Illinois news

• Seasonal circus

  03-12-2025 17:20 via chicagoreader.com
  Every Yule season, you can count on circus to show up, but A Magical Cirque Christmas (presented by Broadway in Chicago last week at CIBC Theatre) went a step further and tossed in some magic. Host and magician Mark Clearview took the audience through a family-friendly winter extravaganza full of his own antics and featuring […]
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• Aetna Better Health of Illinois and Blueberry Pediatrics Team Up to Expand Pediatric Care Access in Cook County

  09-01-2026 18:30 via chicagodefender.com
  CHICAGO – Aetna Better Health® of Illinois, a CVS Health® company, has collaborated with Blueberry Pediatrics to deliver remote, around-the-clock pediatric care to families across Cook County—home to nearly one-third of Aetna Better Health of Illinois’ pediatric members statewide. The joint effort will expand statewide in phases.By equipping families with diagnostic kits and on-demand access to pediatricians, we are removing barriers to care, reducing unneces
  
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• Cook County Clerk and Chicago Bears Launch Historic High School Early Voting Program

  09-01-2026 16:30 via chicagodefender.com
  In partnership with the Chicago Bears organization, the Cook County Clerk’s Office is launching a first-of-its-kind High School Early Voting program, bringing official Early Voting sites to more than 20 suburban high schools across the county at the start of Early Voting for the March 17 Gubernatorial Primary Election.Through this first-of-its-kind initiative, students from 24 Cook County high schools are being trained as official Election Judges who will operate on-campus Early Voting si
  
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• Pilsen murals and Ukrainian mosaics teach us about artistic survival

  09-01-2026 14:00 via chicagoreader.com
  This story was originally published by South Side Weekly. Access the original article here. This reporting was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Women on the Ground: Reporting from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines Initiative, in partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Tetiana Burianova contributed reporting. In 1968, amid nationwide anti-war and civil rights movements, […]
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• The Vivero celebrates new Latine voices at City Lit

  08-01-2026 23:28 via chicagoreader.com
  A Three Queens Bouquet, 1/10 and 1/11, City Lit Theater
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• The Vivero celebrates new Latiné voices at City Lit

  08-01-2026 23:28 via chicagoreader.com
  A Three Queens Bouquet, 1/10 and 1/11, City Lit Theater
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• Feeling stuck at work as the New Year begins? It may be a sign of professional growth

  08-01-2026 23:00 via chicagodefender.com
  by Leda Stawnychko, Mount Royal UniversityAs the new year starts, it’s natural to feel torn between gratitude and restlessness. December often disrupts routines: fewer meetings, quieter inboxes and a rare chance to take stock and reflect.During this time, people may feel pride in how far they have come, alongside a growing sense that the path they are on no longer fits.This discomfort is especially common at stages of life when professionals expect to feel more settled, yet instead feel s
  
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• Impress your parents when Umamicue headlines a brand-new Monday Night Foodball lineup

  08-01-2026 22:15 via chicagoreader.com
  “Do you want to know how to disappoint your first-generation immigrant parents?” Charles Wong asked the judges. “Quit your stable finance job to enter an industry you have zero experience in.” That was the beginning of the elevator pitch that helped win Wong 20 Gs last summer at a restaurant trade show. Wong’s parents might […]
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• This Week In Black History January 7, -13, 2026

  07-01-2026 21:45 via chicagodefender.com
  • January 7From 4th Century AD—Ethiopian Christmas—known as Ganna—is celebrated on Jan. 7. Ethiopian Christianity was much closer to the Christian Coptic Church of Egypt and as a result never incorporated many of the dictates of the early Roman Catholic Church. Thus, a plausible argument can be made that Ethiopian Christianity is more pure (or less corrupted) than that which emerged from the early Christian Church in Europe. Regardless, the best scientific speculation is
  
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• Kat Sachs’s best in 2025 moviegoing

  07-01-2026 18:47 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. Welcome back, moviegoers. I hope your holidays were bright with the glow of cinema. Before getting fully into the swing of things for the new year, I wanted to look back […]
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• Improv: The Play at iO turns the actor’s nightmare into a dream team

  07-01-2026 16:21 via chicagoreader.com
  Improv: The Play, through 3/26, iO Theater
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• MR SONNY KNOWS for January 7, 2026

  07-01-2026 15:00 via chicagodefender.com
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• Jan. 6: The Day White Rage Stormed the Capitol, Black Discipline Kept It Standing

  06-01-2026 20:37 via chicagodefender.com
  Photo credit: Ashley Gilbertson/VII via Redux FilePeople keep calling Jan. 6 “unthinkable.” Black Americans didn’t find it unthinkable. Black Americans found it familiar.A crowd that looked like America’s default setting decided the rules were optional. They climbed walls, broke windows, shoved past police, and walked through the U.S. Capitol with the kind of confidence you only get when you believe the country belongs to you no matter what the votes say. That’s wh
  
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• Just joined a dating app? Here’s how to look after yourself and handle rejection

  06-01-2026 20:28 via chicagodefender.com
  by Megan Willis, Australian Catholic UniversityAs the New Year rolls around, dating apps often see a surge in new sign-ups. Some are dipping their toes in for the first time, while others are rejoining with renewed hope of finding love after a break.The right swipe has undoubtedly led to many success stories – long-term relationships, marriages and babies.But it has also produced countless tales of the darker side of dating apps. Highlights from my own dating app adventures include the re
  
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• Pinwheel Records holds a sale to help with its imminent move

  06-01-2026 19:51 via chicagoreader.com
  On Sunday, December 28, Pinwheel Records co-owners Scott Schaaf and Kim Foreit entered their Pilsen record store to find the floor partially flooded. Ever since they opened Pinwheel at 1722 W. 18th Street in 2015, Schaaf and Foreit have had to deal with a small leak that occasionally sprung from the ceiling above the cassette […]
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• Mirror Mirror 4 reflects 2dcloud’s rainstorm

  06-01-2026 16:57 via chicagoreader.com
  Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the wildest of them all? After seven years, longtime indie publisher 2dcloud has resurrected its alt-comics anthology Mirror Mirror. Once a thick tome produced annually from 2016–2018, the fourth installment of Mirror Mirror has been reimagined as more of a magazine, not only in its size and length (it’s […]
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• Black Women Begin 2026 Making History As Mayors In Major U.S. Cities

  06-01-2026 13:50 via chicagodefender.com
  Thursday, Jan. 1, marked a historic milestone for local governance as three Black women were sworn in as mayors of major cities, per Shine My Crown.In Detroit, Mary Sheffield, 38, took the oath of office in a private ceremony at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, becoming the city’s first woman and first Black woman mayor in its 324-year history. Sheffield, the daughter of civil rights activist and pastor Horace Sheffield III, first won election to the De
  
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• J. Pharoah Doss: BLM-OKC leader faces 20 years in prison

  06-01-2026 13:00 via chicagodefender.com
  BLACK LIVES MATTER—Protesters in Pittsburgh in 2016 hold a Black Lives Matters sign and chant “What do we want?” “Justice.” When do we want it?” “Now.” (Photo by J.L. Martello)Black Lives Matter (BLM) began in 2013 as a decentralized movement to protest systemic racism and police brutality. Local chapters spearheaded the movement by creating their own social justice campaigns and initiatives. The local chapters were associated with the Black Lives
  
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• Voters shrug off scandals, paying a price in lost trust

  05-01-2026 20:18 via chicagodefender.com
  Donald Trump waits in court during proceedings over a business records violation. He was convicted, but Trump and his supporters dismissed the case as a partisan attack. Mary Altaffer/APby Brandon Rottinghaus, University of HoustonDonald Trump joked in 2016 that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not lose support. In 2024, after two impeachments and 34 felony convictions, he has more or less proved the point. He not only returned to the White House,
  
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• Guest Editorial: A new year with new hope for better healthcare

  05-01-2026 16:57 via chicagodefender.com
  It is interesting to see how fast life seems to be moving when we realize that we are already saying welcome to the year 2026. Time truly flies! The year 2026 promises to be very eventful. As we watch what is happening in the United States and around the world, it is apparent that we are on the precipice of significant change. All types of opportunities promise to become evident, including new information about old problems like the Epstein file saga or the affordable healthcare issue.Basi
  
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• Digital footprints

  05-01-2026 16:23 via chicagoreader.com
  In the project 60 wrd/min art critic, writer Lori Waxman explores how art writing can serve an expanded field of artists—including those incarcerated, trying to gain visas, working to establish themselves professionally, or just wanting feedback for a secret hobby. For this iteration, Waxman reviews a work by Chicago-based artist Ziyi Zhang. Ziyi Zhang Found […]
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• Can the US ‘run’ Venezuela? Military force can topple a dictator, but it cannot create political authority or legitimacy

  05-01-2026 15:23 via chicagodefender.com
  Supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro gather during a demonstration in Caracas on Jan, 4, 2026. Pedro Mattey/Anadolu via Getty Imagesby Monica Duffy Toft, Tufts UniversityAn image circulated over media the weekend of Jan. 3 and 4 was meant to convey dominance: Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, blindfolded and handcuffed aboard a U.S. naval vessel. Shortly after the operation that seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, President Donald Trump announced that
  
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• Five ways to improve your health this year that don’t rely on losing weight

  05-01-2026 15:11 via chicagodefender.com
  PeopleImages/Shutterstockby Rachel Woods, University of LincolnEvery January, internet searches for the terms “diet” and “weight loss” surge, gyms become busier and diet trends spread across social media. But research shows that most people who try the latest quick-fix plan do not keep the weight off.Focusing on weight alone can overshadow other changes that improve health in more reliable and sustainable ways. Some of these may lead to weight loss and some may not, but
  
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• Choosing a career? In a fast-changing job market, listen to your inner self – counselor

  04-01-2026 19:33 via chicagodefender.com
  Unsplashby Kobus Maree, University of PretoriaThe world of work today, in the 21st century, is far more unpredictable than it was in the 20th century. Jobs come and go, roles change constantly, and automation and digital disruption are the only constants. Many young people will one day do jobs that don’t yet exist or did not exist a few years ago. Change is the new normal.In this world, career counselling focuses on navigating repeated transitions and developing resilience. It is about emp
  
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• Harris and McDaniel: Democrats can’t win in 2026 on Trump resistance alone

  04-01-2026 18:00 via chicagodefender.com
  By Kevin Harris and Richard McDaniel
  (TriceEdneyWire.com)—Democrats ended 2025 with important victories that steadied a rattled party still reeling from Donald Trump’s return to power. Yet even after those wins, Democratic approval ratings remain stubbornly low. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found only 18 percent of voters approve of the way congressional Democrats are handling their jobs. A record low of 73 percent disapprove. In stark contrast, congressional Republicans have
  
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• John Warren: Remembering those we lost and planning ahead

  04-01-2026 17:52 via chicagodefender.com
  Each year’s end, the San Diego Voice & Viewpoint publishes, with photos where possible, a list of those members of our community who transitioned during the year. For all of us, it serves as a reminder that our time on this earth is limited; that we should value how we use that time and that we know not when our time expires. For many of us, it answers the questions as to why we have not seen someone lately that we often run into in the course of our activities. But this is not a time
  
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• RENEE P. ALDRICH: End-of-year musings for us seniors

  04-01-2026 00:30 via chicagodefender.com
  We are about to close out the year 2025. If you are reading this, then you are one of the fortunate ones still standing and are therefore truly blessed. We’ve been truly bombarded with a few knockdown punches this year, yet we’ve made it thus far, because we were knocked down, but not out. We’ve been faced with an unprecedented ugly display of the worst racism since Jim Crow from this new administration, which I believe has been the “bane” of our existence.We&rsquo
  
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• How the tax code helps with child care

  03-01-2026 18:30 via chicagodefender.com
  by First Five Years FundBLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE—In the United States, two-thirds of young children live in households where all available parents are working. Meaning child care is essential for families’ ability to stay in the workforce. An effective but often overlooked tool in the federal tax code to help expand access to child care is the Employer-Provided Child Care Credit, known as 45F. This provision supports employers that want to help provide or arrange child care
  
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• David Marshall: White privilege is not for everyone 

  03-01-2026 18:10 via chicagodefender.com
  (TriceEdneyWire.com)—We can all learn a lot from James Troiano, the retired New Jersey Superior Court judge. In 2017, Judge James Troiano ruled in favor of giving leniency to a then-16-year-old boy accused of raping an intoxicated 16-year-old girl at a basement house party. “This young man comes from a good family who put him into an excellent school where he was doing extremely well,” Troiano said in his court decision. “He is clearly a candidate for not just college bu
  
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• Julianne Malveaux: Cost-of-living crisis, we’re told, is over

  03-01-2026 06:00 via chicagodefender.com
  Crowd of people protest against inflation and financial crisis. Getty Images(TriceEdneyWire.com)—We are repeatedly told that inflation is down, the economy is improving, and that relief is on the way. By the numbers, that is partly true. Inflation has cooled from its recent peak. Wages have risen modestly. The unemployment rate remains historically low, though the Black unemployment rate is twice the White rate.  The man who lives in the House that Enslaved People Built treated us to
  
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