WBEZ News

People have a few options if they think their rights were violated or federal agents used excessive force. But the process is different than the one for local law enforcement. We're answering YOUR questions about federal immigration agents – and the National Guard – in Illinois.
 
 HOST: ARACELI GOMEZ-ALDANA

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is laser focused on passing his 16-point-6 billion dollar budget – propped up by a slew of new taxes — by the end of the year.
 
 And that’s while juggling the city’s response to the Trump Administration, including the president's threats to federal funding and militarized-style immigration enforcement in Chicago.
 
 HOST: LANE

The online platform Homeaglow (Home-a-glow) links consumers with house cleaning services in their area, touting a home cleaning for just $19 dollars. 
 
 But more than 28-hundred consumers have filed complaints about Homeaglow with the nonprofit Better Business Bureau.
 
 They say they were trapped in hard-to-cancel subscription plans that some people didn’t even realize they were signing up for.
 
 HOST: LANE

A team of reporters at Chicago Public Media has been looking into Bovino’s history with the border patrol agency, the legal issues involved and the people who have been caught in its cross-hairs. 
 HOST: MELBA

79 year old Thomas Weisflog has a unique job.
 
 It involves four keyboards, a chimney flute, and a flugelhorn.
 
 For the past 25 years he has been the organ player at University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. 
 
 HOST: LANE

Gil Kerlikowske [ker-lih-COW-skee] was Customs and Border Protection commissioner from 20-14 to ’17. 
 
 Before that, he was police chief of Seattle for eight years. That included policing hundreds of protests.
 HOST: MELBA

Alongside the Chicago Sun-Times, we’re gathering your questions about all things money and finances.
 
 Then each week, we get your questions answered by the people who know best.
 
 This week, we’ve got this question from Richard.
 
 HOST: LANE

Just last week, WBEZ told you about the 22 million dollars the Chicago Housing Authority paid to three companies with close ties to a C-H-A board commissioner.
 
 Since then, we’ve learned two of those three insiders have faced accusations from the C-H-A’s inspector general.
 
 HOST: LANE

As federal immigration agents aggressively detain people all over the city, some Chicagoans are fighting back the only way they can.
 
 They’re forming neighborhood patrols and gathering outside of schools and churches.
 
 And to help sound the alarm, many of them are arming themselves with whistles. 
 
 HOST: LANE

As immigration enforcement has ramped up around the Chicago area, photojournalists have been up close – and sometimes even caught in the middle.
 
 Chicago Sun-Times photojournalist Anthony Vazquez was on the scene earlier this week when federal immigration agents tear-gassed protesters and Chicago police officers on Chicago’s far Southeast side.
 
 Vazquez joins us now to talk about what he’s been seeing on the ground – and how he does his work under difficult conditions.
 
 HOST: LARA

Mayor Brandon Johnson gave an impassioned budget address today, pitching his $16.6 billion dollar spending plan as a clapback to quote- “unprecedented” attacks on Chicago by President Donald Trump.
 
 The proposal does not rely on a property tax increase to close a massive deficit. 
 
 Instead, Johnson is pitching a corporate head tax, a social media tax, a yacht tax, and more in the proposal applauded by council progressives, but slammed by council critics.
 
 Here with us to unpack it all is City Hall reporter Mariah Woelfel. 
 
 HOST: LARA

The one-time street gang the Young Lords has inspired a new exhibit at the DePaul Art Museum.
 
 The show traces the group’s transformation into an influential civil rights group…. and it comes at a moment when museums are under the microscope.
 
 HOST: LANE

In recent weeks federal agents have been targeting and arresting Latino immigrants across the Chicago area. 
 
 Many of these arrests are made without warrants, and use extremely aggressive tactics. 
 
 The situation is creating so much anxiety, that some immigrants in Chicago’s Mexican community are considering returning to Mexico.
 HOST: MELBA

Last month, during a military-style immigration raid on a South Shore apartment building, a man heard a knock at his door.
 
 It wasn’t federal agents, but a mother and her young daughter — pleading for a place to hide.
 HOST: MELBA

The value of gold has gone up 53-point-7-percent this year- reaching a valuation of $4 thousand dollars - and it’s on track to keep climbing. Inflationary pressures, tariffs, and asset allocation have all contributed to the surge and local retailers are riding the wave. 
 
 HOST: LANE

The records, out physically Oct. 10 and via streaming Oct. 31, capture musical vignettes over the course of McCraven’s last decade.
 HOST: LANE

The jarring, military-style immigration raid on a South Shore building in Chicago two weeks ago captured the nation’s attention.
 
 Federal officials blamed an influx of Venezuelan migrants for the building’s dangerous conditions when they raided and arrested 37 people in the middle of the night. 
 
 But longtime tenants say the building was in terrible condition long before the raid and the migrants moved in.
 
 HOST: LANE

Can individual members of the Illinois National Guard refuse orders to deploy in Illinois?
 
 It’s not often service members have to contemplate whether their orders are legal or illegal but sometimes they do. 
 
 The burden is left to the service member to understand the distinction and what their options are if they believe their orders are illegal. 
 
 Richard Hayes is a retired Army general and the former head of the Illinois National Guard. 
 
 HOST: LANE

We’re gathering your questions about all things money and finances.
 
 Then each week, we get your questions answered by the people who know best.
 
 This week’s question is from Zayla who asks, “What steps should I take to be able to save up to buy a house one day?”
 
 HOST: LANE

The nun who’s credited with praying the Loyola Ramblers men’s basketball team to the NCAA Final Four in 2018 has died.
 
 Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt died at 106-years-old. 
 
 HOST: LANE

The tournament at the University of Illinois Chicago drew over 200 puzzlers who came for crosswords and camaraderie. “I want my ego checked,” said one participant. “That’s mission accomplished.”
 
 HOST: LANE

A deadly smash-and-grab in downtown Chicago is raising questions about the best way to reduce crime in the city. 
 
 One of the alleged offenders was a peacekeeper who had recently posed for a photo with Governor J-B Pritzker.
 
 Allies of the Trump administration point to such incidents as proof that Chicago needs National Guard troops.
 
 But experts say it’s not that simple. 
 
 They contend that violent crime is down, thanks in part to those who mediate conflict in the city’s toughest neighborhoods.
 
 HOST: LANE

A supersized music festival with a funny name is unfolding all month long in Chicago. 
 
 The Ear Taxi Festival is running now through November second.
 
 It features forty concerts, twenty venues and four-hundred musicians.
 
 HOST: LANE

We’ve been getting a lot of questions from you about what type of training the National Guard soldiers get – and what they’re allowed to do while deployed in an American city. 
 
 We know guardsmen from Texas have been at a training site in Elwood, Illinois. 
 
 In other cities they’ve been stationed around federal buildings.
 
 Here in Illinois that could mean the immigration processing facility in west suburban Broadview where protests have been happening for weeks. 
 
 But legal experts say guard soldiers do NOT have the authority to do ordinary law enforcement.
 
 HOST: LANE

The immigration enforcement sweep now underway in the Chicago area has come with a lot of bravado from President Trump and his administration.
 HOST: MELBA

Though the weather may feel otherwise, fall is in the air, with apple picking, corn mazes and more. 
 
 And that means big bucks for local businesses.
 
 To walk us through the demand for fall activities, Sun-Times reporter Mariah Rush talked with WBEZ’s Melba Lara. 
 
 HOST: LANE

Many immigrants arrested in the Chicago area are taken to a processing facility in Broadview IL before being released, transferred to a detention center outside the state or deported.
 
 The facility wasn’t designed to hold people overnight. There are no beds, no functioning showers, no medical staff. 
 
 But a WBEZ/Sun Times investigation found that Broadview has become a de facto detention center, minus the rules and oversight.
 HOST: DEGMAN

The Rink in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood is celebrating 50 years in business. 
 
 WBEZ’S Somer Van Benton takes us there to find out what keeps it rolling.
 
 HOST: LANE

Alongside the Chicago Sun-Times, we’re gathering your questions about all things money and finances.
 
 Then each week, we get your questions answered by the people who know best.
 
 This week, we’ve got this question from Nancy in Orland Park.
 
 NANCY: I am in my 80s and have cash in my trust, traditional and Roth IRAs. Which would be more prudent to use for everyday living?
 
 To find out, we called up an expert.
 
 Andy Timmerwilke

When Katrina Thompson was elected mayor of the small village of Broadview in 2017, her mom told her this:
 
 "You are going to go places that you never imagined. And I've been places I've never imagined, and this is one of them." 
 
 That place — is the national spotlight. 
 
 Thompson’s town is home to an ICE processing facility that’s been ground zero for violent clashes between protesters and federal agents, and surprise visits from top Trump administration officials. 
 
 HOST: LANE

Much has been made about a first-of-its-kind “global” settlement Chicago has reached to close 176 lawsuits tied to corrupt former police sergeant Ronald Watts.
 
 Watts operated out of a public housing complex, shaking people down for money and intel, and arresting them when they didn’t pay up.
 
 Council members say the $90 million dollar deal saves money and ends a dark chapter in Chicago’s history. 
 
 But what’s been lost amid news of the massive settlement are the people at the center of the lawsuits. 
 
 WBEZ’s Mariah Woelfel spoke with two men about what this moment – and money – means to them.
 HOST: LANE

Kurt Elling has long been a creative force in Chicago’s jazz scene. 
 
 The Chicago-born singer has won two Grammy Awards, and performed on stages all over the world — including at the White House.
 
 Now, the 57-year-old is starting a new adventure that is taking him to Broadway.
 
 WBEZ arts reporter Mike Davis spoke with Elling about his career adventure and filed this audio postcard.
 HOST: LANE

Federal workers have already experienced massive upheaval due to cuts earlier this year. Now they could face potential firings with the government shut down. 
 
 Here to break down what this means for federal workers in Illinois is Sun-Times national politics reporter Tina Sfondeles. 
 HOST: MELBA

It was the surprise of a lifetime.
 
 Back in 2022, a group of Chicago high schools on the South and West Side announced that every student – and their parents – could go to college for free. 
 
 The initiative was called Hope Chicago.
 
 And three years later, it is helping to answer the question of what happens when money is no longer a barrier to education beyond high school. 
 
 WBEZ’s Sarah Karp introduces us to one family.
 HOST: LARA

Chicago's Loop is making a comeback. 
 
 But that doesn't mean it's back to pre-pandemic levels just yet. 
 
 Abby Miller covers real estate development for the Sun-Times. 
 
 She joined WBEZ’s Clare Lane to talk about where things stand with Chicago's downtown. 
 
 HOST: LANE

The recent fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez by an ICE agent in suburban Franklin Park sent shock waves through the immigrant community. 
 
 Gripped by fear and anxiety, some immigrant families living nearby are changing their daily routines, even avoiding going outside altogether.
 
 WBEZ’s Araceli Gomez-Aldana spent time with one family trying to navigate this new normal.
 
 Sun-Times reporter Elvia Malagon contributed reporting to this story. 
 
 HOST: LANE

Commander-at-large Gregory Bovino spoke to reporter Chip Mitchell as he led dozens of agents on a patrol in which they made several immigration arrests. 
 
 Bovino said that day his team was choosing people to arrest based partly on how they look.
 HOST: MELBA

Actress Elizabeth McGovern is perhaps best known for her role in the British period drama, Downton Abbey.
 
 But this month, McGovern is on stage in Chicago in an entirely different part. 
 
 In “Ava: The Secret Conversations,” McGovern plays Ava Gardner, the mega star from Hollywood’s Golden Age.
 
 WBEZ arts reporter Courtney Kueppers recently caught up with McGovern backstage.
 HOST: LANE

College offers young adults the chance to figure themselves out and find their purpose.
 
 For Palestinian-American students, the past nearly two years have meant that they’re doing those very traditional college-y things — while bearing witness to extreme violence against their community in Gaza. 
 
 For one DePaul University senior, the experience has tired her to the bone, she says, but has helped her find her voice. 
 
 WBEZ’s Lisa Kurian Philip has her story.
 HOST: LANE

To counter fear and anxiety among immigrants, supporters have organized rapid-response networks.
 
 The idea is to track down immigration agents, then monitor and protest their activity.
 
 A west suburban group coordinates a rapid-response network called the People’s Patrol.
 HOST: DEGMAN

Cheech Marin is known as an actor and comedian – he’s one half of the legendary duo Cheech and Chong. 
 
 But a lesser-known fact is that Marin is also a large collector of Chicano Art. 
 
 More than 500 pieces from his personal collection now make up the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture in Riverside, California and has two traveling shows. 
 
 I recently had an opportunity to interview Marin for the Chicago Humanities Festival and wanted to share a portion of that conversation.
 HOST: PUENTE

Alongside the Chicago Sun-Times, we’re gathering your questions about all things money and finances.
 
 Then each week, we get your questions answered by the people who know best.
 
 This week, we’ve got this question:
 
 “I’m Morgan, I’m from Chicago. My question is just around student loans and what's the best way to pay them off, especially in this tight employee market environment where it's harder to secure high paying jobs. For context, I just graduated with a part-time MBA, so I'm facing the repayment of these very soon."

It’s been nearly two years since Hamas attacked Israel and the war in Gaza began.
 
 As the Palestinian death toll grew into the 10s of 1000s, protests spread across American college campuses including in Chicago.
 
 There has been fallout for some Jewish students. They say they’ve experienced everything from subtle hostility to overt harassment.
 
 WBEZ’s Esther Bergdahl spoke to leaders of Jewish student groups at three universities in Illinois.
 HOST: LANE

A Black woman-owned grocery store will celebrate its opening this weekend in Austin, on Chicago’s West Side. It’s been years in the making. The force behind Forty Acres Fresh Market is Elizabeth Abunaw, a former corporate saleswoman who – in her own words – has no filter. WBEZ’s Esther Yoon-Ji Kang has the story of the last several months of Abunaw’s years-long quest to open the store. HOST: LARA

Chicago musician Jeff Tweedy is the frontman for the boundary-pushing band Wilco.
 
 But Tweedy is a prolific solo artist in his own right. 
 
 His fifth solo project, Twilight Override, comes out Friday. 
 
 It is a rare triple album of songs that feel both familiar and push his sound in fresh directions. 
 
 WBEZ contributor Adora Namigadde visited Tweedy in his Northwest side Loft and filed this audio postcard.

I’m WBEZ reporter Araceli Gomez-Aldana. And we're answering YOUR questions about federal immigration agents being deployed in the Chicago area. 
 
 Like this one from Mele Ortiz from Rogers Park: I was wondering if there are different laws/rights surrounding the interactions with these new agents since they are from federal and not local organizations.

A new bookstore focused on Black feminist stories is now open in Evanston. Zora’s Place had their grand opening last Saturday and we sat down with owner L’Oreal Thompson Payton to hear about the shop. HOST: LANE

It’s been just over two weeks since the Department of Homeland Security started an expanded immigration enforcement campaign in the Chicago area. 
 
 WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times have been reporting on every angle of that operation to understand how it’s impacting the community and what might come next.
 
 HOST: LANE

The months-long “America’s Got Talent” journey of the all-boys choir from Chicago’s Leo Catholic High School will come to a close this week.
 
 The boys will perform their final song tonight (TUES) as they make one last push to win the one-million-dollar grand prize.
 HOST: MELBA

Chicago artist Theaster Gates has exhibited work all over the world.
 
 But it has taken him nearly two decades to get his first solo museum show in his hometown. 
 
 WBEZ contributor Ben Austen visits Gates as he prepares for his show opening at the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum. 
 HOST: LANE