WBEZ News

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

The board president and chief executive were told that an unfolding probe involved 34 subjects at seven beaches and three pools, eight months before WBEZ made it public. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Dan Mihalopoulos

The battle to keep the Bronzeville hospital open eroded trust among South Side residents Mercy served – and it highlights the obstacles to providing healthcare to the people who need it most. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Kristen Schorsch

The NHL fined the team $2 million after an internal review found leaders kept a player’s allegations against a then-assistant coach quiet for weeks during its 2010 run for the Stanley Cup. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Tony Arnold

TikTok historian Shermann Dilla Thomas on the notorious housing project Cabrini Green, and the real-life crimes that inspired the 1992 horror classic Candyman. Host: Mary Dixon, Lisa Labuz; Producer: Cianna Greaves

Gloria Barerra, a school nurse at a suburban high school, says the job responsibilities for nurses have grown exponentially since the pandemic began. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Susie An

For about the past decade, Lake Superior has seen increasing blooms of blue-green algae. Chicago Tribune environmental reporter Morgan Greene details the possible connection between climate change and cyanobacteria. Host: Melba Lara; Producer: Lauren Frost

The 170-year-old Bronzeville institution treated the neediest and was rescued from closure for $1. Here’s why hospitals like it are on life support. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Kristen Schorsch

One community in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood welcomed the return of trick-or-treating with a glow stick dance party for kids. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Adora Namigadde

New research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics shows that exposure to police — under any circumstances — has negative health effects on Black youth. Reporter: Esther Yoon-Ji Kang; Guest: Dr. Monique Jindal

As students settle into the new school year, teachers are beginning to understand how much learning they missed last year during the pandemic. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Adriana Cardona-Maguigad

At DePaul University, the answer is a tentative “Yes," along with caution when searching for a quick fix for equitable access to higher ed. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Anna Savchenko

Pam’s reception desk, Dwight’s stapler in Jell-O and Michael’s “World’s Best Boss” mug are all on display at the interactive museum in Chicago.

With celebrities and public officials in tow, celebrations kicked off Tuesday with a parade at Wintrust Arena and ended with a rally at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Michael Puente

As the pandemic continues, Little Village social worker Melony Espinoza is helping students embrace the return to school. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Sarah Karp

What’s the relationship between the climate in Illinois, and your favorite fall-time squash? We ask Illinois State Climatologist, Doctor Trent Ford how climate affects the growth of the local pumpkin crop. Host: Melba Lara; Producer: Lauren Frost

Chicago historian and TikTok personality Shermann “Dilla” Thomas talks about honoring the life and legacy of Chicago historian, Timuel Black Jr. Host: Mary Dixon; Producer: Cianna Greaves

Black strategized with Martin Luther King Jr., challenged the Democratic Party machine and fought to desegregate housing and public schools. Host: Araceli Gomez-Aldana; Reporter: Natalie Moore

As the Chicago Sky were striving for their first WNBA championship, WBEZ heard from fans about why they like following the league. Host: Araceli Gómez-Aldana Reporter: Lauren Frost

This fall, after a year when many students stayed home, classroom antics are more serious and frequent... including some prompted by social media challenges. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Susie And

Northwestern University Professor Andrew Papachristos speaks about the early promises of an anti-violence strategy known as street outreach. Host: Lisa Labuz; Reporter: Patrick Smith

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx says Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is playing politics with the city’s murder crisis, in the latest back-and-forth over who is to blame for the city’s gun violence epidemic. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Patrick Smith