The Rundown | Chicago News

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Afternoon News: Wednesday April 10, 2024 Apr 10, 2024

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The Gazan Health Ministry reports hundreds of aid workers have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza, but many health care workers in Chicago are traveling to the war zone to care for the wounded. Illinois lawmakers are proposing legislation that would build an online hub for caregivers. Chicagoans may soon get to ride electric scooters 24/7.

Some Black women are rethinking hair relaxers… and suing their makers Apr 10, 2024

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The last time Patrice Yursik chemically relaxed her hair was 22 years ago. She says she did it for her wedding, but really, it was for her mom.

“That was it,” said Yursik, who says her mother started straightening her hair when she was six years old. “I was like, I'm never doing this again.”

Research studies released in the last decade have noted links between chemical hair relaxers and various types of cancer. And now thousands of Black women are suing the makers of hair relaxers in federal court in Chicago.

WBEZ’s Natalie Moore has been covering these lawsuits. She came on the Rundown podcast with Yursik, who’s the creator of Afrobella.com and a pioneer in writing about the natural hair movement. Yursik, Moore and Rundown host Erin Allen talk about their relationships with hair relaxers, their curious cultural staying power, and what the federal lawsuits may mean for the future of the products.

Morning News: Wednesday April 10, 2024 Apr 10, 2024

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The attorney representing the family of Dexter Reed Jr., a Chicago man fatally shot by police on the city’s West Side, says police used excessive force during a traffic stop. A new report describes the maximum security prison in Pontiac, Illinois as a disgusting and neglected environment for mentally ill inmates. EXPO Chicago, the Midwest’s largest art fair, opens to the general public on Friday morning.

Afternoon News: Tuesday April 9, 2024 Apr 09, 2024

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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responded to video footage released Tuesday of police officers fatally shooting Dexter Reed Jr. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx says her office will determine if the use of force in the shooting was beyond what’s allowable under the law. Illinois is doling out millions of dollars in grants to help full service grocery stores open in food deserts.

Black taxpayers are audited more often by the IRS. But why? Apr 09, 2024

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It’s tax season, and pretty soon, it’ll be audit season.

An “audit” is when the IRS investigates whether an individual or corporation accurately reported and paid their taxes. In 2023, a Stanford study found an unsettling discrepancy when it comes to who does – and does not – get an IRS audit.

“Black taxpayers are about three to five times as likely to be audited than everyone else,” said Daniel Ho, one of the study’s authors and the director of Stanford’s Regulation, Evaluation, and Governance Lab, “which is a pretty disturbing finding.”

In this episode, Ho unpacks how his team reached their conclusion and what’s being done to counteract it.

This episode was originally published on Mar. 10, 2023.

Morning News: April 9, 2024 Apr 09, 2024

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Chicago Public School principals get their budgets, some Evanston city council members want more information about a potential migrant shelter, and thousands flocked to Adler Planetarium to watch the solar eclipse Monday.

Afternoon News: Monday April 8, 2024 Apr 08, 2024

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President Joe Biden is expected in Chicago for a reelection fundraiser. Evanston is looking into converting a vacant office building into a shelter for migrants. More than 300 University of Illinois Chicago faculty, students and alumni are sounding the alarm about an effort to rein in campus speech.

How actor Jon Michael Hill fills the stage in ‘Purpose’ Apr 08, 2024

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“Theater feels spiritual to me,” actor Jon Michael Hill told The Rundown. You may know him from TV shows including “Detroit 1-8-7” and “Elementary,” but Hill is also a Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble member. He plays the introverted main character and narrator of “Purpose,” a world premiere from playwright Branden Jacobs Jenkins and director Phylicia Rashad—yes, that Phylicia Rashad. In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Hill about “Purpose,” developing new characters and bringing the audience into a play.

The Rundown: Morning News April 8, 2024 Apr 08, 2024

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Hundreds of UIC students and faculty are speaking out, worried about free speech on campus. A website tied to right wing activists publishes data connected to hundreds of voters. Evanston looks to convert an office building into a migrant shelter.

Afternoon News: Friday April 5, 2025 Apr 05, 2024

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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is unveiling new strategies to cut red tape and speed up development in the city, particularly for the construction of affordable housing and development. A state lawmaker from Chicago wants city parks to get more money for programming and upkeep if they host a major music festival. Chicago’s Bureau of Forestry is advising residents that the “mass cicada emergence” will begin later this month and will last until early June.

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