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Highland Park shooting suspect expected to change his plea
The Highland Park parade shooting suspect is expected to enter a negotiated plea at a court hearing Wednesday, days ahead of the second anniversary of the July 4, 2022, massacre that killed seven and wounded dozens more. The plea deal, if it’s accepted by Judge Victoria Rossetti, could bring closure...
Your top priorities for Chicago’s first elected school board
There’s a first time for everything. And this fall, you could be a part of it. For the first time in the city’s history, Chicagoans will get to vote in November to elect members to the Chicago Board of Education. In order to help you cast your ballot, our education reporters at WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times turned to Chicago Public Schools parents. In a brief (and unscientific) survey, we asked which education issues you care most about, what questions you want us journalists to ask school board candidates, and what’s going on at your local CPS school.
Chicago film insiders hope this weekend’s Sundance satellite will forge pipeline to Park City
Sundance. For most moviegoers, the word conjures the ski-town winter film festival, an annual champion of independent film founded by Robert Redford and named after one of his most famous onscreen characters. In addition to organizing the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, the Sundance Institute also functions as...
Cook County agency employs Indiana politician who pleaded guilty in federal case
In northwest Indiana just a few years ago, Jon Snyder struck a deal with federal authorities, pleading guilty to a minor charge after cooperating and even testifying in a corruption case against his own brother, who was the mayor of Portage. While his brother James Snyder has appealed his bribery...
Sun and skin protection 101 ☀️
We’ve got more sunny, warm days ahead of us, Chicago. But before you head outside, it’s important to protect your skin. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, skin cancers like melanoma are on the rise. So, Reset spoke with Smita Aggarwal, assistant professor of dermatology at Rush University,...
What does ‘food justice’ look like in Chicago?
About a decade ago, 38,000 Chicago residents lived more than a mile from a supermarket or store. That number jumped to 102,000 residents by 2023, according to a WBEZ and Sun-Times analysis. A wave of grocery store closures on the South and West Sides last year prompted Mayor Brandon Johnson...
Ed Burke sentenced to two years in prison, hefty fines
Burke was charged with racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion while serving on city council. Former 14th Ward alderman Ed Burke is sentenced to serve two years in prison on charges ranging from bribery to attempted extortion. Burke was Chicago’s longest-serving councilman. In addition to the prison time, he’s also been sentenced to pay $2 million in fines.
47 candidates file for Chicago school board elections
Chicago’s first-ever school board elections will feature 47 candidates vying for 10 seats, a number surpassing most expectations and including parents, former teachers and principals, nonprofit workers and a rapper. The window for hopefuls to submit their minimum 1,000 signatures to get on the ballot closed Monday afternoon with...
A smiling Ed Burke greets 2-year sentence on corruption charges as judge rejects prosecution request for much tougher term
When the judge left the courtroom and the fate of the longest-serving City Council member in Chicago history began to sink in, hugs and handshakes surrounded what a prosecutor had hours earlier called the corrupt “face of city government.”. Edward M. Burke was smiling. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall...
A restaurant in a rock hall? Oliver Poilevey is just warming up
Oliver Poilevey just wants to cook. The Chicago chef’s straightforward goal has gotten slightly more complicated since he rather quickly became a restaurateur with a swelling mini-restaurant empire. Said empire includes 2023 James Beard Foundation Awards Best New Restaurant finalist Obelix and longtime Bucktown bistro Le Bouchon (both of...
Former President Barack Obama gives eulogy for mother-in-law Marian Robinson at South Side memorial service
WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama on Monday delivered the eulogy for his mother-in-law, Marian Lois Shields Robinson, at a memorial service at the South Shore Cultural Center. The service was a celebration of her life, according to the office of the former president and former first lady Michelle...
Ann Lurie, who came to Chicago a nurse and became one of city’s best-known philanthropists, dies at 79
Ann Lurie came to Chicago in 1973, recently divorced and “not knowing a soul,” but attracted by the city’s diversity and culture and looking for work as a pediatric intensive care nurse. Half a century later, Ms. Lurie is one of the city’s best-known philanthropists, with a...
Where Illinois, the Midwest stand two years after overturning of Roe v. Wade
Illinois borders three states with abortion bans, and two with gestational limits. Since the Supreme Court overturned a federal right to an abortion, providers, lawmakers and advocates have been working to ensure that Illinoisans, and people traveling to the state, can access the medical procedure. Reset learns about the current...
Small children can’t tell the difference between regular candy and cannabis edibles – and the result can be an ER visit
At least 250 children accidentally consumed cannabis products in Illinois in 2023. Plus, delta-8 remains unrestricted by age. A rise in small children accidentally overdosing and poisoning themselves from cannabis edibles is raising alarms for legislators and parents across Illinois. Reset learns about how to identify poisoning and overdosing symptoms...
New episodes of ‘The Bear’ will drop earlier — and focus again on Chicago restaurants
Fans of The Bear can definitely expect to see more tributes to Chicago’s real-life restaurant scene when season three of the hit FX show drops Wednesday, cast members said in a press conference today. The event featured all the major stars, from Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri, in a studio quality Zoom.
Venezuelan migrants face xenophobia in Colombia and Chicago
Colombia’s influx of Venezuelan migrants has led to accusations the migrants are fueling crime and drawing resources needed by low-income Colombians. This resembles some responses to Venezuelan arrivals in Chicago. WBEZ’s Chip Mitchell spent two weeks in Colombia – a country that’s received a much larger influx of Venezuelan...
The immigrant experience in Canada
Nearly half of Toronto’s 2.7 million population identifies as immigrants. As the United States doubles down on restrictive immigration policies, particularly around asylum, Canada is viewed as the friendlier neighbor where politicians describe immigrants as a possible solution to labor shortages. But Canada now faces immigration problems too —...
Cook County Commissioner Dennis Deer dies at age 51
Dennis Deer, a Democratic commissioner on the Cook County Board, has died. He had complications from a rare double lung transplant he received last year, said Commissioner Bill Lowry, who said goodbye to Deer yesterday in the hospital with Deer’s family. “He’s more of a brother than a colleague,”...
Chicago’s migrant shelter population down by more than half since evictions began this spring
Segundo Casa arrived in Chicago with his wife and two children last winter. On a recent afternoon, the 47–year-old Ecuadorian sat on the concrete steps near the West Loop shelter where the family lives. Casa tends to his children, ages 4 and 9. They play on the sidewalk while...
JoJo Siwa brings good ‘Karma’ to joyous crowd at the 23rd Chicago Pride Fest
When asked to characterize her performance at Chicago Pride Fest on Saturday, local drag queen Ebonii Michaels used the following description: “energy, combustion and spreading love.”. “And sexiness, of course,” she added. That description could easily apply to the overall event, which takes place at Halsted and Addison...
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