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Dan Hinkel

@danhinkel.bsky.social
2K followers 588 following 1.5K posts

Chicago journalist at Injustice Watch.

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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 11h
My work. Judge Walowski is seeking retention following a wave of reversals by the appellate court. In one case, the court reversed a conviction because Walowski forced a defense attorney to proceed to trial as he recovered from a bout with food poisoning bad enough to call for hospitalization.
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A little inclement weather does not stop us from delivering the @injusticewatch.org guide to the Cook County judicial elections. Find hard copies all over the place, or here online. www.injusticewatch.org
Me, the West Belmont Branch of the Chicago Public Library
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Drivers are criss-crossing Cook County dropping off bundles of these at book stores, coffee shops, courthouses, etc. What's inside our judicial election guide is useful and interesting, but you might want a hard copy because they just look great, courtesy of @veromartinezart.bsky.social.
Print copy of the Injustice Watch judicial election guide
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is coming up Thursday. Please come out to the Oak Park Public Library, and bring questions about Cook County judicial elections and our guide to all those judges on your ballot. Looking forward to it.
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 26/09/2026
great piece. man social media is a cancer themomoftheyear.substack.com/p/im-the-mom...
themomoftheyear.substack.com
I’m the Mom in That Viral Giants Clip. Let Me Tell You About My Husband.
You saw me carrying our baby and food. There was more happening in our family that night.
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Reminder to Check Your Judges with our nonpartisan guide to the Cook County judicial election, out now!
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Jason Meisner @jmetr22b.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Meckenburg retired from the U.S. attorney's office effective TODAY after being told by her bosses she could not file anything on her behalf in the Broadview Six case, her lawyers say
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The time has come once again to Check Your Judges.
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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Ezra Klein asked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about AI making kids worse at math and reading. Huang’s reply: “Does it matter?” Then he said he doesn’t know his own address or phone number. “We’re going to lose some fine intellectual dexterity.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/o...
So the message of this research out of China, where you were seeing a lot of kids using A.I. to help them, was that when they were using the A.I., they were getting things done faster. But it turned out that the skills they were learning were not holding, that their actual personal performance, at least in the way we traditionally measure it, was degrading.

What do you think when you hear that?

The last part — I completely agree. Try to get a kid to do long division right now. The multiplication table is starting to be forgotten. Doing square roots, my goodness. Basic math is being forgotten. Does it matter?

That’s my question for you.

Yeah. I don’t think it does. I don’t think it does.

But there must be some set of skills that matter.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But maybe not those. We’re going to discover new ones. Just maybe not those.

There are a lot of skills that don’t matter. My first confession, I actually don’t know my address.And I ——

I don’t really believe that to be true.

It’s completely true. Janine will tell you and Lori will tell you.

One day I had to pump gas — it was a few years ago. They needed my ZIP code, and I panicked. I didn’t know my ZIP code. I don’t know my telephone number. I forget these things. I can live with it.

But let me take the other side because I don’t want to fall into a thing where, because some skills can be safely offloaded ——

Yeah.

I also can’t get anywhere without a mapping system now. Never could, frankly. But I’m a big reader. And one of the skills I really value, one of the capacities I have that I really value is an attention span formed on physical books.

You’re a big reader. I’ve read about the kind of reading you do. And there is, prior to A.I., a lot of concern and noticing among college professors and others that the way people use the internet has probably shortened attention spans.
Some skills can be safely given away. Others are valuable. They are capacities that are needed for that flexibility, for that creative thinking, for that focus. It can’t be the case that everything can be traded off.Some skills can be safely given away. Others are valuable. They are capacities that are needed for that flexibility, for that creative thinking, for that focus. It can’t be the case that everything can be traded off.

Yeah. Well, I think that we’re going to lose some finer intellectual dexterity, but we’re going to be better systems thinkers.

Today’s engineers are far better systems thinkers than I was when I graduated from school. But I was a much better transistor thinker.

What do you mean by systems thinker?

They think of large systems. Today’s computers have trillions, hundreds of trillions of transistors in them. When I first graduated from school, the first chip I worked on had 200 transistors. I knew every one of them by name. No engineer does that today. Most engineers now work well above the transistor, well above the functionality, and they’re cobbling things together to do things.

So you need to think much more about systems and interactions of systems. So some of the lower-level knowledge is gone.
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Injustice Watch @injusticewatch.org · 21/09/2026
🗣️ Our Cook County judicial election guide for the November retention election will be out later this week! Want to be the first to know when it launches — and where to find it? Sign up for our newsletter. buff.ly/1nQW2OY
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
This year, that sounds like a threat.
Bucks saying they play basketball a month from today
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christian @speederaserhead.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
RIP Gerrit Graham - who was, among many things, star of one of the lowkey scariest stunts I’ve ever seen in my life
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A fascinating development that could get interesting at the city council.
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Robert Ham @robertham.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Gerrit Graham 1949 - 2026
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Gerrit Graham had a wild, fascinating movie career, and I was lucky enough to meet him a couple times because I'm friends with his sons. As you'd imagine, a fun hang, the whole bunch. variety.com/2026/film/ne...
variety.com
Gerrit Graham, Actor in ‘Phantom of the Paradise,’ Screenwriter and Grateful Dead Collaborator, Dies at 77
Gerrit Graham, actor in "Phantom of the Paradise" and many other films and TV shows who co-wrote a song for The Grateful Dead, died Tuesday.
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This is very cool.
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Injustice Watch @injusticewatch.org · 17/09/2026
Join senior reporter @danhinkel.bsky.social for a conversation about judicial elections at Oak Park Library. The event takes place Thurs., Oct. 1, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. RSVP: buff.ly/Z9jEkhD
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Jonah Newman @jonahshai.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
After David Jackson published his series on Illinois' Special Prosecution Unit, two whistleblowers came forward with previously unreported records that allege additional misconduct and conflicts of interest by the unit. Here are their stories. www.injusticewatch.org/project/shad...
injusticewatch.org
The whistleblowers vs. the shadow prosecutors
A new trove of documents independently confirmed by Injustice Watch allege previously unreported misconduct and conflicts of interest by Illinois’ Special Prosecution Unit.
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rob @ok-but-still.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
imagine a divorce so bad it turns you into mickey rourke
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Injustice Watch @injusticewatch.org · 11/09/2026
🎉 Our next Cook County judicial election guide will be out later this month, ahead of the next judicial retention election. Join us for drinks, music, and a conversation with our reporters about the judges on your ballot this fall. Plus, grab a guide (or five) to take home with you. buff.ly/cXYbz1C
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This, of course, calls to mind one of my favorite obscure Wisconsin storylines: The ill-fated Martinifest held at the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2006. www.latimes.com/archives/la-...
The Milwaukee Art Museum is reviewing its policy of renting out space on weekends after the interior of its spectacularly winged Quadracci Pavilion, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, was trashed by patrons of Martinifest, a semiformal event organized by Clear Channel Radio and held at the gallery last month.

The event offered unlimited martinis for $30 -- and according to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, guests did not know their limit.

“People threw up, passed out, were injured, got into altercations and climbed on sculptures,” writes Mary Louise Schumacher.

Schumacher noted that the group of four young men who climbed onto Gaston Lachaise’s “Standing Woman,” a bronze sculpture of a “goddess-like woman with exaggerated features,” groped her breasts while someone else documented the sculptural harassment with a camera phone. Food, drink and vomit were found on and near artworks by the end of the evening, and two artworks, both sculptures, had to be removed from the gallery so possible damage could be assessed.

The problem, according to Kerry Wolfe, a local programming director for Clear Channel, was not the martinis but the price: “Hindsight is 20-20.... It was probably too cheap,” the paper quotes Wolfe as saying.
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BYCTOM @byctom.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
You will never see Jerry Reinsdorf's Bulls investigated for trying to give a player more money
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Damn, RIP to Axl Rose's cat.
loudwire.com
'A Son, a Brother, a Friend' - Axl Rose Mourns Cat Whiskey Maranello Rose, See Photos of His Cats Over the Years
Rest in peace to Whiskey Maranello Rose.
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Blair Paddock @blairpaddock.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This has been the case at most solitary units in the state. But due to an “error,” men at Menard were provided tablets. As of last week, those admitted to the unit won’t have access to the devices.
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Blair Paddock @blairpaddock.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
NEW: Illinoisans in solitary confinement will no longer have access to outside communication, legal materials and educational programming through tablets. news.wttw.com/2026/08/31/i...
news.wttw.com
Illinois Prisons Move to Restrict Access to Electronic Tablets for Those in Solitary Confinement
Incarcerated Illinoisans admitted to solitary confinement appear to no longer have access to outside communication, legal materials and educational programming through tablets, according to advocates.
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Aura Bogado @aurabogado.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Come be my boss! Chicago-based Injustice Watch is seeking our next EIC. If you're an experienced manager with deep investigative skills who cares about independent, impactful reporting, please consider applying. $125K–$145K, with benefits. www.injusticewatch.org/about/editor...
injusticewatch.org
Editor in Chief
Editor in Chief Injustice Watch is seeking an Editor in Chief to lead our nonprofit newsroom. The ideal candidate is an experienced manager and editor
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
A worthwhile first-person perspective on living without power from @javonte.bsky.social
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Chicago journalists of a certain vintage will remember Anthony Guglielmi as the spokesman for CPD in the chaotic years after Officer Jason Van Dyke murdered Laquan McDonald.
nytimes.com
Secret Service Officials Said to Be Put on Leave Amid Internal Inquiry (Gift Article)
The agency’s top spokesman is among those on leave, according to two Trump administration officials. The agency said three people faced a misconduct investigation.
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Come work with us (if you're cool).
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
My tribute to Tim Curry is that the 10 minutes of "It" I watched at age 9 on ABC kept me awake in bed for two weeks. That remains the most scared I've ever been of a movie. RIP.
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
My hero today is the woman I saw in the gallery in a criminal courtroom singing "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner to a baby girl held by a relative and telling the baby, "You got Fred Flintstone feet."
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armando l sanchez @mandophotos.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
10-year-old Eliot McQuaide drops off flowers at a mural of Dolly Parton in the Edgewater neighborhood after she died peacefully earlier in the day in Nashville Tuesday in Chicago.
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Aura Bogado @aurabogado.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Illinois law says local officials can't help federal agents deport people. So how did so many residents end up on ICE's radar through information shared by local police, sheriffs, and prosecutors? I filed 394 FOIA requests to find out. (An @injusticewatch.org partnership with @theintercept.com!)
injusticewatch.org
Illinois promised to protect immigrants. Local officials helped deport them anyway.
In over a third of Illinois counties, cops, sheriffs, and even prosecutors helped federal immigration agents route at least 150 people into the deportation system since Trump returned to office, despi...
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
"The scale of prosecutor collaboration in Illinois — which is one of the largest sanctuary states, and often cited as a national model — raises questions about the limitations of state laws to protect immigrants." Substantial discoveries by @aurabogado.bsky.social
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john j. kim @jkimpictures.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Chicago Water Works oil slick 🟧🟩🟪🟨🟦 #ManholeCoverMonday 📷 2010
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
This brings across the painful challenges, constant frustrations and small mercies of life in Gary, Ind. right now.
chicago.suntimes.com
12 nights without power in Gary, Indiana, ‘Why is this OK?’ | Chicago Sun-Times
With no power and a spotty generator, every day is a struggle for a family of seven as they approach two weeks without electricity in Northwest Indiana.
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I spent a great deal of time in Gary, Ind. as a young reporter and learned a lot from tough people forced to make do in deeply unfair conditions created by industry and every layer of government. I hope some relief is on the way.
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Glad to see coverage noting that thousands of people in Gary, Ind. have been without power for a week. A fact of life in northern Lake County, Ind., stretching back at least to my time working there decades ago, is that very bad things can happen without attracting all that much outside notice.
chicago.suntimes.com
Thousands of Gary residents still without power after last week's deadly storms
As of Monday afternoon, more than 100,000 Indiana residents were without electricity, according to utility company NIPSCO, after over 300,000 people lost power because of the storms.
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Injustice Watch @injusticewatch.org · 17/08/2026
Illinois special prosecutors failed to disclose evidence that cast doubt on the case against a man for the murder of his wife. buff.ly/WnzZER7
injusticewatch.org
How the Special Prosecution Unit shattered a small-town civic leader’s life
Special prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence that could have set murder defendant Curtis Lovelace free. The former Adams County prosecutor was acquitted in 2017 for the murder of his wife after…
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
The Marshall Project did some interesting work a few years back on the Yummy Sandifer case and the "Superpredator" panic. www.themarshallproject.org/2020/11/20/s... www.themarshallproject.org/2020/11/20/i...
themarshallproject.org
Superpredator: The Media Myth That Demonized a Generation of Black Youth
Twenty-five years ago, the media invented a phrase: “superpredator.” The time for reckoning is overdue.
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
RIP to Cragg Hardaway, who was 16 when he murdered 11-year-old Yummy Sandifer on orders from gang leaders. He spent 23 years in prison and had 5 as a free adult. I was 12 when the case was all over the news. The killing and the coverage, flawed as it was, made a lasting impact on lots of people.
chicagotribune.com
Cragg Hardaway, elder brother in 1994 slaying of ‘Yummy’ Sandifer, dead at 47
Cragg Hardaway, who was convicted alongside his younger brother nearly three decades ago in the 1994 slaying of 11-year-old Robert “Yummy” Sandifer, died early Friday morning, according to his family ...
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
RIP to Earle Johnson. Quenchers had good beer, free popcorn and nice vibes, plus a full tray of hot sauces if you asked for them. The Northwest Side is less cool without it.
chicago.suntimes.com
Earle Johnson, beer pioneer and welcoming owner of Quenchers tavern, dies at 83
Mr. Johnson, with his unique menu of suds, was decades ahead of the microbrew craze.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 13/08/2026
Manager Calls Bullpen Just To Say Hi
Manager Calls Bullpen Just To Say Hi
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Julia Poe @juliapoe.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
When I think about trans people in sports, I don’t think about lobbies or legislation. I think about my friends. Wrote about pick-up hoops, queer community and love:
chicagotribune.com
Column: When I think about transgender people in sports, I think about my friends
Despite the rabid fixation upon the concept of trans women in sports, those who beat the drum the loudest for exclusive policies rarely seem to care about trans people themselves.
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Injustice Watch @injusticewatch.org · 13/08/2026
A well-connected Illinois pharmacist was charged with killing a young mother. A special prosecutor was brought in to handle the case, and the family hoped they would finally get justice. Then, the prosecution collapsed. buff.ly/GhemV8G
injusticewatch.org
Special prosecutors have protected powerful defendants and derailed justice for crime victims
After 31-year-old mother of three Megan Wells was killed in a 2016 Rock River boat crash by an allegedly drunk boater, special prosecutors dropped most of the charges as part of a plea deal, allowing…
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Blair Paddock @blairpaddock.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
NEW: A couple dozen men at Lawrence Correctional Center are on hunger strike over conditions in solitary confinement. They say they haven’t received mental health treatment, out-of-cell time, or access to tablets to communicate with family. news.wttw.com/2026/08/12/d...
news.wttw.com
Dozens of Incarcerated Men at Lawrence Prison Begin Hunger Strike Over Restrictive Housing Conditions
The men declared the strike from their restrictive housing, or solitary confinement, cells on Monday, alleging a lack of mental health treatment and out-of-cell time at the prison in the southeast reg...
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Jonah Newman @jonahshai.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
NEW: @injusticewatch.org senior reporter David Jackson dove into Illinois' Special Prosecution Unit, a little-known but powerful state agency that steps in when local prosecutors have a conflict. They're supposed to be an elite unit of lawyers beyond reproach. Here's what he found.
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
RIP to Jason Strong, who did 15 years in prison after Lake Co. prosecutors won a murder conviction despite not knowing the identity of his supposed victim. The cops and prosecutors in his case built many other wrongful convictions based on false confessions. www.chicagotribune.com/2015/05/28/l...
We join in the grief shared across the country today with the passing of Jason Strong. With involvement for the last decade, Jason, while not an IIP client, was an ardent supporter of our work and he shared his story with countless students and supporters over the years.  Jason was one of the original  #exonerees to join our speakers bureau for what is now IIP's Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Avoidance police training program. All police recruits across the state of Illinois must now legally complete this training, and one of the most impactful aspects is when they hear the personal stories directly from those #wrongfullyconvicted such as Jason, who lost 15 years of his freedom before being exonerated in 2015. Since then, he shared his story with hundreds of individuals who are now serving our communities as police officers around the state.
Jason was an outstanding representative for these efforts, as he was an easy person to talk to and make a personal connection with. "Jason loved being a part of this family and always spoke of how much it meant to him to do this work," says WCAA Training Director Marcus Beach. We join Marcus and everyone involved in WCAA in sending along our deepest sympathies to Jason's loved ones, many friends and the numerous individuals across the IIP community who considered him a true friend.
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
A surprisingly common personality type is "you think you're The Dude but everyone knows you're actually Walter."
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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
If you don’t swim at Chicago’s outdoor public pools, you’re missing out on stirring urban pageantry. For example, today a 75-ish guy was doing a glacially slow front crawl in a rainbow thong.
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