WBEZ

18/07/2025

President Donald Trump has upended two yearslong investigations into civil rights violations in Chicago, one that started with an unwanted scrap metal operator and another that deemed City Council members have discriminatory veto power to block affordable housing.

The feds had ruled that City Hall violated residents’ civil rights in a case involving the relocation of the General Iron scrap metal operator and a complaint over affordable rental units.

18/07/2025

On sale now: Tortoise with the Chicago Philharmonic!

Chicago’s pioneering, genre-defying indie band Tortoise will debut new music and perform classic material from their influential catalog, accompanied by the classical prowess of the Chicago Philharmonic at the historic landmarked Auditorium Theatre.

Get tickets for this can't miss experience here: https://trib.al/4XIfCPz

18/07/2025

Listen: Chicago Public Media CEO Melissa Bell joined WBEZ’s Mary Dixon on Friday morning to speak about the cuts and the future of public media in Chicago. Here's the conversation.

Melissa Bell says now is the time to "move on with purpose" after Congress approved funding clawbacks from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

18/07/2025

Sen. Dick Durbin on Friday called a GOP-approved rescission package that guts $8 billion in foreign aid and $1.1 billion in public broadcasting funds “reckless” and warned that cuts to the United States Agency for International Development will cost lives.

Two public television stations — one in the Quad Cities and another at Eastern Illinois University — are in danger of shutting down because they rely on federal funds for half of their budget.

18/07/2025

The House & Senate have voted to claw back $1.1 billion in already-approved federal funding, eliminating critical support for WBEZ and more than 1,500 public media stations nationwide. This funding disappears on October 1, with no appeals or extensions.

But there’s hope: people like you can make the difference. By becoming a monthly donor today, you help fill the gap and protect the future of independent journalism in Chicago. Your steady support is our strongest and best defense.

Join: https://trib.al/iOTynLy

18/07/2025

Listen: The Chicago mayor joined host Sasha-Ann Simons to discuss his vision for a “21st-century model” of governance — and to offer advice for New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani — on this month’s Ask the Mayor call-in hour.

The Chicago mayor joined host Sasha-Ann Simons to discuss his vision for a "21st-century model" of governance — and to offer advice for New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani — on this month's Ask the Mayor call-in hour.

18/07/2025

Already facing massive yearly budget deficits, the city of Chicago could face a bill in the hundreds of millions of dollars for police overtime in a long-running case on behalf of 8,500 current and former Chicago Police Department employees.

A judge ruled five years ago in favor of 8,500 current and former Chicago Police Department employees. But the case has gone on and the interest keeps building as City Hall disputes how much it should pay.

18/07/2025

When Chicago’s famous soul music scene was at its pinnacle in the 1960s and ’70s, the biggest artists shared one key thing: They worked closely Charles Stepney. Stepney’s work and legacy will be recognized with a pair of events this month at Chicago’s MCA.

Stepney is again getting sampled, feted and his music played at two upcoming MCA events. Plus, a new collaboration with producer Terry Hunter is buzzing in Chicago’s house scene.

17/07/2025

Join WBEZ in addressing food insecurity in Chicago’s westside communities and suburbs at the fourth annual Food Aid Festival. Featuring two nights of Cracker at Robert's Westside and the first ever Food Aid Block Party hosted by O'Sullivan's Public House!
Tix: https://trib.al/9YqQ2oW

17/07/2025

A Cook County judge will allow a Mauritanian-born writer and terrorism suspect to testify at a hearing that will determine whether a Chicago man imprisoned more than three decades for an infamous North Side murder will get a new trial.

The same detective allegedly also tortured a confession out of Anthony Garrett, leading to his conviction for 7-year-old Dantrell Davis’ 1992 fatal shooting in the Cabrini-Green public housing complex.

17/07/2025

Even from the great beyond, Steve Albini continues to exert a seismic influence. “I realized, when I was at a memorial for him the week he passed … and saw all of these friends … that I would never know any of them if it wasn’t for Steve,” Kim Deal said.

The former Pixies bassist and singer returns to Chicago for a solo set at Thalia Hall on July 23.

17/07/2025

Attorneys say more than 900 survivors have now come forward alleging they suffered child sexual abuse at juvenile detention centers in Illinois between 1995 and 2022.

A new batch of complaints was filed Tuesday, and lawyers say it includes 107 new cases of abuse. Plaintiffs claim they were r***d, groped and threatened — all while in the custody of an Illinois Youth Center or the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, formerly known as the Audy Home.

“These survivors want justice, and they want accountability and they want sexual abuse in the Illinois juvenile justice system to end,” said attorney Jerome Block.

One woman, who prefers to go by her first name Kate-Lynn, recounted an alleged incident at Illinois Youth Center Warrenville where at least five staff members entered her cell and took off her clothes. Then, she said, a male staff member sat on her naked body and touched her inappropriately.

“My life has been severely impacted by the trauma I experienced at the hands of these state employees at IYC Warrenville,” said Kate-Lynn.

In a statement, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice said it is aware of the recently filed lawsuits and cannot comment on active litigation.

Cook County and the Illinois Department of Corrections are also named in the complaints; the Office of the Chief Judge in Cook County said it could not comment, and an IDOC spokesperson did not respond to WBEZ’s request.

“This is something that is going to be very expensive for the state, and it should be,” said Block. “Because these are horrific, horrific traumas and horrific injuries inflicted on these men and women when they were children.”

Read more at the link in bio or at WBEZ.org/prisoncast

Story by Lauren Frost
Photos by Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

is a statewide radio show & journalism project for people incarcerated in Illinois & their loved ones.

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