In the Loop

State Rep. Scott Drury was the only Democrat in the state legislature who did not vote earlier this year to reelect the powerful Rep. Michael Madigan to be House speaker for the 17th time. The move cost him dearly. Drury was stripped of his chairmanship of the judiciary committee, which oversees legislation on legal issues, a topic he’s well-versed in as a former federal prosecutor. After taking on Madigan, Drury is taking on Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Last month, he became the latest Democrat to throw his hat into the ring.

State Rep. Scott Drury was the only Democrat in the state legislature who did not vote earlier this year to reelect the powerful Rep. Michael Madigan to be House speaker for the 17th time. The move cost him dearly. Drury was stripped of his chairmanship of the judiciary committee, which oversees legislation on legal issues, a topic he’s well-versed in as a former federal prosecutor. After taking on Madigan, Drury is taking on Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Last month, he became the latest Democrat to throw his hat into the ring.

To conclude this week’s special series on dying, we delve into the legacy left behind. Specifically, the writers who tell the stories of the recently deceased. We start with the obituary writers at the New York Times. Filmmaker Vanessa Gould captured the process of choosing subjects, researching and writing an obit in her documentary, Obit. Life on Deadline. We talked to Gould about what drove her to the topic and what she learned from the writers. We also speak with Chicago Sun-Times obituary writer Maureen O’Donnell about how she finds the right words, what she digs up in the paper’s archive, and how she’s captured so much of Chicago history in her obits. 

To conclude this week’s special series on dying, we delve into the legacy left behind. Specifically, the writers who tell the stories of the recently deceased. We start with the obituary writers at the New York Times. Filmmaker Vanessa Gould captured the process of choosing subjects, researching and writing an obit in her documentary, Obit. Life on Deadline. We talked to Gould about what drove her to the topic and what she learned from the writers. We also speak with Chicago Sun-Times obituary writer Maureen O’Donnell about how she finds the right words, what she digs up in the paper’s archive, and how she’s captured so much of Chicago history in her obits. 

We continue our 'Start The Conversation' series by talking about what it means to deal with the death of a child.

We continue our 'Start The Conversation' series by talking about what it means to deal with the death of a child.

Since announcing his run for governor in April, J.B. Pritzker has seen both good and bad news for his campaign. The bad news came when he was forced to defend his conversations with former governor Rod Blagojevich, which came to light in a Chicago Tribune investigation.  A week later, some very good news: The state’s largest public employee union, the AFL-CIO, made an early endorsement of Pritzker. Morning Shift talks to J.B. Pritzker about why he wants to be governor.

While many people work to avoid a conversation about death, others choose to be surrounded by it every day.  Maggie McMeekin is a Resource Nurse at a JourneyCare in-patient hospice clinic in the northwest suburbs. Morning Shift spends a day on the job with McMeekin to better understand her reality. We also hear from Dr. Jalal Baig, who spends his day working to heal, treat and save. Baig is a Hematology and Oncology Fellow at University of Illinois-Chicago.

Since announcing his run for governor in April, J.B. Pritzker has seen both good and bad news for his campaign. The bad news came when he was forced to defend his conversations with former governor Rod Blagojevich, which came to light in a Chicago Tribune investigation.  A week later, some very good news: The state’s largest public employee union, the AFL-CIO, made an early endorsement of Pritzker. Morning Shift talks to J.B. Pritzker about why he wants to be governor.

While many people work to avoid a conversation about death, others choose to be surrounded by it every day.  Maggie McMeekin is a Resource Nurse at a JourneyCare in-patient hospice clinic in the northwest suburbs. Morning Shift spends a day on the job with McMeekin to better understand her reality. We also hear from Dr. Jalal Baig, who spends his day working to heal, treat and save. Baig is a Hematology and Oncology Fellow at University of Illinois-Chicago.