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From left, Jena-Lisa Jones and Jess Michaels, survivors of abuse by late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and Veronica Pierce, Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center's director of multi-disciplinary team coordination, on April 22, 2026. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
Jess Michaels and Jena-Lisa Jones, survivors of sexual abuse by the sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, said they are still far from getting justice. But they hope the increased attention on the Epstein files — and the stories of survivors — will help others stand up to abuse happening in their own communities. “Everyone thinks it’s just about this layer of wealthy people that this is happening with,” Michaels said. “No, it’s in your own backyard, it’s in your town, it’s in your family, it’s in your schools, it’s in your sports programs.”
Michaels was the keynote speaker at the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center’s Luminary Award Dinner fundraiser on Wednesday night. WTTW News spoke with Michaels and Jones ahead of the event. Michaels says she was sexually abused by Epstein in 1991 when she was 22 years old.
For Michaels, who was also a childhood sexual abuse survivor, the experience of fighting for accountability and seeing what she described as a “cover-up” of Epstein’s sex trafficking network made her recognize: “It’s about systems that are broken.” What the center does:
Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center opened in 2001 and aims to support survivors of childhood domestic and sexual violence. The nonprofit serves as a frontline responder to reports of abuse, working in partnership with child protection staff, law enforcement, family advocates and medical and mental health clinicians. Veronica Pierce, director of multi-disciplinary team coordination at the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center, said she is honored to work with children brave enough to tell their stories.
Pierce described the cycle of abuse, and how children can grow up to become traumatized, unhealed adults, leading to more traumatized people. “It is so important to have these places for children to go and have someone advocating and being in their corner because when you’re going through that as a child, you feel so alone in all of this,” Jones said.
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Sponsor Message
Each year, more than 60,000 mothers in need turn to Catholic Charities. Offering support at a critical moment often changes the course of a mom’s life and her family’s future. Through essential services like food, diapers and even housing assistance, Catholic Charities helps families across Cook and Lake counties regardless of faith, zip code, or ethnicity. For many, hope starts the moment someone says, “You don’t have to do this alone.” Hope starts here. Learn more at catholiccharities.net
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Photo of the surface of the moon, with Earth in the background, taken by the Artemis II mission. (Courtesy of NASA)
NASA’s 10-day Artemis II mission showed off the rigor and precision that has made the agency a household name. When the Orion spacecraft hurtled back to Earth earlier this month, it reached speeds of more than 25,000 miles per hour and withstood heat up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, at a time scientists predicted down to the second, after sending four humans on a journey over a quarter of a million miles. With another successful mission under its belt, it’s looking like the space agency might be ready to take the next steps in human space exploration. And the public is ready to see what those steps might be.
“The wonder that exploring space brings about, I see that on people’s faces every day at my work,” said Hunter Miller, a public observing educator at the Adler Planetarium. Artemis II was one stepping stone toward NASA’s plan of building a permanent base on the moon, where astronauts haven’t been since 1972. But in that time, a lot has changed here on Earth.
More context: While the Artemis II mission served mainly as a test of the Orion spacecraft, there are plans to put boots on the ground of the moon not too far in the future.
Artemis III in 2027 will give astronauts the chance to test out docking with a new lunar lander while in Earth’s orbit. And Artemis IV, planned for 2028, will mark the official return to the moon’s surface. “It is absolutely soon, but when you have things like Artemis II that have launched, they’re using very similar technology, … there’s a lot of moving parts for these missions, but they always like to project their most positive outlooks,” Miller said.
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Ald. Gilbert Villegas (WTTW News)
After months without a permanent leader, a key piece of Chicago’s development pipeline is moving again. Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward) was recently chosen to lead the City Council’s Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards, putting him at the center of decisions that shape everything from residential housing to billion-dollar developments.
He takes over the role from the zoning vice chair, Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th Ward), who had been acting as the interim leader and was also vying for the permanent position. At last Wednesday’s Chicago City Council meeting Villegas recognized Lawson, saying the vice chair is “a wealth of knowledge and I look forward to working with him to make sure that we’re putting forward policies that help developers get things built quickly so we can realize the much-needed property tax revenue in order to fund government services.” The Zoning Committee will meet for the first time in months on May 6 with a backlog of more than 100 proposed zoning changes on the agenda.
“We’ll hear about 85 to 90% of those projects,” Villegas said of the upcoming meeting. “Then on May 19, we’ll have another meeting where we’ll deal with some of those rollover projects as well as some tax amendments on ordinances that need to be moved.” Villegas’ former leadership posting as chair of the Committee on Economic, Capital and Technological Development goes to Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th Ward). City Council’s Black Caucus backed Villegas’ push to lead the Zoning Committee, in part, because it made way for Curtis — a member of the Black Caucus — to head the economic committee. “What we didn’t want to do was set precedence around allowing freshmen the ability to have a powerful committee like zoning,” Villegas said, in reference to Lawson. “Here was an opportunity to promote a colleague of mine (Curtis) who’s in his third term as well.” Developing housing and other multi-use buildings in Chicago is challenging given the city’s strict zoning that limits what can be built and where, and a large share of land is zoned specifically for single-family homes.
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More From WTTW News:
Chicago bills itself as a world-class city, but when it comes to recycling, its performance has been less than first-rate. WTTW News explains.
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Back in the Day: April 23, 1966 - Fergie Jenkins Debuts for the Cubs
In April of 1966, the Philadelphia Phillies traded their rookie pitcher, Fergie Jenkins, to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Adolpho Phillips and infielder John Herrnstein. Though hindsight is 20-20, the trade was a steal for the North Siders: Jenkins would go on to win 284 games in 19 seasons while Phillips and Herrnstein were both out of Major League Baseball within two years. On this day 60 years ago, Jenkins debuted for the Cubs in a game against Los Angeles. A relief pitcher at the time, Jenkins appeared in the third inning with the bases loaded and two outs. He immediately ended the threat by forcing the opposing batter to fly out. He stayed hot behind the mound, keeping the
Dodgers scoreless and retiring eight batters in the row in the middle of the game. He even helped on offense: he drove in a single and got an RBI, securing the win and leading the Cubs to a 2-0 victory. The then 23-year-old Canadian pitcher would go on to become a franchise legend, playing 10 seasons with the Cubs in two separate stints.
This Week’s Arts and Culture Events
Every Thursday, WTTW News newsletter producer Josh Terry highlights his picks for the week’s must-see cultural events. Baseball season is in full swing, and the NBA and NHL playoffs have begun too. While it’s sad that Chicago teams didn’t make any of these respective leagues’ postseasons, the good news is you can
