As I lay in bed drenched in sweat, battling COVID, it came to me as in a fevered dream . . . The city council had overwhelmingly approved Mayor Lightfoot’s idea to spend untold millions on a casino. Even as Alderperson Brendan Reilly warned them that it may wind up being as bad as the […]
Tag: WBEZ
Posted inOn Politics
Buried secrets
For proof that the people who run this city are determined to never change their ways, I bring you the latest unsavory details regarding the harassment of female lifeguards at Oak Street Beach. They’re contained in the recently released Hays Report, so named for Valarie Hays, the corporate lawyer who wrote it. The Park District […]
Posted inColumns & Opinion
Lemming city
For the last few days, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other prominent lefties have sounded the alarm to Dems across the land. Do not support President Biden’s nomination of Mayor Rahm as ambassador to Japan. As he—Rahm, not Biden—buried evidence of murder in the Laquan McDonald shooting. And Dems have responded with their middle fingers metaphorically […]
Posted inColumns & Opinion
Self-pity party
John Catanzara’s “apology” is classic MAGA—deflection, projection, and media bashing.
Posted inMusic
Lori Branch’s greatest moments in Chicago music history
Pioneering house DJ Lori Branch shouts out her fellow Windy City originators, including Chaka Khan and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Posted inNews & Politics
Eve Ewing still believes in Chicago’s public schools
The new book Ghosts in the Schoolyard explains why people care so much about institutions that the world has deemed “failing.”
Posted inNews & Politics
Following the Van Dyke trial through the WBEZ podcast 16 Shots
The audio show explores every perspective of the high-profile case.
Posted inBlogs
The pattern to Rahm’s sexual predator, filthy schools, and special ed scandals
If anything points to the need for an elected CPS school board that’s independent of the mayor, this is it.
Posted inBlogs
After veterans’ home cover-up, is Rauner the state’s most secretive schmuck?
As the WBEZ exposé into the Legionnaire’s outbreak in Quincy reveals, Rauner will do just about anything to keep the public from knowing what he’s up to.
Posted inBlogs
Genre-blurring singer-songwriter Tasha offers comfort to young black women on ‘Lullaby’
With her newest single, Tasha Viets-VanLear proves herself a perfect match for Saturday’s community-focused Winter Block Party at Metro.
Posted inBlogs
From the archive: Remembering radio storyteller Joe Frank
His work inspired a generation of broadcasters, including Ira Glass.
Posted inArts & Culture
How do I hate Navy Pier? Let me count the ways.
The tourist trap is a panic-inducing labyrinth of light, sound, and smells.
Posted inNews & Politics
Chicago police commonly confiscate and throw away the tents of the homeless
CPD’s policy seems more concerned with optics than with law and order.
Posted inBlogs
Horace Mann Elementary School’s winter concert and more of the best things to do in Chicago this week
The Lincoln Lodge’s Christmas Feztacular and more goings-on about town the week of 12/18-12/21