The Rundown | Chicago News

A Chicago Muslim community group is welcoming people of all faiths to study a text known as “The Treatise on Rights” during Ramadan, which began last night. A new study from the University of Chicago found better sleep can improve the body’s response to a variety of common vaccines. Little Village Discount Mall vendors have filed a lawsuit to prevent imminent eviction.

If you ride the CTA, you probably noticed the system has a crisis on its hands. More and more, the city’s unhoused population is using trains and buses as a last resort to find a place to stay. WBEZ’s Anna Savchenko explains the cause: a serious shortage in shelter beds combined with a pandemic-related increase in homelessness. Savchenko tells us about the roots of the crisis , what the city’s doi...

Thousands of abortion rights opponents traveled to Springfield Tuesday to rally against legislation aimed at crisis pregnancy centers suspected of misleading patients from getting an abortion. And in Chicago, a group of seniors rallied downtown to protest banks investing in fossil fuels. On the heels of a WBEZ investigation, Illinois lawmakers are considering looking into a state program for low-i...

A new report says Illinois needs about 300,000 additional rental homes for people living in poverty. More summer festival line-ups are being announced this week. Legalized recreational cannabis sales in Missouri are surpassing – and maybe cutting into – the Illinois market.

If you voted in the February 28 election, you probably saw an option to elect a police district council member on your ballot. This is a new council that was created to give civilians more say over how policing works in their neighborhoods. It’s the type of history-making community autonomy that activists have been demanding for more than a decade. But the way the council is structured and how the...

You can now vote early in the April 4 runoff election for mayor of Chicago. A three-year construction project on the Kennedy Expressway begins later today. It’s the vernal equinox, so keep your eyes peeled for “Chicagohenge.”

The U.S. Senate wants to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, but sleep scientists are against it. Dr. James Rowley is a professor of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at Wayne State University. He’s also the president-elect of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “We feel strongly that our bodies are best attuned to a clock that is standard time,” Rowley told us. Rowley talks about t...

Paul Vallas rarely attacked his opponent throughout his campaign for Chicago mayor, but that changed at last night’s debate. Northwestern University experts weigh in on the legal landscape for ChatGPT in medicine and future regulation. Parents of young children with special needs on the Far South Side are suing Chicago Public Schools.

Chicago’s city council made decisions on funding to aid migrants, ticketing and surveillance for downtown motorists, and its own independence from the mayor’s office. Two more big endorsements came through in Chicago’s race for mayor. Chicago cops who voted in this month’s Fraternal Order Police election rejected most Black and female candidates — just like in past elections.

There’s a lot of pride that goes into the historic West African dish jollof rice. It dates back thousands of years and has been compared to jambalaya or paella, but with its own twist. WBEZ audio producer and former chef Cianna Greaves gives us a look into how jollof is made, what it means for her Liberian heritage and the fond memories associated with the spice-filled dish.

Chicago’s mayoral candidates were questioned in a debate last night about legalizing video gaming and their past rhetoric on public safety issues. The CTA tells state lawmakers it’s looking to hire several hundred bus drivers to address the “ghost bus” problem. Illinois small business owners are reacting to the new mandatory paid time off law.

Gov. JB Pritzker signs mandatory paid leave for all employees into law. New research shows one in two community college students who transfer to selective universities come from America’s wealthiest families. An Illinois law eliminating cash bail will be the focus of oral arguments in the Illinois Supreme Court today.

When Illinois passed a law legalizing recreational cannabis in 2019, Gov. JB Pritzker promised a robust social equity program alongside it. More than three years later, the criminal records of hundreds of thousands of low-level drug offenders have been expunged, but the opportunities for them to profit from the new multi-billion dollar industry remain limited. Only a handful of dispensaries are ow...

Chicago kicked off St. Patrick’s Day celebrations with a green river and South Side parade — also marking three years since health officials declared the COVID-19 pandemic. Police won a lawsuit against the city of Chicago – and they say they’re now owed a lot of overtime pay. Illinois’ new secretary of state says digital IDs could be on the horizon.

A few years back, Dan Ho and his team at Stanford University’s Regulation, Evaluation, and Governance Lab started thinking of ways to improve the IRS’s auditing process.  They eventually discovered that Black taxpayers were being audited at surprisingly higher rates than their counterparts of other ethnic backgrounds. With this information, Ho is now helping to modernize the audit selection p...

President Biden’s budget includes a $350 million dollar grant for the Red Line extension south. Chicago mayoral candidates squared off in another heated debate last night. Daylight saving time and St. Patrick’s Day are coming up this weekend.

The two mayoral runoff candidates vowed they’d remain independent from their biggest supporters if elected. Abortion rights activists and the state of California are taking shots at Walgreens. Today is the funeral for slain Chicago police Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso.

“The Negro Motorist Green Book” helped Black Americans travel safely to and between thousands of businesses during America’s Jim Crow era. The Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie has a new exhibit focused on its history, including an interactive simulation where you pack  your car and hit the road, making stops based on the Green Book’s recommendations. Arielle Weininger is the Chief Curator...

Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson will face off today in the first debate before runoff elections. A new report highlights the impacts of soot pollution in Cook County. A proposal to relocate the Annual Taste of Chicago to Navy Pier this summer is causing tension among City Council members.

Chicago's theaters continue to struggle post-pandemic. Endorsements are rolling in for Chicago’s runoff elections for mayor. The president of Northeastern Illinois University has alleged gender and race discrimination by board members.

Beatrice Scescke was born and raised in Chicago but always dreamed of those greener pastures – something she had been drawn to since her visits to Kentucky as a child. Years later, she founded the Chicago Rewilding Society , a non-profit urban nature sanctuary that allows city residents to connect with nature, animals and therapeutic healing. The Society is located in Garfield Park and houses resc...

Chicago turns 186 years old. Unionized concession workers at the United Center staged a one-day strike during the Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers game. Experts are analyzing why most Chicagoans stayed home on election day.

J. Ivy is a writer, narrator and poet who recently took home the first Grammy ever awarded in the new category of Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. “When I’m creating an album, I don’t listen to anybody else,” the multi-hyphenate artist said on The Rundown. “If I found myself sounding like anybody else I switch that up real quick.” He came by WBEZ and talked with Erin about the differences between ra...

Former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is throwing his endorsement into the Chicago mayor’s race. A ballot measure passes on Chicago’s South Side that calls on the City Council to address affordable housing near the Obama Center. Illinois launched a website for a newly created commission on reparations.

Chicago’s Police Superintendent David Brown will step down. We hear from one of the newly-elected, and first-ever Chicago police district councilors. Illinois lawmakers are raising concerns over how long it takes to fill job vacancies at the state’s child welfare agency.