there was no connection between the promise of money and the appointment.
Daily coverage of the Tony Rezko trial.
Medill Reports: Chicago
April 15, 2008
Boarding option for homeless students in the works at West Side charter school
Chicago students who lack a stable home may soon take up residence in boarding schools if plans for a residential program for homeless teenagers are realized.
Medill Reports: Chicago
April 8, 2008
Austin Weekly News
April 9, 2008
