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Laura S. Washington biography

Laura S. Washington, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times , brings more than two decades of experience as a non-profit professional and multi-media journalist who …

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Gay marriage foes reek of hypocrisy

Hypocrisy is in full bloom this spring. Some of Chicago’s leading black clergy are pushing African-American legislators to reject the same-sex marriage bill pending in the Illinois General Assembly. The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act would provide same-sex couples the same legal rights heterosexuals …

Mayor sits pretty for re-election bid

The bullhorns blared at Daley Plaza last week, blowing forth with a fierce critique of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. It was the battle cry of 2015. Wednesday’s protest of Emanuel’s Chicago Public Schools consolidation plan is the latest play by his disloyal opposition. They are …

Roland Martin isn’t leaving CNN quietly

‘New boss wants his own peeps.” That very Roland-esque tweet announced the CNN swan song of Roland Martin, the energizer bunny of American punditry. Last week, the battery fizzled as the CNN commentator announced the cable network had declined to renew his contract. Martin’s trademark …

Calling all drones, calling all drones

‘Drones could back up the beat cops!” My husband spouted off the other day. Are you serious? “Of course,” came the snort from deep in his stuffed chair, surrounded by stacks of newspapers piled high. “It’s easy to see that the city and the police …

Applause-O-Meter rings for Dawn Clark Netsch

When I heard that Dawn Clark Netsch died last week, the applause-o-meter was ringing in her honor in my ears. The applause-o-meter is my highly reliable test of a politician’s popularity in the trenches. Back in February of 2009, I watched as the meter wildly …

Near Northwest Side therapist is saving one child at a time

‘Every kid can’t be saved. If you find one who can, you do everything you can.” That is Tandeleya Hill’s mission statement. Hill is a clinical therapist at the Madden Shelter on Chicago’s Near Northwest Side. Lately, a lot of people are talking about the …

Senate panel endorses Jewell for Interior chief

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Energy Committee on Thursday endorsed President Barack Obama’s nomination of Sally Jewell to be Interior secretary, moving her nomination to the Senate floor for an expected vote next month.

‘Peace is possible,’ Obama tells Israeli students

JERUSALEM — Insisting that “peace is possible,” President Barack Obama on Thursday prodded Israelis and Palestinians to return to long-stalled negotiations with few, if any, pre-conditions, softening his earlier demands that Israel stop building settlements in disputed territory. On his second day in the Middle East, he shuttled between Jerusalem and Ramallah, reaching out to the public as well as political leaders. He offered no new policies or plans for reopening peace talks but urged both sides to “think anew” about the intractable conflict and break out of the “formulas and habits that have blocked progress for so long.”

  • Correction

    In her Feb. 3 column, and then again on WTTW-Channel 11’s “Chicago Tonight” on Feb. 22, Sun-Times columnist Laura Washington incorrectly identified Debbie Halvorson as the “sole” white person among the 16 candidates then running in the Democratic primary for the 2nd Congressional seat from …Read More

    • US Senate panel approves assault weapons ban

    A U.S. Senate committee approved an assault weapons ban Thursday but the proposal is likely to fail in the full Senate. The ban also stands little chance in the Republican-controlled Senate.

    US budget deficit jumps in February by $204B

    The U.S. federal budget deficit jumped in February from January, though it is still running well below last year’s pace. Higher taxes and an improving economy are expected to hold the deficit below $1 trillion for the first time since President Barack Obama took office.

    6 months post-Benghazi, Obama taps new Libya envoy

    President Barack Obama nominated Deborah K. Jones, a career diplomat who has served in Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and the now-shuttered U.S. Embassy in Syria, as the new ambassador to Libya on Wednesday, filling a post that has been vacant since Chris Stevens was killed in the Sept. 11 Benghazi attack.

    Labor board to appeal recess case to Supreme Court

    The National Labor Relations Board plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a decision that invalidated President Barack Obama’s recess appointments to the agency.

    Senate immigration group: National ID too costly

    Senators working on a bipartisan immigration bill are likely abandoning the idea of requiring a new high-tech federal identity cartd for workers because it is too expensive.

    Senate panel approves gun background check

    Democrats gave a boost Tuesday to the pillar of President Barack Obama’s plans for reducing gun violence, pushing a bill requiring nearly universal federal background checks for firearms buyers through the Senate Judiciary Committee over solid Republican opposition.

  • Voters have a chance to end the 2nd District’s curse

    On Tuesday, voters could take the first step toward ending the dysfunctional and sordid history of corruption and misconduct that has dominated lllinois’ 2nd Congressional District. Can they? Will they? The Jackson family political dynasty has all but collapsed under sensational admissions. The district’s voters …Read More

    • Brennan wins Senate CIA confirmation

    John Brennan has won Senate confirmation to head the CIA after a late struggle that had more to do with presidential power to order drone strikes than with the nominee’s credentials to lead the spy agency.

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