The Rundown | Chicago News

Some NASCAR fans say they saw a more diverse audience this past weekend in Chicago. The Chicago Teachers Union is calling out the head of the school district over the state of contract negotiations. Cook County is investing $100 million dollars into Provident Hospital on the South Side.

An 8-year-old boy has died from his injuries after being shot in a mass shooting in the early hours of the Fourth of July. Chicago officials are encouraging residents to attend a series of budget roundtables. The popular online homestay rental platform Airbnb is going to extra lengths to crack down on disruptive parties this holiday weekend.

Sorry Papi is a popular all-female traveling DJ party co-founded by Miriam Paz.“We were just thinking one day before COVID: ‘What if we throw an all-girls reggaeton party?” Paz said.Paz, whose stage name is DJ Miriam, talked with Vocalo’s Nudia Hernandez about the genesis of the traveling party, the general prowess of female DJs, and why women feel safer partying with other women.Sorry Papi’s next party is July 6 at the Ramova Theatre in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood.

Highland Park families explain why they wanted to come to the community's first parade following the mass shooting two years ago. A new report shows how federal housing voucher renters can become voucher homeowners. Some Chicagoans are confused about how much to budget for their monthly student loan payments in the face of dueling court decisions.

The Jelly Belly Candy company will cease operations in North Chicago and lay off dozens of workers. Illinois ended its fiscal year with more money than expected. More than 1.7 million people are expected to travel through O’Hare and Midway airports this holiday weekend.

When the pandemic hit, Zeshan B was living in the Bronx. His wife works in health care, so her job was considered essential. Meanwhile, he lost all his work as a performer, and he channeled his lockdown angst into new music.
 
 
 “My industry was considered nonessential,” he said. “While I was on the back burner, the only thing I could do was write.”
 
 Now, Zeshan B and his family live in Chicago, and he’s preparing to release his new album, “O Say, Can You See,” later this month.
 
 In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Zeshan B about dreaming, his new album and surviving the concrete jungle.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is stopping short of calling for Democratic President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race. Most of the Chicago school board candidates are being challenged. That could mean the wide open field of 47 candidates might be whittled down. Adult educators at City Colleges of Chicago were on the streets yesterday calling for a fair contract.

The Supreme Court declined to review Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons, meaning that judgment will stand for now. Lurie Children’s Hospital says nearly 800,000 people may have been exposed in a cybersecurity attack this year. A new report from the Illinois Department of Transportation shows an increase in traffic stops last year – and that Black drivers were nearly twice as likely to be stopped by police than white drivers.

Illinois Republicans celebrate while Illinois Democrats lament Monday’s SCOTUS decision on presidential immunity. A Cook County employee says he was fired for talking about wrongdoing at a county agency. Officials agreed on a plan to protect the Great Lakes from the invasive carp.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker still believes the door to prosecute former President Donald Trump is still open even after the Supreme Court ruled a president holds "absolute immunity" for official acts. A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows one in three students in Illinois are chronically absent – meaning they miss at least 10 percent of their school year. Loyola Medicine is working with a charity to erase about $112 million of medical debt this year for low-income patients.

Linney was the name of a loud and melodramatic house cat who stars in a new graphic novel titled “WOE: A Housecat’s Story of Despair.”Linney’s owner, Evanston-based graphic novelist Lucy Knisley, said she originally based Linney’s comic-strip voice off the character Sister Monica Jones, a British nun from the long-running BBC series “Call the Midwife.”“She was complaining about stuff that was just so silly to complain about, but she was so eloquent about it, so I wanted to give her this eloquent, stately manner,” Knisley said. In this episode of The Rundown podcast, Knisley tells host Erin Allen about her journey into comics – from her early love of “Calvin & Hobbes” to her education at both the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont. Knisley also talks about the poignant comic strip she created following Linney’s death, one she says readers will still reach out to her about several years later.  

A former Chicago Police Officer is remembered for his years of service to his community and his country. Chicago’s minimum wage is increasing today – and tipped workers specifically will also be seeing a boost. Field Museum scientists have documented the oldest grape seed fossils ever found in the western hemisphere.

Freelance workers in Illinois will enjoy new protections starting on Monday. Federal officials estimate a million fewer students will receive the Pell Grant this year. The Chicago Teachers Union announced yesterday the candidates it will support for the first school board election.

Do you remember the track ‘Mariposa’? It did significant rounds on TikTok during the pandemic lockdown. The group behind the song, Peach Tree Rascals, is about to wrap up a 19 show, 27-day tour. Ahead of their Chicago show last week, they spoke with Vocalo’s Nudia Hernandez about their deep friendship, what it’s like to create a viral music hit and how they’re making their immigrant parents proud.

Two new state-run migrant shelters are opening in Chicago but some state lawmakers say they have serious concerns. Undocumented residents in Illinois can get standard driver’s licenses starting Monday. Laid off Chicago Public School staff members spoke out yesterday about how their absence will hurt students.

New U.S. Census Bureau population estimates released today reveal significant demographic shifts in the greater Chicago area. Researchers say a bill introduced in Springfield this year could allow more working adults in Illinois to get college degrees. Chicago Public Media has a new CEO.

The state’s attorney in north suburban Lake County says he’s ready for trial against the accused gunman in the Highland Park 4th of July massacre as a plea deal falls through. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling narrowing federal bribery law could have a major impact on some high-profile Chicago corruption cases. Illinois officials are launching an updated plan to curb the transmission of H-I-V/AIDS.

A coalition of feminist and LGBTQ+ activist groups have struck a deal with the city of Chicago to march on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. The man accused of gunning down seven people at the Highland Park 4th of July parade two years ago rejected a plea deal during a court hearing today. Defense attorneys for four former ComEd lobbyists and executives say a Supreme Court decision could win their clients a new trial.

Angie Leventis Lourgos began reporting on abortion access in Illinois in 2015. In the two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, she has watched the Midwest become even further divided over the issue of abortion rights. 
 
 “It seems like the chasm between Missouri and Illinois or Illinois and Indiana has only widened,” she said. “I didn’t think that was possible because they seemed so disparate when I started doing this reporting.” 
 
 Earlier this year, Leventis Lourgos published her first book, “Life-Altering: Abortion Stories from the Midwest.” She spoke with a number of abortion patients around the region about their experiences. The stories in the book span six decades: from illegal abortions pre-Roe, to post-Roe attacks on abortion clinics.
 
 In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Leventis Lourgos about her reporting and the state of the post-Roe Midwest this election year.

A new study sheds light on the impact of removing police from Chicago high schools. Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch’s lawyers work to get a lawsuit against him dismissed. Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker signs into law the creation of a new state agency.

A Chicago City Council committee approved plans for a new Wrigleyville development Tuesday over the objections of preservation groups. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Junior has filed the necessary paperwork to get on Illinois' ballot in November. Two people locked up at Robinson prison in downstate Illinois recently went on hunger strikes because they believe that if their sentence credits were corrected, they’d be out of prison already.

The longest serving alderman in Chicago history gets sentenced to federal prison. Millions of federal dollars will be going toward new storm water projects across Cook County. Walmart donates a training facility on the South Side to the Chicago Urban League.

A federal judge has sentenced former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke to two years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $2 million fine. Illinois' state climatologist says soil conservation work is our best weapon to reduce the risk of dust storms. Sky rookie Angel Reese had a career-high 25-point game yesterday as Chicago beat the Indiana Fever 88 to 87.

Colombia’s influx of Venezuelan migrants has led to accusations the migrants are fueling crime and drawing resources needed by low-income Colombians. This resembles some responses to Venezuelan arrivals in Chicago.WBEZ’s Chip Mitchell spent two weeks in Colombia – a country that’s received a much larger influx of Venezuelan migrants than Chicago – to discover how the conditions compare, how Venezuelan migrants in both countries are experiencing xenophobia and what lessons the city of Chicago can learn.This episode is a part of the Democracy Solutions Project, a partnership among WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times and the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government.

Ex-Chicago Alderman Ed Burke faces 10 years in prison for corruption. His sentencing hearing begins today. In the South Shore neighborhood evictions are high – and residents want protections against displacement. Abortion funds that help patients pay for procedures and travel are losing money across the country, including in Chicago.

Chicagoans and their pets have limited exercise options amid this week’s heat wave. A National Weather Service meteorologist says this spring was unusually stormy in central Illinois. Hundreds of cycling enthusiasts are in Chicago this weekend for an international convention named after a local sports legend.

When Yoly Rojas came back single from a stint on Netflix’s “The Ultimatum: Queer Love,” she wanted to meet some new queer people her age. She and friend Keli Knight looked around and realized they didn’t have a space to meet other LGBTQ+ people over 30. So they made one. Rojas and Knight’s Lovers and Friends party, which has a focus on the BIPOC lesbian community, has amassed a large following in its first year on the scene—so much so that they’ve already started branching out into other cities.“You would think those parameters are so niche,” said Nudia Hernandez from our sister station Vocalo. “How many people could show up? A lot, apparently.”In this episode, Hernandez talks to Rojas and Knight about creating the queer spaces they want to inhabit.

The state of Illinois could soon erase $1 billion worth of medical debt for thousands of families. Cook County is trying to figure out what to do with hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic-relief money from Washington. Many queer teens across the U.S. are unhappy about the sex ed they receive in school, a new study finds.

Some top Illinois officials are celebrating President Joe Biden’s new executive actions to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation. Christopher Columbus Elementary School in Ukrainian Village will soon be Ruth Bader Ginsberg Elementary School. Northwest Indiana is under an air quality alert until midnight.

On Chicago’s West Side, crews used the Juneteenth holiday to help seniors whose basements flooded last July. Many homeowners still need help to remove mold. Nine community organizations based in Cook County are receiving grant money to help the populations they serve manage diabetes and prediabetes. A new art project places the portraits of noteworthy Chicagoans on bus shelters across the city.

The Illinois Department of Public Health is urging caution as confirmed cases of COVID-19 are rising in emergency rooms. Unions representing journalists at WBEZ and the Sun-Times are calling for the ouster of the Chicago Public Media CEO. A Planned Parenthood clinic in Peoria is up and running after it was fire-bombed over a year ago.

Chicago is getting a new task force to study reparations for Black residents. The watchdog for Chicago City Hall is calling out Mayor Brandon Johnson for failing to act on a campaign promise to rid cops who joined two extremist groups. Illinois lawmakers approved a measure aimed at expanding access to fentanyl testing strips.

The Chicago area is under an air quality alert. Today is the first day for candidates to file petitions to run for Chicago’s first elected school board. Three famed Wrigleyville Rooftops could face the wrecking ball.

Yman Huang Vien is a former refugee who emigrated to Chicago with her family over 40 years ago, moved to Uptown and quickly co-founded the Chinese Mutual Aid Association, in order to serve low-income, immigrant and refugee communities across Chicago.Today, she’s one of six community members whose portrait and profile you might run into in a Chicago bus shelter for a project called “Unsung Heroes of Uptown: Art of People ON the Streets IN the Streets.”In today’s episode, The Rundown podcast host Erin Allen talks to Huang Vien about her journey to Chicago, as well as the creator of the project, Hana Bleue Chaussette, about why she’s putting profiles of community leaders in bus shelters. Editor's note: A previous version of this episode incorrectly identified the number of portraits on display and the country of origin of the company JCDecaux.

Four neighborhoods in Chicago are developing ways to reduce gun violence through partnerships with public and private groups. Governor J.B. Pritzker touts $41 billion in spending on infrastructure. A hard foul at the Chicago Sky-Indiana Fever game drew some controversy.

Multiple CTA workers allege they received chemical burns while washing train cars with harsh cleaning materials they weren’t properly trained to use. The Chicago Police Department still does not ban officers from joining specific extremist groups despite promises of reform. High humidity and heat are in the forecast for early next week.

Every Friday from here we’ll be checking in with Nudia Hernandez of WBEZ’s sister station Vocalo, who’s gonna bring us a conversation with an artist or musician doing big things in Chicago.Today, we hear from Erin Kilmurray, creator of “The Function,” an immersive dance production that’s wrapping up its multi-week run in Garfield Park tonight.Plus, we hear from Nudia herself, how she followed her high school dreams to get into the music and radio scene, and an embarrassing admission about her first concert.

Abortion rights leaders in Illinois are celebrating a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. The Chicago Teachers Union and school district officials will participate in a public bargaining session this evening. The Illinois state treasurer helps a Lake County veteran get a half million dollar payout from an old life insurance policy.

Governor J.B. Pritzker reacts to the Supreme Court ruling tossing out a challenge to the accessibility of abortion pills. The Illinois Department of Public Health is launching a new data collection process to better track syphilis cases. The Chicago Bears wrapped up their annual organized team activities and are looking ahead to training camp and the preseason.

Pranita Nayar wanted to give young South Asians in Chicago a platform to express themselves and their culture through art and music. So, in 2014, she created Mandala South Asian Performing Arts, and five years later, the organization kicked off the first Mandala Makers Festival, a celebration of that art and culture happening in June at locations across Chicago.Nayar, a decorated Indian classical dancer, and multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Chethan Anant sat down with The Rundown podcast host Erin Allen to talk about some of the upcoming events, including the unveiling of a Devon Community Mural on June 16 and a finale concert featuring violinist Ambi Subramaniam and the Mandala Music Circle in downtown Chicago on June 27. Nayar and Anant also  explain how their respective work is so intertwined and how the festival helps bring the South Asian community in Chicago closer together. 

The Chicago Park District did not vote on whether to approve another year of Riot Fest in Douglass Park after festival organizers moved locations. Senator Tammy Duckworth tries to force Republicans to take an election year vote on IVF treatments. A proposal to fine and suspend lobbyist donations to a mayor’s campaign was blocked from a final vote.

Four wrongfully convicted men will be paid a $50 million dollar settlement by the city. A neighborhood group in McKinley Park on Chicago’s south side is unveiling a plan to create a three-mile bike path along the South Branch of the Chicago River. Riot Fest is forcing the Chicago Red Stars out of their home stadium.

Painter Damiane Nickles loves playing with texture and color in his work. He sees his Trinidadian heritage in the vibrant colors he uses. Nickles grew up in New York, but he said he found his artistic home in Chicago. “There’s something here where people just magnetize to one another,” Nickles said. “That has really stuck with me.” In this episode, Nickles talks about inspiration, texture and finding community.This episode was produced by Ari Mejia for WBEZ’s sister station Vocalo and their Chi Sounds Like series.

A federal judge in Chicago is hearing arguments today on whether to expand a consent decree overseeing the police department to include traffic stops. The Chicago City Council is expected to consider a $50 million dollar settlement for four wrongly convicted men. Bally’s casino meets with future vendors for its upcoming permanent Chicago site.

The Illinois Department of Human Services and the Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago are working to expand access to gender-affirming care. Thousands of Amazon delivery drivers filed legal claims against the company. The late Chicago journalist Mike Royko is the subject of a new exhibition at the Newberry Library.

Before Bridgerton’s string quartet renditions of pop songs, D-Composed was performing chamber music Beyoncé covers in Chicago. D-Composed events aren’t stuffy affairs. The Black chamber music collective rarely charges for tickets, and they want audience members to “come as you are.” 
 
 That goes for the ensemble’s musicians, too. 
 
 “When I'm with the other members of D-Composed, I feel completely myself,” said cellist and founding member Tahirah Whittington. “There are no guards. There are no hindrances to who I am.”
 
 In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Whittington and D-Composed artistic and executive director Kori Coleman about chamber music, Black composers, and what it means to bring your full self to rehearsal.

Federal prosecutors say former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke should serve 10 years in prison for illegally strong-arming developers. A new poll finds 61 percent of American adults are projected to develop cardiovascular disease by 20-50. We’ll tell you how the American Heart Association plans to combat that trend. Former President Barack Obama visited Chicago’s South Side yesterday to mark a major milestone in the construction of his namesake center.

A school district in the north suburbs is expected to vote on closing Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Students, a bilingual school in Skokie. The Democratic National Convention is driving up hotel prices in Chicago. The National Weather Service warns swimming today is high-risk, with waves up to seven feet.

Constitutional law scholar Wilfred Codrington III talks with Rundown podcast host Erin Allen about slavery’s influence on the creation of the electoral college – America’s state-elector-based system for electing presidents – and how that system affects democracy today.This conversation is a part of the Democracy Solutions Project, a partnership among WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times and the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government. 

Another federal investigation in Chicago - this time, authorities are looking into a massive breach of private patient data at Cook County’s hospital system. New data shows there are now 1,000 fewer performing arts jobs in Illinois' than before the pandemic. The first-ever Chicago Public Library block party took place in downtown Chicago this weekend.