Skip to main content
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks at a news conference in Chicago on Jan. 26, 2012.

WBEZ News

Preckwinkle: $82M Budget Hole Means ‘Difficult Choices’ For Cook County

Cook County leaders might have to brace for more painful cuts, less than a year after hundreds of layoffs.
June 19, 2018
An image of Rahm Emanuel, Garry McCarthy and Dean Angelo's signatures on the city of Chicago's contract with the Fraternal Order of Police

WBEZ News

Why Chicago Police Reform Could Hinge On This Expired Contract

An expired contract with Chicago’s police union could affect efforts to increase oversight of CPD after Laquan McDonald.
June 18, 2018
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks during a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017.

Morning Shift

Emanuel Talks Walgreens Jobs, Calls Trump Policy ‘Abhorrent’

The mayor addressed the move to the old post office and the Trump administration’s "abhorrent" immigration policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.
June 18, 2018
A child eats at a shelter in Brownsville, Texas, in an undated photo obtained from the Department of Health and Human Services by Reuters. The government says it separated nearly 2,000 children from adults at the U.S. southern border over the course of six recent weeks.

NPR

'We Do Not Have A Policy' Of Separating Families, DHS Secretary Nielsen Says

On Sunday, former first lady Laura Bush said, "this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart."
June 18, 2018
University of Chicago Lab School seventh-grader Zara Baig records on a machine, known as a recording lathe, that in the 1920s, allowed Americans to record themselves for the first time.

WBEZ News

Students Record On The Machine That Democratized Music

Recording music wasn’t always as easy as clicking a button, as some Chicago middle school students recently learned.
June 15, 2018
East Chicago Thumbnail

Curious City

How Pollution Seeped Into The Lives Of East Chicago Residents

When pollution invaded Ezell Foster’s East Chicago neighborhood, he found himself stuck between industry and a bureaucracy.
June 16, 2018

Featured Events

See All Events

Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me!

Get Tickets
Dame Stephanie Shirley changed her name to Steve Shirley shortly after starting her software business in the early 1960s. "It was my first bit of strategic marketing," she says. (Photo courtesy of Dame Steve Shirley / Illustration by Paula Friedrich)

Nerdette

Breaking The Tech Industry’s Glass Ceiling … In 1962

“We were memorable,” says Dame Steve Shirley of her female-majority software company that broke into the tech boys club.
June 15, 2018
A sign at Humboldt Park Beach tells swimmers about the yellow flag atop the lifeguard stand on May 28, 2018.

WBEZ News

Why Don’t Chicago Beaches Have A Poop Threshold?

Fecal bacteria at 12th Street Beach skyrocketed Sunday — exceeding federal warning levels by nearly 100 times — but the beach wasn’t closed.
June 15, 2018
Artist John Preus with a shelf created from furniture he got from Chicago's closed public schools.

WBEZ News

Furniture From Closed CPS Schools Ends Up In Surprising Places

A teacher’s angry email about online ad for school furniture leads our reporter to a warehouse of furniture and a gallery of art.
June 15, 2018
Brazil's Neymar celebrates scoring against Paraguay at a 2018 World Cup qualifying soccer match in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, March 28, 2017.

Worldview

8 Great Places To Watch World Cup 2018 In Chicago

What’s that in the distance? A vuvuzela? Yup, the World Cup is coming, and there are plenty of awesome places in Chicago to watch the games.
June 14, 2018
Carl Reimann on the night of his arrest in 1972 (left) and more recently (right). Reimann was paroled in April at the age of 77. (Images via the Kendall County Sheriff's Office and the Illinois Department of Corrections)

WBEZ News

State Struggling To House Paroled Prisoner As Communities Push Him Out

Carl Reimann’s advocates say he’s reformed, but neighborhoods haven't been open to housing the paroled murderer.
June 12, 2018
Hamilton House

WBEZ News

Retired Homicide Detective Builds A Family Of Foster Kids

Over 70 foster children have found a home — and a father — at this retired homicide detective’s Chicago home.
June 15, 2018

Get the WBEZ App

Download the best live and on-demand public radio experience. Find out more.

CLOSE X