Category: 4-FrequentNewsStreams

Vocalo radio, WBEZ’s sister station, features movers and shakers who work to bring healing, joy and inquiry to their communities throughout Chicago as part of the Chi Sounds Like series. Reset highlights a Vocalo feature on a multidisciplinary artist who brings empowerment and joy through connecting youth to their African roots and history.

With nine candidates running in the Chicago mayoral election, it is widely assumed there will be a runoff election, which is all too common in municipal elections here. Some argue that moving to a ranked choice voting system could help prevent runoffs and make voting more democratic. Reset hears from advocates Andrew Szilva and Alisa Kaplan about why they want to see ranked choice voting instituted in Chicago and Illinois. Then we’ll hear from FairVote research analyst Rachel Hutchinson about how the system has worked in other cities and states and from a professor of public policy, Anthony Fowler, about the positives and drawbacks of the system.

Vocalo radio, WBEZ’s sister station on 91.1, is celebrating 15-years of bringing more Chicago artists and stories to the airwaves. Check out Chi Sounds Like for a full list of archived interviews. Reset chats with Ari Mejia who produced the series and the station director, Ayana Contreras to learn more about their programming and features a Vocalo interview with Djedi Ohm

Federal stimulus checks provided a lifeline to many folks earlier in the pandemic, but many didn’t qualify or weren’t able to access payments. The Chicago Resiliency Fund 2.0 aims to distribute one-time $500 payments to people who may have missed out on prior COVID stimulus money. Reset talks to nonprofit workers Katie Durrah and Kathryn Socha about coordinating fund distribution.

Robotics season has begun. Never heard of it? It’s when high school robotics teams meet up to meet the next challenge issued by First Robotics. Reset checks in with the Lane Tech team’s head coach Robert Berg, seniors Gabby Weffer and Joaquin Valencia and junior Jane Bazzell.

The Chicago native brings his personality to life on the dance floor and through his talk show The Rico No Suave Show. Reset checks in with Rico No Suave about embracing his Afro-Cuban heritage, his electrifying salsa skills and what’s bringing him joy.

Three candidates are in a statistical dead heat in the Chicago mayor’s race. UIC faculty have a contract. Locals help earthquake victims. Meanwhile, big changes may be coming for needy parents as lawmakers in Springfield propose a diaper allowance. Reset breaks down these stories and much more with NBC 5’s Christian Farr, former Chicago Sun-Times columnist Maudlyne Ihejirika, and John Fountain, journalism professor at Roosevelt University.

Recycling fabric is harder than it might seem, as most fabrics are a mix of fibers and material types, requiring different techniques that can’t be done on a large scale. Reset checks in with local weaver Emily Winter, co-founder of the Weaving Mill, who is trying out a community-driven way to deal with textile waste.

From crime to transportation to education, we spent an hour talking about top issues with organizer Ja’Mal Green and Ald. Roderick Sawyer. Reset breaks down our second round of mayoral forums with Mariah Woelfel, WBEZ city government reporter, Chip Mitchell, WBEZ criminal justice reporter and Chris Berry, professor in the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.

Reset sits down with Eric Davis and Frank Brim leaders of the BASE Chicago, an organization based in West Garfield Park that provides a range of programming for urban youth from baseball and softball training, to violence prevention and even college readiness.