In the Loop

It’s been well over a year since the Trump administration started slapping tariffs on Chinese goods. China has responded in kind, and Illinois corn and soybean producers are taking a hit as one of their biggest export markets dries up. Additional tariffs will mean average consumers in the state will start feeling it as well.

Plus the Chicago Tribune’s food writers have searched out the best middle eastern food in and around Chicago. We hear about some of their favorites

Pro Publica Illinois has taken another deep dive into gambling in the state. This time the focus is on Waukegan, the gambling interests there, and the influence they’re exerting.

Plus the Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards give young people a chance to put their world into words.

Billy Branch was born in Chicago, but he was raised in LA. He’d never been exposed to the blues until, at 17, he moved back to Chicago to attend UIC, and wandered into Grant Park for what many aficionados call “the greatest blues concert ever”. From that moment he was hooked. A few years later he was touring the world with Willie Dixon’s band, and he’s been leading his own band Sons of Blues since the late 70’s.

Branch talks about his life in blues and his new album, Roots and Branches: A Tribute to Little Walter

Small business loans are not being dished out at past rates in minority and low-income areas across Chicagoland and across Illinois. That’s according to a new study from Chicago’s Woodstock Institute. The lack of investment from banks essentially leaves communities without gasoline for their economic engines. We hear from the study’s author, and 2 small business owners trying to access additional capital.

Plus this week’s See Hear Eat has a seriously nerdy bent to it as Chicago’s “King of Geeks” weighs in on fun things to do in and around the city this weekend.

A new WBEZ investigation found 1 in 3 CPS schools continue to have teacher vacancies. Some kids have gone all year without a teacher. And most of those schools are in black neighborhoods. WBEZ’s Sarah Karp explains what she found.

And the impact of Toni Morrison. The prolific author died earlier this week.

Ratings agencies-which determine how fiscally stable a government entity is, which ultimately determines how much it will cost that government to borrow money-have taken a dim view of Illinois’ finances over the last several years. But this week, the state was offered a glimmer of hope. Erik Kim, Senior Director at Fitch Ratings in NYC, believes that the governor and the legislature are taking the right steps to eventually get the state out of it’s financial mess.

Plus State Senator Tom Cullerton is under investigation for his alleged involvement in a no-show job for the teamsters. WBEZ state politics reporter Tony Arnold fills us in.

One weekend in America, two more mass shootings. While the national media focuses on the massacres in El Paso and Dayton, 7 were killed and nearly 50 wounded in Chicago between Friday and Sunday nights.

Earlier this year, as we marked the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting, we brought in two Chicago teens working hard to rid their schools and communities of gun violence.

Construction updates, distracted drivers, and new rail cars are some of the transportation stories you’ll hear from Tribune reporter and WBEZ transportation contributor Mary Wisniewski.

Plus anti-hate activist Christian Picciolini talks about Rocky on the latest installment of The Movie That Made Me.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker made the bulk of the headlines this week. We’ll find out what they said, what they meant, and how they plan to move forward on a number of issues and promises with our panel of journalists. This week we’re joined by Heather Cherone, A.D. Quig, and Dave McKinney.

Pritzker signed a bill that prohibits potential employers from asking applicants about their past salaries. Revealing past salaries often perpetuates the fact that women and minorities are paid less for the same work than white men.

Plus the University of Illinois Cancer Center has re-tooled a successful app for the Latinx community. The app, now available in Spanish, helps keep patients informed about their treatment and the support available for a successful recovery.