Author
Reformer intern Avi Waldman is a junior at the University of Chicago working on a degree in English language and literature. She edits and reports for the independent student newspaper, the Chicago Maroon. She previously interned at San Diego CityBeat. In her free time, she enjoys cross-country road trips and is a proud cat parent.
COVID ain’t the boss of them — under 30 set struggles to resist the urge to socialize
By: Aviva Waldman - September 4, 2020
Jacques Francis Tchombe, 25, went looking for fun earlier this summer at the Uptown bar Cowboy Slim’s. “I’m not afraid, I have a very good immune system,” Tchombe said. Tchombe, who drives for food delivery service Doordash, said that enough people were still wary of the virus that the Uptown scene was close to dead […]
At Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center, Walz and religious leaders decry bigotry
By: Aviva Waldman - August 14, 2020
Elected officials and religious leaders from different faiths gathered Friday at the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center to condemn a recent attack on one of the center’s imams. On August 6, Sheikh Mohamed Mukhtar was walking from his home to the Islamic Center when he was attacked by two people who beat him and fractured his […]
Voices of the 5th Congressional District on primary day
By: Aviva Waldman and Deena Winter - August 12, 2020
At most polling places, the scene Tuesday was marked by a quiet determination to get in and get out in the least time possible. But at the Coyle Community Center across the street from Cedar-Riverside apartments, it was like an Election Day celebration. Groups of people were singing, chanting, smiling and laughing while holding campaign […]
Study: Low-income voters could swing the election toward Democrats
By: Aviva Waldman - August 11, 2020
Democrats could win big dividends if they focused on getting low-income voters to the polls, according to a new analysis released Tuesday by the Poor People’s Campaign. The report, authored by Columbia University professor Rob Hartley, analyzes Census Bureau data from 2004-2016 and finds that if low-income voters had voted at similar rates to high-income […]
No charges in police killing of Brooklyn Center man who was autistic
By: Aviva Waldman - August 5, 2020
No charges will be filed against the two officers who fatally shot 21-year-old Kobe Dimock-Heisler in August 2019, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday. Brooklyn Center Police Department Officers Brandon Akers and Cody Turner shot Dimock-Heisler a total of six times after responding to a 911 call made by his grandfather, who Dimock-Heisler lived […]
Commemorative street name to honor George Floyd approved by Minneapolis Planning Commission
By: Aviva Waldman - August 4, 2020
The Minneapolis City Planning Commission voted Monday to rename a stretch of Chicago Avenue in honor of George Floyd, who was killed May 25 when a police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. Chicago Avenue between 37th Street and 39th Street will be given the commemorative name George Perry Floyd Jr […]
“Heal America Tour” shows divisions in police reform movement
By: Aviva Waldman - July 31, 2020
It felt like a church service inside Shiloh Temple International Ministries Wednesday evening as Bishop Omar Jahwar introduced the Minneapolis leg of the “Heal America Tour,” declaring to the crowd that they were, in fact, here to heal America. Jahwar, a specialist in preventing gang violence from Dallas, had convened two panels of church leaders, […]
Federal unemployment aid didn’t stop people from seeking work, study says
By: Aviva Waldman - July 29, 2020
As congressional leaders clash over extending federal unemployment benefits, a new analysis concludes that the extra $600 per week in federal money since March hasn’t prevented unemployed people from returning to work. The results of the study from Yale’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy contradict recent Republican claims that continuing the enhanced $600 unemployment payments […]
Audit: Commission gave Enbridge too much influence at early meetings
By: Aviva Waldman - July 27, 2020
The Legislative Auditor released a report Monday critical of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, citing a poor track record of engaging the public in its work regulating power plants, pipelines, and other utilities. Opponents of the Enbridge Line 3 and other controversial projects seized on the findings, calling it vindication after years of criticizing the […]
Charges say Chauvin pretended to live in Florida. How common is that?
By: Aviva Waldman - July 27, 2020
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis Police officer accused of second-degree murder in the killing of George Floyd, now faces different allegations in Washington County: He and wife Kellie Chauvin didn’t file their taxes, thereby underreporting more than $460,000 of income, according to the charges. Authorities allege the hustle was the type that may be familiar […]