In the Loop

Mykele Deville is an actor, a poet, an author, a teacher, and a hip hop artist. He talks about his latest album Maintain, and about growing up on Chicago's West Side.  And you don't need to go to Japan to enjoy the fragile beauty of cherry blossoms. Just head to Chicago's Jackson Park. 

Join NBC’s Mary Ann Ahern, WTTW’s Amanda Vinicky, and the Daily Line’s Heather Cherone, as they talk about the biggest news stories of the week. Governor Pritzker’s graduated income tax, Mayor Emanuel touts his accomplishments, Mayor-Elect Lightfoot talks public safety. Those are just some of the stories we touch on in our Friday News Roundup.

A new report in the Chicago Tribune says that some victims of violent domestic abuse may be at risk of being hurt again as the cost of bond drops and prosecutors drop cases as part of sweeping criminal justice reforms. And the marijuana industry in Illinois is poised to explode. One state lawmaker is leading a team to make sure that the benefits are spread around to benefit communities of color.

JB Pritzker was elected governor pushing some big ideas to generate revenue for our cash-starved state, including a graduated income tax, recreational marijuana, and sports gambling. Now that he’s sworn in and lawmakers are beginning their spring session, we find out how hard it’ll be to turn those ideas into legislation from WBEZ’s Dave McKinney Plus...Cresco Labs has been a leader in Illinois’ medical marijuana industry, overseeing everything from growing facilities to dispensaries. We get a preview of what legal pot would mean for the people, the state, and the marijuana business if and when full legalization occurs.

Cook County Commissioner Brandon Jones helped usher the “Just Housing Amendment” through the process to become law in the county. While some landlords are concerned, Jones says this is a huge step to bringing down the number of homeless families in his district, and making sure people aren’t further stigmatized for a mistake they made years ago. Then, what does it mean for a neighborhood to be given “landmark status”? It may happen to a large part of Pilsen. We weigh the pros and cons for homeowners living in the area.

Former Chicago Public Schools chief and former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is now at the helm of CRED -- that stands for Creating Real Economic Destiny. Its mission is to find the young people in Chicago most at risk of using a gun, and giving them the opportunities and support they need to put the gun down and see that there are other options out there, and people willing to help them on a fresh journey. Plus Dr. Leana Wen on leading Planned Parenthood at a moment where she believes not only reproductive rights, but the very right to health care in America is under attack.

David Wallace-Wells is the author of The Uninhabitable Earth. The book describes the fires, floods, and famine we’ll experience as our planet heats up. It’s not a pretty picture. And we talk with Anya Sastry. The 16-year-old from Barrington is national outreach director for the U.S. Youth Climate Strike, an organization of young people pushing for the New Green Deal and raising awareness about climate change.

From the statehouse to city hall, from the offices of DCFS to the offices of CTU, WBEZ’s Tony Arnold, freelance reporter Kim Bellware, and Fernando Diaz of the Chicago Reporter fill you in on the biggest stories in and around Chicagoland on The Morning Shift’s Friday News Roundup

51 Chicago women-mostly Black, mostly from the South and West sides, have been strangled over a 20 year period. The police have said there’s no link between them. Experts and community activists say otherwise. We sit down with one of the few lawmakers getting involved is Patricia Van Pelt (IL-5th) Then, Silky Nutmeg Ganache is big, and bold, and Black, and highly educated, and not apologizing for any of it. The Chicagoan is competing in this season’s RuPaul’s Drag Race, and dishes about the show, and her journey.

Toni Preckwinkle may not be mayor of Chicago, but she’s still running the 2nd most populous county in the U.S. She talks about the challenges ahead, and where she thinks she’ll find common ground with incoming mayor Lightfoot. Then, Kwame Raoul ran away with the attorney general’s race. But what has he prioritized in his first 100 days? Making sure traumatized crime victims don’t become perpetrators is at or near the top of his list.