Illinois news

• Illinois Players Also Strike Gold in Mega Millions, Bartlett Player Wins $1 Million

  28-03-2024 13:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Photo: Illinois Lottery
  You might have already heard the news: On Tuesday night, a lucky person from New Jersey, one of the luckiest in human existence, had the winning Mega Millions ticket, worth $1.128 billion (!!!). It was the fifth-largest Mega Millions jackpot in that game’s history. 
  The winning Mega Millions numbers were: 7-11-22-29-38 and Mega Ball 4.
  But several players in Illinois also came away as winners from the Tuesday night Mega Millions drawing. 
  One such player p
  
  Read more

• An Educated Guess tells an unexpected story about migrant experiences

  15-05-2024 17:36 via chicagoreader.com
  
  When it comes to portrayals, on the big screen or the stage, of the Latino migrant experience, most stories focus on the journey, on the actual border experience and the abuses many migrants face or on multigenerational stories that begin inevitably at the border and end with the family’s eventual assimilation to this country.  So […]
  The post <i>An Educated Guess</i> tells an unexpected story about migrant experiences appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
  Read more

• Bosses beware

  15-05-2024 16:54 via chicagoreader.com
  
  As the pandemic first sank its talons into the service industry—closing hotels, restaurants, grocers, and retail stores—service were lauded as “essential workers.” Since then, they’ve been unionizing their workplaces at a speed the U.S. hasn’t seen in more than half a century. Between March 2022 and April 2024, about 290 workers at nine Chicago hotels, […]
  The post Bosses beware appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
  Read more

• The Museum of Science and Industry Officially Gets a New Name After Gift

  15-05-2024 15:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  The Museum of Science and Industry in Hyde Park has a new name: the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. 
  The name change was announced back in 2019 when the museum received a $125 million gift from Chicago billionaire Kenneth C. Griffin, the largest single gift in the institution’s history.
  The Griffin MSI will have new logos and exhibits as well. To commemorate the occasion, the museum  will open its doors to allow for free admission to all on Sunday, May 19. 
  Griffin M
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• ‘Age Is Just A Number’: Black Grandmother Becomes Registered Nurse At 69

  15-05-2024 14:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Photo: Facebook
  A Georgia grandmother said “Age is just a number” when it comes to accomplishing her goals.
  According to WDTV, Loretta Mack recently became a registered nurse at 69 years old.
  Mack said she had dreamed all of her life of becoming an RN. The grandmother, who was a certified nurse’s assistant for six years, took a leap of faith after being encouraged by a fellow resource nurse.
  “I said to myself, ‘It would be a great example.’ I love people so I&
  
  Read more

• MR. SONNY KNOWS for May 15, 2024

  15-05-2024 14:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  The post MR. SONNY KNOWS for May 15, 2024 appeared first on Chicago Defender.
  
  Read more

• Cult Show examines groupthink and collaboration

  14-05-2024 23:22 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Cult Show is a play about the human need to socialize and the cult of the Neo-Futurists. In it, ensemble members Alex Hovi, DeVaughn Loman, Joanna Jamerson, and Lara Johnson and writers/directors Jasmine Henri Jordan and Audrey Polinski greet audiences in ragtag outfits of red, blue, and yellow. Their getups and demeanors border on clownish […]
  The post <i>Cult Show</i> examines groupthink and collaboration appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
  Read more

• J Bambii makes space for everybody at south-side party the FiFi

  14-05-2024 20:33 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Inspired by her family and the get-togethers, birthday parties, and other celebrations they held throughout her childhood, south-side rapper J Bambii began curating fun, healing spaces for her community a decade ago. One of her recurring events is the FiFi, a party she started in spring 2022. Bambii says it’s grown to attract more than […]
  The post J Bambii makes space for everybody at south-side party the FiFi appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Reader stories win at Peter Lisagor Awards

  14-05-2024 18:31 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The Reader is pleased to announce that two of our stories from 2023 won at the Peter Lisagor Awards, which recognize some of the best in journalism from Illinois and northwest Indiana. The awards are organized by Chicago Headline Club, the official Chicago chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Best food or restaurant coverage […]
  The post <i>Reader</i> stories win at Peter Lisagor Awards appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
  Read more

• The Chi’s Curtiss Cook On Black Male Mental Health And His Role As ‘Douda’

  14-05-2024 16:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Curtiss Cook of The Chi sheds light on his portrayal of Douda and how that prompted him to advocate for Black men’s mental health (Credit: Evgeny Milkovich).
  Navigating the highs and lows of life is a collective experience, but how we handle the tough times defines us. Mental health struggles among Black men are an urgent matter that warrants open dialogue and attention. 
  In a recent interview with The Chicago Defender, actor Curtiss Cook shed light on his journey, mainly how life&rsq
  
  Read more

• Customers Save $9 Billion in Energy Costs Through Award-Winning ComEd Energy Efficiency Program

  14-05-2024 14:30 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Association House joins long list of ComEd customers who are reducing energy costs and carbon emissions through US EPA-recognized program
  ComEd today announced that hundreds of thousands of customers have saved a total of $9 billion on their energy bills through the company’s Energy Efficiency program. The program, which launched in 2008 and is now one of the largest in the nation, also received an ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year—Sustained Excellence Award, the highest level of
  
  Read more

• South Side Healthy Community Organization Recruiting For Community Advisory Council

  14-05-2024 14:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Applications Accepted Until May 15th from Those with Vested Interest in the Health/Well-being of Chicago’s South Side
  The South Side Healthy Community Organization (SSHCO) is recruiting for the next term of its Community Advisory Council (CAC), a volunteer group charged with sharing ideas and input and providing advice on priority health issues and outreach initiatives on Chicago’s South Side.
  The SSHCO is seeking diverse candidates who reflect various demographics from the South Sid
  
  Read more

• J. Pharoah Doss: The inglorious bastard boom on campus

  14-05-2024 14:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  The baby boom was between World War II and the 1960s. When baby boomers reached adulthood, their elders criticized them for being self-centered and materialistic.
  The boomers were dubbed the “me-generation.” 
  Millennials were the grandchildren of the “me-generation,” but the Millennials, who became social elites, birthed the me-me-me generation. The me-me-me generation was not just another surge in birth rates; it was an inverted bastard boom.
  In Shakespearean times,
  
  Read more

• Remembering Steve Albini

  13-05-2024 20:27 via chicagoreader.com
  
  When Pitchfork broke the news last Wednesday morning that Steve Albini had died, it hit the Chicago scene like a thunderclap. Both as a recording engineer and as a musician, Albini had seemed like a permanent fixture, too thoroughly woven into the fabric of underground rock to leave it. At least when death came for […]
  The post Remembering Steve Albini appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
  Read more

• Chicago rock duo Feller celebrate their strangely enticing debut EP

  13-05-2024 17:18 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Last fall, when Jon-Carlo Manzo launched Fire Talk’s Chicago-centric sublabel, Angel Tapes, I knew to keep an eye on it. Fire Talk had already done exceptional work releasing music by local indie rockers, and Manzo has great taste. Angel Tapes’ third release is the new Universal Miracle Worker, the debut EP by local duo Feller, […]
  The post Chicago rock duo Feller celebrate their strangely enticing debut EP appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
  Read more

• Chicago metal four-piece Selenoplexia show you the darkest side of the moon

  13-05-2024 17:09 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Chicago metal quartet Selenoplexia attracted some attention with their strong 2022 debut EP, Agony, and last fall they released their first full-length, Exalt and Despair. The band’s name refers to what were believed, prior to the 20th century, to be the sometimes fatal physical and mental health conditions caused by the rays of the moon. […]
  The post Chicago metal four-piece Selenoplexia show you the darkest side of the moon appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
  Read more

• VOICES Heard: New Cancer Study Will Center Black Women

  13-05-2024 16:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Black women are significantly more likely to die from breast cancer than white women — even though they are diagnosed less often (Credit: Klaus Nielsen, Pexels).
  In a groundbreaking study, the American Cancer Society will investigate the link between breast cancer and race by exclusively tracking Black women.
  This article was originally published on Word In Black.
  By Jennifer Porter Gore
  Overview:
  Researchers hope to enroll 100,000 Black women of various ages, looking for links between bre
  
  Read more

• The Secret Sisters return after four years with some serious folk-country Medicine

  13-05-2024 16:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The Secret Sisters released Mind, Man, Medicine in March, and it already feels like one of the best Americana albums of 2024. The record represents a homecoming, musically and literally—the duo recorded it at the legendary FAME Studios in their hometown of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Since the early 60s, FAME has served as a forge […]
  The post The Secret Sisters return after four years with some serious folk-country <i>Medicine</i> appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
  Read more

• Sonja’s lusty heavy metal blends goth rock and 80s Sunset Strip sleaze

  13-05-2024 16:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Sonja aren’t a traditional supergroup—the members of this Philadelphia trio have all collaborated with one another elsewhere, most notably in beastly Philly black-metal band Woe. But these folks also have heavy pedigrees outside their shared past, spending time individually in metal outfits Tombs, Infernal Stronghold, Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, and Crosspitter. If you can name a metal […]
  The post Sonja’s lusty heavy metal blends goth rock and 80s Sunset Strip sleaze appe
  
  Read more

• Shoegaze legends Ride embrace the journey on the synth-pop–influenced Interplay

  13-05-2024 16:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Ride made an indelible impact on shoegaze and indie rock. The UK four-piece’s first two albums, 1990’s Nowhere and 1992’s Going Blank Again, are widely considered genre landmarks. Though Ride split up just before releasing their fourth full-length, Tarantula, in 1996, the original lineup reunited nearly two decades later. And they’ve stayed reunited: this March, […]
  The post Shoegaze legends Ride embrace the journey on the synth-pop–influenced <i>Inter
  
  Read more

• Electronic-music pioneer Suzanne Ciani celebrates the 40th anniversary of her album Seven Waves

  13-05-2024 16:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  If you’ve seen television commercials from the 1980s, you’ve probably heard Suzanne Ciani, even if you don’t realize it. Do you remember the sound of a Coke can being popped and poured? The space-age shimmers that accompanied the on-screen appearances of logos for the likes of AT&T and ABC? The robotic chirp of a GE […]
  The post Electronic-music pioneer Suzanne Ciani celebrates the 40th anniversary of her album <i>Seven Waves</i> appeared first on Chicag
  
  Read more

• Chicago rapper KingTrey angles for a spot in the post-Chance canon with Southend Legend

  13-05-2024 16:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  According to the 2020 census, the suburban village of Glenview has a population of around 49,000 people, and just 1.4 percent of them are Black. That helps explain the isolation, frustration, and sadness Chicago rapper KingTrey felt navigating that town as a teenager—an experience he makes the focus of “Black Kid / In Glenview,” a […]
  The post Chicago rapper KingTrey angles for a spot in the post-Chance canon with <i>Southend Legend</i> appeared first on Chi
  
  Read more

• Chicago’s Sprite give slacker rock a kick of energy

  13-05-2024 15:45 via chicagoreader.com
  
  The four Chicagoans who recently formed slacker-rock group Sprite have a surplus of indie cred, but none of their previous bands has balanced heavy and heavenly as well as Sprite do on December’s self-released, self-titled album. Separately, the members of Sprite traffic in related but distinct styles. Guitarist Donny Walsh has played in nervy postpunk […]
  The post Chicago’s Sprite give slacker rock a kick of energy appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
  Read more

• The Tomeka Reid Quartet goes long on third album 3+3

  13-05-2024 15:27 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Cellist Tomeka Reid and her powerhouse quartet—guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Jason Roebke, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara—recently celebrated their tenth anniversary of performing together. But you could be forgiven if you thought they’d already had a decade together when they released their self-titled debut in 2015—the album is a marvel of uncanny synchronicity and head-spinning polyrhythms. […]
  The post The Tomeka Reid Quartet goes long on third album <i>3
  
  Read more

• Chicago troubadour and guitar god Bill MacKay releases Locust Land

  13-05-2024 15:17 via chicagoreader.com
  
  I’ve loved seeing kindly troubadour Bill MacKay get more of the spotlight. Once Chicago’s best-kept guitar secret, he now seems to be growing his fan base even faster than his discography, which already included solo works and collaborations with experimental musicians such as Ryley Walker, Nathan Bowles, Katinka Kleijn, and Cooper Crain (Bitchin Bajas, Cave). […]
  The post Chicago troubadour and guitar god Bill MacKay releases <i>Locust Land</i> appeared first on
  
  Read more

• Drummer, bandleader, and impresario Mike Reed throws a five-day celebration of his 50th birthday

  13-05-2024 15:04 via chicagoreader.com
  
  Mike Reed owns Constellation and the Hungry Brain, coprograms the Chicago Jazz Festival, and directs the Pitchfork Music Festival; he knows how to throw a shebang. But the five-night celebration that he’s planned to observe his 50th birthday keeps the focus on his creative side. Reed is also a drummer, composer, improviser, and bandleader whose […]
  The post Drummer, bandleader, and impresario Mike Reed throws a five-day celebration of his 50th birthday appeared first on Chicago Rea
  
  Read more

• TSU’s Duante’ Abercrombie Aims to Bring the HBCU Experience to Hockey

  13-05-2024 15:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Duante’ Abercrombie, a former coach with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, is building a first-of-its-kind hockey program at the HBCU Tennessee State University (Photo Provided).
  By Evan F. Moore
  The first thing newly hired Tennessee State University hockey coach Duante’ Abercrombie plans to do once he settles in his office is to establish a visual—and lofty—representation of what could be possible for the Tigers faithful: a photo of the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Cha
  
  Read more

• TSU’s Duanté Abercrombie Aims to Bring the HBCU Experience to Hockey

  13-05-2024 15:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Duanté Abercrombie, a former coach with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, is building a first-of-its-kind hockey program at the HBCU Tennessee State University (Photo Provided).
  By Evan F. Moore
  The first thing newly hired Tennessee State University hockey coach Duanté Abercrombie plans to do once he settles in his office is to establish a visual—and lofty—representation of what could be possible for the Tigers faithful: a photo of the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Cha
  
  Read more

• No dust to shake off

  13-05-2024 14:00 via chicagoreader.com
  
  On a sunny spring day, Experimental Sound Studio’s Audible Gallery is an ideal place to immerse oneself in the five decade retrospective of interdisciplinary artist Sandra Binion. The walls are covered with tactile displays of timelines, correspondences, and ephemera selected from Binion’s archive by curator Mariana Mejía (166 distinct artifacts, to be exact). In the […]
  The post No dust to shake off appeared first on Chicago Reader.
  
  Read more

• Confederate Names Of Two Schools Being Restored Following Board Vote

  13-05-2024 14:00 via chicagodefender.com
  
  Photo: Getty Images
  A Virginia school board has reversed its decision to rename two public schools honoring Confederate military leaders.
  On Friday (May 10), the Shenandoah County, Virginia school board voted 5-1 in favor of a proposal that will restore the Confederate names of two of its schools, per NBC News.
  The move comes after the board decided in 2020 to change the names of schools linked to Confederate leaders Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Turner Ashby. Following Tuesday’s v
  
  Read more

Follow @NewsIllinois_ on Twitter!