Illinois news

• Top July 4th Events in Chicagoland: The Fireworks, Fests and Parades

  03-07-2024 23:56
  
  Celebrate Independence Day in Chicago with a host of events, including iconic fireworks displays, vibrant parades, and lively festivals (Credit: Canva, Flickr/Andrew Reilly).
  The Fourth of July in Chicago is always a vibe, whether you’re catching the iconic fireworks display at the lake or enjoying the vibe at a music festival. This year is no different. As fireworks light up the sky and grills go aflame, several events in the city offer prime Independence Day activities. 
  Here are so
  
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• Review: Music

  03-07-2024 23:51 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Angela Schanelec’s Music takes its inspiration from Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex, but the deconstructed nature of this inspiration, eschewing the sensationalism of grand twists and tragic reveals for more structurally intricate events, allows for the movie to breathe with sensitivity and be felt with intensity. From its first image of lush green hills slowly being enveloped […]
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• Review: A Quiet Place: Day One

  03-07-2024 23:51 via chicagoreader.com
  
  When you live in a big city or metro area like Chicago or New York, you learn to tune out the noise. But it’s almost impossible to imagine the eeriness of a silent Michigan Avenue or Times Square. A Quiet Place: Day One asks us if familiarity really does breed contempt when humans are forced […]
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• Blank! The Musical builds a brand-new show each night

  03-07-2024 23:51 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The Revival celebrates its new South Loop location with Blank! The Musical, an off-Broadway hit created a decade ago by Michael Girts, T.J. Shanoff, and Mike Descoteaux. Shanoff, who also directs this Chicago premiere, should be familiar to local improv fans from his long associations with Second City (Rod Blagojevich Superstar) and iO (The Roof […]
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• A honey of a show

  03-07-2024 23:31 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The term “jukebox musical” is usually used in contempt to describe a musical revue with no book and no character development—just a collection of popular songs plopped on the stage, sung by a small cast of actors backed up by a small band. Jukebox musicals are less expensive to put on than full-blown musicals (which […]
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• Ain’t Misbehavin’ hits its stride at Drury Lane

  03-07-2024 23:16 via chicagoreader.com
  
  When Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller died at 39 of pneumonia on December 15, 1943, while riding a train from LA to Chicago, he left behind a legacy as a popular singer, composer, and performing artist few have equalled. His formidable body of work includes 400 songs. The range of this music was remarkable; he could […]
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• New Poll Reveals One Democratic Candidate Who Could Beat Trump

  03-07-2024 21:51
  
  Photo: Getty Images
  There’s only one Democratic candidate that could beat former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical match-up for the presidency, according to a new poll.
  On Tuesday (July 2), Reuters/Ipsos released the findings from a survey of 1,070 U.S. adults conducted days after the first presidential debate of 2024 between President Joe Biden and Trump.
  According to the survey, former first lady Michelle Obama was the only Democrat who led in a hypothetical race against Trump, ga
  
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• Celebrating Culture and Innovation: Cadillac’s Electrifying Presence at ABFF

  03-07-2024 21:23
  
  Cadillac took center stage at this year’s American Black Film Festival (ABFF), weaving together culture, innovation, and electric energy in a series of memorable experiences. The festival-goers were treated to an array of captivating events that showcased Cadillac’s dedication to supporting Black culture while spotlighting their cutting-edge electric vehicles.
  Juanita Slappy, Head of Multicultural Marketing at Cadillac, expressed the brand’s enthusiasm for their involvement in
  
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• Jessica Nabongo Ignites Inspiring Conversations at Coffee & Cadillacs

  03-07-2024 21:19
  A breakfast conversation at the Cadillac Lounge during the American Black Film Festival brought together cultural icons for a morning of inspiring discussions. Among the notable attendees was world traveler Jessica Nabongo, who had just returned from Paris after joining Cadillac for the OPTIQ reveal. The event, aptly titled “Coffee & Cadillacs: Lights, Camera, Action!” set the stage for a series of meaningful and thought-provoking dialogues.
   
  Jessica Nabongo: Embracing Posi
  
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• God is seen and heard in Janet Planet

  03-07-2024 21:01 via chicagoreader.com
  
  In defending his composition 4’33” against audiences who didn’t see the value in extended silence as a form of music, John Cage famously insisted, “There’s no such thing as silence. What they thought was silence, because they didn’t know how to listen, was full of accidental sounds.”  Playwright Annie Baker has built a career out […]
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• Muki hotate (Hokkaido scallop) at 312 Fish Market

  03-07-2024 19:20 via chicagoreader.com
  
  In the midwest, many tend to cut their teeth on sushi rolls that are almost exclusively covered in spicy mayo and deep-fried tempura flakes. Even once your palette manages to progress to something like spicy tuna rolls and other raw offerings here and there, it can be hard to find fish fresh enough to warrant […]
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• Chicago Reader Volume 53, No. 22

  03-07-2024 19:20 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Chicago Reader Volume 53, No. 22. July 4, 2024
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• Silence and surprise

  03-07-2024 19:05 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The Moviegoer is the diary of a local film buff, collecting the best of what Chicago’s independent and underground film scene has to offer. This weekend, I watched approximately 550 minutes of Stan Brakhage films. That’s roughly nine hours, accounting for 44 of the 51 films that screened during Inventing Eternity: The Undersung Films of […]
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• Broken glass and sticky fingers

  03-07-2024 18:55 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Say you’re at a suave cocktail lounge, a few drinks in, with a gorgeous martini glass sitting comfortably in your hand. Maybe you start thinking, “Damn, this would look really good on my home bar.” Do you happen to take the glass with you when you go? If you said “yes,” shame on you—though I […]
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• What We Can Learn From Civil Rights Era Boycotts

  03-07-2024 18:50
  
  President Lyndon Johnson (l) shakes hands with Martin Luther King Jr. on July 3, 1964 in Washington DC, after handing him a pen during the ceremonies for the signing of the civil rights bill at the White House. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images).
  By The Conversation
  This article was published on Word In Black.
  By Kevin A. Young, UMass Amherst
  Signed into law nearly 60 years ago, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination in the U.S. based on “race, color, sex,
  
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• Radius grows beyond Chicago beat battles

  03-07-2024 18:45 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Producer and performer Ramon Norwood, 42, aka Radius or Radius Etc, is a self-described nomad, and not just in terms of musical style. While he has deep Chicago roots, when I spoke with him in mid-June, he’d just returned from gigging in Los Angeles and was working on tracks in Michigan. He’s recently performed and […]
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• MaXXXine is an electrifying return to form

  03-07-2024 18:34 via chicagoreader.com
  
  “Y’all might as well go home, ’cause I just fucking nailed that!”  An adult movie star sensation teetering on the brink of Hollywood stardom, Maxine Minx (Mia Goth), hollers these words after delivering a bone-chilling audition for a new horror picture, The Puritan II. It’s 1985 Los Angeles, and Ti West’s third installment of his […]
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• Jackie DeShannon launched her rarefied music career in Batavia

  03-07-2024 18:12 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Chicago, like any city, likes to claim beloved artists as its own, even if they weren’t born or raised here or they moved away before becoming stars—Sun Ra, Nat King Cole, and Charlie Musselwhite, to name just three, came up or had their first successes in the Windy City. Even when an artist is identified […]
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• Laimoon lights up for another Monday Night Foodball

  03-07-2024 17:50 via chicagoreader.com
  
  I think I’ve demonstrated that I lose control of my emotions when I’m in the presence of Brandon Dumot’s wood-fired pita bread:  “. . . soft, warm, five-inch saucers of astonishment, pillows of char-stippled bread that gently exhale steamy gusts when he pulls them from the fire. They taste like they’re alive.” Dumot, of course, […]
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• Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese Breaks Records and Earns All-Star Honors

  03-07-2024 15:30
  
  Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese is having a rookie season for the ages and is in the middle of a week that professional athletes dream of. On the heels of breaking the WNBA record by notching 10-straight double-doubles, the Chitown Barbie was named a WNBA All-Star and garnered June Rookie of the Month honors. 
  “Coming into this league, so many people doubted me and didn’t think my game would translate, and I wouldn’t be the player that I was in college or better or would b
  
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• Stay Safe and Leave Fireworks to the Professionals on July 4th

  03-07-2024 14:30
  
  The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal (OSFM) remind organizations and individuals to leave the fireworks displays to licensed, trained professionals this Fourth of July season.
  According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), fireworks started an estimated 12,264 fires in 2021, including 2,082 structure fires, 316 vehicle fires, and 9,866 outside and other fires. These fires caused 29 civilian injuries and $59 million i
  
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• Delegate Warns Black Women Will ‘Blow Up’ Democratic Party If This Happens

  03-07-2024 14:15
  
  Photo: Getty Images
  A delegate for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign says Black women will “walk away” from the Democratic party if the presumptive nominee were to be replaced by another white man over Vice President Kamala Harris.
  During a recent appearance on “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” Areva Martin, a California delegate for Biden for President, issued the warning amid calls for Biden to be replaced as the Democratic nominee for president following his d
  
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• The Carr Report: Here’s the 4-1-1 for the 1-4-4 rule for money management!

  03-07-2024 14:00
  
   411 is the telephone number for directory information. We informally use the numeric expression 411 as a synonym for information or knowledge.
  I was recently listening to a podcast where the host was detailing the 1-4-4 rule. This rule is about goal-setting and money management. Although I’ve written about both goal-setting and money management extensively, I’ve never heard of the 1-4-4 rule. As I listened to this rule and jotted down notes, I thought it was a noble concept wor
  
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• MR. SONNY KNOWS for July 3, 2024

  03-07-2024 14:00
  
  The post MR. SONNY KNOWS for July 3, 2024 appeared first on Chicago Defender.
  
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• How to test your water for lead

  03-07-2024 13:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  If you’re concerned about lead levels in your water or want to reduce lead levels in your water, there are a variety of ways to ensure your household has access to clean drinking water.  For residents of single-family or two-flat homes built in Chicago prior to 1986, there’s a high likelihood your water service line […]
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• Chicago’s lead problem

  03-07-2024 13:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  In July 2021, Erika Chavez helped her mother fill out a lengthy application for the Equity Lead Service Line Replacement program. The program, offered through the Chicago Department of Water Management (DWM), replaces lead service lines for low-income homeowners free of charge, which could otherwise cost upwards of $16,000. When Chavez didn’t hear back from […]
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• Naming our existential crises 

  03-07-2024 01:06 via chicagoreader.com
  
  It’s 2018, the #MeToo movement is in the cultural vernacular and Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings take up everyone’s Twitter feeds. Margaret Anne “Moddie” Yance, the protagonist in Halle Butler’s third novel, Banal Nightmare, returns to her college town in the midwest after living in Chicago, where she worked as an art teacher while developing her […]
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• Quilting into queer ritual

  03-07-2024 00:57 via chicagoreader.com
  
  I first found artist Eliza Fernand through a flier in a north-side coffee shop. Next to a menu for lattes and cold brews was a half sheet of paper promoting a workshop in hand-drawn cursive; it read “queer quilting.” When I visit one of these workshops, where sewing machines stitch new shapes of fabric into […]
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