Category: 4-FrequentNewsStreams

A $336 million loan will be used over five years to primarily fund the city’s program that replaces lead service lines when they break or leak. The Department of Water Management’s other programs to replace lead service lines at daycares and for low-income homeowners will continue. Reset learns about the scope of this effort and how this could help improve Chicagoans’ water from Reset sustainability contributor Karen Weigert and commissioner of the Department of Water Management Andrea Cheng. To check out our entire catalog of interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

The strike is over. The negotiating committee for the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA won increases in minimum rates, greater access to health care and baseline protections against AI technology for its members. The union also conceded streaming residuals by agreeing to split among union actors an estimated $120 million bonus paid out by studios for streamed content deemed “successful” during the 3-year contract. Ahead of the member vote to ratify, Reset checks in with Charles Andrew Gardner, president of SAG-AFTRA Chicago, to learn more. Want to stay up to date with all things Reset? Sign up for our newsletter at wbez.org/resetnews.

One of Brandon Johnson’s top City Council allies resigns his leadership post; state legislators wrap up fall veto session; President Biden visits UAW workers at Belvidere auto plant and is met with protesters. Reset goes behind those headlines and more in our Weekly News Recap with Leigh Giangreco, government and politics reporter for Crain’s Chicago Business; Ravi Baichwal, anchor at ABC7; and Jon Seidel, federal courts reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. If you want to check out more Reset conversations, go to wbez.org/reset.

A new federal program is launched Thursday in Chicago. Its goal is to help bring assistance to asylum seekers and new arrivals to apply for work permits. It’s a collaborative effort between the White House, Illinois, Chicago’s City Hall and Pilsen-based community organization The Resurrection Project. Reset gets more details about the program with Erendira Rendon, vice president of immigrant justice at The Resurrection Project, to learn how it will operate and how they plan on helping all new arrivals. To listen to more of our coverage on migrants and asylum seekers in Chicago, go to wbez.org/reset.

In March, Chicago voters will get to decide the future of the city’s Bring Chicago Home ordinance. The ordinance would raise the city’s tax rate on properties sold for over a million dollars and would lower tax rates on properties sold for less than that. According to Mayor Brandon Johnson’s camp, this referendum is a key part of his plans to address homelessness in Chicago. Reset hears from Bring Chicago Home organizers Kennedy Bartley of United Working Families and Electa Bey of Communities United. We also hear from Farzin Parang of the Building Owners and Managers Association to understand what those opposed are concerned about. If you want to listen to more Reset, you can check out our full catalog of interviews at wbez.org/reset.

The number of kids being diagnosed with myopia, or nearsightedness, is increasing. And if our tech habits continue, eye doctors predict that half of the world’s population will have myopia by 2050. Scary. Reset talks to Dr. Lisa Thompson, an attending physician of Pediatric Ophthalmology at Cook County Medical Center, and Dr. Noreen Shaikh, an optometrist at Lurie Children’s Hospital, to understand the way screen time is affecting children’s eyes. Stay up to date with Reset by signing up for our daily newsletter at wbez.org/resetnews.

On Monday, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, 35th Ward, resigned from two key leadership positions at the urging of Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus after an interaction Ramirez-Rosa had last week with Ald. Emma Mitts, 37th Ward. Reset learns more.

The U.S. leads the world in mass incarceration, with nearly two million people behind bars. But what paths are there to rehabilitation and freedom? Reset speaks with Chicago-based journalist Ben Austen about his new book “Correction: Parole, Prison and the Possibility of Change.” If you want to listen to more conversations like this, check out wbez.org/reset.

On October 7, Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,400 people and kidnapping more than 240. Reset hears how two area rabbis are confronting the attack, the war and growing antisemitism as they help congregants deal with the grief, sadness and other emotions they’re facing. For Reset’s full coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and how it’s affecting the Chicago area, head over to wbez.org/reset.

In the last month, two Chicago-area Muslim schools have received violent threats, a six-year-old Palestinian American boy was fatally stabbed and a suburban man was charged with a hate crime for threatening to shoot two Muslim men. For some Arab and Muslim Chicagoans, these news stories take them back to their lives in the days and weeks after 9/11. Reset learns more about what the community is experiencing from Chicago Sun-Times reporter Nader Issa. For Reset’s full coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and how it’s affecting the Chicago area, head over to wbez.org/reset.