The Rundown | Chicago News

Even 20 years ago, kids didn’t have their entire lives recorded online. Then, social media assured anyone could go viral and smartphones made us all infinitely more trackable.
 
 These technologies have changed what it means to be a kid. Chicagoland author Devorah Heitner explores childhood in the 21st Century in her latest book “Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World.”
 
 In this episode, we talk to Heitner about location tracking, “sharenting” and why kids post the way they do.

Illinois election officials are considering various security measures ahead of the 2024 primary elections next Spring. All those ads you see on CTA trains and buses are helping to keep ticket prices from rising. An Illinois healthcare program for undocumented seniors is pausing enrollments next month.

Chicago officials on a trip to the Southern border are seeing firsthand what conditions look like for asylum-seekers when they enter the U.S. Illinois is pausing enrollment in the program providing Medicaid-style healthcare coverage for undocumented immigrants over age 65. A young guitarist mistakenly shot by a Des Plaines police officer four years ago is now getting a $1.9 million payout from the suburb.

Chicago’s own Ytasha Womack is both a scholar of afrofuturism and the author of a new book on one of the most notable figures in afrofuturistic sci-fi: Marvel’s “Black Panther.” In this episode, host Erin Allen talks with Womack about her book, “Black Panther: A Cultural Exploration,” how afro futures are everyone’s futures, and the cultural importance of T’Challa’s home country of Wakanda.“One woman in the book said that Wakanda was as real for her as the biblical city of Canaan,” Womack said. “So for some, it's not just some fantasy tale, it has real resonance because it synergizes all these possibilities, these hopes, these dreams.”

After a bombing of a Gaza hospital left hundreds dead – protesters in Chicago say they want local leaders to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Loyola University Law Professor Jeannine Bell breaks down what goes into a hate crime prosecution as the Chicago office of the FBI investigates the recent killing of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy. The public will have more chances to weigh in on possible changes to the state’s blueprint for teaching reading in Illinois schools.

Google has gotten the go-ahead to demolish the glass exterior and atrium of the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago. There could be a strike among healthcare and retail workers at Howard Brown Health. The launch of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s new abortion rights nonprofit signals he will not run for president next year, according to the chief political reporter at The Chicago Sun-Times.

If you live in Chicago, you know Lee Crooks—probably without realizing it. Crooks has been the voice of the CTA for 25 years, so he’s a fixture in most of our lives. We wanted to get to know the man behind “Doors closing.”
 
 In this episode, we talk to Crooks about trains, legacy and Midwest accents. And yes, we have him do the voice.

As the war between Israel and Hamas continues, an Islamic Day School in Chicago's southwest suburbs is trying to protect itself from violence and hate speech. Some Chicago alderpersons want the city to increase liquor inspectors to crack down on bars that have drawn shootings. Congress is hoping to create national standards for compensating college athletes.

A vigil is planned tonight in suburban Plainfield to honor 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was stabbed to death Saturday. Chicago-based nonprofit MedGlobal is working to support hospitals in Gaza. Family, friends and neighbors hope for the safe return of two Evanston women from Gaza.

Instead of junk food and sodas, a Good Things Vending machine offers local art, throwback trading cards, games and dozens of other items you won’t find in a typical vending machine. There are a handful of them around Chicago, and the creator of the business says the goal is to spark joy and promote the city’s arts community. Steph Krim talks with Erin Allen about how she came up with the idea, her favorite items and where you can find a machine near you. 

Family members of the 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy who was stabbed to death this weekend gathered to condemn the alleged hate crime. Chicago’s Council on American-Islamic Relations Office says they’re receiving an increasing number of Islamophobic phone calls. If college enrollment remains steady, only about 30% of Chicago Public School freshmen today are predicted over the next decade to get a bachelor’s or associate's degree.

A 6-year old suburban Palestinian-American boy was laid to rest today two days after being stabbed to death. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson reversed course and will not visit the U.S.-Mexico border. Bears quarterback Justin Fields dislocated his thumb and may miss Sunday’s game.

Whether you’re a longtime fan or a first-time listener, you’ll love the changes coming to The Rundown podcast. From now on, catch three episodes from The Rundown feed every weekday: morning news, a midday deep-dive conversation and afternoon news.
 
 We want to bring you all the Chicago news you need to get through your day. And with our midday episodes, we’ll help you discover new places, people and things to love about the city.
 
 In this episode, host Erin Allen checks in with morning news host Adora Namigadde and afternoon news host Lisa Labuz.

Prosecutors charged a southwest-suburban man with murder and hate crimes after the deadly stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy. Hearings kick off Monday as City Council members vet Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed spending plan for next year. Chicago’s homes impacted by flooding earlier this summer have more time to apply for federal relief.

The concept of a person’s “race” is relatively new in the scope of human history. A new exhibit at Chicago’s Newberry Library, “Seeing Race Before Race,” looks at the period before we started grouping ourselves in racial hierarchies. “From a period of time from about 1100 to 1800, we’re arguing that race was made, through image and text,” said Lia Markey, one of the exhibit’s curators. In this episode, host Erin Allen talks through the exhibit with Markey and Noémie Ndiaye, another exhibit curator, about its most striking components and the goals of their scholarly research.“I think it's much more useful to think of what race does than to think of what race is,” Ndiaye said. “Who benefits from this? What is the power structure that is being upheld or made?”“Seeing Race Before Race” is open until late December. 

The Chicago City Council is meeting Friday to debate a resolution “condemning Hamas’ attack on Israel.” Emanuel “Chris” Welch says it’s unlikely Illinois lawmakers will consider additional funding for migrants in Chicago during their upcoming legislative session. There’s a new push for a law, known as “Karina’s Bill” that would require police to remove guns from the homes of accused domestic abusers.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first budget lays the groundwork for his campaign promises while not raising property taxes. A new report says Uber and Lyft deactivated thousands of Chicago drivers. Many are still struggling to recover three months after record setting storms flooded thousands of homes.

The first 12 weeks postpartum are stressful for new parents, especially for new mothers. “It’s not something that’s really talked about,” said WBEZ photojournalist Manuel Martinez. He took dozens of powerful photographs of new mothers for the WBEZ multimedia series The First 12 Weeks, which is now a free interactive photo exhibit on Navy Pier through Nov. 30.In this episode, Martinez explains his process for taking photos during such an intimate time in a person’s life, as well as how he and his wife handled this totally unique part of human life.“We went through the pregnancy feeling like there were a lot of hands involved in making sure that she was going to be safe and the pregnancy was going to be successful,” Martinez said, “and then you go through the birth and you bring this baby home and nobody’s there. Everybody’s gone.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker added his voice to those condemning the actions of Hamas in Israel. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson will lay out his proposal Wednesday to close a half-a-billion-dollar budget gap. New research shows that the way Chicago funds its public schools is helping its neediest students.

Illinois lawmakers are calling for peace and de-escalation in wake of growing tensions between Israel and Palestine. Italian Americans in Chicago are continuing to call for statues of Christopher Columbus to be replaced in the city’s parks. Chicago transit officials claim significant progress in rebuilding its workforce.

For Mary Mitchell, retirement isn’t sticking. Lucky for us, she’s coming out of retirement to write a new column about aging called “Starting Over.” 
 
 “I think we should embrace aging as opposed to making fun of it,” Mitchell said. 
 
 She wants us to celebrate aging and use this opportunity to impart her wisdom to the next generation. In this episode, we talk to the Chicago Sun-Times columnist about what it means to reinvent ourselves later in life.

Israelis and Palestinians in Chicago are watching as casualties mount on both sides in Israel, following a declaration of war over the weekend. Native American people are celebrating their centuries-long history of resilience on Indigenous Peoples Day. Chicago Marathon fans were out in earnest cheering on runners during Sunday’s race where two world records were set.

Black drivers accounted for over 30% of all traffic stops in Illinois last year, even though the state’s adult population is only 13.6% Black. There’s also been a fivefold increase in the number of Black drivers stopped for non-moving violations and then let go with a warning. That’s all according to a recent data analysis by WBEZ and the Investigative Project on Race and Equity, which found that Black driver involvement in Illinois traffic stops has reached its highest level on record.In this episode, Erin Allen speaks with Angela Caputo and Michael Liptrot, two of the many journalists behind the report, about the increase in so-called “pretextual stops,” how public officials responded to questions about the data, and the effect these traffic stops have on Black drivers.“If you come to work and you're doing everything you're supposed to do and then every so often you just get pulled into HR for nothing and questioned about what you're doing, it will lead you to have a level of angst and anxiety about just going about your day,” Liptrot said.We want to hear about your traffic stop experience in Illinois. It will inform WBEZ's coverage going forward. Visit wbez.org/trafficsurvey.

Chicago City Council members will vote on a proposal to eliminate the commonly known “sub-minimum wage.” Chicago Bears legend Dick Butkus, considered the gold standard for middle linebackers, has died at the age of 80. Northwestern University’s former head football coach Pat Fitzgerald is suing the university for more than $130 million in damages for “wrongful termination.”

The head of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services resigns. Mayor Brandon Johnson says he will soon visit the southern border to assess the migrant situation himself as the number being brought to Chicago continues to grow. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle proposes a budget with no new taxes for next year.

Growing up in Missouri, singer Chappell Roan didn’t think of queerness as an option. Now that she’s an openly queer pop star, she wants to use her platform to empower LGBTQ+ communities. So she’s booking local drag queens to open for her in every city on tour.
 
 “Drag is just inspirational throughout my whole project,” Roan said. “It would be only right to have drag open for me.”
 
 Enter Boyj, a Chicago-based drag artist. He also didn’t see himself reflected in the mainstream growing up. He said queer communities in Northalsted—formerly Boystown—helped him find himself. “I like to think of Chicago as the headquarters of drag,” Boyj said.
 
 You can see where this is going: Boyj is one of Chappell Roan’s openers for her Chicago shows at the House of Blues.
 
 In this episode, we talk to them both about drag, queer origin stories and Roan’s debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.”

Illinois saw a spike in hate crimes and speech over the last three years. Chicagoans can weigh in on a proposal to increase a tax on high-end property sales to fund homelessness prevention. Nurses want Illinois state lawmakers to regulate how many patients they treat at a time.

This past month, Chicago had fewer murders than any September since 2014. Cook County announces a Digital Equity Action Plan to expand internet access. Groups demand work permits for all undocumented immigrants – not just Venezuelans

The Guatemalan civil war brought Nestor Gomez and his family to the United States when he was a teenager in the 1980s. “In many ways I didn’t have a voice at all,” he told Erin Allen. “I didn’t have a voice because I couldn’t vote as an undocumented person, I didn’t have a voice because I stuttered and I didn’t have a voice because I didn’t know the language.”Decades later and Nestor is somewhat of a legend in Chicago’s storytelling scene. He’s won The Moth's Story SLAM over 70 times and the Chicago Grand SLAM three times (and he’s competing for a fourth win on Saturday, Oct. 7). In this episode, he explains how he found his voice, how he stays conversational on stage and why everyone has a story worth telling.

Mexicans in Chicago who face wrongful convictions may now seek free legal aid from their local consulate. More than 5,000 employees at the Chicago Ford plant joined the auto workers strike on Friday. Chicago may have two baseball teams – but neither made it to the postseason.

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 and is in “South Side” as Michael “Shaw” Owens. Even if Hawkins hasn’t appeared on your TV, you might’ve seen him around town. He’s the tall guy with the toothpick, coordinating fundraisers for community organizations in and around Chicago.
 
 But he’s also a lifelong poet and comedian, and currently touring his show “Poetry OVER Prose.”
 
 In this episode, we talk to Hawkins about poetry, improv and unicycles.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker expresses concerns about a controversial security firm tapped to build tent shelters for migrants in Chicago. Chicago Public Schools lays out just how much it would cost to modernize its aging buildings. South Side artist Dorian Sylvain’s to unveil a new mural in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment is unveiled downtown.

Larry Snelling is now Chicago’s police superintendent after a unanimous vote by the city council Wednesday. A new study from North Shore University Health System is searching for treatment options for long COVID. A handful of Illinois colleges have committed to making their financial aid offers more transparent.

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, many arts institutions promised to take steps toward racial equity. 
 
 Enrich Chicago partners with organizations to upend racist systems in the arts, and they wanted to find out whether those promises actually brought about meaningful change. They surveyed employees of their member institutions and confirmed what many already knew: Not much has changed since 2020.
 
 In this episode, we talk to Enrich Chicago director Nina Sánchez about the survey and how to chart the path toward anti-racism in the arts.

The Chicago City Council could confirm Mayor Brandon Johnson’s pick for top cop as soon as this morning. The council is also working on expanding a 911 response program that does not include police. More fallout from a lifeguard-abuse scandal at the Chicago Park District. WBEZ has the story of three legal settlements with young women.

Chicago Public School officials say a literacy test shows its youngest students are improving in reading and vocabulary. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin stood with members of the United Auto Workers at the picket line in Bolingbrook. What to expect when a 12-foot puppet doll named Little Amal comes to Chicago.

Tipped minimum wage is a policy that allows restaurants to pay servers 60% of the set minimum wage, assuming that tips cover the rest. Chicago’s City Council has the votes to end tipped minimum wage when it votes on a new measure next month.
 
 So what will that mean for servers, owners, and restaurant goers? Ashok Selvam, the editor of Eater Chicago, explains what we can expect next for the restaurant industry.

The National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen opened its Dia de Los Muertos Exhibit this weekend and runs through December 10th. Chicagoans can expect to see fall colors peak by mid-October. Chicago’s Department of Public Health will begin hosting COVID and Flu vaccine clinics as early as next week.

Chicagohenge comes around twice a year: just after the spring equinox and right before the fall equinox. That means this weekend is our last opportunity of 2023 to catch the phenomenon. When the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west on the equinoxes, it creates a dazzling effect in some Chicago streets. 
 
 The name “Chicagohenge” is a play on Stonehenge, the ancient stone monument in England that also interacts with the sun in some amazing ways. It’s the kind of interplay between nature and infrastructure we love to geek out about on The Rundown. 
 
 In this episode, we space out with Michelle Nichols, the Director of Public Observing at the Adler Planetarium. Michelle explains Chicagohenge and makes the case that we should all look up as often as we can.

Illinois is considering further tightening rules for restraining and isolating students in schools. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is defending its deal with a controversial security firm to prop up so-called “base camps” for migrants. Local advocates praise the Biden administration for fast-tracking work permits for migrants, but say the same should apply to other undocumented immigrants

Cook County commissioners want to spend nearly $14 million dollars to buy two hotels for the unhoused population. A proposal to pay tipped workers Chicago’s minimum wage is one step closer to passing. The City of Chicago is filing a lawsuit against the company Monsanto and several co-defendants related to chemical contamination.

Matthew A. Cherry wasn’t an artsy kid. Growing up on Chicago’s Northwest Side, he played four sports in high school, football in college, and then bounced around the National Football League for a few years.His Plan B was a pivot to TV and film production and eventually an Academy Award, for his 2020 animated short film “Hair Love,” about a young Black father struggling to style his daughter’s hair on a special day. On this episode of The Rundown, Cherry talks about his circuitous career journey, how he hopes he can inspire a new generation of young Black animators, and why he set his new animated TV series – “Young Love,” an expansion of “Hair Love” that premieres Thursday on Max – in Chicago.“Chicago is everything. Chicago is hard-working. People that work nine-to-fives, they’re trying to survive, they’re trying to live, but they’re also present for their family,” Cherry said. “That’s what we’re representing.”

Cook County is offering some property tax relief for residents and businesses whose properties suffered severe flood damage this summer. Sangamon County court officials continue to process prior cases under the new no cash bail system. And a new report says Illinois added thousands of clean energy jobs last year.

Judges in some Illinois counties were still setting money bonds, despite a new law eliminating cash bail. In the wake of disturbing allegations of sexual harassment by leaders at the National Association of Realtors, advocates are demanding sweeping reforms. A new environmental assessment published by the city of Chicago addresses the uneven effects of climate change and pollution across the city.

In Chicago, autumn rings in the end of summer festival season. The city plays host to countless music, food and cultural festivals each year. For some of us, that’s part of the magic of summertime Chi. But others argue that events like Lollapalooza, Riot Fest and the Taste of Chicago can do more harm than good.
 
 Tickets can be costly, and events render public spaces inaccessible for a few days and can cause lasting damage to parks, plus residents can feel a lack of engagement with planners.
 
 This has us wondering: Is it possible to organize a large-scale event in Chicago that also engages the community? In this episode, we pose that question to activist and artist Ricardo Gamboa and Silver Room Block Party founder Eric Williams.

Today is the official end of cash bail in the state of Illinois. Riot Fest attracted thousands, but some long-time residents and business owners feel frustrated that they aren’t more involved with planning the event. Thousands of preschool seats for Chicago Public Schools remain unfilled.

How do you parent someone who is incarcerated? How do you let yourself be parented while locked up?
 
 WBEZ and our sister station Vocalo are producing a project called Prisoncast! for the second year in a row in partnership with Illinois Public Radio stations across the state. In this episode, we preview two of the pieces from the program.
 
 Lauren Frost produced both pieces in this episode and is the executive producer of Prisoncast!. Alex Keefe is the lead editor, and Ayana Contreras is the show’s host.

Chicago residents will have access to the latest COVID-19 vaccine as early as today. Legislation in Chicago’s City Council aims to prevent South Shore residents from being displaced. Chicago is looking for bilingual poll workers for next year’s election season.

Financial experts say Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson will need to find revenue sources to close an anticipated $538 million budget deficit. Patrons react to several libraries in Chicago and the suburbs receiving bomb threats earlier this week. A bold plan to redesign public transit in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs faced its first public hearing yesterday.

Sometimes a home isn’t a home until you’ve put your stamp on it – or embedded yourself in your community in a certain way. Austin Cantú has called Waukegan home for a long time, but it wasn’t until he started revitalizing an abandoned arts park that he finally connected with his father and his roots. As for Marco Lopez, home always meant being on the move. But now that he has a partner and a daughter, he’s ready to create something permanent in Chicago. 
 
 These stories were produced by Andrea Flores and Cynthia Salgado as part of the NextGen Radio Project from WBEZ and NPR.