It's up and down weather this week. While it was warm and windy yesterday, it's rainy today with a chill on the horizon. Stay grounded with these stories from WTTW News.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mayor Brandon Johnson addresses the news media on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, alongside Chief of Staff Cristina Pacione Zayas and Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)
|
Mayor Brandon Johnson turned up the pressure Tuesday on the Chicago Board of Education to cover a $175 million pension payment by refinancing some of the school district’s existing debt as the turmoil engulfing Chicago Public Schools threatens to boil over.
Johnson used a City Hall news conference to make his case to the new 21-member, partially elected CPS board, which is set to vote Thursday on whether to make that pension payment and how to pay for new contracts with the unions representing teachers and principals.
“We have to place the Board of Education on a path to solvency and independence,” Johnson said.
What could happen next?
If the CPS board refuses to reimburse the city for making the required payment into the pension fund that includes 23,166 employees of CPS who are not teachers, the city could be forced to dip into its reserves to ensure that it can close the books on the 2024 fiscal year no later than March 30.
Fourteen of the 21 board members must vote to approve the budget amendment.
A board-commissioned report by Baker Tilly, a financial advisory firm, released Tuesday found that it “could be difficult without significant disruption to students” for CPS to make enough cuts to staunch the tide of red ink.
What else happened?
As Johnson ramped up pressure on the board to make the $175 million pension payment, leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union warned the board that CPS CEO Pedro Martinez’s failure to reach an agreement on a new contract would cause “more disruption and chaos for all district stakeholders.” One of the major sticking points preventing a deal involves the amount of time elementary school teachers have to plan and prepare while on the clock.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
File photo of a person holding a pill container. (Jacob Wackerhausen / Stock)
|
At first blush, it seems basic. After a doctor writes a prescription, a patient gets it filled at a pharmacy. But the pharmacy isn’t in full control. There’s a go-between: a pharmacy benefit manager, or PBM, which negotiates prices with wholesalers, sets reimbursement rates on drugs and compiles the lists of which medicines an insurer will cover.
OK, what exactly do they do?
The industry can secure discounts, and the national association for PBMs describes their efforts as working to achieve savings and access to prescriptions. But critics, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who took specific aim at PBMs last month during his state of the state address, describe the industry as focused on self-enrichment and in need of regulation. He said “one of the great ironies of our modern age” is the concurrent breakthroughs that have developed life-saving medicines that end up being so expensive that they’re out of reach.
“What’s causing that? Patients, health care providers, and independent pharmacists will all tell you that pharmacy benefit managers — or PBMs — are driving up prices,” Pritzker said in his speech. “They extract extra profit from patients through opaque and often predatory tactics. They are not doctors, but they work with insurance companies to deny people the drugs and treatments doctors prescribe.”
What do lawmakers want?
Pritzker is calling on the federal government to do more to rein in PBMs, but the Democratic governor said in the meantime Illinois should take action. Negotiations are ongoing, but initial measures have been filed by state Rep. Natalie Manley (D-Romeoville) and state Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria). Other lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have also filed plans to regulate PBMs that are not directly aligned with Pritzker’s plans.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WTTW News arts reporter Marc Vitali, left, gives Irish dancing his best shot at the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox Ave., on March 17, 2025. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
|
At the Irish American Heritage Center, two “Riverdance” dancers led a workshop of 35 to 40 dancers of varying age and experience. WTTW News arts reporter Marc Vitali was one of those dancers and he writes, "I soon discovered that I’m too aged and inexperienced." He made it almost 90 minutes and learned an important lesson: "Irish dancing is hard. These dancers are athletes. The Fighting Irish? The Dancing Irish could go the distance with them." He continues, "Another lesson: It’s always good to get a better appreciation of artistry of any kind — painting, acting, Irish dancing — by doing it. Comfort zone? Ha!"
The dancers are in town in advance of “Riverdance 30 – The New Generation,” the touring company that leaps into Chicago next month at the Cadillac Palace Theatre from April 22-27.
|
|
|
|
|
|
More From WTTW News
|
Lollapalooza announced its 2025 lineup. Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Luke Combs, Tyler, The Creator and more will hit Grant Park from Thursday, July 31 through Sunday, August 4.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Back in the Day: March 19. 2015 - Three Ex-Chicago Hospital Officials Convicted in Bribery Scheme
|
Sacred Heart Hospital was a 119-bed healthcare facility at 3240 W. Franklin Blvd., in Chicago that closed in 2013 shortly following a raid by the FBI and explosive allegations detailing fraud and abuse. According to investigators, the owner and other executives, "collectively paid and received hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal kickbacks in exchange for the referral of hospital patients who were insured by Medicare and Medicaid." On this day 10 years ago, following a six-week trial, a federal
jury found the former owner of a now-shuttered Chicago hospital and two former top administrators guilty on a number of fraud and conspiracy counts. Prosecutors had argued that the three bribed the doctors to send patients to what was "a substandard and even filthy hospital“ and that they disguised the kickbacks as "teaching agreements, lease contracts and staffing perks." The case was another entry in a long line of hospital-related scandals of fraud and abuse in Chicago.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Local Live Music Recommendations for Mar. 19-Mar. 25
|
Each Wednesday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry presents must-see live music shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more.
Wednesday, March 19:
Sharp Pins, Tom Henry at Empty Bottle. Tickets.
This early show starts at 6 p.m. Chicago songwriter Kai Slater celebrates Sharp Pins’ sophomore album “Radio DDR,” which is out Friday.
Friday, March 21:
Discus, Shower Curtain, Sunshy at Empty Bottle. Tickets.
While Discus and Sunshy are locals, they’re joined by the Brooklyn-based band Shower Curtain who are signed to the Chicago label Angel Tapes.
Saturday, March 22:
Daniel Villarreal, Dark Canyon at Schubas. Tickets.
The now Philadelphia-based drummer returns to Chicago for a night of jazz grooves and experimental arrangements.
Monday, March 24:
Yasuaki Shimizu, Macie Stewart/Lia Kohl/Whitney Johnson at Thalia Hall. Tickets.
Three of Chicago’s most talented musical improvisers open for the Japanese composer and saxophonist.
Tuesday, March 25:
Lunar Vacation, Mia Joy at Lincoln Hall. Tickets.
The Atlanta outfit makes dreamy and infectious rock music.
|
|
|
|
|
|
What's your favorite fun fact or piece of trivia about Chicago?
|
|
|
Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
|
|
|
|
|
|
5:30 PM | 10:00 PM
|
|
|
|
Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more.
|
Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
|
|
|
|
|
