South Side Weekly

01/02/2026

Hear from insiders, formerly incarcerated people, loved ones, policy experts, and all that shapes the everyday experience in Cook County Jail in our latest series, Doing Time.

An investigative series exploring the daily life of people navigating court and jail.

01/01/2026

Happy New Year! Here’s to another year of stories written for and by the South Side 🥂

12/29/2025

In Illinois, immigrants have lost thousands of dollars to notarios offering legal assistance they’re not qualified to provide—as well as other impostors. Nationally, the figure is at least $1.2 million.

Reporting by Alma Campos and Max Blaisdell

In Illinois, immigrants have lost thousands of dollars to notarios offering legal assistance they’re not qualified to provide—as well as other impostors. Nationally, the figure is at least $1.2 million.

12/28/2025

Activist or artist? For dancers at Red Clay Dance Company, the challenge is not one or the other, but the combination of the two. Their Making the Artivist program is preparing for its seventh cohort in the new year.

Read Taryn Galbreath's first story for the Weekly

Dancers are provided a unique opportunity to make social impact in Red Clay Dance Company’s Making the Artivist program, preparing for its seventh cohort in the new year.

12/27/2025

Children who attended after-school programs at Urban Comuniversity Center in Calumet Heights nine years ago are still stopping by and now leading classes.

Dabney Lyles shares why

rom Zumba, to stepping, to after-school programs, the Urban Comuniversity Center on 91st and Jeffery has offered an array of programs over the last nine years, since the community center’s inception. The family-owned organization is well established in the Calumet Heights/Pill Hill neighborhood, d...

12/25/2025

Try this recipe from the archives: Christmas Spice Molasses Cookies 🍪

From our families to yours, Merry Christmas!
https://southsideweekly.com/holiday-recipe-christmas-spice-molasses-cookies/

12/24/2025

While food is a large part of holiday festivities, at Cook County Jail, access to sufficient high quality food marks a central challenge for many incarcerated people, especially those who have been in the jail for years. Insiders describe provided meals as gross and unhealthy, while commissary items can be expensive.

✍️ Harley Pomper
https://southsideweekly.com/going-hungry-in-jail/

If you or someone you know wants to share an experience you've had at Cook County Jail or the courts, please write to [email protected].

Insiders describe provided meals as gross and unhealthy, while commissary items can be expensive.

12/23/2025

Gisela Orozco shares why Acapulco Bakery #2 in Clearing is the best place to satisfy your craving for pan dulce in Best of the South Side 2025

ithin Mexican gastronomy and culture, pan dulce has its own chapter, one that even forms part of old sayings in Mexican Spanish, such as “¿A qué hora sales por el pan?”, which is a flirtatious way to ask someone when can they can hang out, or more practical ones like “las p***s con pan son [...

12/22/2025

In 2023, the year renowned literary author Sandra Jackson-Opoku turned seventy, she gave herself a piece of advice: put up or shut up.

Now, she’s begun a new chapter as a cozy mystery author.

Two decades after finding renown as a literary novelist, Sandra Jackson-Opoku has begun a new chapter as a cozy mystery author.

12/20/2025

Commercial activity in immigrant neighborhoods has been down as much as 70 percent as the impact of ICE raids linger. This year, our gift guide is celebrating the holidays La Villita style.

Take a look:

igh profile border patrol and immigration agents may have largely moved on since “Operation Midway Blitz” wrapped up its campaign of terror in mid-November, but that doesn’t mean life for Chicago’s 600,000 immigrants and their communities is back to normal. Since the arrival of Greg Bovino a...

12/19/2025

In Immigration Protest Cases, Feds Keep Striking Out

The Justice Department has aggressively prosecuted those who protest its mass deportation campaigns, but many of those prosecutions have fallen apart.

Story by Dave Byrnes

The Justice Department has aggressively prosecuted those who protest its mass deportation campaigns, but many of those prosecutions have fallen apart.

12/18/2025

In our last print issue of the year; A months-long investigation by Alma Campos and Max Blaisdell revealed immigrants trying to navigate a legal path to citizenship & residency are often targeted by scammers.

Read this and more ⬇️

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