Laura Washington

Jan 17, 2025 | news.wttw.com | Melody Mercado |Laura Washington |Alex Nitkin

Week in Review: End of the Line for Dorval Carter at CTA; First Partially Elected School Board Sworn In It’s the end of the line for the head of the Chicago Transit Authority. With Red Line extension funding secured, the much-criticized CTA President Dorval Carter makes his exit. But with a deficit of more than half a billion dollars, the agency faces considerable challenges ahead. Meanwhile, the Regional Transportation Authority is seeking greater oversight authority.

Jan 15, 2025 | chicagotribune.com | Laura Washington

Chicago has a problem that must be solved: how to revive our downtown. Frank Sinatra’s “State Street, that great Street” is no more, replaced by blocks of empty storefronts. LaSalle Street, once a major financial hub, is now more like a discarded hubcap lying by the side of the road. The heart of our “toddlin’ town” has become dark, scary and obsolescent. The hallowed Art Institute of Chicago has been closed every Tuesday and Wednesday for years, a casualty of the pandemic.

Jan 8, 2025 | chicagotribune.com | Laura Washington

In Chicago in January, there are two things you can count on. A deep freeze and steamy politics. Yet 2025 will be a rare year in these parts, one with no major election or active campaigns on the calendar. Given these pyrrhic times, you might welcome the respite. Don’t get too excited. This year won’t be a no-politics zone. Americans are not expecting political peace. In a Gallup Poll taken Dec. 4 to 15, Americans were asked to predict trends for 2025.

Dec 11, 2024 | chicagotribune.com | Laura Washington

President Joe Biden proposed a policy last week that would allow Americans on Medicare and Medicaid to access obesity-fighting drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic. The White House is pitching the regulation as these new drugs are exploding in the health care arena, and which, so far, have been effective and in high demand. Yet like other emerging pharmaceuticals, they are also pricey and out of reach for many. Biden’s proposal to expand access to weight-loss drugs could be a game changer for millions.

Dec 4, 2024 | chicagotribune.com | Laura Washington

Before we plunge headlong into the season of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, let’s linger, one more time, to appreciate Thanksgiving. Last week I wrote that the growing phenomenon of “Christmas creep” is infringing on the joys of our annual turkey-infused celebration. Many readers agreed, lamenting, as one put it, “the demise of Thanksgiving.” They paid homage to the erstwhile November holiday, and shared reflections on how to keep it real. Here are a few: The Rev. James W.