Category: 4-FrequentNewsStreams

Maternal deaths rose during the first year of the pandemic by 14 percent, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics. But the mortality rate of Black women was nearly three times that of white women. For Black Maternal Health Week, Reset learns more about the health disparities Black women are more likely to face during and after pregnancy and local efforts to reduce them. GUESTS: Karie Stewart, director of midwifery services at UChicago Medicine Stephanie Ivey, patient at UChicago Medicine Felicia Davis Blakley, president and CEO of the Chicago Foundation for Women

Illinois Democrats have approved a balanced budget plan for 2023 that includes $1.8 billion in tax cuts and direct inflation payments for thousands of residents across the state. Reset checks in with two reporters for the latest in Springfield. GUESTS: Dave McKinney, WBEZ state politics reporter Hannah Meisel, NPR Illinois government and politics editor

Lawmakers looking to get tough on crime and give back money to taxpayers before wrapping up the spring legislative session. South Side Alderman Ray Lopez becomes the first candidate to challenge Mayor Lightfoot, while the Mayor’s gas giveaway proposal stalls in City Council. Reset goes behind the headlines on the Weekly News Recap. GUESTS: Paris Schutz, reporter and anchor, WTTW-TV John Chase, Deputy Metro Editor, Chicago Tribune

The Biden administration announced Wednesday it’s again extending the moratorium on federal student loan payments until Aug. 31. The U.S. Department of Education also plans on resetting the accounts of seven million borrowers who are in default. Reset learns more about how these repeated extensions are affecting borrowers and what else could be done to address the $1.6 trillion Americans owe in student debt. GUEST: Natalia Abrams, president and founder of Student Debt Crisis Center

In his new book The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER, Dr. Thomas Fisher takes us back to the early, scary days of the pandemic, when almost everything was unknown and a violent summer ensued. Reset talks with the doctor about his experience and how the pandemic exposed racial inequalities in the healthcare system. GUEST: Dr. Thomas Fisher, emergency medicine physician, UChicago Medicine

Crowds are returning to airports for spring break travel, but will high fuel prices impact airfares? And is it time to drop the COVID travel restrictions? Reset hears from two travel industry experts. GUESTS: Elaine Glusac, Frugal Traveler columnist for the New York Times Joseph Schwieterman, Director of DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development

Psychedelics are largely illegal throughout Illinois but ketamine is available for therapies. Reset hears from the sponsor of a bill seeking to decriminalize plant-based psychedelics, and from a Chicago group about the psychedelic therapies they offer. GUEST: Representative La Shawn K. Ford - D, 8th District of Illinois, Judy Seals, nurse practitioner at Field Trip Health Center in Chicago

Mayor Lightfoot reignites a monumental debate, announcing the statue of Christopher Columbus statue may return to Grant Park. Meanwhile, Democrats eye Chicago as a potential host city for the 2024 convention. Reset talks with WVON commentator and attorney Kimberley Egonmwan and Chicago Sun-Times chief political reporter Tina Sfondeles about the Chicago area’s biggest stories of the week. GUEST: Tina Sfondeles,Chicago Sun-Times chief political reporter, Kimberley Egonmwan [ee-GO-wen], commentator for WVON and attorney

Gov. JB Pritzker is pledging new resources to help fight the opioid epidemic in Illinois. Reset takes a closer look at the state’s plans and talks to two advocates working on the ground on the West Side of Chicago. GUEST: David Jones, Illinois’ new chief behavioral health officer, Luther Syas, director of outreach at the West Side Heroin/Opioid Task Force, Gail Richardson, outreach specialist at the West Side Heroin/Opioid Task Force

In July of 2020, city crews quietly and quickly removed the Christopher Columbus statue from Grant Park after protesters tried to pull it down themselves. Now, she says the statue may be returning to its pedestal. Reset talks to Northwestern University art professor Rebecca Zorach about how statues can help frame our understanding of history, and what should be done about monuments that are deemed problematic. GUEST: Rebecca Zorach, Professor of Art and Art History, Northwestern University