Corwith Yard

The murder of Laquan McDonald took place on October 20, 2014, in Chicago, Illinois. McDonald was a 17-year-old African American youth who was fatally shot by a white Chicago Police Officer, Jason Van Dyke. Police had initially reported that McDonald was behaving erratically while walking down the street, refusing to put down a knife, and that he had lunged at officers. Preliminary internal police reports described the incident similarly, leading to the shooting being judged as justifiable, and Van Dyke not being charged at the time. This was later disproven after the video of the murder was released, showing that McDonald was walking away. On November 24, 2015, thirteen months after the shooting, a court ordered the police to release a dash cam video of the shooting. It showed that McDonald was walking away from the police when he was shot 16 times by Officer Van Dyke. That same day, Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder, and was initially held without bail at the Cook County Jail. He was released on bail on November 30. The city reached a settlement with McDonald's family for $5 million in April 2015. On October 5, 2018, Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder, as well as 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.Protests followed the murder of McDonald, demanding changes in police and judicial procedure, and for the dismissal or resignation of city and county officials. Rahm Emanuel won a second term in 2015 as Mayor of Chicago (prior to the release of the dash cam video), but Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez lost her bid for reelection in 2016. At the request of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the United States Department of Justice initiated a civil rights investigation into McDonald's murder and the activities of the Chicago Police Department. It released its report in January 2017, describing the police as having a culture of "excessive violence", especially against minority suspects, and of having poor training and supervision. DOJ and city officials signed a consent decree for a plan for improvement to be overseen by the courts. Moreover, three Chicago police officers were tried for allegedly attempting to cover up events related to the murder, and were found not guilty by the Cook County Circuit Court on January 17, 2019.

The Chicago Electrical Trauma Rehabilitation Institute (CETRI), located in Chicago, Illinois, was founded in 2009 by a group of scientists and physicians that had collaborated for more than 20 years to better understand and treat electrical injury patients. These collaborators were members of the faculty of four major medical centers in Chicago. Over the years, this multi-institution research team have published more than 120 scientific articles and three textbooks on the topic of electrical injury and have evaluated many electrical shock survivors. Some important discoveries made by this team are that electrical shock injury is mediated by multiple mechanisms including non-thermal electrical forces, which many electrical shock survivors develop neuropsychological problems even if the current never passed through the brain and progressive peripheral pain and sleeplessness often adds to the disability. However, some electrical shock survivors do not manifest these problems.

Crawford Generating Station was a coal−fired power plant built in 1924. It was located in the South Lawndale community of Chicago, Illinois. It was closed in 2012 after a long battle with the community over pollution, like the nearby Fisk Generating Station. Both stations were owned and operated by Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of Edison International. Crawford and Fisk Stations were among the last standing coal generating facilities within a major U.S. city at their time of retirement. Demolition of the plant began in 2019.

Brighton Park is a community area located on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois. It is number 58 of the 77 community areas of Chicago. Brighton Park is bordered on the north by the former Illinois & Michigan Canal and the current Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, on the east by Western Avenue, on the south by 49th Street, and on the west by Drake Ave.The neighborhood is a mix of residential areas, commercial zones, industrial works and transportation (primarily railroad and trucking) facilities. It is relatively peaceful, according to Chicago Police Department statistics (2004 CPD Annual Report).

Archer Heights is a community area in Chicago, Illinois, one of the 77 official community areas of Chicago. Archer Avenue runs from south of Chicago's downtown area, through the southwest side of Chicago and beyond into the southwest suburbs, along what was once a Native American trail. The neighborhood is bounded by the Stevenson Expressway to the north, the CTA Orange Line to the south, the Corwith railyard to the east, and the railroad tracks/Knox Avenue to the west.

Kedzie is an 'L' station on the CTA's Orange Line. It is located between the neighborhoods of Brighton Park and Gage Park.

The 4th congressional district of Illinois includes part of Cook County, and has been represented by Democrat Jesús "Chuy" García since January 2019. In November 2017, incumbent Luis Gutiérrez announced that he would retire from Congress at the end of his current term, and not seek re-election in 2018. Jesús "Chuy" García was elected on November 6, 2018. It was featured by The Economist as one of the most strangely drawn and gerrymandered congressional districts in the country, inspired the "Ugly Gerry" gerrymandering typeface, and has been nicknamed "earmuffs" due to its shape. It was created after federal courts ordered the creation of a majority-Hispanic district in the Chicago area. The Illinois General Assembly responded by packing two majority Hispanic parts of Chicago into a single district. This district covers two strips running east–west across the city of Chicago, on the west side continuing into smaller portions of some suburban areas in Cook County, surrounding Illinois's 7th congressional district. The northern portion is largely Puerto Rican, while the southern portion is heavily Mexican-American. The two sections are only connected by a piece of Interstate 294 to the west; the highway is in the district while the surrounding areas are not. It is the smallest congressional district in area outside New York City and California.

Pulaski is an 'L' station on the CTA's Orange Line, which runs between Midway Airport and The Loop; it is situated between Midway and Kedzie stations. Pulaski is located at Pulaski Road and 51st Street on the Southwest Side of Chicago, Illinois. The station is within the Archer Heights neighborhood, which is both residential and commercial, and the station itself is in a commercial district on Pulaski Road. Pulaski opened on October 31, 1993, the opening date of the Orange Line. The Pulaski station was proposed in 1980 and constructed from 1987 to 1993. When the station opened in 1993, it spurred commercial development in the surrounding area and led to a parking controversy on nearby residential streets. Pulaski consists of an elevated island platform above a station house which is set back from Pulaski Road. The station also includes a bus terminal and a park and ride lot. Nearly 1.4 million passengers boarded Orange Line trains at Pulaski in 2010. Trains serve Pulaski approximately every ten minutes during rush hour but are less frequent at other times. In addition to offering train service, Pulaski also connects to several CTA bus routes.

WCEV (1450 AM) was a radio station licensed to Cicero, Illinois, United States. Serving the Chicago area, WCEV was owned by Migala Communications Corporation, and aired a time brokered ethnic programming format.

WRLL (1450 AM) is a Spanish variety radio station licensed to Cicero, Illinois, and serving the Chicago market. The station is owned by Midway Broadcasting.

Mansueto High School is a Level +1 public four-year charter high school located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is a part of the Noble Network of Charter Schools. It is located at West 47th street between Richmond and Mozart street in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side of Chicago. It is named after donors Joe and Rika Mansueto. Mansueto High School opened in 2016 at a temporary location (51st and Keeler) while its permanent building was under construction. The architectural firm, Wheeler and Kearns partnered with contractors, Bulley and Andrews, to construct the school. Mansueto opened at its permanent location in August 2017. In 2018, the school's design received a Brick in Architecture Award. The site was the former location of the RC bottling plant.

Thomas Kelly College Preparatory High School is a public 4–year high school located in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The school is named for Irish nationalist Thomas J. Kelly. Kelly is the third largest Chicago public high school in terms of student population. Over 80% of students are Hispanic. The school's team name is Trojans. Opened in 1928, Kelly is a part of the Chicago Public Schools district.