Mick Dumke

Editor and reporter for Block Club Chicago. I'm often tracking politics, rooting for the Cubs & the Cats, and listening to Curtis or the Clash.

[Mick Dumke @mickeyd1971]

As Chicago schools struggled to respond to a surge of students still learning English, teachers got creative, using Google Translate, using online resources--and in at least one case, traveling to Mexico and Guatemala to learn Spanish.
By @reemadamin @mina_bloom_ & Kae Petrin

[Block Club Chicago @BlockClubCHI]

Chicago has been slow to provide many schools with the bilingual resources they need to serve English learners, a Block Club + @chalkbeatCHI analysis found.

The result: students are left waiting for an education they’re legally entitled to. https://t.co/JZ53aCWyup

[Reema Amin @reemadamin]

Last year, @mina_bloom_ and I found that many migrant kids settling down on Chicago's South and West sides often weren't getting the help they needed.

This year we wondered: How well resourced are schools that are supposed to have bilingual ed programs?
https://t.co/0hN5ywAjy3

[Mick Dumke @mickeyd1971]

ICE failed to respond to my FOIA request for basic information about arrests in Chicago. They're required to under the law.

So we're suing.

[Stephanie Lulay @slulay2]

@blockclubchi, our nonprofit neighborhood newsroom, is suing ICE over immigration records.

We believe in the public's right to know what its government is doing.
https://t.co/iNLEuzlBnx

[Mick Dumke @mickeyd1971]

Due to a housing shortage, Chicago officials say they have to "prioritize" which homeless people are connected to apartments while others wait--and they do so via an often-secretive process that leaves many people desperate and confused: "It's defeating."

[Rachel Hinton @rrhinton]

I spent the last few months trying to understand the system meant to connect people experiencing homelessness to housing options, how many feel about it and how “Accelerated Moving Events,” like the one at Gompers Park, fit into the process. My latest: https://t.co/DZ59xrCUzx

[Ben Bradley @BenBradleyTV]

It's not just you. ICE has refused all our requests to provide basic information about the number of people arrested, their criminal history and what's happened to them since.

An ICE spokesperson hasn't been willing to provide a reason for the silence. https://t.co/AI8rogTalN

[Mick Dumke @mickeyd1971]

@SashaSpark Thank you

[Mick Dumke @mickeyd1971]

In the days after Trump took office in Jan, immigration authorities reportedly arrested about 100 people in Chicago.

But ICE still won’t reveal exactly who their agents arrested in the city, what they were arrested for or what’s happened to them since.

https://t.co/Ns0bjY5i70

[Mick Dumke @mickeyd1971]

@SashaSpark CPD says they don't have records of ICE arrests.

But as the story details, CPD shares some data with federal officials, including fingerprints of people arrested by local police.

[Mick Dumke @mickeyd1971]

Here's how ICE typically responds when journalists ask for even basic information about who they've rounded up: a promise someone will respond later.

No one ever does.

[Mick Dumke @mickeyd1971]

Many of the most powerful people make a sport of villainizing the most vulnerable.

Here's someone who chose to spread compassion instead.

[Block Club Chicago @BlockClubCHI]

Remembering Tuyet Le, a champion of civil rights, community empowerment + laughter.

Le helped build Asian American political power and fought for immigrants, refugees + disabled people.

She inspired so many people she met — including investigative editor @mickeyd1971. https://t.co/rzmeE3xHYB

[Manny Ramos @_ManuelRamos_]

With Dorval Carter retiring I want to highlight some of our reporting coming out of the pandemic. We were accused of having an axe to grind with CTA leadership, but our position was always about accountability. Here are some stories worth revisiting. https://t.co/l54YmbAXJX

[Mina Bloom @mina_bloom_]

This huge news comes after many months of dogged reporting from @_ManuelRamos_ @mack_liederman about Carter's poor leadership & the system's failures

Manny & Mack have covered it all, from Carter's pay hikes to his rubber stamp governing body

https://t.co/Flo1PRW4wY

[Mick Dumke @mickeyd1971]

A year ago the CHA said it would fix up dozens of vacant homes & hire new managers for its buildings.

So far it's finished fewer than half the rehabs.

And most managers remain unchanged, tho residents made 116k requests for help w mold, rodents & other issues.

By @rrhinton:

[Block Club Chicago @BlockClubCHI]

"A new day at CHA"? Residents say they're still facing "ridiculous" conditions in public housing buildings. https://t.co/MQAAKbltQM

[Corli Jay @corli_jay]

I spoke to some alders who voted on Daley's infamous parking meter deal in 2008.

“So it was a bad deal and it was a mistake made, and now we’re living to regret it,” one told me.

Read my latest to see what they said. 📝

https://t.co/ykOplJUUGq...

[Mick Dumke @mickeyd1971]

@WeekendGabe @slulay2 @BlockClubCHI Thanks, Gabe

[Mack Liederman @mack_liederman]

Mayor Johnson’s budget proposes significant cuts to police therapist positions.

CPD has struggled to hire one therapist per police district as officer suicides persist.

W/ @mickeyd1971 @BlockClubCHI
https://t.co/EoaALh1X80

[Mack Liederman @mack_liederman]

It was "doors closing" yesterday for Pastor Jarixon Medina — the only one of five Mayor Johnson appointees voted down by City Council for a seat on the powerful board of the Regional Transportation Authority.

Full @BlockClubCHI story below.
https://t.co/KXnFK6Gxbs

[Rachel Hinton @rrhinton]

Behind the official announcement of Scott’s exit, multiple sources told us Johnson is cleaning house at the CHA. “After Turbulent Tenure, CHA CEO Tracey Scott Out: 'Residents Were Suffering In The End'” with @mickeyd1971
https://t.co/EF4RvO9T6i

[Mick Dumke @mickeyd1971]

@daveclarkin Thanks for listening, Dave

[Mick Dumke @mickeyd1971]

One of the debates raging in Chicago this week (and many other weeks): Does every mayor end up becoming a jerk?

And yes, this question matters....

[Jon Hansen @JonHansenTalks]

After Monday's combative presser, we wanted to look back at previous mayors.

On today's @BlockClubCHI pod @mickeyd1971 - who has experienced many contentious mayoral moments - looks back at why this seems to be a feature of Chicago politics, not a bug.

https://t.co/BuhD9sZZtS