The Rundown | Chicago News

Planned Parenthood wants to stop requiring patients to see a doctor for abortion access. The Chicago ethics board wants strict penalties for lobbyists who improperly donate to a mayoral campaign. Illinois families living under the federal poverty line can get extra help feeding their kids during summer vacation.

More changes are coming to this year’s Pride Parade. Illinois Republicans are glad the state is getting sued over a new law that changes how candidates are selected for elections. Chicagoans are torn over the issue of school choice.

Daniel Knowles lives in Chicago, where he rides his bike almost everywhere and the transit system almost everywhere else. Originally from the United Kingdom, Knowles has traveled the world as a reporter, so he’s seen how people across the globe get around town. His main takeaway: We need to lower our reliance on cars.“Thanks to the car, our cities are uglier and more dangerous,” Knowles writes in his book, “Carmageddon: How Cars Make Life Worse, and What to Do About It.” “Car manufacturers want us to believe driving is freedom, but in fact we are trapping ourselves in an enormous prison made up of moving metal cells.”From automobiles’ well-publicized drawbacks — car-related deaths and climate impact — to housing insecurity and racial inequities, Knowles says driving may be taking more from us than it gives. In this episode, we sit down with Knowles to discuss the history of the car, the large and small ways they impact us, and the options we have for a reprieve.This episode was originally published on June 12, 2023.

A new poll shows that most Chicagoans think students in the city’s public schools are not learning enough. Governor J-B Pritzker’s office is celebrating – millions of Illinoisans are still enrolled in Medicaid. A proposed bill would transfer a state park to Illinois’s only federally recognized tribal nation.

Nearly 20 Chicago city council members have signed onto an ordinance calling for CTA President Dorval Carter to resign. Governor J.B. Pritzker continues to distance himself from budget strategies of the past that he says made Illinois a “credit-unworthy state.” Three beloved great horned owls living in Lincoln Park have died in the span of a month.

May 12 through May 18 is National Transportation Week, so we’re revisiting our favorite transit and infrastructure conversations—and sparking some new ones. When WBEZ’s Roy Howard fellow Jessica Alvarado Gamez moved to Chicago last year, she drove around to get her bearings. She couldn’t help noticing how close she came to cyclists. “I can easily go into the painted bike lanes,” she said. Some Chicago cyclists have observed the same problem, resulting in the refrain, “paint is not protection.” Thankfully for us, Alvarado Gamez dug into city data to understand why cycling in Chicago is so dangerous and what cyclists want done.In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Alvarado Gamez about the path toward safer biking infrastructure.This episode was originally published on Nov. 17, 2023.

A complaint tracking system could help the Chicago Police Department prevent officer misconduct, researchers say. Illinois lawmakers are running out of time to consider a measure to let people end their own lives with medication. A group of activists host a Mother’s Day celebration for incarcerated caregivers outside of Cook County Jail.

A Lake County judge is ordering the owner of Republican-favoring websites to remove sensitive information about Illinois voters from its platforms. A WBEZ analysis found that CTA service levels have actually declined since 2021 whereas other transit agencies in large cities increased their service during that period. It’s possible the Northern Lights will be visible in the Chicago area Friday night.

Marques “Merk” Elliston and Cher’Don Reynolds have been friends for decades. They met as kids living in the Cabrini-Green Homes, a former public housing project Near North Side.
 
 But as adults, they can’t return to their childhood landmarks: Cabrini-Green was demolished over the course of the early-2000s, displacing several thousand residents. This reality hit Reynolds recently when she and Elliston went for a drive.
 
 “I was passing the building that I was raised in, the building that he was raised in,” she said. “Everything was gone.”
 
 Now, Elliston and Reynolds want to restore a church in the area and establish a creative hub.
 
 In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Elliston and Reynolds about Cabrini-Green’s legacy and their dreams for Cabrini Art House.

Ridership recovery at the CTA lags behind other major cities. Student organizers are speaking out about their frustration with the University of Chicago’s decision to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment. The University of Chicago Divinity School and Baptist Theological Union are hosting a panel on the Black Church in Chicago tonight.

Illinois families are once again in Springfield pushing the state legislature to pass a permanent child tax credit this spring. Hospital system Ascension has detected a cybersecurity incident, and Crain's is reporting the issue is disrupting Ascension’s clinical operations. A 21-year-old from south suburban Mokena is one of fewer than 50 competitors at the Professional Bull Riders world finals in Texas this weekend.

Chicago artist Robert Earl Paige has 60 years worth of his art on display right now at the Hyde Park Art Center. He sat down with Rundown podcast host Erin Allen to talk about his childhood on the South Side in the 1930s and 40s, his early design work in both Chicago and Milan, Italy, why he’s dabbled in creating art on top of everything from T-shirts to rocks, and his key piece of advice for the next generation of artists.“The marketplace is very fickle,” Paige said on the Rundown podcast. “The stuff that you love, they hate. The stuff they hate, you love. It's a mad thing. So my idea and what I tell most artists: Just do the damn thing. Get it out there.”“The United Colors of Robert Earl Paige” is on display at the Hyde Park Art Center through October 27, 2024. 

Chicago residents and City Council members grilled Chicago Housing Authority leadership over a long list of issues. Mayor Brandon Johnson stands behind his pick for the Regional Transportation Authority’s board after a contentious committee hearing. Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul is suing an online publisher for posting sensitive personal information about Illinois voters.

The Illinois agency that oversees licensing is still struggling to fix technology problems. In light of a recent lawsuit, a state lawmaker is calling for comprehensive changes to the state department of juvenile justice.

Journalists often avoid including themselves in the stories they tell. But when Arionne Nettles sat down to write a book about Black Chicago, she knew she had to include some of her story.
 
 “I am a byproduct of the culture that I’m talking about,” Nettles said. 
 
 Her book is called “We Are the Culture: Black Chicago’s Influence on Everything.” And when she says “everything,” she means it: The book chronicles Black Chicagoans’ impact on dance, music, fashion, hair and even journalism itself.
 
 In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Nettles about the book, her own story and why Black Chicagoans are limitless.

Purdue University is being sued in federal court for something passed by Indiana lawmakers. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias launched the “Get Real” Campaign this week to urge residents to get their Real I-D card ahead of next year’s deadline. A WBEZ analysis shows that speed camera violations in Chicago skyrocketed after the city lowered the speeding threshold three years ago.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has changed course on his proposal to relocate migrants from a downtown shelter to one on the city’s South Side. Before dawn on Tuesday, campus police at the University of Chicago raided and cleared the Gaza solidarity encampment protesters had been occupying for the past week. A new report rips Chicago and Illinois officials for apparent indifference over the impending shutdown of the West Loop Greyhound bus station.

When she read the script for the play “Jump,” actor Jazzma Pryor said the themes of grief and family drama spoke to her.“[They’re] topics that everybody can relate to, will go through, have seen,” Pryor said.“Us looking at grief in a really open way in a Black family in Chicago, I just feel is a really necessary conversation to have,” said AmBer Montgomery, who directs the production for the Shattered Globe Theatre Company. “I think there's something about grief in Black communities here, and just talking about it and looking at it and seeing the different colors of it and even in the different stages of life. To make people feel a little bit less alone in that experience in the city felt really exciting for me.”In this episode, Rundown podcast host Erin Allen talks with Pryor and Montgomery about how “Jump” brings forth everything that comes with grief: the shock, the family drama, the unexpected moments of laughter, and the continuation of everyday life.Performances of “Jump” are running through June 1 at Theater Wit in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.

Construction has officially begun at downtown Chicago’s James R. Thompson Center, the Illinois Dept. of Public Health gives out 100,000 gun locks, and more suburban homeowners are doing “No Mow May.”

Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin said he does not support using federal cash for a new Chicago Bears stadium. The Chicago Reader plans to return to a weekly print edition next month. The Field Museum has unveiled its Archaeopteryx, a pigeon-sized fossil that could have lived about 150-million years ago.

In Chicago, it can feel impossible to find housing you can afford and actually want to live in. Some Chicagoans have found an answer in cooperative housing.
 
 “It’s a model that can lend itself sometimes to a lower cost of living and then also a sense of community,” said freelance writer Olivia Dimmer, who has been reporting on co-ops for the Chicago Sun-Times. In co-op living, residents own a share in a house or building, and often share household responsibilities.
 
 In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Dimmer about the pros of co-op housing and what to consider before you commit.

A group of counter protesters confronted students at a pro-Palestinian encampment at DePaul University yesterday. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is defending the city’s preparations for the upcoming Democratic National Convention. Cook County is looking to provide more resources for an often overlooked group of people who are trafficked — boys and men.

A line of police officers, many in riot gear, are watching the pro-Palestinian encampment this afternoon on the University of Chicago campus after the university president said it "cannot continue." The man accused of killing Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca will be held in jail until trial. Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling defended an internal investigation into officers whose names appeared on the membership list of an anti-government extremist group.

At many colleges across the country, administrators and police have cracked down on groups of pro-Palestinian protesters who have set up encampments on campus and occupied campus buildings. 
 
 At college campuses here in Chicago, the scenes so far have been heated, but still noticeably less chaotic than those at other universities.
 
 “As long as they're being respectful of the space, as far as I can tell the police are staying hands off,” said WBEZ higher education reporter Lisa Kurian Philip, who's been visiting protests at both Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. “That's so different from what we've seen at Emory, [and UCLA], and what just happened in Columbia, with riot police being sent in the middle of the night to clear out students. It's a very, very different situation.”
 
 On this episode of the Rundown, Kurian Philip talks with host Erin Allen about what’s happening locally, what protesters are demanding and how administrations and others are responding.

Nine Chicago police officers whose names appeared on Oath Keepers membership lists won’t be disciplined. CAIR Chicago speaks out against an expansion of the definition of antisemitism. And fallen Illinois police officers are remembered in Springfield.

Student activists are speaking in defense of the pro-Palestinian encampment movement. Illinois voters could be asked about in vitro fertilization and a millionaire’s tax on the November ballot. The Doc 10 film festival is back in Chicago this weekend for its ninth year.

Dr. Ricardo Rosenkranz said he was not interested in magic when he was a kid. He came to it later in life, when he was already practicing medicine.“I discovered that this was a great art form that also could play a role in healing,” Rosenkranz said. “Not from the perspective of a manipulation that actually changes cells or molecules physically in the body in that particular way, but in terms of outlook and perspective and mindset.”Eventually, he said he started using magic to teach at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “No surprise, as soon as I started doing magic at the medical school, I got teaching awards,” he said. “And I'm so delighted no one fired me for it.”Rosenkranz, who is originally from Mexico City, is the owner of The Rhapsody Theater in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, where he has shows in both English and Spanish over this Cinco de Mayo weekend. In this episode of the Rundown podcast, Rosenkranz tells host Erin Allen about occupying a unique space as “The Physician Magician,” the relationship he sees between magic, medicine, doctors and patients, and, of course, he also performs a little radio magic.

Jewish leaders, students and parents say yesterday's sit-ins at Chicago Public Schools protesting the war in Gaza incite anti-semitism and harm Jewish students. Police Superintendent Larry Snelling is hoping parents of young people will help in keeping downtown peaceful this summer. A cabinet secretary for Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker is facing questions over expanded drug coverage for state workers.

Worker rights organizations held a rally in Pilsen on today’s May Day, asking President Joe Biden to issue work permits for all immigrants. Theodore Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana, is on the list of America's eleven most endangered historic places, released by The National Trust for Historic Preservation. A descendant of Chicago brewing legend Conrad Seipp is resurrecting his recipes for modern taste buds.

Bril Barrett started tap dancing at a young age. His whole family pitched in to pay for lessons and drive him to classes. Now, he’s a 2024 National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellow.
 
 But Barrett isn’t just a dancer. He’s also an educator, historian and self-proclaimed “tap-tivist.” He uses his work to educate students and audiences on the origins of tap.
 
 “I tell people ‘When you don’t know a lot about history, start with your own,’” Barrett said. “That just creates a continuous stream of ownership and connection to the art form.”
 
 In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Barrett about tap, improvising and the importance of understanding our roots.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is defending his administration’s call for $210 million to help state workers lose weight. A document that helped kick off the Civil War now lives in Springfield. The first-ever Conservation Day took place at the Illinois statehouse yesterday.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to re-launch a guaranteed income program that pays low-income residents $500 dollars a month. Paul Vallas is asking a federal judge to go easy on former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke when he faces sentencing later this year. Two dozen LGBTQ+ advocates are urging Chicago’s mayor to restore capacity for this year’s Pride parade to previous levels.

Black homeownership in America lags behind white homeownership by a rate of about 44% to 72%, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors.That gap creates issues not just for Black people, but for broader society, said former Chicago Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara. “When you have those kinds of assets in your life, it gives you way more options and way more ability to care intergenerationally for the well being of your family and to invest in your community,” Novara said on the Rundown podcast earlier this year.Novara is now with the Chicago Community Trust, and on Wednesday she will join UChicago's Dr. Robert J. Chaskin, current Housing Commissioner Lissette Castañeda and Rundown podcast host Erin Allen for a conversation about addressing the racial wealth gap through housing policies at City Club of Chicago. Ahead of that event, we’re revisiting this episode on the value of homeownership, the historical barriers to it (and the modern ones), and a few solutions that are in the works to help level the playing field. This episode was originally published on Jan. 30, 2024.

Chicago government officials will try to spend down hundreds of millions in federal grant money before it expires at the end of the year. Illinois lawmakers are heading back to Springfield today after their last break of the spring session. The Illinois Department of Corrections is proposing moving the Logan women’s prison onto the same site as the Stateville men’s prison.

Some Illinois state lawmakers are pushing a bill that would merge the CTA, Metra and Pace into one transit agency. A tent encampment was erected this morning at the University of Chicago, in solidarity with the people of Gaza. A new kind of music festival is coming to the Chicago area in September.

Poet Tarnynon Onumonu grew up in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. She discovered poetry at 10 years old, and as an adult, she uses her writing to find community and healing.“I’ve just always used poetry as a tool to activate my creativity, to return to myself, to feel comfort in difficult times,” Onumonu said.In this episode, Onumonu meditates on how creativity helps her connect with herself and the world around her.This episode was produced by Ari Mejia for WBEZ’s sister station Vocalo and their Chi Sounds Like series.  

Funeral services begin at 10 a.m. for a fallen Chicago police officer. Hundreds are expected to attend – many from out of town. The American Lung Association’s State of the Air report lists Chicago among the top 25 most air-polluted cities in the nation. A study surveying 765 Black and white women found that poor heart health leads to cognitive decline among Black women.

Former workers at the Foxtrot Commissary on Chicago’s South Side rallied today after abrupt mass layoffs. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said the owners of the Chicago Bears should pay for the vast majority of the costs of a new potential stadium – not Illinois taxpayers. Former USC quarterback Caleb Williams is now a Chicago Bear; he was the first overall pick in Thursday’s NFL draft.

We often hear the phrase “LGBTQ+ community.” But in a city as big as Chicago, it can be challenging for queer people to actually find their community. That’s where Jake Wittich comes in. “We have one of the more thriving LGBTQ districts in the country,” Wittich said. He is the newsletter editor at the Windy City Times, where he and his colleagues recently launched the queer events newsletter Chicago Social Butterflies.In this episode, Wittich gives host Erin Allen the lowdown on where to find LGBTQ+ bars, pop-up parties and community around the city.If you want to keep up with queer goings-on in Chicago, you can subscribe to Chicago Social Butterflies here.

Student activists have been camping out on Northwestern University’s campus for over 24 hours now. Governor J.B. Pritzker highlights his plans to fight homelessness in Illinois. Chicago Teachers Union is warning that support staff, including teachers aides and clerks, may be victims in this year's budget.

A newly-released autopsy report shows Chicago police shot Dexter Reed at least 13 times. Student activists have set up what they’re calling a “liberation zone” at Northwestern University as part of a national movement demanding school officials cut ties with Israel and protect students’ right to protest. The Chicago Bears are expected to select USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the opening pick of the NFL draft tonight.

Sarah Jones wants places of worship to use their space for more than just worship.“Congregations might use their space on Friday, Saturday, Sunday for worship services, but their space can accommodate more than that, and they want it to do more than that, right?” Jones said on the Rundown podcast. “Helping congregations think about what else could be happening in their space that still aligns with their values is really, really important.”Jones is the Associate Director of Community Engagement at Partners for Sacred Places, which is utilizing government grants to give artists space in historic buildings of worship, particularly on Chicago’s South Side.  She has a willing partner in Pastor David Black of the First Presbyterian Church in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood.“I think church buildings are one of the most underutilized resources in American communities,” said Black, who brought in South Side photographer and multi-disciplinary artist Max Li as his church’s first “Art Czar.” “We're all hopeful that this can become a model for other churches.”On this episode of Rundown podcast, we hear from Jones, Black and Li about the initiative, and why they think combining the arts with spiritual places of worship makes so much sense.

Illinois elected officials remain “highly skeptical” of the Chicago Bears’ new plans for a domed, lakefront stadium. Caleb Williams could be a Chicago Bear by the end of the day: we’ll preview tonight’s N-F-L draft. A proposal in the Illinois House would make it a felony to block traffic on major roadways for more than 5 minutes, which could impact protesters.

Mayor Brandon Johnson is throwing strong support behind a plan for a new, publicly-owned Bears stadium south of Soldier Field. The family of a 26-year-old man who was fatally shot by Chicago Police during a traffic stop is suing the city and the officers involved. The suspect in the Highland Park massacre appeared in court today.

This year’s Chicago Palestine Film Festival opened nearly 200 days into the war in Gaza—to a sold-out weekend. Festival executive director Nina Shoman-Dajani said she believes it is more important than ever to share Palestinian stories.
 
 “We have really doubled down in our conviction to share Palestinian narratives and stories,” she said.
 
 In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Shoman-Dajani and filmmaker Nick Leffel about this year’s lineup and what it means to program Palestinian films during the ongoing war

Chicago and the state of Illinois will work together to combine the city’s homeless shelter and migrant systems. Chicago Congresswoman Delia Ramirez wants to transition all of the nation’s public housing stock into zero-carbon, electrified homes. Some parents are pushing back against the potential closure of a bilingual school in suburban Skokie.

Dom’s Kitchen and Market and Foxtrot Market are closing stores in Chicago less than a year after merging. Illinois state officials are working to reduce disparities that make Black women more likely to die during pregnancy than white women. The Chicago Bears have scheduled a Wednesday news conference to announce plans for “a state-of-the-art, publicly-owned enclosed stadium” on the city’s Museum Campus near Lake Michigan.

April is National Poetry Month, so we wanted to revisit one of our favorite conversations. If you watch any shows set in Chicago, you’ve probably seen LaRoyce Hawkins. He plays Kevin Atwater in “Chicago P.D.” and its many crossover shows. You might also know him as Michael “Shaw” Owens in the Max Original “South Side.”But he’s also a lifelong poet and comedian. During the Hollywood strikes last fall, we took the opportunity to talk to Hawkins about his creative pursuits outside of TV.In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Hawkins about poetry, improv and unicycles.This episode was originally published on Sep. 29, 2023.

U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth supports more aid for Israel alongside billions for humanitarian aid. Research shows Chicago has more mass shootings than any other U.S. city. A compromise plan to expand O’Hare Airport has a new proponent – Illinois U-S Senator Dick Durbin.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is sending his condolences to the family of a Chicago police officer who was killed over the weekend while off-duty. Toni Preckwinkle was unanimously re-elected to another two-year term as head of the Cook County Democratic Party. The Palestinian Film Fest kicked off this weekend at the Gene Siskel Film Center in the Chicago loop.