Author: WBEZ Chicago

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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - WBEZ’s Weekly News Recap: August 15, 2025

Lots of news this week! President Trump threatens to deploy the National Guard to Chicago. Texas House Democrats announce plans to leave Illinois and return home. And the Cook County State’s Attorney decides not to file charges against officers who killed motorist Dexter Reed. Reset breaks down these stories and much more with WBEZ statehouse reporter Alex Degman, WTTW News correspondent Nick Blumberg and Chalkbeat Chicago reporter Reema Amin. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - Illinois Is Helping Black Residents Trace Their Ancestry Back To Africa

A new program is helping Illinoisans of African descent reconnect and reclaim ancestral ties lost due to the transatlantic slave trade. In a period spanning over 400 years, more than 13 million men, women, and children were forcibly transported across the Atlantic Ocean to work in the Americas, devastating familial bonds. Now, the Illinois Family Roots Pilot program is offering free DNA testing so people can trace their roots into the past and connect with living relatives. Reset learns more about the state program and hears from two Chicago-area residents who connected after DNA testing showed they were related. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
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Curious City - School is in session, and we put the CPS butter cookie to the test

Summer is coming to an end, and it’s time to go back to school. Today, the number of Chicago Public School students complaining about school lunch might only be matched by the complaints over homework assignments. So it may come as a surprise that decades ago CPS students actually looked forward to eating cafeteria lunch. In our last episode, WBEZ’s Sarah Karp found that privatization of food services and revamped health guidelines shifted the menu for CPS students. During Karp’s reporting, many alumni kept mentioning an old lunchtime staple, the famed CPS butter sugar cookie. This was a cookie served district wide and baked fresh by lunchroom staff during the 1960s-1980s. The cookie has long been discontinued in schools, but there’s still a cult following. Dozens of copycat recipes pop up on a simple internet search, and one woman even turned it into a business. Curious City decided to put this cookie to the test. With the help of CPS culinary instructor Jeffrey Newman and a dupe recipe, we re-created this classic lunchroom treat. Is it worth all the hype? Will current CPS students like it? Or is this merely a dose of childhood nostalgia?
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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - What Reparations Could Look Like In Chicago

A Chicago taskforce is exploring what reparations could mean for the city’s Black residents, and it’s taking an open-minded approach, considering more than just money. Meanwhile, Evanston continues to disburse funds to Black residents and descendents affected by the city’s history of discriminatory housing practices, such as redlining. So, what’s happened with reparations so far, and what comes next for Evanston, Chicago and other local communities? Resets gets the latest on the push for reparations in the Chicago area. Today’s panel: Tonia Hill, multimedia producer, The TRiiBE; Pilar Audain, associate director, Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Greater Chicago; and Vanessa Johnson-McCoy, operations and community engagement manager, Reparations Stakeholders Authority of Evanston. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - New Independent Record Label Comes To Chicago

Rosa’s Blues Lounge has launched an independent record label to highlight the work of unrecorded artists. Plus, the label aims to ensure artists retain rights to their intellectual property. Chicago blues artist, Billy Branch, was the first performer on Rosa's stage — now 41 years later, he and his band were the first to sign with Rosa’s Record Label which launched Aug. 1. Reset speaks with Billy Branch and co-founders of the label, Tony Mangiullo and Marni Willenson about the story of the venue, the creation of the label and how this could contribute to Chicago’s blues scene. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - Connecting Homeless Chicagoans To Housing

In the past year, two tent encampments have been cleared by the city, but people are still living in tents and green spaces and under viaducts throughout the city. As President Trump begins a high profile campaign to clear encampments in D.C., we look at the ways being homeless and living outside is criminalized, the strain on residents when there are encampments in parks and what the city and social service organizations are doing to find homes for the unhoused. Reset speaks with Sendy Soto, Chicago Chief Homelessness Officer, David Wywialowski, director of Outreach and Health at the Night Ministry, Doug Schenkelberg, executive director of the Chicago Coalition To End Homelessness and Mark Ishaug, CEO of Thresholds. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - What’s The Oldest Building In Chicago? Act II

Have you ever wondered, “What is the oldest house in Chicago?” Well, you wouldn’t be the first. In this latest edition of our What’s That Building series, we explore the Noble–Seymour–Crippen House, named after three families who owned it before the Norwood Park Historical Society purchased the building. Reset learns more with Reset architecture sleuth Dennis Rodkin, Rev. Kevin Anthony Ford of St. Paul Church of God in Christ and Noble-Seymour-Crippen house docent Art Krumrey. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.
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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - Show Me The Money! The Future Of Chicago Area Transit Funding

Illinois state lawmakers missed the deadline to close the $770 million budget gap for the CTA before the end of the fiscal year. If the budget gap is not filled, Chicago area-wide transit could face cuts, possibly eliminating 4 train lines and more than 65 buses. Reset hears more about the public transit fiscal cliff and how it will affect the CTA with Illinois Sen. Ram Villivalam of the 8th District, RTA director of government affairs Rob Nash and Better Streets Chicago executive director Kyle Lucas. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.