WBEZ News

A nearly three-year surge in Chicago robberies is over.
 
 That’s according to a WBEZ analysis of city crime data.
 
 Our reporter, Chip Mitchell, crunched the numbers and joins us now.
 HOST: LARA

It's National Poetry Month and we are highlighting some Chicago-area winners of the Pulitzer Center’s Fighting Words Poetry Contest. 
 
 
 That contest is open to students in Kindergarten through 12th grade from around the world. It invites young people to write original poems, inspired by a news article.
 
 
 Fiona Jin is a senior at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. Her poem was a finalist in this contest in 2023. 
 HOST: DIXON

The Trump administration has terminated the legal immigration status of more than 1000 international students in recent days.
 
 That’s according to the national publication, Inside Higher Ed.
 
 Students at multiple universities across Illinois have been affected. 
 
 It’s leaving educators unsure of who is going to be targeted next and how to protect them. 
 WBEZ’s Lisa Kurian Philip reports. HOST: DIXON

A new series from the Sun-Times is examining random attacks in downtown Chicago involving suspects with histories of severe mental illness.
 
 Stephanie Zimmermann is one of the reporters behind the series and she joins me now to share some of her findings.
 
 HOST: LARA

If you’re frustrated with the growing number of restaurants requiring a deposit to make a reservation, you may want to direct your ire to your fellow diners. 
 
 Fed up with careless cancellations, restaurant owners are blowing the whistle on bad restaurant reservation etiquette. 
 
 Food and Drink contributor Maggie Hennessy spoke with WBEZ host Lisa Labuz about how restaurants are cracking down on flaky diners.

Ever since President Trump announced his Liberation Day tariffs, Chicago's small businesses have been trying to figure out what to do next.
 
 WBEZ’s Esther Yoon-Ji Kang has the story of two local business owners who are stocking up... and trying to stay optimistic despite all the uncertainty. 
 HOST: DIXON

The Trump administration has abruptly ended $175 million in federal grants by the National Endowment for the Humanities. 
 
 This cut in funding will have ripple effects for programs across the country. 
 
 WBEZ Arts and Cultures reporter Mike Davis joins me to discuss what this means for Illinois. 
 
 HOST: LABUZ

The band Free Range started as a bedroom project of Chicago musicians Sofia Jensen and Jack Henry. 
 
 The band just released its sophomore album, Lost & Found. The album showcases confident songwriting and a fully-formed sound from a group on the rise. 
 
 Jensen and Henry sat down with WBEZ arts contributor Andrew Meriwether to talk about three highlights from the album. 
 HOST: DIXON

The sixth and final promised Save-A-Lot store has opened in Chicago’s West Lawn neighborhood. We’ll bring you up to speed on the years-long process to open the stores, and discuss what comes next. HOST: Melba Lara; REPORTER: Noah Jennings

Chicago is among many US cities facing a decline in tourism from Canada. 
 
 Travel companies in Canada are reporting massive losses in revenues as bookings to U-S cities drop off. 
 
 Joining me now with more details is Al Qanun, the owner of Toronto-based coach operator Comfort Tour Canada. 
 
 HOST: DIXON Producer: Cianna Greaves

Academy Award-nominated winning actor Michael Shannon is making his directorial debut with his highly anticipated movie Eric La Rue … the story follows a mother trying to cope in the aftermath of devastating violence. 
 
 The film, like Shannon, has roots in Chicago’s storefront theater scene. 
 
 WBEZ Arts and Culture reporter Courtney Kueppers spoke with WBEZ’s Lisa Labuz about the film. 
 HOST: DIXON

At the University of Illinois Chicago, students who grew up speaking Spanish can take classes to learn how to read and write in the language — and how to use it on the job. 
 
 But the courses are at risk under a new plan by administrators to cut costs.
 
 W-B-E-Z’s Lisa Kurian Philip reports.
 HOST: DIXON

A Chicago gynecologist is in the East African nation of Uganda [you-GAHN-duh] on a Fulbright Scholarship. 
 
 It’s a longstanding international exchange program that connects Americans to the world.
 
 
 
 Now the doctor is seeing firsthand how the president’s efforts to slash government spending are changing how the world sees Americans. 
 
 The doctor reached out to WBEZ’s Anna Savchenko.
 
 HOST: DIXON

Over the last two decades, Chicago police have taken in 35 thousand weapons at gun buybacks. And sometimes, the guns taken into police possession… go missing. HOST: Melba Lara; REPORTERS: Casey Toner and Tom Schuba

A new study finds that Illinois homeowners on average paid almost $1,000 more on their home insurance in 2024 than they did three years ago. We’ll break down the numbers. HOST: CLARE LANE; REPORTER: NOAH JENNINGS

Twenty years ago, when many of Chicago’s public housing apartments were being torn down after years of neglect, some former residents rallied to preserve one building.
 
 That eventually became the National Public Housing Museum. Its exhibits span decades and cover cities across the U-S.
 
 The museum opens its doors tomorrow (Fri).
 
 While people in Chicago might be familiar with the disinvestment, decaying buildings, and gang violence in the projects - the museum tells a different story about public housing.
 
 Its mission is to highlight the voices of the residents and the sense of community that many experienced.
 
 WBEZ’s Esther Yoon-Ji Kang brings us some of their stories. 
 HOST: DIXON

Chicago finished the first quarter of the year with 96 murders.
 
 That’s down more than 15 percent from the first three months of last year.
 
 New Orleans-based data analyst Jeff Asher closely follows crime numbers in Chicago and other U.S. cities.
 
 He spoke with WBEZ’s Chip Mitchell.
 HOST: DIXON

It now moves to a group of 700-plus elected CTU representatives who will decide whether to recommend that all members ratify it.
 
 CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said it's a big contract, tackling a range of issues from pay to class size to sports to housing for students. 
 WBEZ’s Sarah Karp reports.
 HOST: DIXON

An exhibit at the Field Museum explores Chicago’s African fashion scene through clothing inspired by objects in the museum's collections. 
 
 Connecting Threads: Africa Fashion in Chicago highlights the work of local designers and the stories that inspire them.
 
 WBEZ producer Cianna Greaves spoke to Ghanaian-born designer Jennifer Akese-Burney – one of the artists featured in the exhibit – about the growing popularity of African designs 
 HOST: DIXON

A new book from former Chicago Sun-Times reporter Thomas Maier explores the life of America’s first World War 2 spy.
 
 Ernest Cuneo was a former NFL player turned secret agent.
 
 In the book the “The Invisible Spy”, Maier (mayer) writes about a cross-country trip Cuneo (KHOO-nee-yo) took with James Bond author Ian Fleming.
 
 Including a stop here in Chicago.
 
 An excerpt from the book is in today’s Sun-Times. 
 
 Thomas Maier joins me now.
 HOST: PUENTE

Illinois prisons punish people who get convicted of crimes.
 
 But the state Constitution says criminal penalties should also be “restoring” them to “useful citizenship.” 
 
 WBEZ’s Prisoncast project asked hundreds of folks locked up in Illinois how they think about rehabilitation in prison.
 
 We partnered with incarcerated journalists, who interviewed other men inside the Kewanee Life Skills Reentry Center about what’s helped them rehabilitate while they’re locked up.
 HOST: PUENTE

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Earlier this week workers from the Environmental Protection agency marched in downtown Chicago to protest plans to cut funding and staffing there.
 
 The head of the EPA says he wants to cut the agency’s budget by 65 percent.
 
 Some employees say this could compromise fundamental functions of the agency tasked with safeguarding the air, water and health of the country.
 
 WBEZ’s Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco (who-AHN-pah-BLOH rahm-EE-rez FRAHN-co) spoke with a scientist with the EPA’s environmental justice program based in the Chicago office. 
 
 Ellile Hagen believes her job is going to be eliminated.
 HOST: DIXON

Half Gringa, the alias of Chicago-based singer-songwriter Isabel Olive, is releasing her third album today
 
 In Cosmovisión, the Venezuelan and American singer explores themes like climate change and her dual heritage with complex melodies and ruminative lyrics. 
 
 I had a moment to chat with Olive before her performance at WBEZ. 
 
 Here’s some of our conversation.
 HOST: DIXON

A new opera that opens in Chicago this week throws out all the old conventions.
 
 The Listeners is set in the modern-day, features a cult and puts a complicated, female character in the spotlight. 
 
 WBEZ’s Courtney Kueppers has more on the genre-busting show. And, what comes next for opera.
 
 HOST: DIXON

When the play Purpose had its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre,
 
 
 There were whispers the show might make it to New York.
 
 
 The show opened on Broadway last weekend.
 
 
 WBEZ’s Mike Davis reports from the Theater District in New York.
 
 
 HOST: LABUZ

It’s been five years since Governor JB Pritzker issued the stay at home order at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
 
 WBEZ’S Isabela Nieto spoke with Illinoisans about how their lives have changed since 2020.
 
 HOST: GOMEZ-ALDANA

The principal of Lincoln Park High School made an appearance on Wheel of Fortune Thursday.
 
 
 And he invited students, parents and teachers to watch the broadcast with him in the school’s auditorium.
 
 WBEZ’s Anna Savchenko was there.
 HOST: LARA

It's been a year since Chicago police killed Dexter Reed during a traffic stop.
 
 Police say Reed fired on them first, wounding an officer and prompting 96 shots in response.
 Reed's family says police never should have pulled a 26-year-old black man in the first place.
 
 The Sun Times and the Investigative Project on race and equity looked at how police stops have changed and how they have it. HOST: PUENTE

It’s been five years since the pandemic began.
 
 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say approximately 1 in 5 adults have a health condition that might be related to their previous COVID-19 illness. 
 
 Researchers say long COVID can affect physical and mental health. 
 
 Symptoms can last a few weeks, months or even years. 
 
 WBEZ’s Araceli Gomez-Aldana talked to one Chicagoan about her battle with Long COVID and what’s been helping. 
 HOST: DIXON

DePaul University is sending students into Cook County Jail to learn alongside some of the people detained there.
 
 It gives both groups the chance to learn from a Depaul professor…and from each other.
 
 WBEZ's Lisa Kurian Philip takes us deep into the Little Village jail to hear what that sounds like. 
 HOST: LARA

COVID-19 upended the careers of many artists.
 
 For Oakbrook-raised musician Greta Morgan, the pandemic robbed her of her voice and sent her down a path she never would have predicted. 
 
 She tells her story in her forthcoming book, The Lost Voice, out later this spring. HOST: DIXON

When the pandemic hit five years ago, the stark health inequities in Chicago became much more visible. 
 
 People who live in West Garfield Park can expect to die 25 years earlier than those who live in the Loop. 
 
 WBEZ’s Kristen Schorsch explains how community leaders and public health officials are working to close this gap. 
 HOST: DIXON

The Field Museum in Chicago holds thousands of fossil specimens that come from the Mazon Creek fossil bed site near Morris, Illinois.
 
 But the journey for a fossil hunter to get their hands on one of these specimens can be surprisingly intense, and sometimes competitive.
 
 WBEZ contributor Zack Nauth (NAWTH) has been following this market for some time… and he sat down with All Things Considered host Melba Lara to share what he’s unearthed.
 
 That was WBEZ contributor Zack Nauth speaking with All Things Considered host Melba Lara.

Opening Day looks a little different this year for the Chicago Cubs.
 
 The team is starting their season in Japan today (TUES), and they’ve spent the past week exploring the country.
 
 Sun-Times Cubs reporter Maddie Lee is there in Tokyo and shared a close-up look at some of the team’s experiences so far in this audio postcard.
 
 HOST OUTRO: That was Sun-Times Cubs reporter Maddie Lee reporting from Japan.
 HOST: DIXON

Chicago police only solve about 6 percent of nonfatal shootings.
 
 That’s according to a new investigation in the Chicago Sun-Times today (SUN) by Andy Grimm.
 
 Andy joins Mike Puente now to talk about the story.

Northwestern University is one of a handful of higher education institutions that have drawn the ire of President Donald Trump.
 
 His administration says the school is not doing enough to combat anti-semitism.
 
 The Department of Justice says it’s coming to investigate the Evanston campus.
 
 And the Department of Education has threatened federal funding if the school doesn’t take further action to protect Jewish students.
 
 Recently the administration canceled 400 million in federal funding for Columbia University in New York – another school on that anti-semitism shortlist alongside Northwestern – intensifying fears in Evanston.
 
 Michael Simon heads Northwestern Hillel - the Jewish student organization. He joins me now to talk about this current moment.
 HOST: LARA

The Trump administration has threatened to pull funding from Northwestern if the university doesn’t do more to protect Jewish students.
 
 Now, Northwestern is requiring students to complete a new training about antisemitism.
 
 But, some faculty and students say it leaves no room for criticism of Israel — and that it will chill free speech. 
 
 WBEZ’s Lisa Kurian Philip reports.
 HOST: LARA

The bird flu epidemic has had a major impact on the poultry industry.
 
 It’s also taking the lives of a majestic bird that’s made parts of northern Indiana a popular landing spot. 
 
 WBEZ’s Michael Puente reports.
 HOST: DIXON

Classical music has been dominated by white, male composers for centuries. 
 
 Cuban-born musician Tania León has long brought a different sound to the genre. 
 
 WBEZ’s Courtney Kueppers spent the day with León at Northwestern University.
 HOST: DIXON

You can’t talk about Chicago theater without talking about Jackie Taylor.
 
 
 As the CEO of Black Ensemble Theater, she’s produced over 100 musicals. 
 
 
 But her latest project, inspired by her love of Elvis, breaks her traditional mold.
 
 
 WBEZ’s Mike Davis reports from Uptown.
 
 HOST: DIXON

A Chicago mother-and-daughter team has brought together young girls of color and their moms for an etiquette workshop.
 
 There, WBEZ’s Esther Yoon-Ji Kang learns she needs to work on her own table manners — and brings us this story. 
 HOST: DIXON

The people of Highland Park say even with Robert Crimo the third pleading guilty this week, they’re still trying to make sense of the collective trauma they experienced.
 
 Crimo admitted in court Monday that he killed seven people and wounded dozens more in the 20-22 mass shooting during the town’s 4th of July Parade.
 
 WBEZ’s Anna Savchenko visited the northern suburb to ask residents about his guilty plea.
 
 HOST: PUENTE

It’s hard enough being a PhD student in normal times. 
 
 There’s the long hours, skimpy paychecks…and constant pressure to publish. 
 
 But now, young researchers are up against what feels like an insurmountable roadblock: the uncertainty and instability of federal research funding under President Trump. 
 
 WBEZ’s Lisa Kurian Philip reports.
 
 HOST: LARA

Chicago disco-funk artist Ric Wilson has a personal style inspired by vintage, disco and his international travels. 
 
 He’s toured with such acts as Chromeo [crow-ME-oh] and the Black Pumas. 
 
 Wilson is gearing up to release a new EP this year. But first he sat down with our sister station Vocalo for their Getting Dressed series.
 
 HOST: LABUZ