The Rundown | Chicago News

A researcher at the University of Chicago has been awarded the Nobel Prize in economics. A prayer service will take place tonight for the one-year remembrance of the stabbing death of a Palestinian-American boy. An inspector general’s report sheds new light on the controversial firing four years ago of the principal and assistant principal at Lincoln Park High School on Chicago’s north side.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and other Midwestern governors are blasting former President Donald Trump for sending Covid testing supplies to Russia. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and other Midwestern governors are blasting former President Donald Trump for sending Covid testing supplies to Russia. Cases of congenital – or newborn – syphilis are on the rise in suburban Cook County.

Some Chicago parents say they’re devastated by the Acero charter school’s decision to close seven campuses. Illinois power and gas utilities say they’re ready for the winter. A group of Democratic state lawmakers are hoping to pass gun control legislation when they return to Springfield next month.

The American Red Cross of Illinois wants donations to send to Florida as the state begins to assess the damage from Hurricane Milton. A group of Chicago advocates is in New Orleans today for a hearing in federal court on the future of DACA. Construction crews in suburban Bedford Park have broken ground on a new practice facility for the Chicago Sky.

A lawsuit claims record companies are making money off of Chicago’s gang violence. Elected officials commemorated a Springfield site as a national monument. Northwestern University plans to research how serving time in prison or jail affects risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and more.

Leaders at Cook County’s Forest Preserves are celebrating a long list of accomplishments as they head into budget season. Chicago City Council opponents have delayed a plan to sell $1.5 billion worth of bonds to help boost savings. A new poll from the state’s largest teachers’ union finds roughly 60 percent of Illinois educators are considering leaving the profession.

The City Council will consider approving a bond refinancing plan to help the city save money in the face of a budget gap. A sexual harassment scandal involving a one-time political aide is still haunting former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Chicago Fashion Week kicks off today with a fashion show at the Chicago Cultural Center.

The corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan got underway today. Some Chicago parents are worried about the turmoil within Chicago Public Schools after all seven members of the Board of Education announced their resignations last week. The Chicago Bulls open the preseason tonight in Cleveland against the Cavaliers.

Chicago City Council members are planning to hold a special meeting to dig into the Chicago Public Schools board resignations. One ex-juror will be watching closely as the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan begins today. A unique computer chess tournament gets underway this morning (TUES) from inside the Cook County Jail.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson came out swinging today as he announced new appointees to the Chicago Board of Education to replace seven people who are resigning. The Jewish organization Hillel is holding a candlelight vigil at Northwestern University tonight to mark one year since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. The Chicago Bears won their second straight, beating the Carolina Panthers 36-10 at Soldier Field.

Muslim and Jewish leaders in Chicago are worried the Oct. 7 anniversary of the Hamas attack could prompt hate crimes. One Illinois state lawmaker says the leadership turmoil at Chicago Public Schools, following the announcement that the entire school board will resign, will not help the district’s chances of getting more state funding. This year's NASCAR Chicago Street Race generated $128 million in total economic impact.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has confirmed to WBEZ and the Sun-Times that all seven members of the Chicago Board of Education are expected to step down later this month. Some City Council members say they are stunned by today’s mass resignation. Early voting turnout for the November election remains high in Chicago and the collar counties.

"Getting Dressed With Vocalo" is a new series highlighting Chicago musicians who have standout personal styles. Manasseh, a Chicago singer known for his ethereal vocals, is Vocalo’s first featured artist. “You’ll look good when you feel good,” he said. “You shouldn’t skimp on being kind to yourself. If adding a scarf or an extra necklace or another ring equates to you feeling good in that moment, then you’ll leave the house with such a great attitude, and you’ll spread that.” "Getting Dressed With Vocalo" is produced by Morgan Ciocca. Follow the series at Vocalo.org.

Some groups are trying to make Chicago's elected school board race a referendum on the mayor and the Chicago Teachers Union. A new Northwestern Medicine study shows researching long COVID patients could help doctors unlock the key to preventing pulmonary fibrosis. We’ll hear the details next. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates last month… but could they drop further?

Early voting is now open in the City of Chicago. Two city-run shelters have closed their doors this week as the number of migrants arriving from the southern border continues to slow. Chicago Exhibition Weekend – a weekend of art walks, gallery openings and parties – kicks off today.

You’ll still get two newscast episodes every day, with all the latest local news from the WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times newsrooms. Meanwhile, later this fall, host Erin Allen is moving to WBEZ’s Curious City Podcast (subscribe now!), where she’ll find answers to your questions about Chicago, and continue to bring you stories and conversations about the things happening in this wonderful city.

Prosecutors drop charges against a man convicted of murdering Chicago Police Officer Clifton Lewis. A new report shows a drop in the state's infant mortality rate, but data shows racial disparities persist. A program in CPS that mentors at-risk youth to steer them from gun violence seems to be working.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is again sidestepping questions about the future of leadership at Chicago Public Schools. A federal judge is declining to toss out part of the corruption indictment against former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. A Cook County judge says a man convicted of the 2011 murder of Chicago Police Officer Clifton Lewis will be released from state prison.

Matt Walsh is one of the many comedians who got his start in Chicago, but his roots are deeper than most.  “I grew up around the South Side of Chicago around 103rd and Kedzie,” Walsh said on the Rundown podcast. “You know, typical city life, running around, hopping fences, throwing snowballs at each other.”Walsh attended Northern Illinois University and lived in Wrigleyville before trying his hand at improvisation at The Second City on the recommendation of a friend.He went on to become a founding member of the comedy troupe The Upright Citizens Brigade and played several small roles in big budget comedies, but he’s perhaps best known for his role as Mike McClintock, the communications director for Vice President Selena Meyer on the HBO series VEEP.Walsh is back in Chicago later this month at the iO Theater for a pair of performances of “Meadows, Walsh & Friends,” a night of long-form improv comedy that also features comedians Tim Meadows, Joe Canale and Brad Morris. Earlier this summer, Rundown host Erin Allen connected with Matt to discuss his career, the Chicago improv scene, and a very unexpected college experience that the two have in common.

The longshoreman strike impacting ports out east and south is so far not being felt here in the Chicago area. Local group says the city needs to do more to hold city vendors accountable for environmental impacts. Illinois launches a $5 million marketing campaign to bolster the state’s manufacturing sector.

Students at Illinois State University in downstate Normal are raising concerns for their safety after a shooting over the weekend left one person dead and another person critically injured. Chicago fiction writer Ling Ma and Chicago artist Ebony G. Patterson have won the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. Lonzo Ball is back in action with the Chicago Bulls.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration says it needs more time to figure out how to close a nearly $1 billion dollar budget gap. Illinois last remaining natural lakeshore just got new protections. Chicago’s Tavern on Rush has reopened in the Gold Coast.

Workers at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago have filed to form a union. One real estate adviser tells WBEZ that with interest rates coming down, he expects a hot housing market in Chicago. The Britpop band Oasis is stopping at Soldier Field in 2025.

Lamont Jones wanted to give his daughter a book about bid whist, his favorite card game, but couldn't find one. So he wrote it himself, with the goal of saving a pastime popular in the Black community from generational indifference. "Bid whist is the ultimate card game," Jones said on the Rundown podcast, "and I believe that if you've not yet experienced bid whist, the world's greatest card game awaits you."In this episode, Jones talks about his book, "The Gist of Bid Whist: The Culturally-Rich Card Game from Black America." He explains the game's "diabolical components" and traces the history back to the Pullman Porters, the African-American railcar attendants who helped establish a Black middle class and fuel the Great Migration in the era after the Civil War. “I think Chicago has a strong claim to being the spiritual home of bid whist," Jones said, "in part because the Pullman Porters were headquartered here, and we know the vital role that the Porters played in popularizing the game throughout the country.” 

$44 million will help preserve affordable housing in Uptown, an historic prison in Joliet is ordered empty by today, and Chicago’s International Latino Theater Festival Destinos kicks off today.

On the heels of Hurricane Helene, the Chicago-area will see windy conditions throughout the evening. DuPage County saw a huge jump in people showing up to cast their ballot on its first day of early voting. The Chicago Sky have fired head coach Teresa Weatherspoon.

Emmanuel Gomez is the 23-year-old street artist responsible for designing and creating the artwork for Vocalo’s Summer Finale concert last weekend, including a poster with an “ice cream head” of each performer. In today’s episode, Vocalo’s Nudia Hernandez talks with Gomez, also known as Clue, about his burgeoning career in art, from his start as a graffiti artist, to his mentorship under acclaimed local street artist Sentrock, to his collaborations with the WNDR Museum and the National Museum of Mexican Art.

CPS Chief Pedro Martinez is still on the job. A federal judge in Chicago is weighing whether the notorious leader of the Gangster Disciples should have another chance at freedom. The Banned Book Wagon is coming to the Chicago Public Library's Woodson Regional Library today.

Illinois voters take note: an advisory referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot will ask whether individual earnings above $1 million should be hit with a 3% surcharge, to generate revenue that would go toward property tax relief. A hearing for Larry Hoover, the notorious leader of the Gangster Disciples, wrapped up this afternoon in a federal courtroom in Chicago. Former Chicago Bulls superstar Derrick Rose is retiring.

The head of Chicago Public School is fighting to keep his job. His contract may help. A new lawsuit about special education in prison could become a class action case. New polling shows widespread support for an Illinois law that prohibits some credit card swipe fees.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is nixing a plan to turn a vacant National Guard armory near Midway into a new police station. The Greater Chicago Food Depository said it distributed more food in the last fiscal year than it has in its 45-year-history. With five games remaining, the White Sox remain tied with the 1962 New York Mets for the modern major league record of 120 losses in one season.

Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary art has billed itself as a space where new ideas are shown and tested since its inception in 1967.“What many people don't know is we also have a 300-seat theater in the basement of the museum,” said Laura Paige Kyber, the performance curator at the MCA. The museum will put that theater to use this weekend with the return of its third annual “Chicago Performs.” “Chicago Performs is a mini-festival,” Kyber said. “Each year, it just features a cross section of contemporary performance works being made in Chicago and hopefully to introduce them on a larger platform and into a more national spotlight, which the museum can provide.”The four-day event features interactive and multimedia performances from a few Chicago-based artists and art collectives, including cat mahari, Lakshmi Ramgopal (who leads a project called Lykanthea), and Every house has a door, which is led by husband-and-wife duo Matthew Goulish and Lin Hixson.In this episode, Rundown podcast host Erin Allen talks with Goulish and Hixson about “Broken Aquarium,” a multimedia performance about a changing Earth, performed outdoors on Sept. 28 and 29. In it, they use textiles, poetry, dance and water to illustrate the intricacies of an “impossible ecosystem of endangered or extinct sea creatures.” 

The Chicago Teachers Union is continuing to lambast the head of Chicago Public Schools as he fights to hold on to his job. Two Springfield insiders are being named as alleged financial winners from a controversial state program. New lawsuits are attempting to get two incarcerated students in Illinois re-enrolled in their college program.

The number of hate crimes against Jewish people increased nationally last year. People who live in Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Avondale, and Hermosa on Chicago’s northwest side hope a new ordinance can protect their homes from gentrification. Travelers heading from Chicago to Florida can soon opt to travel by Amtrak.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is trying to find new technology to replace ShotSpotter. Northwestern researchers found that a federal assault weapons ban was effective in preventing mass shootings. The FDA holds a food safety hearing this week – and an Illinois initiative could get some attention.

A report released today says Chicago police are asked to do too much and it’s damaging public safety. Former Chicago Alderperson Ed Burke has reported to federal prison to serve a two-year sentence for racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion. With six games remaining, The White Sox are now tied with the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in a single season.

Black women are “superlative participators in American democracy,” according to Northwestern professor Sally Nuamah, yet they remain underrepresented in national politics. “Post-Reconstruction, we've had two elected Black women senators,” Nuamah said. “And at the gubernatorial level, we've had no Black women governors. And then we obviously have had no Black women presidents. If you consider the fact that Black women vote more than most Americans – at least for the past 20 years – and if you consider the fact that in addition they're really critical to registering people to vote, organizing protests and rallies, fundraising and a whole number of other kinds of forms of engagement, this is sort of inconsistent with what you would expect from a representation standpoint.”In this episode of the Rundown podcast, Nuamah and host Erin Allen talked about why. Nuamah runs through the history of Black women’s participation in democracy – from Fannie Lou Hamer to Shirley Chisholm to Kamala Harris. She also explained the difference between “symbolic” and “substantive” representation, and whether one can lead to the other.This conversation is part of the Democracy Solutions Project, a collaboration among WBEZ, The Chicago Sun Times and the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government. The multimedia series is focused on the critical issues facing our democracy in the run-up to the 2024 election.

A memorial service for deceased Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin was standing room only on Sunday. Gun control advocates are confident the courts will uphold an Illinois law banning assault-style firearms. Shotspotter is being dismantled in Chicago as Mayor Brandon Johnson vows to veto a City Council attempt to save the gunshot detection technology.

Sources tell WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has told schools chief Pedro Martinez that he wants him to resign. Chicago is ending use of the gunshot detection technology ShotSpotter on Sunday. The Chicago-area is in the midst of a drought.

Vocalo and WBEZ are hosting a party tonight in Millennium Park and, obviously, we hope you check it out. “This concert is kinda more than a concert,” said Vocalo’s Nudia Hernandez, who’s co-hosting the event. “I feel like it is a Chicago homecoming for a lot of artists.”The lineup features DJ Lady D, KAINA, Marquis Hill, Pivot Gang and some surprise special guests. Co-hosting alongside Hernandez is Stephen Bekoe, the founder of iLLANOiZE Radio, a platform that showcases Chicago’s creative talent.“Vocalo has worked so hard for an opportunity like this,” Bekoe said on the Rundown podcast. “So it's good to see WBEZ and Chicago DCASE [the Department of Community Affairs & Special Events] come together to make this happen, not just for the station, but for the city.”The Vocalo Summer Finale is tonight, Friday Sept. 20, at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Admission is free and gates open at 5 p.m.

City and state officials now have a set of clear recommendations on how to create a combined shelter system for both unhoused Chicagoans and recently arrived migrants. A federal judge declared a mistrial in the case of a former AT&T Illinois executive accused of bribing former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Jurors couldn’t agree on a verdict. The CTA chief has ideas to improve service – but he thinks the state needs to fairly fund it first.

A federal jury is stalemated over whether a former phone company executive tried to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Illinois could see major cuts to the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by the end of the month. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is defending his decision to not say whether he’s taking a pay raise.

Mayor Brandon Johnson says he’ll issue the first veto by a Chicago mayor since 2006. A fight between politicians about the impacts of ending cash bail in Illinois. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker says the state needs to do more to meet its climate goals.

The Chicago Board of Education has approved a new five year strategic plan that envisions more students learning a second language. The Chicago City Council has approved an $11.6 million settlement for Anthony Jakes, who spent two decades in prison after detectives under the disgraced late commander Jon Burge beat a false confession out of him in a 1991 murder case. Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch says it’s too early to say what lawmakers will do during the fall veto session in Springfield.

Illinois has the capacity to meet just 24% of the mental health needs of the state, according to a 2021 analysis by The American Association of Medical Colleges.To help close the gap in the city, a pilot program called “Healing Arts Chicago” is getting creative by training local artists to serve as community health workers. “The premise was like, we already knew that Chicago has really a wealth of community-based artists who think about their work with community as healing,” said Meida McNeal, who runs the pilot program through her work at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events. “And what would it be like thinking about public health and community health as a potential sector where the skills they already have could be applied?”The program is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act. Local artists get trained and certified through City Colleges of Chicago, placed in city mental health centers through the Chicago Department of Public Health, and then they offer classes and workshops at no charge across a variety of disciplines.  “We've got movement, dance artists. We've got DJs, folks who work in sound therapy. We've got theater and puppetry, multimedia arts, sculpture, murals, ceramics,” McNeal said.In this episode of the Rundown podcast, host Erin Allen visited the Greater Grand Mental Health Center to take Leyda “Lady Sol” Garcia’s “Move to Live” wellness offering. She talked with class attendees and the instructor – as well as the instructor of another Healing Arts Chicago course on poetry, Nile Lansana – about what the classes are like and what they offer the community. Healing Arts Chicago has artist-led offerings available through the end of the year. 

A gun design expert took the stand yesterday in a federal trial over Illinois’ ban on assault-style weapons. A politically fraught debate over the gunshot detection technology, ShotSpotter. WBEZ examines year one of Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act.

Chicago has seen an uptick in voter registrations with about seven weeks left until Election Day. A commission created in response to the killing of Sonya Massey held its first listening session last night. Chicago elected officials are slated to receive a 4 percent raise next year – but Mayor Brandon Johnson hasn’t said whether he’ll take it.

A federal trial in Southern Illinois over a state gun ban gets underway with more witness testimonies. The Massey Commission holds a listening session before selecting commissioners… and before technically forming. There’s been a decline in biking deaths across Chicago– but some cycling advocacy groups say more protections are needed.

A Chicago City Council panel today signed off on nearly $15 million to settle four police misconduct lawsuits. The Chicago Board of Education caused a stir in December by saying it intended to shift away from school choice, but now the board says it is not planning on making any big changes to charter or selective enrollment schools. Tito Jackson, the Gary, Indiana-born older brother of Michael Jackson and guitar-player for the Jackson Five, died Sunday at 70 years old.

Here are some reasons you might want to found your tech startup in Chicago: 1) it’s a great place to live, 2) it’s not as expensive as New York or Silicon Valley and 3) the city is not already over-saturated with tech companies vying for investors. That’s all according to Griffin Cox and Haydée Marino, two of the founders behind ezbot.ai, a Chicago-based tech start-up that uses machine learning to optimize e-commerce websites.Cox and Marino are both Chicagoans who admit the city is not the first that comes to mind when you think of tech startups, but it’s “a growing scene,” Cox said. In this episode, they explain how they got their Chicago-born startup off the ground and both the opportunities and challenges of starting a business in the city of big shoulders.