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March 4, 2024 - Full Show

The Supreme Court restores Donald Trump to the ballot. A push to eliminate the road test for seniors in Illinois. And looking at Chicago’s lofty place in the history of the skyscraper.

(WTTW News)

New Bill Aims to Eliminate the Road Test for Seniors in Illinois

Illinois is the only state in the country to require behind-the-wheel road tests for seniors renewing their licenses. Proposed legislation in Springfield is looking to eliminate that mandate despite conflicting research from some national safety groups.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his state of the state and budget address before the General Assembly at the Illinois State Capitol, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (WTTW News)

State Lawmakers Debate Top Takeaways From Pritzker’s Proposed Budget

More money for migrants, increased access to preschool, a break on grocery bills and a prescription for how the state could wipe out medical debt — those are some of the spending plans in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s nearly $53 billion state budget.

Brigitte Calls Me Baby performs at Schubas Tavern on March 2, 2024. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)

Brigitte Calls Me Baby, Breakout Chicago Rock Band, Meets the Moment With Electrifying Show at Schubas: Review

There was a charge in the air at Schubas Tavern on Saturday night. Maybe it was the singer with the electric chair tattooed on his chest. Brigitte Calls Me Baby played its first sold-out hometown show.

Demolition began Monday, March 4, 2024, on an illegal building in Humboldt Park that has been at the center of controversy since 2022, when it began rising on park grounds with no prior notice to the community. (WTTW News)

Demolition Begins on Illegal Building in Humboldt Park

The illegal building, intended as an archive for the neighboring landmarked National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, has been at the center of controversy since 2022.

Robert Crimo Jr., left, pleaded guilty to seven counts of misdemeanor reckless conduct. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Pool / Chicago Tribune / AP via CNN Newsource)

Who is Accountable for a Mass Shooting? It’s No Longer Only the Person Who Pulled the Trigger

Prosecutors over the past few years have been slowly, but steadily, expanding the notion of who can be held accountable for a mass shooting.

This image provided by Perrigo Company shows boxes of Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill available later this month in the United States. (Perrigo Company via AP)

First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill in US Begins Shipping to Stores

The drug’s approval came despite some concerns by FDA scientists about the company’s results, including whether women with certain medical conditions would understand that they shouldn’t take the drug.

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures at a campaign rally, March 2, 2024, in Richmond, Va. (Steve Helber / AP Photo, File)

Supreme Court Restores Trump to Ballot, Rejecting State Attempts to Ban Him Over Capitol Attack

The justices ruled a day before the Super Tuesday primaries that states, without action from Congress first, cannot invoke a post-Civil War constitutional provision to keep presidential candidates from appearing on ballots.

The exterior of the Illinois State Capitol is pictured in Springfield. In 2024, nearly 90% of Statehouse primaries feature either one candidate or none at all. (Andrew Adams / Capitol News Illinois)

Nearly 9 in 10 State-Level Primaries Give Illinois Voters No Choice in Candidates

Statewide, 88% of judicial and state legislative primaries feature either a single candidate or no one running at all. This is the highest number of uncompetitive primaries for those seats in at least 20 years, according to a Capitol News Illinois analysis of data going back to 2004.

(WTTW News)

Gov. Pritzker Seeking to Eliminate State Grocery Tax, But Some Municipalities Could Push Back

Illinois shoppers would save a dollar when they buy $100 worth of groceries under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate a state sales tax on groceries.

Graphic that says “Chicago's Skyscrapers.” (WTTW News)

WTTW News Explains: Where Does Chicago Stand in Skyscraper History?

Chicago is a city of firsts — everything from the first Ferris wheel to the first brownie and the world’s very first skyscraper. WTTW News explains.

Chicago Police Department Headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

5 Years After Chicago’s Consent Decree Took Effect, Little Urgency Surrounds Reform Push

The Chicago Police Department has fully met just 6% of the consent decree’s requirements, according to the most recent report by the team monitoring CPD’s progress.

(WTTW News)

Early Voting Expands Across Chicago for March 19 Illinois Primary

Starting Monday, voters in Chicago will have more places to cast their ballots ahead of the Illinois primary election on March 19.

Brian Beals, 57, sits in his sister’s home in January, one month after being released from prison after serving 35 years for a wrongful conviction. Beals was studying at Southern Illinois University when he was arrested for a murder he did not commit in 1988. (Dilpreet Raju / Capitol News Illinois)

His Conviction Was Overturned After 35 Years Wrongfully Served. State Law Caps His Compensation at 14 Years

A new bill in the General Assembly would seek to remove the roughly $200,000 cap on payments to exonerees that maxes out at the 14-year mark, replacing it with a payout of $50,000 per year, capped at just over $2 million.

Ronnie Preston dances in the Illinois Capitol in February 2024 as part of the Native American Summit organized by the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative. (Andrew Adams / Capitol News Illinois)

Native Tribe Seeks Return of Ancestral Land in DeKalb County

A bill pending in the General Assembly would give back roughly 1,500 acres of park land in DeKalb County to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. That tribe once occupied much of the Great Lakes region but was forcibly removed in the 19th century.

Tammy McCann performs at the Driehaus Museum on Feb. 27, 2024. (Angel Idowu / WTTW News)

Chicago Jazz Vocalist Takes Listeners on Musical Journey in ‘75 Years of Mahalia Jackson’: Review

Tammy McCann recently previewed a one-woman show dedicated to the life and work of gospel legend Mahalia Jackson. McCann will soon head to New York to once again pay homage to the queen of gospel.

The cast of “Message in a Bottle.” (Lynn Theisen)

The Chilling Power and Uncanny Timeliness of ‘Message in a Bottle’: Review

“Message in a Bottle,” which runs through Sunday at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, is simply a phenomenal production that should not be missed, writes WTTW News theater critic Hedy Weiss.

(Courtesy of Brigitte Calls Me Baby)

Homecoming for Chicago Band Brigitte Calls Me Baby — Lead Singer Talks Elvis, Pen Pals and a Promising Future

The spotlight shines brightly these days on Chicago band Brigitte Calls Me Baby. The group just had its national TV debut on “CBS Saturday Morning,” and the influential public radio station WXPN called the band “future rock royalty.”

A non-native subspecies of common reed is an invasive bully (l), crowding out its native counterpart in wetlands. (Credits: Caleb Slemmons, National Ecological Observatory Network, Bugwood.org (l); Rob Rutledge, Sault College, Bugwood.org)

Invasive Dupes, Part 5: The Common Reed’s Identity Crisis is a Doozy

For the last in our series on invasive species that can be mistaken for natives, here’s one of the trickiest: phragmites, also known as common reed.

Week in Review: Trump Ruled Ineligible for Illinois Primary Ballot; Multiple Warnings Over Migrant Shelter Conditions

Trump is ruled ineligible in Illinois but will stay on the ballot. And all signs point to the Bears drafting a superstar prospect with the first overall pick.

FILE - Comirnaty, a new Pfizer/BioNTech vaccination booster for COVID-19, is displayed at a pharmacy in Orlando, Fla., on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. (Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel via AP)

Older Adults Should Get Another COVID-19 Shot, Health Officials Recommend

There are still more than 20,000 hospitalizations and more than 2,000 deaths each week due to the coronavirus, according to the CDC. And people 65 and older have the highest hospitalization and death rates.

February 2024 was the warmest on record in Chicago. The lakefront seen from the Museum Campus, Feb. 27, 2024. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

What the Heck Happened to February in Chicago? It Was the Warmest on Record, But It Could Have Been Weirder

It’s official, Chicago: February 2024 was the warmest in 153 years of recording keeping.

FILE - McKenna Shuster works on a linocut art print which she does as a hobby in her home on the last night of a two-week self-isolation while recovering from symptoms of COVID-19 in Somerville, Mass., on March 26, 2020. (David Goldman / AP Photo, File)

US Health Officials Drop 5-Day Isolation Time for COVID-19

Most people have some degree of immunity to the coronavirus from past vaccinations or from infections. And many people are not following the five-day isolation guidance anyway, some experts say.

FILE - Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 16, 2022. (Allen G. Breed / AP Photo, File)

CVS and Walgreens Plan to Start Dispensing Abortion Pill Mifepristone Soon

Walgreens will begin dispensing the medication within a week at some locations in several states, including Illinois.

Urban studies students at the University of Illinois Chicago are conducting a survey as part of a capstone project about improving CTA stations. (Nicole Cardos / WTTW News)

Students Seek Feedback From Transit Riders on How CTA Can Bring ‘Joy’ to Its Stations: ‘It’s a Pipe Dream, But It Gives Us Hope’

Students at the University of Illinois Chicago are conducting the survey as part of a capstone project, which focuses on getting rider feedback on the UIC Halsted Blue Line station, Roosevelt Red Line station and the Clark/Division Red Line station.

(WTTW News)

Illinois Signed $640K Contract to Review Controversial ‘Invest In Kids’ Tax Credit Program, But Results Are Deemed ‘Inconclusive’

Illinois signed a contract for $640,000 for a report that could help legislators determine the value of the state’s recently defunct private school scholarship program, but a lack of data makes its findings “inconclusive.”