WBEZ News

There’s a city’s worth of people living in Chicago with injuries from gun violence. Their experiences are unique, their suffering is real and their needs are great. Stories from those who did not die. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Patrick Smith

Eve Creelman speaks with her young daughter Vivian about what it's like to go to second grade online. Host: Greta Johnsen; Producer: Bill Healy

This year, music fans swapped concerts and clubs for livestreams, but there was no shortage of new tunes to get us through the year. Bekoe from our sister station Vocalo reveals his favorite music from 2020. Host: Mary Dixon; Producer: Lauren Frost; Find more of 2020's best tracks on WBEZ.org

The consulates of some European Union countries in Chicago have seen a big increase in applications for citizenship and passports this year. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Dan Mihalopoulos

Activists and faculty for years have pushed for changes they say would make the university more welcoming to people of color. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Esther Yoon-Ji Kang

While you may have worked on your hobbies during quarantine, one north suburban high schooler ran mask distribution program in Illinois. Host: Marie Lane; Reporter: Vivian McCall

Families have endured challenging moments with remote learning, but they’ve also enjoyed times of unexpected fun. This fall, parents have been getting a rare peek into how their kids behave (or don’t behave) in class. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Susie An

At StoryCorps in Chicago, Steve Pemberton looked back over his childhood in the foster system, and the Christmas that changed his life. Host: Melba Lara; Producer: Bill Healy

In his 100th year of life, Oak Park resident Ulric Basil Crosby has now survived the coronavirus. Crystal Brown, his niece, helps take care of him. She shared more about Uncle Nip’s long life as they celebrate another Christmas together this year. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Mariah Woelfel

A creative, neighbor-to-neighbor effort to get food to people who need it continues to expand across Chicago. Love fridges are popping up on city streets: brightly painted with signs saying FREE FOOD, stocked by community donations. Host: Odette Yousef; Reporter: Linda Lutton

In cell-phone images and words, high schoolers at Benito Juarez Community Academy reflect on their fears, losses and hope. Host: Melba Lara; Reporter: Linda Lutton

WBEZ asked doctors and nurses from hospitals throughout the city and suburbs to send in recordings documenting their experience receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Host: Marie Lane; Producer: Mariah Woelfel, Kristen Schorsch

Chicago high school teachers are seeing an increase of students working to help their families during the pandemic, but are skipping class and not turning in school work. Host: Susie An; Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

Two suburban high school juniors made it through a fall of remote learning during a pandemic, but their experiences are very different. Host: Becky Vevea; Reporter: Susie An

Shanna Sigers’ husband died from Coronavirus in April. For StoryCorps Chicago, Shanna spoke about how his death has transformed her. Host: Becky Vevea; Producer: Bill Healy

Clinical psychologist Dr. Inger Burnett-Zeigler discusses how to handle the holiday stress in the midst of the pandemic, and shares some strategies to reduce holiday stress and anxiety. Host: Mary Dixon; Producer: Araceli Gomez-Aldana

Stay at home mandates, teleworking and e-learning in 2020 have greatly altered the daily commute in Chicagoland. City and suburban ridership has fallen by the millions during the pandemic. Host: Becky Vevea; Reporter: Claudia Morell, Michael Puente

Mercy Hospital on Chicago’s Near South Side cannot close. Illinois regulators have unanimously voted against the proposed closure. Regulators say they're worried about access issues for patients, especially in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Host: Mary Dixon; Reporter: Kristen Schorsch

Health care workers lined up for some of the very first COVID-19 vaccinations in Illinois. On the same day, the state announced an additional 117 Illinoisans have died from the virus in the past 24 hours. Host: Becky Vevea
 Reporter: Mariah Woelfel

Leaders at local fraternities and sororities talk about trying to build community and connect with new students during a pandemic. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Minju Park

The vaccine is finally here. How some doctors are lining up to get immunized this week. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Kristen Schorsch

The thought of going back to in-person class ramps up Jessica Vega's anxiety. She's a Chicago Public Schools teacher who has tried her best teaching remotely during the pandemic. She says Chicago Public Schools’ plan to bring elementary students back in February is expecting too much from teachers. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

At Saucedo Elementary in Little Village, Olga Contreras is fighting back against palpable learning loss — one day and one student at a time. Host: Marie Lane Reporter: Sarah Karp

A shrine in suburban Des Plaines is trying to keep pilgrims away due to the pandemic. Celebrations for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe usually attract up to a quarter million visitors. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Linda Lutton

Prisoners rely on the so-called grievance system to report dangerous conditions, including abuse. In Illinois, the system is broken. Host: Marie Lane Reporter: Shannon Heffernan

Some city employees have a new job this year, breaking up large gatherings to slow the spread of COVID-19. Currently, Illinois is not allowing private parties in commercial spaces, and gatherings at private residences cannot exceed six non-household members. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Odette Yousef

A COVID-19 vaccine could be in Illinois soon, and medical professionals in Chicago are weighing the risk and duty of getting it. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Becky Vevea

As Chicago Public Schools prepares to resume in-person classes early next year, North Lawndale College Prep says it’s working for their students. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

Newly released data shows disparities that hospitals serving communities of color have felt for months - small Chicago hospitals were full with patients, while big hospitals had beds to spare. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Kristen Schorsch

With only 42 % of Black adults in a national study saying they’re willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, Chicago clinics serving communities of color see work ahead. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Kristen Schorsch

Mike Grover has lived with an aggressive brain cancer for more than a decade. At StoryCorps Chicago, Mike spoke to his wife Lea about confronting death. Producer: Bill Healy

A JPMorgan Chase grant will look to help Black and Latino families become homeowners after decades of disinvestment in Chicago neighborhoods. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Linda Lutton

Long before he landed a side gig at the power company, Ed Moody was a star election worker for Illinois Democratic boss Michael Madigan. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Dan Mihalopoulos

Ridership on public transit has plummeted during the pandemic. With so many businesses rethinking the need for offices, transit agencies like suburban rail service, Metra, are thinking about how to look different and attract new riders post COVID. Host: Susie An Reporter: Jerome McDonnell

Jennifer Brier is a History and Gender & Women's Studies Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In a recent Washington Post column, she writes in the midst of a the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to remember and reflect on the very real persistence of HIV and AIDS. Host: Melba Lara, Lisa Labuz Producer: Mariah Woelfel

A national initiative called the Confess Project is training Chicago barbers to become front-line supports for the mental health of their customers. Host: Susie An Reporter: Jarrell Hightower

The emails reveal that a Cook County elected official and key ally to House Speaker Michael Madigan got secret payments from the utility. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Dave McKinney

The Available City envisions thousands of vacant parcels in Chicago as one large space, with multiple uses that benefit entire communities. David Brown, a professor at UIC School of Architecture, is looking to Chicago’s South and West Sides and imagining how to use that space creatively. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Natalie Moore

Pantries report they’re seeing greater demand than ever for a free Thanksgiving meal during the pandemic. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Minju Park

Chip Mitchell wraps up our series on Illinois nursing-home ownership with a look at COVID-19 infections and deaths tied to one of the industry’s biggest operators.

How the Illinois Department of Public Health traces an outbreak at a wedding. Mariah Woelfel.

Chip Mitchell reports on the staffing challenges and operational factors that are making nursing homes a source of so many COVID-19 deaths in Illinois

Illinois Department of Health Medical Director talks about tracing an outbreak at a Chicago Factory. Mariah Woelfel.

A few freshmen from the Chicago area at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne talk about life on campus amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mariah Woelfel reports on how Illinois Department of Public Health performs contact tracing after COVID-19 Outbreaks happen in social settings. This time at a Chicago-area pool party

In the Chicago area, workers from every sector of the economy have filed more than 1,000 complaints, alerting the federal government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to unsafe conditions at work, including direct exposure to the virus.

During The Pandemic, Who Owns A Nursing Home Can Be The Difference Between Life And Death

Experts say testing plays a crucial role in stemming the spread of the coronavirus, but not all Illinoisans have equal access. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Kristen Schorsch

A new report from ProPublica Illinois shows that child labor is not a thing of the past in Chicago’s western suburbs. Reporter Melissa Sanchez profiled a group of immigrant teenagers in Chicago’s western suburbs. Host: Melba Lara Producer: Lauren Frost

Chicago leaders say more people should be locked up before their trials to prevent violence. A new study out of Loyola University says that has “no effect” either way.
 
 Host: Lisa Labuz
 Reporter: Patrick Smith