In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

Shooting baskets the old way? BORING! Sporting goods maker Wilson has created a new “smart ball” that tracks your shots with a sensor that’s embedded inside the ball.

Some things are worth waiting for, like a new album from the long-running alt-country band Freakwater, which has roots in Chicago and Louisville. The band’s new record Scheherazade is their first in 11 years, and it finds the duo and their band in top form.

A new study out from the Great Cities Institute at UIC shows that Cook County holds a dubious distinction. We lead the nation when it comes to unemployed young people of color. And that high unemployment rate snowballs into everything from kids who aren’t prepared for adulthood to violence in our neighborhoods. Morning Shift talks to UIC’s Teresa Cordova about the numbers, and Alternative School Network’s Jack Wuest about how he’s trying to make a dent in the problem.

When Worldview interviewed the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi during his recent trip to Chicago, he praised our hometown business Eli’s Cheesecake for its policy of hiring refugees who need work. Morning Shift talks to the company’s president Marc Schulman about that policy and hears from Elias Kasongo, a Congolese refugee who’s been working at Eli’s for 22 years.

The leadership of the Chicago Teachers Union is pushing for a one-day strike on April 1st to pressure Governor Bruce Rauner to pass a state budget. But not all its members are sold on the idea.

Ayana Contreras joins Tony Sarabia for a preview of what soul records she’ll be spinning during her weekly show Reclaimed Soul on our sister station Vocalo.

Before a speech about new investments in city parks, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined the Morning Shift to discuss his plans for widening the lakefront path and creating a “paseo” trail from Little Village to Pilsen.

For the latest installment in our Working Shift series, we talk with a master builder whose creations — including a model of the Hoover Dam and a 60-foot-long model of the Golden Gate bridge — are built entirely from Lego bricks. Adam Reed Tucker is one of just 14 Lego-certified professionals in the world. He tells us about his craft, which is on display at a new exhibition at Chicago’s Museum of Science of Industry called “Brick by Brick.” Find more of Working Shift

In a vast, ever-changing city like Chicago, it’s almost impossible to do and see everything. But don’t worry: If you need some help choosing your next excursion, Molly Page has your back. The Chicago tour guide is out with a new book called 100 Things to Do in Chicago Before You Die that is full of classic Windy City outings as well as plenty of surprises. Morning Shift talked to Page about how she narrowed down her list and takes listeners’ suggestions live on the air.