WBEZ News

A sixth generation farmer reflects on what it’s like to farm during the COVID-19 epidemic, amidst all the economic uncertainty right now.
 
 Host: Melba Lara
 Producer: Joe DeCeault
 Speaker: Kate Huffman

A few months ago, Monica Cortes tracked down Tita Mely, a woman who babysat for her in the 1980s. The sitter, who impacted her life in a big way, died earlier this week. Host: Melba Lara Producer: Bill Healy

Six weeks after schools shut down due to the coronavirus, Chicago Public Schools is finally telling students exactly how they will be graded during remote learning. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Sarah Karp

DePaul University educators are creating protective face shields for health care workers, and we visit a meeting place for teens in about 25 cities across the U.S. and six countries. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Kate McGee, Adriana Cardona Maguigad

During this COVID-19 crisis, information is crucial for residents. But for many in the Chicago area and Illinois, language is a barrier to staying in the know. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Esther Yoon-Ji Kang

A WBEZ reporter tries to get answers by taking an antibody test, but it just leads to more questions.
 
 Host: Mary Dixon
 Reporter: Kate McGee

Workers and landlords now six weeks into Illinois’ stay at home order are facing a second month of rent due tomorrow, with even less money in the bank. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Patrick Smith

The dramatic reduction of arrests in Chicago is by design - an effort to keep residents and police safe to prevent them from spreading the coronavirus. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Patrick Smith

As many college students in the Chicago area finish up the spring semester from home due to the COVID-19 shutdown, there’s a big question looming: What’s going to happen in the fall? Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Kate McGee

Funeral home employees are on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic. And the crisis is creating obstacles and mounting pressures for these essential workers. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Natalie Moore

Jennaire Lewars is spending his last year of medical school volunteering on Chicago’s South Side. This healthcare worker shares what it's like to be sent to the frontlines earlier than he could have imagined. Host: Mary Dixon Producer: Mariah Woelfel

A union contract for thousands of Illinois nursing home workers is about to expire. Talks to replace that contract have been taking place as COVID-19 deaths tied to nursing homes have been surging. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Chip Mitchell

Home visiting programs can help pregnant women and new moms support their babies, but COVID-19 has forced doulas to shift their approach. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Susie An

Having trouble sleeping? You may not be alone. Here’s how to get a good night’s sleep, even during a pandemic Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Araceli Gómez-Aldana

Everything you need to know about the pandemic over the weekend. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Dan Mihalopoulos

Some parents and leaders at Chicago charter schools are scraping together money to buy devices and starting GoFundMe campaigns. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

With in person classes canceled, teachers are getting creative in finding ways to teach a range of subjects online, including gym, dance and even architecture. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad, Susie An

Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker is ordering residents to continue to stay-at-home through May 30th. Though he is adding a few restrictions while loosening some others starting May 1st. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Tony Arnold

Divorce and co-parenting is stressful in any environment but what does it look like during a pandemic? Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Carrie Shepherd

Chicago aldermen continue to push back on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s request for emergency spending powers during the coronavirus pandemic. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Becky Vevea

Nurse Margaret Hefferon switched from her job in orthopedic surgery to work in an intensive care unit at Northwestern Hospital. The ICU treats the most severe COVID-19 cases. Host: Mary Dixon Producer: Mariah Woelfel

The pandemic has been a challenge for local farmers who have long sold to Chicago businesses and markets. A look at the forecast for those who used to bank on selling their goods to restaurants that are now closed. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Monica Eng

Northwest Indiana officials are worried about their governor’s call to reopen the state in early May before adequate testing has happened. The plan now is to lift the state’s stay at home order after May 1st. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Michael Puente

Suzie and Bob Pschirrer tell us about their daughter, Hayley, who works as a nurse in a level one trauma center where she now mostly sees patients with COVID-19. Host: Melba Lara Producer: Joe DeCeault, Lynnea Domienik

Dr. Regina Benjamin, who served under former President Barack Obama, speaks about racial health inequities and COVID-19. Host: Annie Russell Reporter: Natalie Moore

Howard Brown Health in Chicago has been doing contract tracing for nearly 20 years, and now it's turning its focus to COVID-19. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Kristen Schorsch

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order has not slowed gun violence in Chicago. Chicago Police Department data show shootings are up 10%. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Patrick Smith

Illinois will now announce which nursing home facilities have had deaths recently relating to COVID-19, and the home of the Chicago Cubs has been repurposed into a temporary food pantry.
 
 Host: Mary Dixon
 Reporter: Linda Lutton

Lucy Keating first learned to sew on her grandmother’s Singer sewing machine. Today, she’s reviving her skills to make masks for COVID-19. Host: Melba Lara Producer: Isabel Carter

For many years, Michael Strautmanis distanced himself from his biological father. But with some encouragement from his half-sister, he re-opened the door. Producer: Bill Healy

With remote learning starting off this week for many students in Chicago, teachers are finding unique ways to take care of their students. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Sarah Karp, Adriana Cardona Maguigad

Elections scheduled for next week for the mini-boards that oversee each Chicago public school have been postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

As kindergarten through college students adjust to online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, one course that can be hard to teach remotely is science. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Kate McGee

In March when coronavirus was beginning to emerge in Chicago, cases came fast. They doubled every 2 days. Now, they’re doubling every 12 days. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Kristen Schorsch

Mayor Lori Lightfoot held Chicago’s first virtual City Council meeting Wednesday. They approved new procedural rules to allow them to meet over video conference. Reporter: Becky Vevea

While the number of Latinos who’ve died of COVID-19 in Cook County remains low, advocates say that number is wrong. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Maria Ines Zamudio

Many Illinoisans are leaving their house every day to fight COVID-19 head-on. Falguni Dave is a nurse who cares for jail detainees being treated at Stroger Hospital on Chicago’s West Side. Host: Mary Dixon Producer: Mariah Woelfel

Local leaders have been using predictive models to try and figure out when the worst of the pandemic will pass in Illinois. It's still been difficult to know in the moment whether the worst of the pandemic is over. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Kate McGee

Chicago parents and students are looking to schools to provide a lot more than just academics, as they face heightened stress during the coronavirus school shutdowns. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Susie An, Sarah Karp

A Chicago photographer was caught in the dust cloud that descended over Little Village Saturday morning when the demolition of an industrial smoke stack went wrong. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Linda Lutton

Harold Davis Jr., a Chicago activist who spent over the last two decades of his life mentoring at-risk teens, died of coronavirus on Sunday. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Becky Vevea

As part of WBEZ's ongoing series 'LIfe Interrupted,' we hear from two neighbors who created an I SPY game to help people in their community stay connected. Host: Melba Lara Producer: Linda Lutton Speaker: Lisa Love, Nikki Moustafa

Before becoming the governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker never bargained on a pandemic or foresaw the state’s well-being hinging on “Trump time.” Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Dave McKinney

A pandemic may have closed churches for Easter. But a West Side preacher still has words to comfort his flock. Host: Annie Russell Reporter: Linda Lutton

Parents with small children at home are juggling jobs and childcare around the clock. WBEZ reporters know that drill. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Natalie Moore

Cook County nurses are warning the virus won’t stop at the jail’s walls as staff travel home and detainees are transferred from the jail to the hospital. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Shannon Heffernan

At hospitals in Illinois, more and more people died of COVID-19 over the weekend. But there are some signs the spread of the disease could be slowing in state. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Dan Mihalopoulos

University of Illinois College of Medicine graduated students early so they’re available if and when their residency programs need extra doctors to respond to the new coronavirus pandemic. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Kate McGee

Kathleen Valente’s husband Bob needs a lung transplant. As part of our series Life Interrupted she talks about why she’s more worried about him catching COVID-19. Host: Melba Lara Producer: Lynnea Dominik

Chicago Mental health advocates are optimistic the city's next police leader will work to reduce interactions between officers and people with mental illness. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Patrick Smith