The Rundown | Chicago News

Robberies are up. WBEZ’s Alden Loury looked at data from last year and found that robberies were at a six-year peak, and armed robberies led the surge. What do those numbers mean? And what causes someone to pick up a weapon and rob somebody? In this episode, Rundown podcast host Erin Allen talks with Loury and criminologist David Olson, who co-directs Loyola University’s Center for Criminal Justic...

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is pushing back on City Council members calling for more oversight on city spending. Johnson also introduced an electrification ordinance that aims to set indoor emission standards as part of a broader effort to tackle climate change. The Illinois State Board of Education passed a comprehensive plan to improve how reading is taught across Illinois.

City Council called off a planned vote on whether Chicago Police can contest firings and long suspensions in private arbitration. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has picked two local vendors to provide food to migrants in city shelters after delays in the bidding process. Domestic violence victims and their advocates are asking Illinois lawmakers to pass Karina’s Bill.

Gigi Lira never imagined she’d make it as a working artist. Then, she started doing manicures on the side at Beauty Bar, a hair salon-inspired bar in West Town. She frequently worked queer events and did nails for LGBTQ+ Chicagoans who didn’t feel comfortable at other salons. Fast forward, and she has her own salon. “It’s so important to me to provide a safe, nurturing place that doesn’t just tole...

The Obama Foundation is donating half-a-million dollars to girls who live on Chicago’s South and West Sides. The Chicago City Council will consider a couple of big ticket items at its first meeting of the year today. Dense fog is blanketing the Chicago area this morning.

A new study from the University of Illinois shows one in 10 college students is food insecure. A man suspected of shooting and killing eight people in Joliet fatally shot himself Monday after a confrontation at a gas station with law enforcement officials in Texas. Finalists in Chicago's snowplow naming contest include Casimir Plowaski and Taylor Drift.

On any given night in Chicago, you’ve got options when it comes to seeing live music. Dozens and dozens of options. The Chicago Show Calendar is an Instagram account and weekly newsletter that tries to give you all the information on every show in the city, big names and small. “I do think the calendar gives people a place – like someone starting out – a place to get their name on a calendar when...

The Chicago City Council is weighing new regulations for dollar stores. A Cook County state’s attorney candidate is calling on his Democratic primary opponent to return a campaign donation from a former prosecutor tied to alleged torture. It’s been 51 years since the U-S Supreme Court granted nationwide abortion access, and anti-abortion advocates say a lot has changed since then.

A Chicago City Council vote on a resolution supporting a ceasefire in Gaza will be postponed. The onslaught of bad weather around Chicago continues. A Boston-based solar energy company is making Chicago its second home.

Pegasus Theatre wraps up its 37th Young Playwrights Festival this week. This year’s festival features one-act plays by four Chicago high school students who worked with teachers to submit their work. Professional actors perform the winning scripts. “It was really empowering,” said Grant Parris, one of the playwrights. He and another winner, Alexander Loaiza, submitted their plays to the festival l...

The Illinois Supreme Court could rule next month on whether the odor of cannabis is enough to search a vehicle. Many Chicagoans suffer from the “winter blues” during the city’s colder months, but experts say there are a few ways to combat feeling down when the weather is dreary. A state lawmaker from northwest Indiana has introduced a bill that would create a sports commission to look into luring...

Nearly 2,000 migrants must leave Chicago shelters by February 1st under new deadlines on shelter stays. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson today publicly addressed reports of unsanitary conditions at city-run migrant shelters after new details emerged this week. Bitter cold returns to the Chicago area tonight; expect high temperatures in the teens both Saturday and Sunday.

Today, we accomplished three things: 1) Mourned some of the Chicago restaurants we lost last year, 2) Rejoiced in some of the delicious new spots we’ve recently gained, and 3) Talked about the local food trends to watch for in 2024. To do that we were joined by Michael Nagrant, the food critic and writer behind The Hunger , a Substack site with local, anonymously-procured food reviews, and Brenda...

Chicago City Council members are weighing whether there should be more limits on having jobs outside of their aldermanic duties. A candidate in the Democratic primary to replace Cook County state’s attorney Kim Foxx is raising more funds than the person endorsed by the party. Today is the first day of Chicago Restaurant Week.

The White Sox could be on the move. A federal judge has approved a more than $12 million dollar class action settlement for people in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood who were affected after a former coal-fired power plant imploded. The University of Illinois is freezing in-state tuition at all three of its universities.

The Illinois State Police released a guidebook late last year for officers interacting with unhoused individuals. The goal is to offer up-to-date resources and to bring dignity and humanity to those encounters for “the new face of homelessness,” according to Rev. Dwight Ford, the director of Project Now , a community action organization that helped develop the guidebook . “The new face of homeless...

Keeping up with the huge increase in migrant students is a challenge – even for Chicago schools that are used to teaching migrants. . Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is defending the actions it took to address unsanitary conditions at a Pilsen migrant shelter. The Shriver Center on Poverty Law is marking the anniversary of America’s “War on Poverty” with a summit today.

Preparations for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this year continue to move forward. New recommendations are out from a working group dedicated to preserving local news in Illinois. A federal jury in Chicago convicted six men in the murder of local rapper FBG Duck

Chef Jessica Walks First started helping in the kitchen as a little kid, and she grew up cooking for her community in Chicago’s American Indian Center. Now, she runs Ketapanen Kitchen, a catering business with a focus on Indigenous foods. “Ketapanen” is an expression of love in the Menominee language. “If my community is eating my food, I want them to have great ingredients that are familiar to th...

A new analysis shows an area five times the size of Chicago’s Millennium Park could be used to build affordable and public housing in the city. A lawmaker introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of electronic tracking systems to determine someone’s location without their consent. Officials in at least one central Illinois county are preparing in case migrants are dropped off in their area.

The Chicago area remains under a wind chill advisory until Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. with wind chill temperatures as cold as minus 30 degrees. Activists are calling on Chicago officials to reconsider how they protect the city’s unhoused communities from extreme cold. A new poll finds overwhelming support for public school choice in Chicago.

This Chicago winter is waffling between two extremes: unseasonably warm and bitter cold. Either way, it’s getting harder to ignore the evidence of climate change in our forecasts and extreme weather, and that can bring up any number of hard feelings. Libby Bachhuber is a licensed clinical social worker and therapist, and she wants to give people a space to process their “eco anxiety” by hosting “C...

Illinois state lawmakers return to Springfield for the start of the legislative session. Chicago leaders have delayed its plan to move migrants out of shelters after 60 days due to the bitter cold. There’s a new push for federal financial help for Chicago and Milwaukee to defray costs from hosting the national political conventions this summer.

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is calling on Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbot to quit sending busloads of migrants to the city as sub-zero temperatures loom. The National Weather Service is forecasting a rain and snow mix for the Chicago-area and northern Illinois Friday afternoon before transitioning to all snow overnight, and a winter storm warning is in effect until noon Saturday. You hav...

Chicago used to be a destination for magic. “In the heyday of magic, this was the magic hub of the world,” said Joey Cranford, owner of the Chicago Magic Lounge in Andersonville. “We had more magic shops per capita. We had prop builders. We had close up bars. We were a magic hub. But all that went away. The magic kind of left Chicago.” That was decades ago. Today? The magic is back, according to t...