Chicago Newsroom

Ken Davis is joined by Regional Transportation Authority Chair Kirk Dillard for a discussion about the serious fiscal shortfalls the RTA is experiencing in federal and state funding. There’s at least $20 billion in unmet capital needs just to repair or replace equipment and facilities that have exceeded their useful life, and about ten billion needed over the next decade for proper maintenance of the most heavily used equipment in day-to-day operations. Dillard says that the RTA is working with Metra to study the possibility of using expanded Metra Electric service instead of a full-scale Red line extension to 130th Street, and he’s trying to convince legislative leaders and the governor that Illinois needs to raise its gas taxes to fund mass transit. The State, he says, is a “deadbeat” in funding transit, because it owes the RTA more than half a billion in allocated funds that were never delivered. This program was produced by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).

Ken Davis talks about the status of Chicago’s thousands of DACA recipients with three activists in Chicago’s immigrant rights community: Ruth Lopez-McCarthy (National Immigrant Justice Center), Laura Mendoza (Resurrection Project) and Fred Tsao (Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights). They discuss the ways in which the program grew to encompass more than 800,000 people nationally and how DACA has been severely challenged by the Trump administration. This program was produced by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).

Ken Davis is joined by three veteran Chicago reporters: WBEZ’s Sarah Karp, Chicago Public Square’s Charlie Meyerson and NPR’s David Schaper. They discuss the surprising degree of youth activism that’s sprung up in Florida following the mass shooting there and the effect it’s having on American politics. They also discuss the recent change of administration at Chicago Public Schools and assess new CEO Janice Jackson’s likelihood for success after Forrest Claypool – and Sarah’s recent report on the “hollowing out” of Chicago’s Hope High School. Finally, the panel assesses the likelihood for success of President Trump’s infrastructure plan, which proposes to spend 1.5 trillion dollars, almost none of it federal money – and the prospects for Block Club Chicago, the new company that proposes to replace DNAInfo Chicago. This program was produced by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).

Ken Davis is joined by Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza. They discuss her reaction to Governor Rauner’s budget address yesterday. She says she believes the proposed budget is more than 1.5 billion out of balance, and that the Governor’s proposal to shift about a billion dollars in pension costs to the local school districts, which she opposes, will never pass the Legislature. She talks about how she has worked to re-define the role of Comptroller as an activist watchdog for the State’s finances, and has begun publishing a “debt transparency report. She reaffirms her strong support for JB Pritzker, and says that her political ally Mike Madigan should take the sexual harassment charges in his office very seriously. This program was produced by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).

Ken Davis is joined by transit consultant and Chicago Reader columnist Ed Zotti, to discuss a range of issues facing Chicago’s transit systems. Ridership is falling, and it’s thought that ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft may be cutting into the system’s customer base. But significant improvements are being made to both the rail and bus system, and Zotti is optimistic that Chicago public transit’s best days are still ahead. This program was produced by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).

Ken Davis is joined by the Daily Line’s A.D. Quig, who explained the complicated battle over ballot petition legitimacy that’s roiling the Assessor’s race in the upcoming primary. She also discusses the decades-long effort to bring certain Cook County offices’ IT systems up to date, especially those in the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office, which have attracted angry comments from County commissioners. This program was produced by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).

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Ken Davis is joined by Chicago Tribune columnist Robert Reed. They discuss the future of retailing in Chicago, the upsides and downsides of an Amazon HQ in our city, Net Neutrailty, the rollout of 5-G internet, ridership erosion on the CTA, modernization challenges for McDonald’s and how Walgreen’s will combat Amazon’s logistics dominance. This program was produced by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).

Ken Davis is joined by the Illinois Solar Energy Association’s Lisa Albrecht, who discusses the impact of President Trump’s 30% tariff on solar panels manufactured in China and certain other countries. Solar is now a $9 billion industry employing over 300,000 Americans, but only a few thousand are in the manufacturing sector. Critics have charged that, in order to help the small minority of workers in manufacturing, the new trade policy will actually victimize the hundreds of thousands who install the panels. But Albrecht, whose company Solar Service in Niles, installs solar throughout the area, says she believes the new policy will be a minor hindrance since demand for solar is now so strong. This program was produced by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).

Craig Newman is joined by ProPublica Illinois' Editor in Chief Louise Kiernan and reporter Jason Grotto. They discuss being the first regional publishing operation of ProPublica and their reporting around Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios. This program was produced by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).

Craig Newman is joined by Lauren FitzPatrick of the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Reporter's Kalyn Belsha to discuss the state of education in Chicago and the future of CPS under new CEO Janice Jackson. Kalyn also discusses her reporting on the drastically changing dynamic at CPS as thousands of African American students leave the system. This program was produced by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).