The Rundown | Chicago News

Abortion rights leaders in Illinois are celebrating a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. The Chicago Teachers Union and school district officials will participate in a public bargaining session this evening. The Illinois state treasurer helps a Lake County veteran get a half million dollar payout from an old life insurance policy.

Governor J.B. Pritzker reacts to the Supreme Court ruling tossing out a challenge to the accessibility of abortion pills. The Illinois Department of Public Health is launching a new data collection process to better track syphilis cases. The Chicago Bears wrapped up their annual organized team activities and are looking ahead to training camp and the preseason.

Pranita Nayar wanted to give young South Asians in Chicago a platform to express themselves and their culture through art and music. So, in 2014, she created Mandala South Asian Performing Arts, and five years later, the organization kicked off the first Mandala Makers Festival , a celebration of that art and culture happening in June at locations across Chicago. Nayar, a decorated Indian classica...

The Chicago Park District did not vote on whether to approve another year of Riot Fest in Douglass Park after festival organizers moved locations. Senator Tammy Duckworth tries to force Republicans to take an election year vote on IVF treatments. A proposal to fine and suspend lobbyist donations to a mayor’s campaign was blocked from a final vote.

Four wrongfully convicted men will be paid a $50 million dollar settlement by the city. A neighborhood group in McKinley Park on Chicago’s south side is unveiling a plan to create a three-mile bike path along the South Branch of the Chicago River. Riot Fest is forcing the Chicago Red Stars out of their home stadium.

Painter Damiane Nickles loves playing with texture and color in his work. He sees his Trinidadian heritage in the vibrant colors he uses. Nickles grew up in New York, but he said he found his artistic home in Chicago.  “There’s something here where people just magnetize to one another,” Nickles said. “That has really stuck with me.”  In this episode, Nickles talks about inspiration, text...

A federal judge in Chicago is hearing arguments today on whether to expand a consent decree overseeing the police department to include traffic stops. The Chicago City Council is expected to consider a $50 million dollar settlement for four wrongly convicted men. Bally’s casino meets with future vendors for its upcoming permanent Chicago site.

The Illinois Department of Human Services and the Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago are working to expand access to gender-affirming care. Thousands of Amazon delivery drivers filed legal claims against the company. The late Chicago journalist Mike Royko is the subject of a new exhibition at the Newberry Library.

Before Bridgerton’s string quartet renditions of pop songs, D-Composed was performing chamber music Beyoncé covers in Chicago. D-Composed events aren’t stuffy affairs. The Black chamber music collective rarely charges for tickets, and they want audience members to “come as you are.” That goes for the ensemble’s musicians, too. “When I'm with the other members of D-Composed, I feel completely mysel...

Federal prosecutors say former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke should serve 10 years in prison for illegally strong-arming developers. A new poll finds 61 percent of American adults are projected to develop cardiovascular disease by 20-50. We’ll tell you how the American Heart Association plans to combat that trend. Former President Barack Obama visited Chicago’s South Side yesterday to mark a major mil...

A school district in the north suburbs is expected to vote on closing Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Students, a bilingual school in Skokie. The Democratic National Convention is driving up hotel prices in Chicago. The National Weather Service warns swimming today is high-risk, with waves up to seven feet.

Constitutional law scholar Wilfred Codrington III talks with Rundown podcast host Erin Allen about slavery’s influence on the creation of the electoral college – America’s state-elector-based system for electing presidents – and how that system affects democracy today. This conversation is a part of the Democracy Solutions Project , a partnership among WBEZ, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Universit...

Another federal investigation in Chicago - this time, authorities are looking into a massive breach of private patient data at Cook County’s hospital system. New data shows there are now 1,000 fewer performing arts jobs in Illinois' than before the pandemic. The first-ever Chicago Public Library block party took place in downtown Chicago this weekend.

The city’s annual point-in-time count in January showed more than 18,800 people were unhoused—a threefold increase from last year. The Saint Adalbert Church in Pilsen is a step closer to being a historical landmark. Calumet Fisheries is reopening.

Pastry chef Anna Posey will find out June 10 if she’ll win the 2024 James Beard Award for “Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.” Among the five nominees in her category, she’s the only one in the Midwest . “I mean it’s scary to be truthful. You’re so grateful but you also feel kind of like, ‘Are you sure?’” Posey said. “It’s humbling. You still feel like that cook who doesn’t know anything who’s walk...

Several groups want to demonstrate near the United Center when the Democratic National Convention comes to Chicago in August. The city wants them much further away. The Chicago Board of Ethics is one step closer to being able to enforce an executive order barring lobbyist contributions to the mayor. The new Director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services addresses challenges af...

A Chicago alderperson wants to impose an 8 p.m. curfew for unaccompanied teenagers downtown. Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling says officers working during the Democratic National Convention in August will have their badge numbers uncovered and body cameras on. A new exhibition highlighting queer history and banned books opens tomorrow in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.

All too often, the most vulnerable populations fall through the cracks in our social safety nets: people dealing with addiction, homelessness and severe psychosis. Zak Mucha, the president of the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis, says this happens when the people serving those populations don’t understand what they need. “‘Are they like me or not?’ That's how a lot of these decisions are made,” h...

Immigration advocates in Illinois say President Biden’s new executive order restricting asylum claims violates asylum law. Illinois’ Maternal Health Task Force reflects on four years of work trying to reduce health inequities in Illinois. Some workers at the Shedd Aquarium are claiming management is pushing back on efforts to unionize.

Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker is signing a new $53.1 billion state budget that he says is balanced. Foxtrot says it is coming back to Chicago. Parents from two world language magnet schools in Chicago are fighting against proposed budget cuts they say will devastate their programs.

The winter of our discontent is finally over, my friends. It is, officially, street festival season in Chicago. Why does this time of year hit so hard? Because there are so many street festivals – in so many Chicago neighborhoods – and they’ve all got their own distinct feel and focus. “Well, food,” said Chicago-based writer Lauren Viera, “and also music is a big reason I go to fests.” Viera pored...

The head of the U.S. Secret Service is in Chicago this week to tour the venues that will play host to the Democratic National Convention in August. A new study finds evidence of racial bias in Chicago traffic stops. The City of Chicago is giving out $600,000 dollars to nonprofits serving youth this summer.

Chicago police officials say they’re ready for the Democratic National Convention in August, despite a recent report suggesting otherwise. The lead organizer of a proposed birth center on Chicago’s South Side is asking state regulators for permission to open. A new study finds Black drivers are more likely to be pulled over by police regardless of where they drive in Chicago.

Little Richard, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Chicago’s own Reverend James Cleveland are a few of the musicians being celebrated this Pride Month at an event called at “Shout OUT: A Tribute to Gays in Gospel Music!”  “This show is an opportunity to let people know about the totality of their work,” said singer and event creator Lucy Smith, who will perform along with the Lucy Smith Quintet. “I th...

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey discussed the upcoming vote on the Right to Contraception Act that will be voted on in the U.S. Senate later this week. An Illinois Congressman is pushing for sanctions against Chinese companies allegedly exporting fentanyl to the U.S. Scientists at Washington University are hoping to come up with a plastic alternative.