Our last newsletter of 2022, DePaul basketball, and a media coalition speaks out
plus a Cuban coffee shop recommendation
Welcome back to ‘In the Loop’! It's your newsletter team — Kate, Faith, Chinyere, Isabella, Lauren, Richie, Bridget and Monique — here for the final newsletter of 2022.
Today, we’re highlighting just a few of 14 East’s projects this past year, giving you all of the DePaul basketball news of the past week and giving you a brief rundown of the recently arrested suspect of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
If you want to show support for 14 East and ‘In the Loop,’ we invite you to donate directly to our newsroom. Whether it’s a one-time contribution or a monthly gift, every cent helps us build a newsroom that serves you, our readers, and we get 100% of your donation.
That’s all for now! Let’s get to the news.
14 East’s best projects of 2022
By Kate Linderman
‘In the Loop’ subscribers know that 14 East does more than what you see on our website each Friday. We know that the news, and how it gets delivered, is constantly changing and evolving. In 2022, 14 East continued and launched projects focused on delivering content to new audiences through engaging mediums. As the year comes to a close, we’d like to look back at these projects and give you, our audience, a chance to reflect on these projects with us.
The B-Side
The year began with a look back at old stories but in a new format. The B-Side tells some of our favorite 14 East stories in podcast format. From personal essays, like Lara Diaz’s “Next Stop, Van Buren” and Citlalli Perez’s “Lessons on Convivencia Through Memory” to investigative stories such as “Who Wants General Iron?”. The podcast series moved from SoundCloud to Spotify last month, where you’ll be able to find our most recent episode. Stay tuned for more episodes in 2023.
The Chicago Minute
It was multimedia editor Emily Soto’s mission to get a short documentary series launched at 14 East. The first episode of The Chicago Minute featured a popular foot-working group in Bronzeville known for their performances across the city. Check out the short documentary here.
Pueblo’s Open Mic night
In honor of Latine Heritage Month and Pueblo’s issue, an open mic night was held at DePaul’s Latinx Cultural Center. You can find stories from the issue on our website, including this story about inclusive coverage at Pueblo.
Public Newsrooms
Sports, Data and Illinois Supreme Court judges were topics discussed at our public newsrooms this year. Professionals, students, and avid learners alike gathered on Zoom to learn from our invited guests. Ben Welsh of the Los Angeles Times taught the basics of data journalism, Maya Dukmasova and Charles Preston of Injustice Watch shared all the insights of the Check Your Judges Guide and authors of Game Misconduct: Hockey’s Toxic Culture and How to Fix It, Evan F. Moore and Jashvina Shah talked sports journalism.
As we close on 2022, we’d like to say thank you to our audience for your continued support for our staff and mission here at 14 East. We will be closing out the year with new stories published this Friday on our website. Stay tuned for new and exciting coverage in 2023.
Until then, take care.
DePaul News
By Faith Hennig
DePaul Faculty changemakers
NewCity Film has named several DePaul faculty members to their top “50 Advocates and Educators” list, which names some of the best advocates and educators on the Chicago film scene. Jess King, Liliane Calfee, Wendy Roderweiss and Gary Novak are all DePaul educators based in the School of Cinematic Arts. More information on their tremendous work in film at DePaul can be found here.
Aneesah Morrow recognized by Big East
Sophomore Aneesah Morrow of the DePaul women’s basketball team was recently recognized by the Big East conference as their player of the week. Morrow’s recognition comes after breaking DePaul’s single game scoring record, averaging 35 points and 13.5 rebounds in a 2-0 week. This is the fourth time in Morrow’s career being named Big East player of the week.
DePaul Basketball works with Chicago Schools
This week, Wintrust arena received an audience of over 6,000 Chicagoland school children. This event hosted by DePaul Basketball made it possible for many different schools in the Chicago area to bring their students to experience DePaul Basketball for free. Photos of the event can be found on the DePaul Women’s Basketball’s Twitter page.
Lastly, here is your weekend sports update (Dec. 9-11):
DePaul Men’s Basketball beat Lincoln Common on Saturday 91-70.
DePaul’s Women’s Basketball beat Northwestern on Saturday 81-63.
Chicago Headlines
By Chinyere Ibeh
FTX.US headquarters recently imploded in bankruptcy and Chicago’s would-be cryptocurrency flagship along with it — The cryptocurrency exchange office opened in Fulton Market in May. Bahamas-based FTX is a startup that rocketed into a $32 billion global cryptocurrency exchange. The company was officially launched in 2019 by Sam Bankman-Fried. Robert Channick has the full story for the company’s downfall for the Chicago Tribune.
Community members help 15 people impacted by fire — Tommy’s On Higgins recently suffered from a fire which left its 15 employees without a job. Customers and neighbors came together to help the workers through the tough time with a GoFundMe. Ariel Parrella-Aureli reports on the tragedy for Block Club Chicago.
A media coalition opposes a new city policy that allows a 30-minute delay on police scanners — The coalition includes the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune. They argue that the delay hurts the ability to provide timely information. The coalition had sent in a statement to their audience on Monday. Read the statement in David Roeder’s story for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Former Chief of Detectives for the Chicago Police Department testified against one of her subordinates — Melissa Staples led the CPD’s Detective Division from August 2016 until January 2020. She told a jury on Monday that she removed Sergeant Isaac Lambert after learning that he assigned a rookie officer to investigate a controversial police shooting on the South Side in August 2017. Read Sam Charles’ story for WGN News here.
National Headlines
By Isabella Ali
The World Cup reaches semifinals — The soccer tournament moves on to the semifinals this week. Croatia will play Argentina on Tuesday and France will play Morocco on Wednesday. Morocco continued its impressive run in Qatar by defeating soccer giant Portugal 1-0 and became the first African team to advance to a World Cup semifinal. Lionel Messi has a chance to solidify his status as the best player in the world by winning his first World Cup since Argentina is still in the running. In the meantime, journalist Grant Wahl received numerous tributes. The 49-year-old American passed away in Qatar on Friday due to undetermined factors while covering Argentina vs. Netherlands. For more on this World Cup, Issy Ronald from CNN has the news.
Public schools push thousands of teens into junior military programs — The New York Times found that thousands of students are forcefully enrolled in Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (J.R.O.T.C.) classes, either as a requirement or by being automatically enrolled. The Pentagon has stated that mandating kids complete J.R.O.T.C. programs – which are designed to educate students on military careers and are taught by veterans of the armed forces – goes against its policies. Check out this story by Mike Baker, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Ilana Marcus from The New York Times.
U.S. arrests suspect in 1988 Lockerbie Bombing — The FBI has detained a Libyan intelligence operative suspected of making the bomb that blew up a U.S. passenger jet over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. The agent is being extradited to the United States to stand prosecution, officials said. On December 21, 1988, Pan Am flight 103 was carrying passengers from London to New York and detonated, killing all 259 on board as well as 11 individuals who were on the ground, 190 of those that were killed were American. The terrorist attack was the deadliest to occur on British territory. For more information on this story, Ken Bredemeier from VOA has the news.
Vice President of European Union charged with corruption — Vice President Eva Kaili and three others were charged with corruption on Sunday over allegations that Qatar gave them cash and gifts to sway their decision-making. The European Parliament removed Kaili from her position and assets were frozen by Greece on Monday. The four suspects have been accused of "participation in a criminal organization, money laundering, and corruption." Qatar has refuted any wrongdoing. Hannah Brenton from Politico has the story.
Hey, Check This Out!
With Featured Columnist Lauren Sheperd
Hello everyone and welcome to the final rec of the year! Today, I’m taking you on an adventure outside of Lincoln Park and down to South Loop, just a few blocks from the Loop campus. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a coffee lover, and I love to try new spots when I have the time. It’s hard to venture out in a city where you can find a Starbucks on every corner, but it is my goal for the new year to find more local places where I can get a daily cup. For me, Cafecito seems like a great place to begin.
I went to Cafecito for the first time a couple of months ago, and I loved it. Since then, I’ve been back a couple of times during breaks I have at the Loop, but I want to turn it into a more regular spot. Cafecito has four locations: one in South Loop – which is the one I’ve been to – one in Gold Coast, one in Lincoln Park and one in the Loop. Cafecito is a Cuban coffee shop, so it has both a Cuban coffee menu and an American coffee menu. Because I struggle to drink coffee that isn’t ridiculously sweet, I got just a regular mocha. The other great thing about Cafecito is the prices. The most expensive large cup of coffee on the menu is $3.99, and you can even get a pitcher of Cuban coffee for $4.99.
Cafecito is also known for its pressed sandwiches. At each of their locations, there is a huge selection of sandwiches, all for less than $11. Cafecito also has a selection of breakfast sandwiches, as well as salads to go with your sandwich or to stand alone.
The next time you’re in the Loop for class, or just have some spare time, you should check out Cafecito! See you all next year!
Resources
Need resources regarding cooling centers, rental assistance, abortion access, COVID-19 testing and vaccines or mental health? Check out our complete list here.
This is our final edition of ‘In the Loop’ for 2022. We can’t wait to get back to reporting in 2023.
Until then, take care,
The 14 East Newsletter Team