In the Loop

Presidential candidates have been flying into Chicago, seeking support from local politicians. The city sees a violent Fourth of July holiday, and drivers are seeing extra fees at the pump. Those are just a few of the week’s top local stories the Morning Shift breaks down on our Friday News Roundup.

We dig into the history of the General Richard L. Jones Armory. Plus, we go inside the 'Fantastic Bugs' exhibit at Chicago's Field Museum. GUESTS: Dennis Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business residential real estate reporter Robin Delapena, Collections Assistant at Field Museum’s Integrative Research Center Emily Parr, exhibition’s projects manager

Northwestern University sociology and African-American studies professor Celeste Watkins-Hayes spent a decade documenting the lives of more than 100 Chicago women living with HIV/AIDS. Her new book “Remaking a Life: How Women Living with HIV/AIDS Confront Inequality” chronicles a number of obstacles women face before their diagnoses. But the book is not a collection of stories of despair.

Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center announced it will close its obstetrics unit in August, leaving many African American women in the area with few options for prenatal care. The news came as a shock to the all-female, all-black staff of nurses and doctors that run the unit and the community at large, and it comes in a time of need. Black women in the United States are three to four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women, and the situation in Illinois is even worse than the national average. The U.S. is also the only developed nation in the world where the overall maternal mortality rate is on the rise. Morning Shift talks with a nurse and an organizer about the black maternal health crisis and what this move at Jackson Park will mean for women and their families.

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for our Friday News Roundup when we break down some of the biggest local stories in our city and region.  This week, the list includes a couple of Supreme Court rulings that will have a big effect in our area, key moves by Mayor Lightfoot and Governor Pritzer, and an ongoing problem with a massive DNA backlog in Illinois.  Morning Shift breaks down the news with Heather Cherone, managing editor and City Hall reporter at the Daily Line, and WBEZ criminal justice reporter Patrick Smith.

Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S. But according to the American Psychological Association, they're two to three times less likely to seek mental health services than other Americans. We'll hear from a variety of sources, including The Morning Shift's own Stephanie Kim, plus doctors and researchers familiar with the situation in these communities. 

First there was Lincoln Yards. Then The 78. Now, one mega-development to rule them all is being proposed. It’s called One Central, and it would essentially create a new neighborhood on top of train tracks that would link the South Loop to the lakefront. We’ll give you an inside look on what it is, who’s behind it, and the chances of it actually happening. Plus Gery Chico has helmed a number of major boards and a number of city entities. Now, he’s been tapped by LISC, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, to make the connections between residents in neighborhoods, City Hall, and foundations and individuals willing to help financially as LISC works to create resources and build entrepreneurial anchors in underserved communities.

Nearly 40 percent of former inmates in Illinois wind up back in prison. Dozens of programs are out there to try to help these people reintegrate into society, but rules, regulations, and the stigma don’t make it easy for someone trying to leave their past behind and start fresh. For 10 years, the Inner City Muslim Action Network has been perfecting a program that takes a holistic and family-oriented approach, and it’s had quite a bit of success. Plus 50 years ago, a group of jazz fans wanted to create an organization that would present jazz in all its forms, preserve the history of Chicago jazz, and instill a love for the music in future generations. This weekend, the Jazz Institute of Chicago celebrates 50 years with 3 days of free events in Hyde Park.

A consent decree in Illinois says that the Department of Children and Family Services is supposed to place children with families that speak the same language. That doesn’t always happen, and the consequences can be painful. Plus, the latest Movie That Made Me has Vocalo host and stand-up comic Tribble talking about the Eddie Murphy classic Coming To America

Vocalist and music educator Tammy McCann has been named The DuSable Museum's American Music Curator At Large. McCann wants to expand the museum's footprint when it comes to music, and believes that learning about culture through music is one of the best ways people from different backgrounds and world views can come together and understand each other better. McCann lays out some of the ideas she has brewing for 2019-2020 exhibitions.  Plus a new documentary shows that early childhood education, and an early life in a nurturing,  stress-free environment can make a massive difference on an individual both mentally and physically later in life, and how paying closer attention to children aged 0-3 can mean billions of dollars saved by society in the long run.