Author: WBEZ Chicago

From lions and a zebra born at the Lincoln Park Zoo, to spottings of snapping turtles, bats, and rats throughout Chicago, the reminder that wildlife is here, not just on TV, is all around. Reset revisits some of the biggest animal stories from this year with Seth Magle and Dave Bernier of the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Since the start of the AIDS epidemic, what’s changed? The medicine. What’s continued? The stigma. Reset brings together two people living with HIV in a conversation crossing generations and speaks with Dr. Sadia Haider of RUSH University Medical Center about efforts to educate heterosexual women about HIV transmission.

The Illinois primary is 109 days away. The Ed Burke trial is heating up. And the city of Chicago teams up with churches to house migrants. We’ll break down those stories and more in WBEZ’s Weekly News Recap with panelists Monica Eng, reporter for Axios Chicago, Michael Loria, reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, and Dave McKinney, WBEZ state politics reporter.

Federal investigators are taking aim at the role aldermanic prerogative has on the lack of affordable housing in Chicago. After a nearly five-year investigation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that alderpersons’ ability to veto affordable housing proposals has been “instrumental in creating Chicago’s patterns of segregation.” Reset learns more from Roderick Wilson, executive director of Lugenia Burns Hope Center; and Monica Dillon, resident of the 41st ward and member of Neighbors for Affordable Housing. For more Reset news delivered straight to your inbox, visit wbez.org/resetnews.

As winter sets in, a new partnership between the city and local churches called the Unity Initiative will house newcomers on a temporary basis in an effort to address the migrant crisis in Chicago. Reset checks in with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Michael Loria and Rev. Jonathan de la O of Starting Point Community Church. For more conversations like this, check out our full catalog of interviews at wbez.org/reset.

All eighth graders in Illinois public schools need to take this test to graduate. Traditionally, it’s been a 15 true-false question quiz covering the U.S. and Illinois constitutions. Now, more school districts are moving away from that version and opting for short answer questions that require more critical thinking. Reset discusses how civic education these days is focusing less on dates and facts and stressing the important role students play in shaping democracy. Plus, we’ll see if a couple of our WBEZ colleagues can pass the test!

Sports writer Rick Telander started writing poetry when he was hospitalized with a serious illness and thought about what kids who were in his situation might be going through. Reset talks with Telander about seeing his longtime side project come to fruition with the publication of Sweet Dreams: Poems and Paintings for the Child Abed. If you liked this conversation, check out our full catalog of interviews with Chicago artists and newsmakers at wbez.org/reset.

Nearly 26,000 migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago since August 2022. The post-Thanksgiving cold snap has highlighted just how important it is to find housing for the thousands currently sleeping in police stations, tents and the city’s airports. Reset gets the latest on the Johnson administration’s plans for a tent camp in Brighton Park and hears about other efforts to house migrants and asylum seekers from WBEZ city government and politics reporter Tessa Weinberg. To explore our full catalog of interviews, head on over to wbez.org/reset.

Chicago-based Foxtrot Market and Dom’s Kitchen and Market — both upscale supermarkets with food service — will join forces. Reset talks with Virginia Lee, a market research expert and Food Institute writer, about what the merger means. To explore our full catalog of interviews, head on over to wbez.org/reset.