Instead of junk food and pop, a Good Things Vending machine offers local art, throwback trading cards, games and dozens of other items you won’t find in a typical vending machine. There are a handful of them around Chicago, and the creator of the business says the goal is to spark joy and promote the city’s arts community. Steph Krim talks with Erin Allen about how she came up with the idea, her favorite items and where you can find a machine near you . This episode was originally published on O...
May 21, 2024•16 min
The Illinois House approved a measure to let people have a driver’s license or state ID on their phone. Thirteen officers from across Illinois received the state’s Law Enforcement Medal of Honor yesterday. The University of Chicago Crime Lab is welcoming anti-violence leaders from across the country to help them be more effective in their roles.
May 21, 2024•5 min
Planned Parenthood of Illinois is reopening its Peoria Health Center Monday after a January 2023 firebombing forced the facility to close. The Chicago office in charge of independently analyzing the mayor’s budget proposal each year is understaffed, according to its new leader. Weather forecasts for both Monday and Tuesday call for a chance of severe weather.
May 20, 2024•4 min
Dont Fret is a Chicago-born cartoonist, muralist and self-published author who loves his city. He’s anonymous in part because he spent his childhood tagging walls across Chicago, “You’re a Chicagoan,” he writes in his book, “This Is No Quiet City.” “Your eyes and heart are wide open, and that is pure, raw, messy, true, and terrifying.” In this episode, Dont Fret explains how he got into graffiti growing up in Wicker Park, why he self-published his book, and why Chicago is a city that punches bac...
May 20, 2024•19 min
A corridor of Clark Street in River North will no longer be closed for pedestrians this summer. A new exhibit at the Illinois Holocaust Museum offers a glimpse into the Kindertransport program that saved the lives of thousands of children in the 1930s. Loyola Medicine has launched a program this spring for treating women athletes in the Chicago area.
May 20, 2024•5 min
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. is calling on Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 presidential election results following a New York Times report that an upside-down American flag was seen at the conservative justice’s house in January 2021. A coalition of interfaith leaders will gather at the Chicago Temple downtown Sunday to honor a Palestinian-American boy who was fatally stabbed in suburban Plainfield last year. Credit monitoring agencies wouldn’t hav...
May 17, 2024•3 min
What’s going on at the CTA? Sluggish ridership is a main reason that Chicago area transit agencies including the CTA are facing a $730 million budget shortfall, according to a recent WBEZ analysis of transit data. So why aren’t riders riding? And what do they think of the CTA these days? We hear from a few riders mid-commute at a pair of downtown CTA train stations, some of whom complained about reliability, safety, and cleanliness, as well as others who think things are fine. Then we hear from ...
May 17, 2024•17 min
The Palestinian solidarity encampment at DePaul University was cleared by police yesterday, but faculty and student organizers say it’s not the end of their activism. Seven journalists with the Chicago Tribune have filed a class-action lawsuit against the newspaper and its owner. Illinois’ rules against hazing could get a little stronger.
May 17, 2024•5 min
The Chicago Transit Authority said more people are taking train and bus rides after nearly 20 Chicago city council members have signed onto an ordinance calling for CTA President Dorval Carter to resign. A rare statue on view at the National Museum of Mexican Art is generating a lot of buzz among archeologists. The Chicago Bears 2024 schedule has dropped.
May 16, 2024•3 min
For many, getting around Chicago is pretty easy. It’s one of the few American cities that’s invested in public transit, cycling and walkability infrastructure. But, for people with a disability that inhibits their mobility, it’s just not as easy to get around. Accessibility researcher Yochai Eisenberg co-authored a study in 2022 with the Great Lakes ADA Center and UIC’s Institute on Disability and Human Development that found that communities had higher accessibility scores if they also had an A...
May 16, 2024•13 min
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez is trying to convince lawmakers in Springfield that his school district desperately needs more money. Cook County wants to help some suburban residents who are struggling to pay their water bills. The Chicago Sky lost its season opener to the Dallas Wings.
May 16, 2024•4 min
Activists and elected officials are criticizing the Chicago Police Department for declining to punish cops with ties to anti-government extremism. High school juniors in Illinois public schools will take the ACT college admissions exam starting next spring instead of the SAT. Wednesday marks Brandon Johnson's one-year anniversary as Chicago mayor.
May 15, 2024•2 min
We can’t let National Transportation Week pass without revisiting our conversation with Lee Crooks. He’s basically a local celebrity, with a highly-recognizable voice. He’s been announcing stops on the CTA for 25 years. “It does become something of a legacy,” Crooks said. In this episode, he talks to host Erin Allen about trains, legacy and Midwest accents. And yes, we have him do the voice. This episode was originally published on Oct. 18, 2023....
May 15, 2024•14 min
Planned Parenthood wants to stop requiring patients to see a doctor for abortion access. The Chicago ethics board wants strict penalties for lobbyists who improperly donate to a mayoral campaign. Illinois families living under the federal poverty line can get extra help feeding their kids during summer vacation.
May 15, 2024•5 min
More changes are coming to this year’s Pride Parade. Illinois Republicans are glad the state is getting sued over a new law that changes how candidates are selected for elections. Chicagoans are torn over the issue of school choice.
May 14, 2024•4 min
Daniel Knowles lives in Chicago, where he rides his bike almost everywhere and the transit system almost everywhere else. Originally from the United Kingdom, Knowles has traveled the world as a reporter, so he’s seen how people across the globe get around town. His main takeaway: We need to lower our reliance on cars. “Thanks to the car, our cities are uglier and more dangerous,” Knowles writes in his book, “Carmageddon: How Cars Make Life Worse, and What to Do About It.” “Car manufacturers want...
May 14, 2024•24 min
A new poll shows that most Chicagoans think students in the city’s public schools are not learning enough. Governor J-B Pritzker’s office is celebrating – millions of Illinoisans are still enrolled in Medicaid. A proposed bill would transfer a state park to Illinois’s only federally recognized tribal nation.
May 14, 2024•5 min
Nearly 20 Chicago city council members have signed onto an ordinance calling for CTA President Dorval Carter to resign. Governor J.B. Pritzker continues to distance himself from budget strategies of the past that he says made Illinois a “credit-unworthy state.” Three beloved great horned owls living in Lincoln Park have died in the span of a month.
May 13, 2024•3 min
May 12 through May 18 is National Transportation Week, so we’re revisiting our favorite transit and infrastructure conversations—and sparking some new ones. When WBEZ’s Roy Howard fellow Jessica Alvarado Gamez moved to Chicago last year, she drove around to get her bearings. She couldn’t help noticing how close she came to cyclists. “I can easily go into the painted bike lanes,” she said. Some Chicago cyclists have observed the same problem, resulting in the refrain, “paint is not protection.” T...
May 13, 2024•15 min
A complaint tracking system could help the Chicago Police Department prevent officer misconduct, researchers say. Illinois lawmakers are running out of time to consider a measure to let people end their own lives with medication. A group of activists host a Mother’s Day celebration for incarcerated caregivers outside of Cook County Jail.
May 13, 2024•5 min
A Lake County judge is ordering the owner of Republican-favoring websites to remove sensitive information about Illinois voters from its platforms. A WBEZ analysis found that CTA service levels have actually declined since 2021 whereas other transit agencies in large cities increased their service during that period. It’s possible the Northern Lights will be visible in the Chicago area Friday night.
May 10, 2024•4 min
Marques “Merk” Elliston and Cher’Don Reynolds have been friends for decades. They met as kids living in the Cabrini-Green Homes, a former public housing project Near North Side. But as adults, they can’t return to their childhood landmarks: Cabrini-Green was demolished over the course of the early-2000s, displacing several thousand residents. This reality hit Reynolds recently when she and Elliston went for a drive. “I was passing the building that I was raised in, the building that he was raise...
May 10, 2024•18 min
Ridership recovery at the CTA lags behind other major cities. Student organizers are speaking out about their frustration with the University of Chicago’s decision to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment. The University of Chicago Divinity School and Baptist Theological Union are hosting a panel on the Black Church in Chicago tonight.
May 10, 2024•5 min
Illinois families are once again in Springfield pushing the state legislature to pass a permanent child tax credit this spring. Hospital system Ascension has detected a cybersecurity incident, and Crain's is reporting the issue is disrupting Ascension’s clinical operations. A 21-year-old from south suburban Mokena is one of fewer than 50 competitors at the Professional Bull Riders world finals in Texas this weekend.
May 09, 2024•3 min
Chicago artist Robert Earl Paige has 60 years worth of his art on display right now at the Hyde Park Art Center. He sat down with Rundown podcast host Erin Allen to talk about his childhood on the South Side in the 1930s and 40s, his early design work in both Chicago and Milan, Italy, why he’s dabbled in creating art on top of everything from T-shirts to rocks, and his key piece of advice for the next generation of artists. “The marketplace is very fickle,” Paige said on the Rundown podcast. “Th...
May 09, 2024•19 min
Chicago residents and City Council members grilled Chicago Housing Authority leadership over a long list of issues. Mayor Brandon Johnson stands behind his pick for the Regional Transportation Authority’s board after a contentious committee hearing. Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul is suing an online publisher for posting sensitive personal information about Illinois voters.
May 09, 2024•5 min
The Illinois agency that oversees licensing is still struggling to fix technology problems. In light of a recent lawsuit, a state lawmaker is calling for comprehensive changes to the state department of juvenile justice.
May 08, 2024•3 min
Journalists often avoid including themselves in the stories they tell. But when Arionne Nettles sat down to write a book about Black Chicago, she knew she had to include some of her story. “I am a byproduct of the culture that I’m talking about,” Nettles said. Her book is called “We Are the Culture: Black Chicago’s Influence on Everything.” And when she says “everything,” she means it: The book chronicles Black Chicagoans’ impact on dance, music, fashion, hair and even journalism itself. In this...
May 08, 2024•20 min
Purdue University is being sued in federal court for something passed by Indiana lawmakers. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias launched the “Get Real” Campaign this week to urge residents to get their Real I-D card ahead of next year’s deadline. A WBEZ analysis shows that speed camera violations in Chicago skyrocketed after the city lowered the speeding threshold three years ago.
May 08, 2024•5 min
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has changed course on his proposal to relocate migrants from a downtown shelter to one on the city’s South Side. Before dawn on Tuesday, campus police at the University of Chicago raided and cleared the Gaza solidarity encampment protesters had been occupying for the past week. A new report rips Chicago and Illinois officials for apparent indifference over the impending shutdown of the West Loop Greyhound bus station.
May 07, 2024•4 min
