WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

Last Monday, I visited 2414 N. Marmora with people concerned about vacant buildings. The yard was piled with garbage and it reeked of urine.Vanessa Valentin of the Northwest Side Housing Center discovered squatters had pried the boards off the door."It’s easy," Valentin said.

About 60 employees of a Chicago window factory are claiming victory after an 11-hour occupation of the plant.Their union, the United Electrical Workers, says it reached a deal Friday morning with the plant’s owner, California-based Serious Energy, Inc.The deal, according to the union, requires the c

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is welcoming a $335 million settlement with Bank of America to resolve allegations of discriminatory loans.Madigan's office filed suit against Bank of America subsidiary Countrywide Financial Corp. in 2010. The settlement, announced Wednesday by the U.S.

In Chicago and elsewhere in the country Tuesday, activists have been moving homeless families into empty, foreclosed homes.In the West Side neighborhood of Belmont-Cragin, Sabrina Morey took the megaphone and welcomed a group of about 20 protesters.

Hmmm, should I go with the silhouette smoking a joint stock photo?Or just go with the generic marijuana plant?Or heck, I'll just show a couple hippies at Woodstock: The City Council is going to vote on decriminalizing pot.

Here in Chicago, the local economy gets a boost next weekend, when tens of thousands of runners lace up for the 34th annual Chicago Marathon. Bank of America, the marathon sponsor, says the race means about $171 million for the local economy.

Last week, President Obama last week pitched his plan to put the country back to work. But not everyone should expect a break from the unemployment lines: Bank of America was said to be considering a cut of about 40,000 jobs.