In the Loop

Chicago Tribune transportation columnist Mary Wisniewski breaks down a new Census Bureau survey that shows more people are telecommuting, and when they aren't they are still using their car over public transit to head to the office.

As news networks dedicated wall-to-wall coverage to the allegations against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network  experienced a 147 percent increase in calls to its sexual assault hotline. The organization also warned it was "experiencing unprecedented wait times for our online chat." An estimated 20 million people watched as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford gave her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Some viewers took to social media to share how watching the testimony triggered their own past experiences with assault and harassment. We talked with two experts about how best to take care of yourself, and support survivors of assault, in the wake of the Kavanaugh hearings.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican who is vying for a second term in November, appeared on WBEZ’s Morning Shift today. He sat down with host Jenn White, and took questions from callers. You can listen to audio of the entire interview here, and we’ve highlighted seven takeaways from his nearly 30-minute interview. 1. Rauner said the U.S. Senate should delay a vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court until sexual assault allegations against him from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford are investigated. “Dr. Ford's allegations are very serious and they seem very credible. I believe they deserve to be investigated. And I believe a vote should be postponed until they are fully investigated.” Rauner said. Rauner’s comments come as other Republican governors around the country called for the Senate to delay a vote.  2. Rauner says he has a lot of unfinished business, and wants just one more term.  “No more than one. I believe in term limits no matter what,” the governor said.  3. A private equity firm Rauner co-founded has a financial stake in Sterigenics, a global company with facilities in southwest suburban Willowbrook that’s come under intense scrutiny for emitting a gas that can cause cancer.  Rauner said his previous financial ties haven’t influenced the way he’s handling the issue. “We have immediately gotten our Illinois EPA and our Department of Public Health on this issue as soon as we were notified by the federal government of concerns,” Rauner said. “We have an investigation underway of all facilities. There are 75 facilities in the state of Illinois that use ethylene oxide to sterilize medical equipment. There are four primary factories that use it, including this company Sterigenics.  “All of them are now being monitored. All of them are being investigated. And there is a measurement of the stack emissions that I ordered that's been underway now for several weeks. We are public safety No. 1 priority. We will get the truth about what has been emitted so far and what needs to change in the future.” 4. How do you keep millennials in Illinois? Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. And stripping away lots of layers of government, Rauner said. “We bring down the cost of government by shrinking that government bureaucracy, bringing down the property tax burden, and growing more good-paying jobs, and millennials will flock to the state of Illinois just as all people will. And job creators will as well,” he said.  5. A union worker called in and asked Rauner how he’d raise wages in a state where public employees no longer had to pay dues to unions that represent them in collective bargaining. “We are losing out because we are not attracting manufacturers because thousands won't come to a forced union state,” Rauner said. “And all I've said is let's not make Illinois a right to work state. … How about Harvey, how about Maywood or Blue Island or Decatur or Rockford? Why couldn't those be areas where you can join a union if you want to but you're not forced to? We could bring hundreds of manufacturing companies to Illinois if we would allow that flexibility.” 6. Rauner has criticized his gubernatorial challenger, J.B. Pritzker, over the Democrat’s graduated income tax plan. So what’s Rauner’s solution?  “I want to gradually reduce the income tax just like other states have done,” Rauner said. “Flatten it and reduce it. I also want to bring down the property tax by empowering local citizens to use the referendum process to lower their tax burden and control the costs of local government.” The state income tax is 4.95 percent. So what would be the low end of your proposed income tax rate? Three percent, the governor said. 7. Ongoing WBEZ reporting has shed light on accusations that Rauner’s administration was negligent in its handling of multiple Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks at a state veterans home in downstate Quincy. The deaths of 14 residents have been tied to Legionnaires’ disease. Does

If at first you don’t succeed, give it another try. That’s what Attorney Gery Chico is doing. Chico launched his second bid for Chicago mayor Thursday- after a run in 2011 against Mayor Emanuel- who recently said he wouldn’t seek a third term.

The prosecution has rested its case in the murder trial for Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke who is charged with killing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Thursday announced she is running for mayor, weeks after Rahm Emanuel announced he would not seek a third term in office. Bill Daley and his former chief of staff Gery Chico also joined the race. Disgraced former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge died at age 70. Gov. Bruce Rauner and democratic nominee J.B. Pritzker faced off in the first televised debate of the 2018 gubernatorial election.  Morning Shift discusses these stories and more in this week’s Friday News Roundup with host Jenn White.

After saying he would never again run for public office following his short lived 2014 run for Illinois governor, Bill Daley has thrown his hat into the race for Chicago mayor. If victorious in February, he'd be the third Daley mayor, following in the footsteps of his brothers Richard M. and his father Richard J. Daley.

In 2011, Kim Brooks found herself having a warrant out for her arrest. Why? Well, her 4-year old son asked if he could stay in the car while she made a quick run into Target. While making her quick Target run and leaving her 4-year-old behind, a bystander filmed her leaving her car and sent it to police. This incident lead Brooks to write her first nonfiction book, “Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear.” The Morning Shift sits down with Brooks to break down her outlook on America’s fearful perception on parental supervision and children. LEARN MORE: "Small Animals": What happens when parenting is ruled by fear? (CBS News 8/22/18) Kim Brooks left her small son in the car. Then all hell broke loose (USA Today 8/23/18)

It’s been a big week -- you could say a historic week in Chicago, especially on the criminal justice front. Jury selection has wrapped up in the murder trial of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, and we should find out later this morning whether he opts for that jury — or a judge — to decide his fate. Meanwhile, a final draft of the consent decree that will govern reforms at the Chicago Police Department has been filed. As part of our Friday News Roundup, we’ll bring you up to speed on those stories...as well as other big local news of the week.

Cultural organizations like the Hyde Park Arts Center, Stony Island Arts Bank and the DuSable Museum of African American History are teaming up this weekend for a series of events highlighting creativity on Chicago’s South Side. The daylong event — called “Celebrating South Side Stories” — will feature musical performances, storytelling, museum tours, and even a collage-making workshop. Morning Shift talks to two of the creative people who are participating in the extravaganza about their work, the performances they’ll be giving at the festival and their own South Side stories.

In a recent New York Times op-ed, sociologist Eric Klinenberg writes that in order to restore civil society, there’s no better place to start than with your local public library. “Libraries are being disparaged and neglected at precisely the moment when they are most valued and necessary,” Klinenberg writes. The piece is adapted from his new book Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization and the Decline of Civic Life. Ji Suk Yi of the Chicago Sun-Times talks to Klinenberg about how strong social ties and social infrastructure can improve American society. We also take calls from listeners. GUEST: Eric Klinenberg, author and sociologist at New York University LEARN MORE: Opinion: To Restore Civil Society, Start With The Library (New York Times 9/9/18)