In the Loop with Sasha-Ann Simons

Many recent victims of police violence, it turns out, have had disabilities. Eric Garner was asthmatic and had other health issues. Freddie Gray suffered from the effects of lead poisoning, which may have influenced how he responded to police as they tried to arrest him. Other examples abound. But the conversation around these cases rarely consider these disabilities. We talk with David Perry, a history professor and advocate for people with disabilities about his new report Disability: The Missing Word When We Talk about Policing and Violence.

Today on Morning Shift: The world was introduced to the dark, funny, and profane world of author Irvine Welsh in 1996 through the film version of his novel Trainspotting. It’s the story of a group of 20-something junkies living in Welsh’s hometown of Edinburgh, Scotland quickly became a cult classic. His latest American release takes us back to Edinburgh- it’s called A Decent Ride. We talk with him about that story, an upcoming film sequel to Trainspotting, and his life as a Chicago resident. College grads in this country owe more than a trillion dollars on their student loans, and that amount has been rising rapidly for decades. We talk about some innovative solutions to the problem, including an effort announced yesterday by Northwestern University.Many public universities in Illinois are struggling to pay the bills. The budget stalemate in Springfield means they haven’t gotten state funding in more than nine months, and some schools are reaching the breaking point.

Northwestern University announced yesterday that students who receive financial aid will no longer have to take out loans to cover the remainder of the cost of their education. Instead, they’ll receive grants and scholarships. We analyze the move and talk about the current state of the student loan debt crisis in this country with Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, and economics professor at the Ohio University.

States across the country have been taking money away from their public universities since the 1980s, and the recent Great Recession accelerated the pace of disinvestment. We spoke with Washington Post higher education finance reporter Danielle Douglas-Gabriel about how Illinois’s struggling public universities fit into the national picture.

Author Irvine Welsh gained international recognition when his first novel Trainspotting was published in 1993 to critical acclaim. Writing is now his full time job; having written ten novels since Trainspotting. The latest is American release is “A Decent Ride” which resurrects a character from other Welsh stories. “A Decent Ride” is a dark and funny ride, both figuratively and literally through Welsh’s hometown of Edinburgh. We talked to him about writing, comedy and fame.

Illinois’ budget impasse continues to leave students at many higher education institutions in a tough place. The state’s community colleges and nine public universities have been without a state funding since July, and yesterday the House failed to override Governor Rauner’s veto of the College Spending Bill. John Miller, President of University Professionals of Illinois - Local 4100, gave us an update on how the schools plan to survive the remainder of the year without the funding.

Today on the Morning Shift: Preservation Chicago has just released a list of endangered buildings around the cityAn exhibit that was inspired by women living with HIV that shows how those women have moved from the margins of what was once a deadly epidemic to becoming survivorsThe band behind the Morning Shift theme song that kicks off our show everyday joins us for an in-studio performanceYour thoughts on Super Tuesday results

Here’s what Mark Twain once about Chicago: "She is always a novelty, she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time." But that near constant change has seen the destruction of some pretty remarkable buildings: from theaters and government structures like the old City Hall to historic homes and train depots. For more than a decade the group Preservation Chicago has spotlighted Chicago structures in danger of vanishing from the city’s landscape. This year’s list includes the Thompson Center in the Loop, which Governor Bruce Rauner has pledged to sell, and hopes will be torn down to make way for something bigger and better. We spoke to Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago about the center and the other buildings on the list.

More than one million people in the United States are estimated to be living with HIV, and each one has their own story. Some of those stories are being shared in a new exhibit called "In Plain Sight," which includes personal items of 14 Chicago-area women living with HIV and AIDS and their oral histories. We spoke to one of these women, Marilyn Richardson adn Jennifer Brier, the UIC professor behind this project about why sharing these stories is important.

During our call-in segment yesterday on the Super Tuesday results, listeners chimed in to tell us why they were supporting nearly every candidate in the race for President.