The Rundown | Chicago News

Illinois is updating its policy for transgender athletes who want to play in post-season athletic tournaments. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is expected to release his budget forecast today, which will give the public a first look at how big of a budget gap the city is facing for the year ahead. Chicagoans with ties to Morocco are leading efforts to assist those devastated by an earthquake there last week.

Lawmakers put politics aside to mourn the thousands lost during the 9/11 terror attacks 22 years ago. The Food and Drug Administration has approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine. A new study finds that the use of restorative practices in Chicago Public Schools have led to a significant decrease in suspensions and arrests.

The concept of “home” means different things to different people, including those in Chicago’s vibrant immigrant community. We hear from Erwin Lopez Rada, a Venezuelan immigrant now living in Chicago who was forced out of his country by political persecution. “It’s terrible to feel like you don’t belong in your own country,” he said.For Lola Wang, a queer therapist who immigrated to the U.S. from China in 2014, creating a sense of home for other queer immigrants is her priority. “I kinda wish there was a space I can be both Asian and queer,” she said, “and that’s something I’m trying to build up for myself and for the people around me.”These stories were produced by Nidhi Shastri and Ryland Pietras as part of the NextGen Radio Project from WBEZ and NPR.

A fight over school choice is brewing amid news that the Chicago Teachers Union president is sending her son to a private school. The federal government will provide a little over half the money needed to extend the Red Line. The city’s first-ever legal casino opens its doors for gamblers and employees searching for new job prospects.

What does it mean to be an American? A Chicagoan? Jitesh Jaggi is a storyteller and writer who moved from India to Chicago a few years ago. “I’m in my 30s,” he said, “but in American years I’m like five.” His one-man-show at Steppenwolf – titled Suitcase Stories, which runs Sept. 14 and 16 – explores what it means to leave one home and find another. Rundown host Erin Allen talks with Jaggi about teaching kids how to breakdance on the streets of Mumbai, his move to America and the moment he fell in love with Chicago, and why learning about a person’s immigration experience is time well spent.  “I want people to hear my stories, my show, Suitcase Stories, and take it as a first hand account of an immigrant and kind of a sneak peek into the life of an immigrant, going from nothing, starting from scratch, to five years later feeling very confidently that this is his home and nobody can say otherwise,” Jaggi said. “I feel like I belong here now.”

Medical volunteers working with migrants say a lack of nutritious food at police stations and other shelters is causing an increased risk for malnutrition. Mayor Brandon Johnson hinted his first city budget will likely take incremental steps to his goals. Judges across Illinois are preparing for an end to cash bail.

A new report looks at union growth in Illinois, while other states see shrinking numbers. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona was in Illinois to kick off the new school year. A study out of Northwestern University makes the case for converting trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles to electric.

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on our collective mental wellbeing. From the isolation of early-pandemic lockdowns to the hardship of a COVID infection, our brains and minds are under a whole new kind of stress these days.
 
 But we’ve also changed the way we take care of ourselves. For example, telehealth has made therapy more accessible and easier to schedule. “Online mental health services can be as effective as in-person mental health services,” says Jonathan Singer, a social work professor at Loyola University and the host of the Social Work Podcast.
 
 In this episode, we talk about the big picture of mental health in the pandemic with Singer and University of Chicago psychiatry professor Royce Lee.

Illinois politicians hit the pavement on Tuesday as nominating petitions began circulating to appear on next March’s primary ballot for U.S. president and other offices. The Pritzker administration is rolling back some changes the state made earlier this summer to curb costs for immigrant health insurance. New Chicago Public School inspector general report shows some high level staff wrongly got federal pandemic loans.

A Chicago Sun-Times report finds overcrowding and unsanitary conditions for migrants sheltered at O’Hare. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot has a new title: Harvard professor. Chicago kids living in public housing can now pick up free books from any Chicago Housing Authority office across the city.

Mayadet Patitucci Cruz grew up in Gage Park and didn’t leave their neighborhood very often until high school. Now, they work to bring resources to LGBTQ youth around the city. 
 
 “What led me to it was wanting to work more with queer and trans young people,” Cruz explained. “But also doing some other healing work at the same time, which is what happens when you’re doing organizing.”
 
 This episode was produced by Ari Mejia for WBEZ’s sister station Vocalo and their Chi Sounds Like series.

Some Chicagoans speak out against allowing secret hearings on police misconduct. The Illinois Secretary of State’s plan to reduce wait times at driver’s services facilities is officially underway. A plan to move migrants into a hotel in the Kenwood neighborhood is drawing the ire of residents nearby.

Hundreds of Chicago students with disabilities are still waiting on bus service to school. Bail reform advocates are slamming a new electronic monitoring program from the Illinois Supreme Court. Chicago State University’s president was given a hefty bonus despite the university’s claims of financial strain during this year’s faculty strike.

Severe fatigue, cognitive impairment and post-exertional malaise are just a few of the many symptoms associated with long COVID. It can last weeks, months and even years. 
 
 Having this condition is also somewhat common.
 
 “It’s generally a minimum of 10% of COVID infections lead to long COVID,” said Hannah Davis, the co-founder of the Patient-Led Research Collaborative. 
 
 With COVID hospitalizations on the rise for the first time this year, we speak with Davis and Pulitzer-winning science journalist Ed Yong. They both say that what frustrates a lot of COVID long-haulers is the lack of public knowledge about the condition… and the misconceptions surrounding it. 
 
 “If you are listening to this and you find yourself thinking, ‘I don’t know anyone with long COVID,’ I guarantee that you do,” Yong said.

Chicago residents are airing frustrations about ballooning water debt with no paths to dispute charges. Republicans in the Illinois legislature want to bar the use of campaign cash for a legal defense. The ACLU of Indiana is challenging a state law preventing inmates from receiving gender-affirming care.

Chicago police are still investigating how two women were shot during a White Sox game last Friday. City leaders are moving forward with a plan to purchase property meant to house newly-arriving migrants. The state health department is seeing evidence of Covid-19 in wastewater samples, but transmission rates are still low.

The city of Chicago has millions of federal dollars to use to help people experiencing homelessness, but it’s not spending it, according to reporting in the Illinois Answers Project. Investigative reporters Rachel Hinton and Manny Ramos say that of the $52 million budgeted from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, Chicago has only spent 15%. Why? Why so slow? And what impact does this delay have on the thousands of unhoused people in Chicago? We talk with Hinton and Ramos, now reporters at Block Club Chicago, about their investigation.

Later today, there’s gonna be a rally downtown to raise awareness about the overdose crisis. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announces 146 grants for libraries and other organizations that support literacy. Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed a law that will require pay transparency in job listings.

SoloSam is a Chicago rapper and producer born and raised on the South Side – “79th and Ada,” he points out – but he’s also a chef with a cooking show series, a cookbook and also B-EATS, a bi-monthly party series that combines good food, good music and community. “If it wasn’t for food I wouldn’t have grown as a music artist, for sure,” he told Erin Allen. In this episode, we play some of his songs, learn about his Ghanaian-Korean heritage and talk about the connection he finds between food and music. “At the end of the day, it’s just art.”

Chicago Public Schools says it's prioritizing bus service for students in special education, but some parents are frustrated by shortages. One of Springfield's most powerful men was humbled by a federal jury. This week's heat could have affected your mental health too.

Chicago Public School leaders say they were ready for this week’s heat wave, but temperatures inside some buildings are uneven. Chicago city officials are keeping tabs on seniors, people in prison, and unhoused people as the heat wave continues. In Illinois, for-profit colleges will now have to pay back state aid if they deceive students.

The strikes among actors and writers aren’t just taking place in Hollywood. Hundreds of Chicagoans are also on the picket lines. We wanted to know what Chicago artists are fighting for and how they’re coping with being out of work for months. To find out, we talked to WBEZ reporter Esther Yoon-Ji Kang, who shares two stories from local artists.

Mayor Johnson throws his weight behind a tiered tax plan that could help the homeless. A WBEZ analysis found crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion providers in Illinois by a nearly three-to-one ratio. The White Sox shake up their staff as their season slump continues.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson defends his governing style as he marks 100 days in office. A medical expert says get to know the warning signs of heat stroke or heat exhaustion in order to prevent serious health damage to your body. On the first day of school, the head of the Chicago Teachers Union questioned whether the August start date was too early, given the uneven air conditioning and heat wave coming later this week.

In 2024, the National Public Housing Museum will open in Chicago. Even in advance of their grand opening, the museum is working with community members to change the way we talk about public housing. That includes an art installation based on their project “36 Questions for Civic Love.” 
 
 This Friday, WBEZ is co-hosting a concert with the museum. So we wanted to take the opportunity to sit down with two of the headlining artists: DJ Spinderella (yes, that DJ Spinderella) and Isaiah Sharkey. In this episode, we talk to them about music, civic love, and how growing up in public housing has informed their artistic practice.

The first day of school for CPS is today, with more and more migrants enrolling in the district. There’s a renewed effort to help solve the issue of “food deserts” in Illinois. Illinois says jobs are up and the unemployment rate is steady, but the labor pool is shrinking.

Food pantries are the first line of defense for people facing food insecurity. With the help of pandemic-era SNAP benefits, some Chicagoans stopped relying on them. Then earlier this year, the Biden administration ended the COVID-19 public health emergency—and pandemic SNAP benefits along with it. So organizations like the Irving Park Community Food Pantry have seen an uptick in traffic, including many who hadn’t needed to supplement their groceries since before the pandemic.
 
 In this episode, we get insight from Irving Park Community Food Pantry executive director John Psiharis and client services coordinator Elvia Esparza.

Illinois recently became the first state to ensure legal protections for child social media influencers. Illinois Republicans are embracing voting by mail as they prepare for the 2024 election cycle. Local volunteers aim to protect migrants arriving in Chicago from exploitation.

The Biden administration declared Cook County a disaster area following major flooding before July 4. The cost of rent is becoming a burden for many Illinoians and local organizers say they want to lift the state’s Rent Control Preemption Act. A group of asylum seekers set up a pop-up barbershop near downtown Chicago.

Major Taylor is an American cyclist that once held seven world sprint records. He demanded justice during his competing days around the turn of the 20th century in the face of racist competitors and race organizers. A cycling and walking trail through Chicago’s South Side bears Major Taylor’s name, and a celebration ride in his honor is scheduled for August 26. Two local experts on Major Taylor and the Major Taylor Trail tell us his story and the story of the community through which his trail passes. Keith Holt is a founding member of the Major Taylor Cycling Club Chicago and a pivotal part of the establishment of the Major Taylor Trail. Brenda Dixon is the secretary of the Major Taylor Cycling Club, vice president of the Friends of the Major Taylor Trail and president of the board for the Major Taylor Trail Keepers.

Two Trump allies based in Chicago are included in the latest indictment out of Georgia related to charges of election interference. The median sold price for homes in the Chicago area is up by nearly 9% from about this time last year. Some residents said Amazon violated zoning code at a West Side facility.

Illinois lawmakers are considering whether to renew a contract with a private prison health care company after hearing concerns over quality. Two migrant families who were kicked out of hotels after missing curfew by minutes say they haven’t heard from city leaders about other options. The Parliament of World’s Religions is meeting in Chicago this week.

The Argyle Night Market is a weekly street festival held on summer Thursdays in Uptown’s Argyle Street, and it’s a vibe. It attracts people of all stripes, incomes, and ages, and it’s the subject of a new installation of photos, called “Faces of Argyle.” 
 
 “The market is like no other market I’ve experienced in Chicago,” said Ronit Bezalel, the photographer behind the exhibit. Bezalel’s photos were curated by visual artist and writer Riva Lehrer and are on display at Everybody’s Coffee on Wilson Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood. They include posed portraits of joy and lives well-lived as well as candid shots of the spectrum of people enjoying the festival. In this episode Bezalel and Lehrer tell Erin Allen about the Night Market, their Uptown community, and the stunning photographs that came out of both.

Mayor Brandon Johnson goes with an insider in his pick for the next police superintendent. Illinois democratic state officials are applauding the state supreme court’s ruling in a case over a controversial gun control law. Dr. Allison Arwady announced that she’s leaving her post as the Chicago public health commissioner.

“There’s not such a finite line between life and death,” says Gary Feinman, an anthropology curator and content expert at the Field Museum. Feinman and his colleagues, including exhibition developer Ben Miller, spent several years working on the museum’s exhibit “Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery.”
 
 In this episode, we talk with Feinman and Miller about the exhibit and confronting our own mortality. And yeah, it gets pretty deep.
 
 “Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery” closes at the Field Museum on August 27.

Chicago Public Schools is getting a slightly smaller increase in state funding than it was expecting. Loretto Hospital workers reached a tentative contract agreement with hospital leaders. The Illinois Supreme Court plans to issue an opinion today on the state’s ban on assault weapons.

Cook County faces the second-highest unknown flood risk in the country. ComEd is spending hundreds of millions to upgrade EV infrastructure in northern Illinois. State fair officials unveiled the 102nd butter cow sculpture.

Anonymous, in part because he spent his childhood tagging walls across Chicago, Dont Fret is a Chicago-born cartoonist, muralist and self-published author. And you can tell he wholeheartedly loves this city: “You’re a Chicagoan,” he writes in his new book, “This Is No Quiet City,” “your eyes and heart are wide open, and that is pure, raw, messy, true, and terrifying.” In this episode, Dont Fret explains how he got into graffiti growing up in Wicker Park, why he self-published his book, and why Chicago is a city that punches back. “We are a tough, tough people,” he said to host Erin Allen, “and I think that comes from the stockyards. It comes from inclusion and immigration, diversity and eclect-icity.” You can find Dont Fret’s work on his Instagram, and his book here. 

A judge ordered a man accused of murdering 9-year-old Serabi Medina, while she was playing outside, to stay in jail while he awaits trial. Struggling with vacancies, Cook County Health has a new plan to hire people faster. Two bills signed by Gov. JB Pritzker will help support public transit in Chicago and the surrounding region.

Health experts around Illinois are urging people to re-enroll in Medicaid if they’ve been dropped from the program. Vaping is no longer allowed in Illinois’ public spaces. The Chicago Housing Authority is offering financial relief to some families living in subpar housing through a pilot program.

The opioid crisis isn’t slowing down in Cook County. In fact, according to the county medical examiner’s office, a record number of people died from opioid overdoses in 2022. Addiction treatment workers say they aren’t surprised. 
 
 
 
 “All of these statistics would be mitigated in some fashion by better investment in social services, housing, harm reduction programming,” said John Werning, the executive director of the Chicago Recovery Alliance. Werning said using the phrase “opioid crisis” is a misnomer. He sees it as a crisis of opioid overdoses.
 
 
 
 In this episode, we talked to Werning about harm reduction, stigma, and why he thinks policy—rather than drugs themselves—fuels the crisis.

The crowds packed downtown for Lollapalooza. Gov. JB Pritzker signed a batch of bills late last week, including a number of new laws that will help support the state’s Native American residents. A new report shows how your credit score might be affecting your car insurance rates in Illinois.

The Chicago Public Library turns 150 this year. And it’s no coincidence that just a couple years ago, the city celebrated the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. 
 
 “The period after the Great Fire in Chicago was a period of enormous development and innovation, and the library was definitely part of that story,” said Alison Cuddy, host of the podcast Library for the People: 150 years of Chicago Stories. The fire burned countless books in the city of Chicago, which did not have a public library at the time, but the system developed soon after. 
 
 In this episode, we talk to Alison and CPL Commissioner Chris Brown about how the windy city got its public library system and its century-and-a-half of history since.

Governor Pritzker signed a measure into law aimed at helping school-aged children cope with trauma. Local, state and federal leaders are looking to upgrade Union Station. Lollapalooza continues today by adding in a celebration of local food.

About 200 unionized staff at a hospital on the West Side have gone on strike over working conditions, primarily: their own safety. Every school district in Illinois will now be required to offer a full-day kindergarten program by fall 2027. Lollapalooza begins today, and if you’re venturing out, stay hydrated.

The Gerber/Hart Library and Archives have been cataloging LGBTQ history in Chicago and the Midwest for more than 40 years. Now, the library’s newest display explores the intersection of play and queer identity. The exhibit, “A Dreamhouse of Our Own,” is not a Barbie-only affair, although it draws inspiration from Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.” In this episode, we talk about play, queer childhood and healing your inner child with Olivia De Keyser, the curator of “A Dreamhouse of Our Own,” and the exhibit photographer and supporting artist Wren Lively.

Clinics in Indiana stopped performing abortions ahead of the state’s near-total abortion ban officially taking effect. Northwestern officials said they hired former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to review its athletic department. Federal lawmakers announced $780,000 in funding for the CTA to explore reopening an Englewood Green Line station with modernized accessibility standards.

The state is launching a program to better coordinate abortions at hospitals for high-risk patients. COVID-19 cases are on the rise in certain areas of the country. Chicago Public Schools is hosting a series of back-to-school bashes before students return to class later this month.

People in Chicago call 311 for lots of reasons, including when they need temporary housing, whether due to homelessness, a domestic violence situation or any number of other reasons. But today, the number of shelter request calls coming through Chicago’s 311 phone line is way, way up, and that’s resulted in more and more people falling through the cracks. “This year an average of one in seven calls resulted in a successful placement,” said WBEZ data reporter Amy Qin, who investigated the overburdened 311 call system with WBEZ’s Anna Savchenko. “As for the six other folks? It’s actually really unclear what happens to them because of issues with their records and data.” Today, Amy and Anna explain their reporting, looking at what’s wrong, what’s needed and what’s next.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a criminal justice reform bill aimed at reducing recidivism. A new state audit identified massive fraud and excessive overpayments of unemployment benefits totaling $5.2 billion during the pandemic. As the Silver Room Block Party tradition comes to an end, we hear how the first party started some 20 years ago.