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Afternoon News: Thursday January 11, 2024 Jan 11, 2024

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Illinois saw a nearly 50% jump in the number of people from other states who came for an abortion the year Roe v. Wade was overturned. Jurors in Chicago are deliberating in the federal trial in the killing of Chicago rapper FBG Duck. Illinois is awarding a $10 million grant to help a cancer treatment center in southern Illinois expand.

Building community without alcohol this Dry January Jan 11, 2024

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If you drink socially, January might be a tricky month to give up alcohol. Even without snow on the ground, Chicago winters tend to force us indoors, and many friend groups and social events turn to bars.

Thankfully for Chicago’s Dry January participants, this city already has a growing map of sober spaces. To learn more, we talked to Cristina Torres, the founder of alcohol-free Bendición Bottle Shop.

“I like to think of this space as a blessing for sober people,” she said. “This is a safe space in a city full of alcohol.” In addition to selling non-alcoholic beverages and mocktail supplies, Bendición hosts a Sober(ish) Book Club and other events.

In this episode, Torres and host Erin Allen talk about finding and building sober spaces in Chicago.

This episode originally aired on December 30, 2022.

Morning News: January 11, 2024 Jan 11, 2024

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Governor J.B. Pritzker argues Illinois is in good shape after several years of economic growth, including the elimination of the state’s backlog of bills and multiple credit upgrades. A campus cop cannot testify in Cook County cases – after WBEZ and the Sun-Times reported on his ties to an extremist group. Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Poles is defending the choice to keep head coach Matt Eberflus.

Afternoon News: Wednesday January 10, 2024 Jan 10, 2024

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A former CVS store in the Little Village neighborhood will now be used to house migrants. The trial date for the man accused of the 2022 mass shooting in Highland Park is now up in the air. Surgery to repair Blackhawks star Connor Bedard's jaw was a success; he'll miss 6 to 8 weeks.

Drill music is explicit, confrontational and often misunderstood Jan 10, 2024

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Drill music is a subgenre of rap born in Chicago in the 2010s. Since then, it’s taken off around the world, and earned national headlines due to explicit, violent lyrics and high-profile trials associated with drill artists, including the racketeering trial of Young Thug in Atlanta and the murder trial of six defendants accused of killing FBG Duck in Chicago.

It has a bad reputation for the wrong reasons sometimes, according to Reginold Royston, an assistant professor who studies digital innovation at University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Nile Lansana, an artist and youth educator who grew up on Chicago’s South Side.

“We’re hearing stories of violence. We’re hearing stories of trauma. We’re hearing stories of alleged crimes,” Lansana said. “And I think that for somebody who's a general consumer of drill, I would really push them to look past the aesthetics and really look into the substance.”

In this episode, Lansana and Royston look at the history of the genre, where it exists in the wider culture today, and point out what many people miss.

Some of the music heard in this episode:

“Barbie World” - Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice
“Love Sosa” - Chief Keef
“I Don't Like” - Chief Keef featuring Lil Reese
“Hate Bein' Sober” - Chief Keef
“Killa” - Young Pappy
“Play For Keeps” - L'A Capone
“Flashbacks” - G Herbo
“Street Guide (Part 01)” - ONEFOUR
“Kwaku the Traveller” - Black Sherif

Morning News: January 10, 2024 Jan 10, 2024

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For nearly 300 migrants who have recently arrived in Chicago, their temporary homes are CTA buses in the West Loop. A pricey program meant to get disconnected kids back in Chicago Public Schools is off to a slow start. A group of financial analysts believes the Chicago-area economy will grow modestly this year.

Afternoon News: Tuesday January 9, 2024 Jan 09, 2024

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The forecast calls for a mix of rain and snow as the temperature drops across the region. Suburban families continue to lie to get their kids coveted seats in elite Chicago Public Schools. A group of Chicago-area business leaders is “cautiously optimistic” about the region’s economy this year.

Isabel Olive, AKA Half Gringa, on what inspires her Jan 09, 2024

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Isabel Olive discovered her love of music at her public school in Carbondale, Illinois. She learned to play the saxophone and joined her high school marching band. But now, she creates genre-straddling music as Half Gringa. She’s released several self-produced albums, and she is working to crowdfund her next record so she can level up with new collaborators. In this episode, Olive talks to host Erin Allen about where she gets inspiration and how growing up in a Venezuelan family in Illinois shaped her as a musician.

Morning News: January 9, 2024 Jan 09, 2024

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A winter weather advisory remains in effect for Chicago. A candidate for Cook County’s top prosecutor says his Democratic primary opponent should have recognized problems with an 11-year-old’s murder confession. Some 77-thousand computers bought by Chicago Public Schools were marked lost or stolen, but the inspector general says the problem is the tracking system.

Afternoon News: Monday January 8, 2024 Jan 08, 2024

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The Chicago area can expect between 2” and 5” of snow by tomorrow afternoon, beginning around 8 p.m. tonight. Chicagoans can now apply for one of the seven seats on the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability. Divvy will increase rental prices for most of its fleet of bikes, e-bikes and scooters next month.

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