WBEZ News

With data lacking, overwhelmed hospitals relied on who they knew to get COVID-19 patients transferred. It’s a potential problem for future outbreaks. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Kristen Schorsch

Decades ago a woman forced the police department to treat sexual assault as a crime. While in Chicago, she also came up with the rape kit that is commonly used today in investigations. Her name has not been attached to the invention until now. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Natalie Moore

How have LGBTQ people fared during COVID-19? Advocates say they’re not sure because health officials aren’t tracking gender and sexuality at COVID testing sites. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Vivian McCall

Shifting to Phase 4 of Illinois' reopening plan means colleges and universities can carefully begin to re-open this fall. Local universities have started sharing initial plans for what that might look like. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Kate McGee

A native of Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood, New York Philharmonic Principal Clarinetist Anthony McGill is using his platform and music as a call for justice. Host: Becky Vevea Reporter: Carrie Shepherd

Chicago police will remain in the city's public schools after the Chicago Board of Education voted to continue the controversial practice. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Sarah Karp

Artists in Chicago are pushing cultural institutions to make real changes on diversity and inclusion - and not make the creators do all the work. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Carrie Shepherd

The way summer camps and daycare centers operate during the pandemic may offer a glimpse into how schools might safely reopen in the fall. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Susie An

Chicagoans are walking, biking and jogging along Lake Michigan on what marks the long-awaited reopening of the city’s pedestrian trail. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Mariah Woelfel

An art center on Chicago’s Southeast Side is delivering supplies to kids across the city so they can stay creative and connected as the pandemic continues. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Carrie Shepherd

In the 1970s, Alejandra Cano’s parents fled from the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile and brought her to the United States. Cano joined Nestor Gomez to talk about her recent troubles with the immigration system. Host: Melba Lara Producer: Bill Healy

In an 1857 speech, orator Frederick Douglass affirmed the yearning for liberty and justice, and warned of the fight needed to achieve both. Host: Melba Lara Producer: Steve Bynum

DACA recipients living in the Chicago area say DACA has changed their lives. They are celebrating this victory, but they vow to continue fighting for full citizenship. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Maria Ines Zamudio

The holiday commemorates the date, June 19th 1865, when Union soldiers told enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had ended and they were free. Host: Mary Dixon Guest: Dr. Kim Dulaney

Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin is a major advocate for DACA, and he spoke on the floor of the Senate this morning. Host: Melba Lara, Mary Dixon

Some say observing Juneteenth is a way for employers to signal that they are serious about racial equity, but the work shouldn’t stop there. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Odette Yousef

Calls for police reform or defunding and disbanding departments have grown louder recently in Gary, Indiana as part of protests against racist police practices. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Michael Puente

About 20 protesters shut down a JP Morgan Chase branch on Chicago’s South Side over lending patterns exposed by WBEZ and City Bureau Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Linda Lutton

ComEd’s payments to Jenner & Block spiked as federal prosecutors investigated the company’s ties to Illinois politicians. Host: Melba Lara, Lisa Labuz Reporter: Tony Arnold

The Illinois Supreme Court may issue an order that could potentially undermine attempts to identify problematic cops. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Patrick Smith

Block club members and residents in black neighborhoods may not trust the police, but they work with them because of public safety concerns.
 
 Host: Lisa Labuz
 Reporter: Natalie Moore

Rafael Galarza was a shy boy when he started out at school, speaking little English. Now this star student is graduating as valedictorian, in the middle of a changing Chicago neighborhood. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Sarah Karp

“I'm not afraid to make my voice heard” — 2020 grads share their take on graduating amid a pandemic and protests, and how they’ve changed. Host: Lisa Labuz Producer: Kate Grossman

A WBEZ investigation reveals the long list of applicants that Illinois Democratic Party boss Mike Madigan urged Governor J.B. Pritzker to employ after taking on the office.
 
 Host: Greta Johnsen, Lisa Labuz
 Reporter: Dan Mihalopoulos

Kevin had a really hard time last school year with bullying. We hear from him, and the music teacher who helped him through it, Matthew Jones-McCann. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

City of Chicago officials respond to reporting showing banks lend extremely unequal amounts to the city’s white, black and Latino neighborhoods. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Linda Lutton

DeMario Tribbet, a local college graduate, explains what his boss and mentor Patricia Guy means to him. Host: Mary Dixon Producer: Kate McGee

When Fenton High School senior Malien Tingpalpong joined the speech team, she didn't know she'd find a lifelong friend in Melissa Feinberg. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Susie An

Miguel Blancarte, Jr. is a resident of Chicago's Little Village neighborhood. In the middle of the pandemic, he decided to make a big career change in service of his community. Host: Melba Lara Producer: Lynnea Domienik

After reopening amid protests, Chicago health officials are watching for a surge in COVID-19 cases. Here's how they're preparing. Host: Melba Lara, Lisa Labuz Reporter: Kristen Schorsch

College graduate who are the first in their family to earn a degree share the triumph and heartache of graduating online amid protests and a pandemic. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Kate McGee

Hundreds of activists rallied in Humboldt Park Saturday to protest systemic police abuse, but also to call for unity between blacks and Latinos across Chicago. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

For a neighborhood that has tried to overcome a history of racial violence, Bridgeport's so-called "vigilantes" get support and some pushback. Host: Reporter: Claudia Morrell

The former CEO of Chicago’s last locally-and black-owned bank, Norman Williams, recounts how it helped African Americans build wealth and community. Host: Melba Lara Producer: Ashish Valentine, Linda Lutton

Earlier this year the Holloway sisters visited the StoryCorps booth at the Chicago Cultural Center to talk about why they are each other’s best friend and biggest fan. Producer: Bill Healy

Five years ago, Kwame Raoul helped pass police reform legislation. But he had to drop the policy he says would’ve been the most impactful — and now he wants it back. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Tony Arnold

Aaron Allen is a young Chicago journalist wrestling with why the white and black neighborhoods near him looked so different growing up. He recently discovered a big reason why. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Linda Lutton, Andrew Fan Producer: Joe DeCeault

Businesses owners along one of Chicago's longest streets, Western Avenue, share how they are faring at the start of the city's latest phase of reopening during the pandemic. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Mariah Woelfel

Some business owners and residents have been trying to prevent looting during ongoing unrest. In Chicago's Humboldt Park, gang members have been guarding the central business corridor there at night. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Patrick Smith

Redlining is supposed to be illegal, but a new WBEZ analysis shows how closely home loans are tied in Chicago to the race of the neighborhood. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Linda Lutton

Some Chicago businesses have had to put reopening on hold after the past few days of unrest. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Kate McGee

The bloodshed has violence prevention organizations scrambling to prevent retaliation, while at the same time helping their communities recover from the recent destruction. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Patrick Smith

Dozens of activists stood outside a police station for hours Monday demanding the release of a prominent activist and poet, Malcolm London. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Maria Ines Zamudio

Marshall Hatch is the senior pastor of New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church on the city’s West Side, where there’s now no place to buy groceries because of looting. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Chip Mitchell

Chicago community activist Xavier Ramey says there are coordinated attacks on the Black Lives Matter movement. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Natalie Moore

Residents in Garfield Park said the chaos Sunday was “stupid” “hooliganism.” But they also understand the anger driving it. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Patrick Smith

A look at how Chicago's City Hall is cleaning up after a weekend of civil unrest, and how they're preparing to keep the peace Monday night. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Becky Vevea

Chicago is under curfew each night until further notice, after days of protests were set off by the police killing of George Floyd of Minneapolis. Host: Susie An, Shawn Allee Reporter: Dan Mihalopoulos

One family is recovering from COVID-19 together after two siblings and their elderly parents were all hospitalized with the virus. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Kate McGee

Looters hit retailers in the suburbs and in city neighborhoods like Chicago's the South Side. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Chip Mitchell