WBEZ News

For years advocates have argued charter schools were taking money away from district-run traditional public schools. CPS is now being pushed to share more information with parents about how the city’s charter schools are spending taxpayer dollars. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Adriana Cardona-Maguigad

The infrastructure bill sets aside nearly $3 billion for apprenticeship programs with a focus on workers facing barriers to employment. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Esther Yoon-Ji Kang

Chicago historian and TikTok star Shermann “Dilla” Thomas looks back at the life and career of White Sox legend, Minnie Minoso. Host: Mary Dixon, Lisa Labuz; Producer: Cianna Greaves

A peek behind Natalie’s trip to Finland covering their open prison system, as well as the whys and hows of Moore's reporting in her own words. Host: Melba Lara; Producer: Erin Kahoa

Lisa Chun, senior attorney with the National Immigrant Justice Center, explains what President Biden's new immigration enforcement priorities mean for immigrants in Illinois. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: María Inés Zamudio

While the global fashion world remembers him for his own label and work on Louis Vuitton’s men’s line, Abloh had deep Chicago connections, says Thomas Kearns, his former professor at Illinois Institute of Technology. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Natalie Moore

Former ally of indicted Madigan advisor speaks out for the first time about being implicated in explosive 2012 email that shook Springfield, Illinois. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Dave McKinney

Festive meals every year could look a lot different in the future, as climate change continues to affect our plants and animals. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Jessica Wolfrom; Producer: Lauren Frost

The Chicago Police Department’s outreach strategy now includes Officer Michael Carroll, an officer working with minority religious communities. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Adora Namigadde

The latest on the investigation into the tragic death of an Illinois State University graduate student who died two months ago downstate. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Eric Stock

Immigration activists say this is the time to pressure Senators to support an effort to create a pathway to citizenship through the budget reconciliation process. Host: Araceli Gómez-Aldana; Reporter: María Inés Zamudio; Guest: Lawrence Benito

The Thanksgiving holiday is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native Americans and the start of a long history of white immigrants stealing their land. Host: Araceli Gómez-Aldana; Reporter: María Inés Zamudio; Guest: River Kerstetter

Players in the National Women’s Soccer League say they were emotionally and verbally abused by the longtime coach of the Chicago Red Stars

Most people know salsa music. And, you may be aware of other Latin music traditions like: bachata, merengue and the ever popular reggaeton. There’s another Latin music style that doesn’t get a lot of attention but is loved just the same by those who still listen and dance to it.

About 50 Chicago public high schools have voted to get rid of police officers in the last year and a half. Now officials say they are figuring out ways to de-escalate conflicts without police. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

Local historian Sherman Dilla Thomas discusses the Indigenous history of Chicago’s Sauganash neighborhood. Host: Mary Dixon, Lisa Labuz; Producer: Cianna Greaves

World-renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle discusses how climate change affects the oceans, and how the oceans affect us here in Illinois. Host: Melba Lara; Producer: Lauren Frost

Chicago and Illinois are experiencing high transmission rates, with more than 400 new cases per day in the city. So what does this mean for the upcoming holidays? Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Katie O'Connell

Former Inspector General Joe Ferguson gave Cook County prosecutors information about the scandal at the Chicago Park District. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Dan Mihalopoulos

Language preventing Blacks from owning property can’t be enforced, but its lingering presence still evokes pain and anger. Host: Lisa Labuz; Reporter: Natalie Moore

Restrictive covenants and deeds meant to keep Black residents out of white neighborhoods are unenforceable today, but their lingering presence still evokes pain and anger. Host: Lisa Labuz; Reporter: Natalie Moore

The disruption in the global supply chain has been impacting Chicago area small business owners and entrepreneurs. They say they are having a hard time getting goods. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Claudia Morell

Chicago has experienced several high-profile shootings near public schools this fall at a time when gun violence is up in the city. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

Maryan Abdulkarim's family moved to Finland in the 1990s from Somalia. She says Afro-Finns have long felt invisible in a country known for its efficient social welfare government. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Natalie Moore; Producer: Lauren Frost

Prisons in Finland focus on actual rehabilitation and don’t emphasize punishment. Often inmates can leave for school or work, but there are still shortcomings to this system. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Natalie Moore

Anu Partanen, author of the book "The Nordic Theory of Everything" provides a glimpse behind how Finnish society informs their open prison system. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Natalie Moore

John Catanzara often clashed publicly with Mayor Lori Lightfoot. He faced criticism recently for comparing a vaccine mandate to Nazi Germany. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Chip Mitchell

The United States has the highest prison population in the world, while Finland has one of the lowest. WBEZ explored the open system model in this Nordic country, and the philosophy behind it. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Natalie Moore

Paul Kearns, director of Argonne National Laboratory, shares takeaways from the major global climate change summit “COP26.” Host: Melba Lara; Producer: Lauren Frost

If the City Council doesn’t agree on new political boundaries by Dec. 1, voters could end up picking a map themselves. Host: Lisa Labuz; Reporter: Mariah Woelfel

A third of Finnish prisons operate as “open,” allowing inmates to leave the facility for work or school - and the model is seen as successful. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Natalie Moore

A gun detection software the city of Chicago uses is facing increased scrutiny from aldermen and a growing number of activists. Host: Araceli Gómez-Aldana; Reporter: Claudia Morell

After months of juggling added COVID-19 duties, vaccines could lighten the school nursing load and help them refocus on student needs. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Susie An

A school community on the Northwest Side in Chicago is reeling after fire destroyed a playground where many kids could go to feel safe. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

A billing error left a Chicago homeowner with a $25,000 dollar water bill and a lien against her property. The case shows how a small billing mistake can lead to serious legal consequences without the homeowner ever knowing.

As the Chicago ward remap deadline approaches, Asian American advocates make one last push for a ward of their own. Grace Pai leads Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Esther Yoon-Ji Kang

TikTok historian Shermann Dilla Thomas talks about the historically Black fraternities of the Divine Nine - and their contributions to Black American culture. Host: Mary Dixon, Lisa Labuz

Chris Patterson is the head of the state’s new Office of Firearm Violence Prevention. The office will help dole out a promised $250 million dollars to violence prevention organizations over the next three years. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Patrick Smith

Sean Casten vs. Marie Newman would be a vastly different match-up than these two politically promising Illinois incumbents once envisioned. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Dave McKinney

Chicago relies on private debt collectors to force Chicago homeowners with delinquent water bills to pay up. But before debt collectors get to work, past due water bills turn into code violations. More than 20 years ago, the city created the Department of Administrative Hearings to expedite the enforcement of those violations. Host: Araceli Gómez-Aldana; Reporter: María Inés Zamudio

Alexandra Tarzikhan, a fellow at Northwestern University’s Center for International Human Rights, was among the people attending the first week of COP26 - the United Nations climate change summit. Host: Melba Lara; Producer: Lauren Frost

For years, Chicago officials turned water into a revenue stream, rapidly increasing the cost of a resource that people can’t live without. Tens of thousands of Chicagoans racked up over $421 million in delinquent water bills over the last decade. Much of this debt is concentrated in the city’s majority Black ZIP codes. Host: Araceli Gómez-Aldana; Reporter: María Inés Zamudio

Intrepid 5- to 11-year-olds are lining up for the first jabs, and more clinics and appointments will open this weekend. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Susie An

Some 2,300 of them are special education students. CPS expects all students with special needs to have service after winter break. Host: Lisa Labuz; Reporter: Adriana Cardona-Maguigad

The report by a former prosecutor says the park district didn’t take any corrective action until after WBEZ wrote about the allegations in April. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Dan Mihalopoulos

Chicago will be spending an unprecedented amount of money to support mental health next year, but some activists say the fight isn't over, until all the mental health clinics shuttered under Rahm Emanuel are re-opened. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Claudia Morell

Illinois State Climatologist, Doctor Trent Ford discusses how strategies for cutting emissions, amongst global leaders at COP-26, affect us here in Illinois. Host: Melba Lara; Producer: Lauren Frost

A Native American birchbark canoe was launched into Lake Michigan for the first time yesterday in almost two centuries. Host: Susie An; Reporter: Anna Savchenko

One investigation was initiated by the Chicago mayor as a transparency step. Now she won’t commit to releasing its findings. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Chip Mitchell

This week, we’ve been chronicling the saga of historic Mercy Hospital on Chicago’s Near South Side – WBEZ’s Kristen Schorsch has been reporting on this story for more than a year. Host: Melba Lara; Producer: Al Keefe