These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (2025)

No year is ever boring in Chicago, but 2024 was always going to be monumental.

The Democratic National Convention took center stage for months even before it came to town in August, as did the protest movements determined to shake up the local, national and international status quo. We saw acute events and their fallout, such as the mass resignation of the Chicago school board in October and the death of unarmed Springfield resident Sonya Massey at the hands of a sheriff’s deputy. Other big stories were a constant presence on the back burner, like the cost of living forcing tough decisions on renters and homeowners.

By December, many of us look back and try to convince ourselves such-and-such thing really did happen in the past calendar year. These are the local news stories that drew the most attention from WBEZ’s readers in 2024, presented here in chronological order.

Surf’s up, temps down

These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (1)

Will Kleihege for WBEZ

The addictive hellscape of winter surfing on the Great Lakes (Jan. 9, 2024)

By Zachary Nauth and Will Kleihege for WBEZ

Winter is usually not one of Chicago’s selling points — but if you’re part of the Great Lakes surfing movement, there’s no better time of year to enjoy some intense waves. As contributors Zachary Nauth and Will Kleihege learned, winter storms make for wilder rides, and the cutting chill actually changes the lake’s buoyancy so it acts more like saltwater. This isn’t a fad, either: One group of friends has been dropping everything to hit Lake Michigan for almost 30 years. “It’s always worth it,” one devotee exults. “I’ve never gone in the lake during the winter and wished I didn’t.”

Hair and wellness

These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (2)

Pat Nabong

Smooth and straight — and now sick? Thousands of Black women are suing the makers of hair relaxers in federal court in Chicago. (April 4, 2024)

By Andy Grimm and Natalie Y. Moore

For many Black women, chemical hair treatments to relax their hair have been a way of life for decades. In the ’90s and early 2000s, the bone-straight tresses of R&B singer Aaliyah inspired countless Chicagoans to pursue the same. When cancer diagnoses, particularly uterine cancers, began rising among these women, many found themselves wondering if carcinogens in their relaxers were to blame. Andy Grimm and Natalie Moore trace the connections between the science of chemical treatments, the social trends that drive their usage and the individuals suffering through the fallout.

Making art but at a cost

Is Chicago still a liveable city for its storefront theater actors? (April 22, 2024)

By Mike Davis

The health of a city can be measured by the health of its arts scene — and artists have always been willing to sacrifice for their craft. There’s a difference, however, between gig work and day jobs versus barely keeping your head above water. Theater reporter Mike Davis looked into how Chicago’s actors and theater professionals are supporting themselves since COVID drastically changed the game. For some, this has meant sticking with what works, but for others, it has opened up a willingness to take big creative risks.

Another migrant crisis

These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (4)

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

What Colombia can teach Chicago about managing a migrant wave (June 16, 2024)

By Chip Mitchell

To uproot an entire life and travel to a new country requires enormous effort and immense sacrifice, and that’s just the beginning of starting over. Chicago, of course, is not the first or the only city where migrants land; reporter Chip Mitchell and Sun-Times photojournalist Anthony Vazquez flew south to learn more.

Also notable:

  • Immigration reporter Adriana Cardona-Maguigad and photojournalist Manuel Martinez documented the preparations, ceremonies and celebrations of 15 migrant couples getting married in Chicago (Apr. 27, 2024).
  • In Migrant organizers try to calm chaos at South Side Home Depot (Oct. 7, 2024), Cardona-Maguigad follows Chicagoans trying to connect Latin American migrants with paying work amid tensions with both businesses and neighborhood residents.

Shut it down

These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (5)

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Northwestern police charge four educators, months after pro-Palestinian encampment (July 18, 2024)

By Lisa Kurian Philip

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, Chicago has — like countless cities around the world — been gripped by the devastation wrought in the ensuing war. Home to the nation’s largest Palestinian diaspora and third-largest American Jewish community, the Chicago area has been roiled by countless outcries about the conflict in Gaza. University campuses in particular became sites of confrontation, as students, professors and outside parties all sought to drive change where they could. Education reporter Lisa Kurian Philip examined the free speech implications of one such incident, in which four Northwestern University educators were charged with obstructing police months after the allegations were logged.

Tragedy in Sangamon County

These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (6)

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Video shows sheriff’s deputy shoot and kill an unarmed woman in Springfield, Ill. (July 22, 2024)

By Mawa Iqbal

In a city already on edge after the April police shooting of Dexter Reed, who was shot 96 times by four officers after a traffic stop, the killing of Springfield resident Sonya Massey in her own home further agonized a number of communities. Statehouse reporter Mawa Iqbal covered the story that unfolded in Sangamon County: Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson claimed Massey was threatening him after he responded to a call about a potential intruder; Grayson also failed to wear his body camera during the incident. Both Reed and Massey were Black, and advocates insisted they deserved mental health support in a moment of crisis, rather than armed law enforcement.

Scholarship stumble

These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (7)

Michael Schmidt/Sun-Times file

A suburban family promised Chicago students help paying for college. Then they backed out. (July 31, 2024)

By Lisa Kurian Philip

Higher education is packaged as a promise for a better future, wherever you stand on the socioeconomic ladder. Scholarships can present life-changing opportunities for those who need them, so when one program backtracked on its commitments to low-income and first-generation students, just weeks before disbursement, its beneficiaries were left reeling. Former Abbott Laboratories executive Jack Schuler cited his own financial difficulties in continuing to fund the Schuler Scholars. Still, one recipient said, “If I was in a position of power, like Mr. Schuler, and I was promising all these kids all these things, I would hope I could just stay true to my word.”

Kamala comes to town

These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (8)

Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photos

Will this year’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago be a repeat of 1968? (Aug. 1, 2024)

By Robert Loerzel for Curious City

All year, Chicago prepared for one week in late August: the Democratic National Convention, a mega event thrown a curveball when President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection just weeks beforehand. Robert Loerzel documented why locals fretted about whether 2024 would repeat the fractious 1968 convention, both inside the nominating process and outside the United Center, where thousands promised to protest. But when it came time for Vice President Kamala Harris and her team to execute, the DNC was widely praised as “nearly flawless,” from its official presence to its more locally driven charms.

Transit champs

These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (9)

Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

Yeehaw: Welcome to the CTA bus ‘roadeo’ (Sept. 13, 2024)

By Andrew Meriwether for Curious City

CTA bus operators need to be ready for everything, even as their job descriptions are all about reliability and dependability. Once a year, the best of the best, from drivers to janitorial staff and mechanics, get their chance to shine — incentivized to drive safely all year by the opportunity to win big prizes. Curious City contributor Andrew Meriwether dives into the history and stakes of the CTA Bus Roadeo, a test of skill, professionalism and pageantry.

A clean slate at CPS

These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (10)

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Mayor Brandon Johnson names new CPS board members after mass resignations (Oct. 7, 2024)

By Nader Issa and Sarah Karp

After months of trench warfare over how to fund Chicago Public Schools, the entire Board of Education resigned en masse in October, as detailed by veteran education reporters Nader Issa and Sarah Karp. With Chicago’s first elections for school board members just a few weeks away, Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed replacements, including a controversial president who resigned in light of offensive social media posts just one week after being sworn in.

Tents vs. the city

These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (11)

Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times

As Chicago clears away its biggest tent city, a former gang leader says he won’t settle for a homeless shelter (Oct. 17, 2024)

By Chip Mitchell

Before this month, Humboldt Park was home to the city’s largest tent city, which was cleared by city officials, despite not every resident being offered housing as promised. In October, reporter Chip Mitchell profiled one of Humboldt Park’s more stalwart residents: 44-year-old James Rios, who grew up in Lincoln Park. For him, taking up the city’s offer of a bed at a shelter was a nonstarter. “It wouldn’t work out because of my fiancée,” he said. “They would split us up, meaning she would have to be somewhere else.”

The (un)affordability of housing

These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (12)

Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

Residents of Chicago’s south suburbs deal with crushing tax increases (Nov. 25, 2024)

By Adora Namiggade

Chicago’s population continues to fluctuate in response to how many people can really afford housing in and around the city. Homeownership isn’t even a magic pill, however, as metro reporter Adora Namigadde found in her story about how property taxes are soaring in Chicago’s south suburbs, while property values are not — and it’s largely affecting communities of color.

Also notable:

  • Data reporters Amy Qin and Andjela Padejski dove deep into the average cost burden for renters and found a tech-driven likely antagonist in Chicago’s rental crisis: Is an algorithm rigging the system? (Oct. 22, 2024).

Esther Bergdahl is a digital producer at WBEZ.

These local stories from WBEZ grabbed your attention in 2024 (2025)
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