WBEZ News

Threewalls gallery in Humboldt Park awarded $32,000 to seven Chicago artists and one duo to develop projects that address racial justice issues where they live. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Carrie Shepherd

An estimated 1,200 people are kept behind bars in Illinois every year even though they’ve completed their sentences. With COVID-19 spreading in prisons across the country and the state, the problem has taken on new urgency. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Jessica Pupovac

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfood is ordering travelers coming from 15 states where COVID-19 cases have increased drastically to quarantine for 14 days. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

Any Illinoisan who’s voted since the 2018 midterms automatically will get an application to vote by mail in the November Third elections. A new state law is meant to make it easier to cast a ballot in high-profile presidential years. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Claudia Morell

In the North Kenwood neighborhood, music has filled the air every evening for the past three months. The source: The front porch of a music-loving couple. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Carrie Shepherd

Roughly 4,000 new teachers will join the profession this fall after an interruption in their training and a crash course in remote learning. Host: Lisa Labuz Reporter: Susie An

Black Americans are forever reminded of their complicated relationship to this country. They know this country often doesn’t love them back. Host: Susie An Author: Natalie Moore

Its been a violent summer in Chicago, with more than 400 shootings and 89 people were murdered in June, according to police. The people doing the shooting are traumatized themselves and often driven by righteous anger, say violence prevention workers. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Patrick Smith

Murders in Chicago continue at their highest pace in three years, and there’s renewed attention at the toll that gun violence is taking on children. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Odette Yousef

Some community groups are throwing out a bold proposal to address disinvestment on the West and South Sides: How about a thousand new single-family homes on each side of town? Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Linda Lutton

Some community groups are throwing out a bold proposal to address disinvestment on the West and South Sides: How about a thousand new single-family homes on each side of town? Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Linda Lutton

Some community groups are throwing out a bold proposal to address disinvestment on the West and South Sides: How about a thousand new single-family homes on each side of town? Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Linda Lutton

The Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership will hire community organizations, which will then be tasked with recruiting 600 contact tracers by mid-September. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Kate McGee

Next school year is around the corner and with the pandemic far from over, school officials across Illinois are figuring out back-to-school plans that fit the needs of their communities. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Adriana Cardona Maguigad

With data lacking, overwhelmed hospitals relied on who they knew to get COVID-19 patients transferred. It’s a potential problem for future outbreaks. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Kristen Schorsch

Decades ago a woman forced the police department to treat sexual assault as a crime. While in Chicago, she also came up with the rape kit that is commonly used today in investigations. Her name has not been attached to the invention until now. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Natalie Moore

How have LGBTQ people fared during COVID-19? Advocates say they’re not sure because health officials aren’t tracking gender and sexuality at COVID testing sites. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Vivian McCall

Shifting to Phase 4 of Illinois' reopening plan means colleges and universities can carefully begin to re-open this fall. Local universities have started sharing initial plans for what that might look like. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Kate McGee

A native of Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood, New York Philharmonic Principal Clarinetist Anthony McGill is using his platform and music as a call for justice. Host: Becky Vevea Reporter: Carrie Shepherd

Chicago police will remain in the city's public schools after the Chicago Board of Education voted to continue the controversial practice. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Sarah Karp

Artists in Chicago are pushing cultural institutions to make real changes on diversity and inclusion - and not make the creators do all the work. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Carrie Shepherd

The way summer camps and daycare centers operate during the pandemic may offer a glimpse into how schools might safely reopen in the fall. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Susie An

Chicagoans are walking, biking and jogging along Lake Michigan on what marks the long-awaited reopening of the city’s pedestrian trail. Host: Melba Lara Reporter: Mariah Woelfel

An art center on Chicago’s Southeast Side is delivering supplies to kids across the city so they can stay creative and connected as the pandemic continues. Host: Mary Dixon Reporter: Carrie Shepherd

In the 1970s, Alejandra Cano’s parents fled from the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile and brought her to the United States. Cano joined Nestor Gomez to talk about her recent troubles with the immigration system. Host: Melba Lara Producer: Bill Healy