The Chicago Transit Board has approved a new acting president for the CTA. Chicago’s first elected school board members took their seats today. Plus, the Chicago Reader is laying off six of its employees.
Elected school board members for Chicago will be sworn in today for the very first time. Illinois lawmakers hope the CTA’s next president gets behind a plan to merge Chicago’s public transit agencies. An attorney with the ACLU told a federal judge that the Chicago Police Department is not doing enough to work with community groups critical of police.
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan ended his testimony this afternoon in his federal racketeering and conspiracy trial. Chicago transportation officials say there were fewer traffic fatalities in 2023 compared to previous years. Plus, Illinois legislators and advocacy groups announced a bill yesterday that would decriminalize sex work for consenting adults.
Some Chicago alderpersons want more say over the next CTA President after Dorval Carter announced his resignation. Prosecutors played a previously unheard recording yesterday during the trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Local consumer advocate groups turned over thousands of public comments calling for the state to overhaul the Peoples Gas pipe replacement program.
Embattled CTA President Dorval Carter is resigning after two decades with the agency. The Biden administration announced another round of student loan cancellations today. Illinois has secured $114 million in federal funding to build electric vehicle charging stations across the state.
Senate confirmation hearings begin this week, and Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth has some questions for one pick in particular. The state of Illinois has approved certain uterine health conditions for treatment with medicinal marijuana. The founder of the Young Lords Organization Jose “Cha Cha’ Jimenez died last week at the age of 76.
Chicago physicians are calling for the release of a Palestinian doctor in Gaza who has been detained by the Israeli military. Chicago officials are celebrating $1.9 billion in federal grant money that will help extend the CTA Red Line south to 130th Street. A second child has died from the pediatric flu as flu cases continue to spike across Chicago.
The alleged gunman in the Highland Park mass shooting appeared in court today, we’ll hear an update on his court case. As the first U.S. bird flu death is reported, concerns about the virus’s potential to spread in Illinois are rising. Homeless agencies fundraise for “Backpack Beds” for unsheltered Chicagoans.
On the heels of an Amazon worker strike across the nation last month, Illinois lawmakers passed a measure this week aimed at protecting warehouse workers. Residents of Northwest Indiana are crying foul over strong odors coming from the BP Refinery in Whiting. Bird collisions at McCormick Place’s Lakeside Center have dropped by more than 95 percent since bird-safe film was installed on the building’s windows last summer.
The federal corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan may soon take its most hostile turn yet. Students defrauded by their colleges are losing hope they might get their debt canceled. The Illinois Office To Prevent and End Homelessness has a new report on disparities in homelessness.
A measure to confiscate guns from people who have an order of protection against them has passed in the Illinois legislature. The CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois is stepping down. A new Northwestern Medicine study looked at how vaccines impacted how people experienced long COVID and found no significant difference between patients vaccinated before or after infection.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is adamant it is not a conflict of interest for him to remain on leave from Chicago Public Schools. Johnson says his relationship with Governor JB Pritzker isn’t damaged after disagreeing on hemp regulations. The state of Illinois is one signature from the Governor away from righting a close to 175-year-old wrong.
Michael Madigan has taken the stand to testify in his own defense in his federal racketeering and conspiracy trial. A measure that cleared the Illinois legislature will make it easier for foster children to live with family members. Tickets are now available for Chicago Theater Week.
Illinois lawmakers approve a controversial measure aimed at further protecting victims of domestic violence. The profits of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s law firm are emerging as flashpoints in his federal corruption trial. A new coalition on the West Side is calling for more community oversight to keep an eye on West Suburban hospital.
The first big storm of 2025 has swerved around Chicago. Defense testimony got underway again today in the federal corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and co-defendant Michael McClain. The Chicago-set series The Bear was the most nominated TV show at last night's Golden Globes, but it brought home just one award.
Illinois lawmakers debate a bill aimed at making it easier for people to change their legal names. People with student debt have two alternatives to a generous relief plan that’s held up in court. Over a dozen Chicago teens took part in a film shoot at a West Loop pizza parlor this weekend.
Illinois State Trooper Clay Carns was laid to rest Friday; he was clearing debris on I-55 when a driver hit him. Derrick Rose is teaming up with Chicago Bulls Charities and the City of Chicago to unveil “The Rose Garden” Friday on the city's South Side. Health officials say opioid overdoses remain the greatest cause of unnatural deaths in Cook County.
Leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union say negotiations for a new teacher’s contract are at a standstill. People who install new rooftop solar panels will see fewer savings beginning this year. Chicago broke heat records last year.
A Chicago alderperson is calling for street festivals to have more security protections in the wake of deadly attacks in New Orleans and Germany. State officials will start working on a plan this year to give residents the option to use a digital copy of their driver's licenses and IDs on their cell phones. There’s a new Illinois law on the books addressing student discipline in non-public schools.
A Chicago alderperson wants the city to safeguard its resources ahead of a Trump presidency. A new Illinois law requires high school students to learn about the dangers of fentanyl. Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago is expanding access to outpatient mental health care for children to help fill a big gap in services.
In 2024, reporters at WBEZ sought out average Chicagoans to talk about their love for the city and its people as people crowded into the Democratic National Convention. We heard from a chef, an alderman and from Alex Thomas , an Indian American who relates to the city because of his middle-child status. “We strive to impress, but also we keep it real,” said Thomas. The doctor, musician and cartoonist also said Chicago allows you to do and be many things all at once. In this episode, WBEZ reporte...
House music was born in Chicago 40 years ago and the city has been celebrating all year. Darlene Jackson – also known as DJ Lady D, who the Chicago Reader recently named “Best House Music DJ in Chicago” – was the perfect person to talk about the genre earlier this year. “The roots of House come from disco,” she said on the Rundown podcast. “Frankie Knuckles actually popularized that statement, that House music is disco’s revenge.” Jackson talked to host Erin Allen about the attempted “demolition...
Even when you’re right outside the building housing Guarneri Hall , it’s not clear how to find it. To get to the small, tucked-away performance and recording venue in the Loop, enter from Adams Street between State and Wabash, pass the security desk, take the elevator up to the third floor, wend your way through office hallways and walk through a nondescript door. With its central location and unique acoustics, the hall provides the local classical community with a convenient space for music-mak...
Lamont Jones wanted to give his daughter a book about bid whist, his favorite card game, but couldn't find one. So he wrote it himself, with the goal of saving a pastime popular in the Black community from generational indifference. "Bid whist is the ultimate card game," Jones said on the Rundown podcast, "and I believe that if you've not yet experienced bid whist, the world's greatest card game awaits you." In this episode from earlier this year, Jones talks about his book, "The Gist of Bid Whi...
The Joffrey Ballet danced along a fine line for several decades: The company could either take big artistic risks or die trying. On more than one occasion, death almost won. But, as any Chicagoan who looks skyward on State Street knows, the Joffrey lives on. Today, the Joffrey is Chicago’s preeminent classical ballet company. But nearly 70 years ago, it was a nascent group that co-founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino were trying to get off the ground in New York, with six dancers and a stat...
Last year, we spent some time on Chicago’s South Side. Jahmal Cole was there, asking a question to a crowd of volunteers assembled in a church parking lot in the Chatham neighborhood. “How come there ain't no holiday lights on the South Side of Chicago?” he said into the microphone. “I've seen it in Edgewater. I've seen it in Greek Town. How come there ain't no holiday lights on the South Side of Chicago?” Cole is the founder of the community organization My Block My Hood City. For almost a deca...
Some state agencies are issuing guidance about a large event of waterfowl deaths across Illinois. Chicago’s murder count dropped again this year, but the lethality of shootings increased. The Greater Chicago Food Depository says the need is greater and donations are down.
A doctor from Illinois is among the people whose death sentences were commuted to life in prison today by President Joe Biden. Chicago is finishing its third consecutive year with a drop in murders. The National Weather Service is reporting mild temperatures and rain this holiday week, meaning we won’t get a “white Christmas.”
Chicago’s deputy mayor for public safety says the city’s downward trend in murder numbers owes to collaboration between police and former gang members working the streets. Illinois Transportation leaders are reminding people to stay sober while driving around for the holidays. How holiday songs could help save lives.
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez has threatened to file a lawsuit against the Board of Education and all seven of its members hours before they plan to fire him at a hastily called special meeting this evening. Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Relations was in Chicago this week strategizing with local agencies about what he called “challenges the local Mexican community faces.” A dramatic influx of immigrants over the past year helped Illinois witness its highest single-year population gro...
