The Rundown | Chicago News

A new poll shows Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s re-election effort faces stiff headwinds as a majority of voters disapprove of her performance. Academics around the country are celebrating the UIC faculty’s newly ratified contract. Kahleah Copper may be the only Chicago Sky starter left after last season, but she’s ready to lead.

A WBEZ analysis suggests most Chicago voters will skip the upcoming municipal election. Meanwhile, Governor JB Pritzker wants people to pay attention to local elections to help root out what he calls “extreme ideology.” A report from the Chicago inspector general criticizes the city police department for failing to provide enough mental health support for officers.

Whether it's through weight loss campaigns or outright discrimination, fat phobia seems to be one of the last acceptable kinds of bias. Sarah Stark is a freelance producer, and she launched the “Bias Against Bodies” series on WBEZ’s daily talk show, “Reset.” In five episodes, guests cover how pervasive anti-fat bias is in America and the negative mental, physical and financial effects fat phobia c...

Early voting is underway in Chicago; find out where to drop off your ballot. Tenants of a South Side apartment complex have been without heat and water for weeks. With Medicaid pandemic protections coming to an end March 31st, more than 300 thousand Illinois residents could lose health insurance.

When you hear the word “gang,” different thoughts may come to mind. But overall, why people join gangs and everything that happens after is complicated. And then there are those former gang members who’ve made it their job to stop the violence that comes with gang life. The host of WBEZ’s Motive podcast, Pat Smith, spent a year with these anti-violence workers, and he talks about making season 5 o...

The U.S. Housing Secretary gives Chicago $60 million dollars to address homelessness. The fungus in “The Last of Us” is among us – housed for research purposes at the Chicago Field Museum, and it’s not really that deadly. The new North Austin Community Center opened yesterday to much fanfare.

It’s Black History Month and cultural institutions all over Chicago are celebrating with innovation, including a Shark Tank contest for Black entrepreneurs in the city. The Chicago City Council approved the Norfolk Southern Railway expansion to the 47th Street rail yard. Declining enrollment at Illinois colleges may be a sign of an upcoming demographic cliff.

Libraries are often considered peaceful spaces, but in reality, they’ve long been battlegrounds for freedom of speech. To ban books or not to ban books? It’s an issue fueled by identity politics and critical questions about who has the authority to limit access to information. WBEZ’s Adora Namigadde talks about what censorship looks like for librarians and library visitors in a push and pull about...

Billions of dollars later, construction on the International Terminal at O’Hare is finally complete. Amid staffing shortages in Illinois public schools, the state has a new superintendent of education starting this month. Gov. JB Pritzker announced the end of Illinois’s COVID disaster emergencies, effective this spring.

Tyre Nichols protests continue in Chicago. A new report shows that Black and Latinx residents are more financially vulnerable than white ones, even accounting for income similarities. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office is expected to drop charges against R. Kelly in a court hearing today.

The average person with a period pays $200 to $300 a year on products. To curb that cost, some states like Illinois have made period products tax exempt. But the question remains: Should they be readily available to all people with periods? Illinois Latino News Reporter Annabel Rocha talks about her work to destigmatize periods and make the experience more equitable. Find out more about the e...

Demonstrations and vigils remain calm in Chicago after the release of a Memphis police shooting video. City officials share plans for a temporary migrant shelter in Woodlawn, despite significant community pushback. Chicago and Cook County are now in the “low” category for COVID-19 community transmission.

Nina Sánchez wants institutions in Chicago’s arts community to evolve into places where people of color can thrive. Sánchez is an anti-racism organizer and the owner of 51st Ward Books, a bilingual, social justice-centered bookshop for children. In this profile from our sister station Vocalo and its “Chi Sounds Like” series, Sánchez discusses her work, growing up in Pilsen, and why creativity is e...

Tensions were high at the latest mayoral forum as we get closer to Election Day. Chicago Public Schools is making changes to its promotion or retention policy for students. Covid-era surcharges at Chicago restaurants are lingering, but it’s leaving a bad taste in the mouth for some patrons.

Chicago officials have opened a new training facility on the city’s West Side for police and firefighters, but there’s some controversy. Early voting begins today for the city’s municipal election. The additional SNAP benefits tied to the pandemic are expiring in Illinois as of March 1.

In the Southeast Asian community on Argyle Street in Uptown, Hac Tran says he’s seen nearly 10 businesses close due to rent increases, gentrification, pandemic complications and other issues. He sees the closures as a threat to the community’s identity, so he and a few business owners started HAIBAYÔ, a creative initiative that highlights local businesses. This week on The Rundown, we’re featuring...

More lawsuits are getting filed against Illinois’ new assault weapons ban. The cold, snowy weather is adding another challenge to Chicago’s unhoused population. There’s an effort underway to prevent people with delinquent property taxes from losing their homes through auction.

The Chicago Board of Ethics is expected to ask for an investigation after Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign sent out emails to CPS teachers looking for student volunteers. A new proposal in Springfield would provide more protections for temporary workers. The Northern Illinois Food Bank is seeing a 40 percent increase in clients.

Christopher LeMark says he never had a safe space to work through the difficult, complex emotions after he experienced childhood trauma. That’s why he created Coffee, Hip-Hop & Mental Health, an organization that aims to destigmatize mental health struggles, particularly in the Black community, by removing financial, emotional and systemic barriers to seeking therapy. This week on The Rundown, we’...

Chicago’s Lunar New Year celebrations were marked by the mass shooting in California that left 10 dead and 10 others wounded. A downstate judge has allowed a temporary restraining order for roughly 800 Illinoisans to be exempt from the new assault weapons ban. Protesters were out Sunday for the annual Women’s March on the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

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. Sentrock talks about the childhood yearnings and storytelling that inspire his work and how it manifested into a...

At the first televised Chicago mayoral debate, candidates discussed how they would secure funds for asylum seekers and how they could make the CTA more secure. The newest National Historical Park is on the south side of Chicago, in the historic Pullman neighborhood. A comet that hasn’t been visible from Earth in thousands of years can be seen this month in Illinois.

A new transportation agreement and proposed surveillance ordinance aim to address safety for cyclists, pedestrians and people in wheelchairs. Chicago’s largest police union is making efforts to kick candidates off the police district council ballot ahead of the city elections. The Illinois State Board of Education approved spending more on schools, but advocates say it’s not nearly enough to fully...

Election coverage doesn’t always feel very engaging; it’s more like a horse race, focusing on who’s in the lead instead of what candidates stand for. But WBEZ’s engagement team is covering the Chicago mayoral election — and much of their journalism — a little differently. They’re collecting your questions and posing them to the candidates. It’s called “engagement journalism,” and WBEZ’s Alex Keefe...

Chicago Public Schools is hosting a job fair Wednesday to recruit support staff, including desperately needed bus drivers. A political movement for safer bike infrastructure is growing in Chicago. Students at the University of Illinois at Chicago are facing day two of canceled classes during a faculty strike.