The Rundown | Chicago News

This is the story of Chicago liberation activist Fred Hampton, former chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, who was just 21 years old when he was killed by Chicago police in 1969. In a special Black History Month collaboration between WBEZ’s Making and Rundown podcasts, hosts Brandon Pope and Erin Allen sit down with original members of the Black Panther Party, attorneys who fought Hampton...

A Cook County judge is ordering Donald Trump off Illinois’ March primary ballot, but with a caveat. Some Indiana parents of transgender children are decrying a ruling by the federal appeals court in Chicago. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker won’t commit to state funding for sports stadiums.

The National Weather Service says it’s likely more than one tornado touched down in the Chicago area last night. The Chicago Bears and White Sox are being told to team up on a proposal for stadium funding. A new album tries to give voice to people living in Palestinian territories.

When we’re coping with multiple global crises at a time, it can feel so easy to lean into hopelessness. All too often, hopelessness comes from what author and social psychologist Devon Price calls “systemic shame.” It’s different from the shame you might feel when you do something wrong or hurt someone you love. “Systemic shame is something that I see as a political force that involves offloading...

U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth is demanding a vote on her bill to federally protect access to in vitro fertilization. Court fights are putting the status of a referendum question on Chicago’s March primary ballot in question. The jury trial of the man accused of murdering Chicago police officer Ella French and wounding her partner Carlos Yanez continues today.

The Chicago Board of Elections has decided to appeal a ruling that invalidated the “Bring Chicago Home” referendum question that would ask voters if a tax on the sale of high-end properties should be increased to fund homelessness prevention. Our sports contributor Cheryl Raye-Stout says the number one question for the Chicago Bears is: what’s next for quarterback Justin Fields? And we hear from a...

Self-taught Chicago artist Teresa Magaña channels her Mexican and Chicana roots to create stunning paintings. Her artwork takes inspiration from Chicago sign painters and the Day of the Dead, and now she says she’s “exploring more of the femme body and imagery.” And as an activist, she hopes to provide space and resources to artists in the Pilsen community and beyond through the Pilsen Arts and Co...

Chicago’s elections board will decide whether to appeal a ruling invalidating a referendum question known as Bring Chicago Home. Governor J.B. Pritzker is “reluctant” to use taxpayer money for a new White Sox stadium. Plus, some troubling news about the monarch butterflies that migrate to Chicago each summer.

The man accused of murdering Chicago police officer Ella French goes on trial this week. A Cook County judge is lifting his freeze on Chicago Police Board activity in serious officer-discipline cases. The faculty union at University of Illinois at Chicago has taken a vote calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Kelley Engelbrecht moved to Chicago in 2020. One day, she and her husband were driving around the city, and an abandoned building caught her eye. Emblazoned on the side of the building were huge block letters spelling out “Mr. Mr. Fungi.” “We were like ‘What does that even mean?’” she recalled. Engelbrecht decided to follow her curiosity about the graffiti tag by reporting on it for Chicago Magazi...

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is proposing a new plan to fully fund the state’s pension systems, which have been in significant debt for years. Chicago Public Schools plans to end its contract with the police department this summer, but district officials revealed last week this won’t necessarily save money. Local Ukrainian activists spoke with WBEZ this weekend on the second anniversary of Russia’s...

A Cook County judge ruled that a referendum that would have allowed a tax increase in Chicago to fund homelessness prevention is invalid. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is trying to permanently get rid of the state’s 1% grocery sales tax. Gov. Pritzker also wants to earmark more money for the state’s Department of Children and Family Services: $2.3 billion over the next fiscal year.

Tonika Lewis Johnson calls her latest project – unBlocked Englewood – “a very unusual art project.” It involves beautifying the 6500 block of South Aberdeen Street in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood – though things like murals, gardens, gazebos and landscaping – that’s not the unusual part. “But,” she said, “if we were to just start doing art right away, it would be an insult to people on that bl...

Chicago Board of Education votes to tell schools to prepare for no more cops in schools next year. The same board is officially ending private custodial management after years of complaints that schools were filthy. A new initiative in Chicago aims to double youth employment in the city in the next three years.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is asking for a much more modest increase than he did last year to the MAP grant that helps low-income students pay for college. Gov. Pritzker is also under fire from Republicans for his plan that does not raise a popular state tax credit to fully cover the effects of inflation. Metra has unveiled plans to buy zero emission, battery-powered trains.

Last May, the federal government declared the end of the pandemic public health emergency. But COVID-19 is still widely circulating, and Chicago event organizers are taking precautions into their own hands. Emily Dupree started Clean Air Club after her partner caught COVID while masked at a concert. “If we’re going to meaningfully reduce the disease burden in the country and around the world, we h...

Governor J.B. Pritzker made education a focal point of the nearly $53 billion state spending plan he laid out yesterday. Dollar Stores in Chicago will be prohibited from opening within a mile of existing locations under an ordinance passed by the City Council. The Chicago Sky are prepping for an active WNBA draft.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled his nearly $53 billion spending plan during his State of the State address in Springfield. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced a major development plan today that relies on borrowing $1.25 billion to pay for affordable housing units and other projects. The Chicago City Council is adding new restrictions to limit the spread of chain dollar stores.

There’s a new sky show at the Adler Planetarium that asks kids and families to explore big questions – like, are there multiple universes? – through the eyes of a little girl from Chicago named Niyah. “This film, in particular, follows her journey as she explores every piece of her being and what it means to be a young girl trying to find her way in the universe,” said Taylor Witten, who co-wrote...

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is delivering his budget address later today, and there’s one line item that Democrats and Republicans are strictly divided on. He also wants to spend more than $20 million dollars next fiscal year to help prevent more pregnant Black women from dying. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is expected to introduce a major development plan today that relies on borrowing more...

Governor JB Pritzker will deliver his budget address tomorrow. The Chicago Board of Education is working on a plan to remove all police assigned to schools by this fall. The Illinois Department of Public Health warns people could still contract respiratory viruses in the coming months.

“My toxic trait is that I’m a ‘what-if’ person,” said Hannah Sellers, one of three co-owners of Lot’sa. Lot’sa is a new community art space in Chicago’s Irving Park neighborhood, and it has multiple identities: store, gallery, gathering place. Sellers opened Lot’sa with sisters Cheryl and Sarah Hinman. But the three were friends long before they opened a business together. In this episode, Rundown...

A new Illinois law allows gun owners to keep assault-style weapons if they disclosed them by January 1, but state registration rates are low. Illinois lawmakers are back in Springfield today with some potential fireworks over spending on the horizon. The strange, otherworldly sounds of microtonal music will be heard in Chicago at the annual Frequency Festival.

Early voting is expected to resume Wednesday morning in Chicago and Cook County following a brief shut down. White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf wants $1 billion of public money to help build a new South Loop stadium for the team. The Chicago area will see highs in the 50s as this year’s average February temperature continues to rise.

Joseph Perez is known to many as Sentrock – the muralist and street artist whose work can be experienced on walls, in illustrations, and as action figures across Chicago and the U.S. You’d probably recognize his signature character, a boy with a red bird mask named the Bird City Saint.  In this episode, the artist talks with The Rundown podcast host Erin Allen about his childhood and sto...