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Morning News: March 14, 2024 Mar 14, 2024

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The City of Chicago will move forward with evicting migrants from city run shelters come Saturday. Mayor Brandon Johnson announced 10 areas where his administration will focus violence prevention efforts. A Cook County jury recently awarded $7 million dollars to a Chicago man who was shot by a security guard for the Chicago Housing Authority.

Afternoon News: Wednesday March 13, 2024 Mar 13, 2024

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The Archdiocese of Chicago has made the city several offers to house migrants at properties they own for free, according to email exchanges obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, but the requests have gone unheeded by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration. Chicago health officials say nearly all migrants who needed to be inoculated against measles at the city’s shelter in the Pilsen neighborhood have been vaccinated. The lineup is out for Chicago's Pitchfork Festival.

Hazel Johnson: ‘The mother of environmental justice’ in Chicago Mar 13, 2024

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In the late 1960s, Hazel Johnson was living in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side when her husband died of lung cancer. She also saw dozens of other people in her community suffering from respiratory issues and contracting cancer, despite having no family history of the disease.

“She was like, that's just too many people in one neighborhood,” said Hazel’s daughter, Cheryl Johnson, who would eventually take up her mother’s mantle. “And then she started making the connection that the air quality in our neighborhood, you could cut it with a knife.”

So, Hazel Johnson founded an organization called People for Community Recovery, and over the next several decades she successfully lobbied local and federal governments to force industrial polluters to change their ways and clean up their messes.

“She's known as the mother of environmental justice,” said Damon Williams, co-creator of a six-part podcast on Johnson called Help This Garden Grow. “And for someone who loomed so large in our city and in the country, it was clear that there was not a full telling of her story that was accessible to us in any way. And if it's not accessible to us, that means it's probably not accessible to most people who are not looking as deeply as we are.”

In this episode of The Rundown, Cheryl and Damon tell the origins of Hazel Johnson’s powerful story and the work still to be done.

Morning News: March 13, 2024 Mar 13, 2024

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Thousands of people stand to lose health insurance in a few weeks as the state of Illinois continues to reign in spending. More than 200 diverse learners – students with unique physical, developmental and mental capabilities, got a chance to early vote yesterday. Nearly half of Illinois residents say their local school district is experiencing support staff shortages, according to a nonpartisan poll.

Afternoon News: Tuesday March 12, 2024 Mar 12, 2024

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Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected in Chicago in response to several measles cases at one of the city's largest migrant shelters. Nearly four out of 10 Illinois residents say they favor banning teaching critical race theory in public schools. The Equal Pay Chicago Coalition is discussing ways to close disparities in gender pay.

‘Notes from the Field’ explores the school-to-prison pipeline, spurs action Mar 12, 2024

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In 2015, a young Black man named Freddie Gray died in police custody. His death and the subsequent protests in Baltimore served as inspiration for playwright Anna Deavere Smith. She wove Gray’s story into a play called “Notes from the Field.” At its core, the play explores the school-to-prison pipeline. Smith’s one-woman plays are composed of verbatim monologues from interviews she conducted. And in TimeLine Theatre’s production of “Notes from the Field,” three Chicago actresses share the play’s 19 monologues. Director Mikael Burke said much of the process was about “what is possible if we can take a moment to just listen and then act accordingly based on what we feel.” In this episode, host Erin Allen talks about the play with Burke and one of the three actresses, Shariba Rivers.

Morning News: March 12, 2024 Mar 12, 2024

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Chicago health care advocates say the spread of serious diseases is inevitable when migrants are placed in crowded spaces with little ventilation. Convicted former Chicago Alderman Edward Burke – and his law license – are becoming an issue in a tight Supreme Court race. Eileen O’Neill Burke tells public officials at the City Club she’s running for state’s attorney because she is “not giving up on Chicago.”

Afternoon News: Monday March 11, 2024 Mar 11, 2024

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The Chicago Bears say they are willing to put up $2 billion of their own money towards a new stadium in the city, but the statement from the team was light on other details. The state of Illinois is finally making available $18.5 million to assist and protect witnesses of violent crime. The conflict-ridden Illinois Supreme Court is letting convicted former Chicago Alderman Edward Burke keep his law license.

Perception, language, and the unseen: A look at Maryam Taghavi’s MCA exhibit Mar 11, 2024

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Maryam Taghavi’s exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art examines the things we cannot see and our own ability to perceive the things we can. It’s aptly titled “Nothing Is.”

“When you stare at something, in a way, it stares back at you,” Taghavi said. “The lake, the water or the clouds, the sky or trees, or the street, all the texts on the street. So these things sort of speak back at you, and I'm really interested in that reciprocity that happens when you are staring at something.”

In this episode of The Rundown podcast, Taghavi takes us on a tour of her exhibit at the MCA, which includes paintings, sculptures, poetry and calligraphy. We hear about her journey from Iran to Canada to the United States, and learn about her artistic influences and interests: Persian language and ancient texts, her childhood in war-torn Tehran and her immigration to Canada, and the nature of infinity.

Morning News: March 11, 2024 Mar 11, 2024

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Two confirmed cases of measles in a Pilsen migrant shelter are leading to calls for more proactive health screenings for migrants. Illinois residents have had more than $40 million dollars worth of student debt canceled under the new federal SAVE plan. This is the last week Illinois voters can request a mail ballot for next week’s March 19th primary election.

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