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Chicago Officials Launching New Effort to Keep Teens Out of Jail with $10M
| Heather Cherone
The new effort will be “trauma-informed and services-oriented,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office. Organizations will be invited to submit proposals to run the effort early next year, officials said.
Rittenhouse Trial Arguments Worry Mental Health Advocates
| Associated Press
While defense attorneys characterized the first man Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot as “irrational and crazy,” to bolster their claims Rittenhouse acted in self-defense, mental health advocates say such depictions add to the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
Pfizer, US Ink $5.29B Deal for Possible COVID-19 Treatment
| Associated Press
Pfizer asked the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday to authorize emergency use of the experimental pill, which has been shown to significantly cut the rate of hospitalizations and deaths among people with coronavirus infections.
November 17, 2021 - Full Show
| WTTW News
A live report from Kenosha as a jury deliberates the fate of Kyle Rittenhouse. Changes for the city’s gang database. Potential relief for some student loan borrowers. And Spotlight Politics.
Rittenhouse Lawyers Ask Judge to Declare Mistrial Over Video
| Associated Press
Judge Bruce Schroeder did not immediately rule on the request, the second mistrial motion from the defense in a week.
Spotlight Politics: COPA Nominee Controversy; Ward Map Battle Continues
| Alexandra Silets
The mayor’s choice to lead the Civilian Office of Police Accountability has caused some controversy with City Council members.
Chicagoan Pours Love of Bikes, Coffee into Business
| Joanna Hernandez
Michael Salvatore, a fifth-generation Chicagoan, opened Heritage Bikes & Coffee in Lakeview in 2012. The business combines two things he loves while paying homage to his family and the city’s cycling history.
New Student Loan Changes Create Barriers for Borrowers
| Leslie Hurtado
The student loan debt crisis is now up to $1.7 trillion. Many federal loan borrowers were temporarily relieved of repayments during the pandemic, but they’re set to resume Feb. 1. And there’s no movement on canceling student debt.
City Council Grants Police Board Power to Remove Chicagoans from Yet-To-Be Finalized Gang Database
| Heather Cherone
The Chicago City Council voted 29-18 on Wednesday to grant the Chicago Police Board the power to overrule the Chicago Police Department and remove a Chicagoan from its gang database.
Deere Workers Approve 3rd Contract Offer, Will End Strike
| Associated Press
The latest proposed contract maintains the 10% immediate raises that the last deal offered, and it makes what the United Auto Workers union called modest changes to the details of Deere’s internal incentive pay program for workers.
Seahorse Daddy Goes Into Labor at Brookfield Zoo, and the Video Is #BirthingGoals
| Patty Wetli
Brookfield Zoo is in the midst of a seahorse baby boom and caught the arrival of its newest little ones on camera. Dad made it look easy.
10 Things to Do This Weekend: Nov. 18-21
| Kristen Thometz
Holiday lights, intricate artwork, butterfly yoga and stand-up comedy usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.
CPS Leaders Working on ‘Contingency Plans’ Ahead of Possible Winter COVID Spike
| Matt Masterson
CPS CEO Pedro Martinez on Wednesday said his team is beginning to set up plans and solidify a specific health metric that can be used to decide when to shut down in-person learning within a school or across the district itself.
Illinois Students Rally to Defend LGBTQ Book as School Board Hears Objections Over Its Content
| CNN
The increasingly heated debate over the presence of certain books in school libraries was aired at a Downers Grove school board meeting this week.
Parents of Murdered Children Demand Steeper Penalties for Killing Kids
| Amanda Vinicky
Illinois has intentionally reduced its prison population, and made changes to sentencing laws to reduce offenders’ time behind bars. Now some victims’ family members are calling for the state to reverse directions when it comes to those who murder children.
‘We’re Behind the Eight Ball’: Debate Rages Over New Chicago Ward Map With 15 Days Until Deadline
| Heather Cherone
The leaders of the Chicago City Council’s Black and Latino caucuses said Tuesday that they could endorse a new Chicago ward map with 18 wards with a majority of Black voters and 15 wards with a majority of Latino voters.
No Verdict After Daylong Deliberations by Rittenhouse Jury
| Associated Press
The jury at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial deliberated a full day on Tuesday without reaching a verdict over whether he was the instigator in a night of bloodshed in Kenosha or a concerned citizen who came under attack while trying to protect property.
A ‘Sister Act’ Production Bound to Raise the Spirits of Musical Theater Believers
| Hedy Weiss
Reneisha Jenkins’ direction, along with the wonderfully playful, hip-swiveling choreography of Christopher Chase Carter and the impeccable music direction of keyboardist Diana Lawrence, has infused the show with genuine emotional heat as well as laugh-generating irreverence and comic sparkle.
Where Does the City Plant Trees? A Ward-by-Ward Analysis
| DePaul’s Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence
Chicago has a long history of segregation and racial inequity. Now, a new data analysis by the DePaul University Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence shows inequity is rooted even in the planting of city trees.
Chicago’s 2008 Climate Action Plan Came Up Short, New Analysis Shows
Advocates say laws, not plans, are needed
| DePaul’s Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence
Three mayors in the past 15 years have all promised to combat the effects of global climate change. But some critics and scientists, along with a new data analysis by the DePaul University Center for Journalism Integrity & Excellence, reveal their efforts have fallen short.
Illinois’ Copy of the Gettysburg Address Is Coming Out of the Vaults, and It Has a Weird Back Story
| Patty Wetli
Illinois’ handwritten copy of the historic document once belonged to the guy who was the main speaker at Gettysburg and whose own two-hour oration was followed by Abraham Lincoln’s 272-word masterpiece.
Chicago’s First Physical NFT Gallery Drops Digital Art
| Evan Garcia
A special kind of art gallery in Chicago is emerging as a brick-and-mortar trailblazer in the digital art world. The art space imnotArt in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood bills itself as the city’s first physical NFT gallery and one of the first of its kind in the world.
Good COP, Bad COP? Takeaways from the New UN Climate Deal
| Associated Press
The annual Conference of the Parties, just held for the 26th time, is all about getting countries to gradually ratchet up their measures to defuse global warming.
Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee Removed from Chicago’s COVID-19 Travel Advisory
| Heather Cherone
One week after it was removed from the advisory, officials returned Arkansas to the list of states with high rates of transmission. The advisory includes 38 states as well as Guam, announced Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Pfizer Asks US Officials to OK Promising COVID-19 Pill
| Associated Press
The company’s filing comes as new infections are rising once again, driven mainly by hot spots in states where colder weather is driving more Americans indoors.
Ethics Board Asks Watchdog to Probe Ald. Gardiner After His Attorney Denies He Violated Ethics Ordinance
| Heather Cherone
Chicago’s inspector general should conduct “a full factual investigation” of Ald. Jim Gardiner's conduct, the Chicago Board of Ethics determined.
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