Latest news with #Chicago-area
Axios
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Axios
In photos: Ozzy Osbourne in Chicago
Ozzy Osbourne, known as the "Godfather of Heavy Metal," died Tuesday at the age of 76. Zoom in: While Ozzy is from England, his music brought thousands of Chicago fans together over the years. Ozzy and his band Black Sabbath have played everywhere from the Rosemont Horizon to the Aragon Ballroom. He also brought the "Ozzfest" tour to the New World Music Theatre in Tinley Park in the 1990s. In the photo above, Ozzy appeared at Rolling Stone Records in Norridge in 1981. Ozzy's last Chicago-area concert was with Black Sabbath at the United Center in 2016. They also performed at Lollapalooza in 2012.
Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
Groups that support LGBTQ+ individuals brace for funding cuts that could affect HIV care, prevention
Chicago-area groups that support LGBTQ+ individuals are navigating an uncertain landscape while bracing for federal funding cuts that could affect HIV care and prevention. Cuts outlined in President Donald Trump's proposed 2026 budget mean some groups stand to lose federal funds that support medical services like testing and HIV treatment, as well as nonmedical patient supports such as housing and food subsidies. Research money that goes toward drug development is also on the chopping block. Advocates say that because the virus disproportionately affects transgender, Black and Latino individuals — and prevention efforts have been focused on those communities — HIV funding has taken a hit as diversity, equity and inclusion programs are rolled back. 'When we allocate funds to prioritize the needs of this community, it's a community that has been impacted by health disparities since before we've been counted by the census,' said Terra Campbell, associate director of community relations at LGBTQ+ health care provider Howard Brown Health. 'It's not special treatment. It's investment in the needs of your neighbor and the community.' The Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center's funding will be cut completely in the current budget proposal for fiscal year 2026. It provides training and support for health care professionals working in HIV prevention, care and treatment. Shanett Jones, Illinois program director, estimates the center trains more than 4,000 providers every year. The center receives funding under the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, the largest federal program for HIV in America. The 2026 budget proposal eliminates the part of the Ryan White program that establishes and funds all AIDS education and training centers across the United States. 'If we do lose this funding, we risk having a less prepared workforce, which leads to delayed diagnosis of people living with HIV,' Jones said. 'This is an infrastructure that, once it's dismantled, it does not come back easily — you can't win the race by slashing the engine.' AIDS Foundation Chicago gets more than 80% of its funding from federal sources. Alongside advocacy work, the foundation provides support services for people living with HIV, including testing and prevention resources, education, housing and health insurance. In 2024, the foundation served more than 8,000 people in the Chicago area. Timothy Jackson, senior director of policy, said the foundation is currently planning for a projected loss of 40% of those funds in the president's 2026 budget request. AIDS Foundation Chicago is partially funded by both Ryan White and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to KFF, a nonprofit health policy research organization, the proposed budget cuts all of the CDC's HIV prevention funds. The foundation also receives funding through the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program, which will also be eliminated in the proposed 2026 budget. These nonmedical services are essential for reducing HIV in Chicago, Jackson said. 'We have to look at all of the other things that make HIV possible, or make the transmission of HIV possible. So that's when we talk about housing, that's when we talk about harm reduction. That's why we talk about transportation and food access and all of these other different things,' he said. AIDS Foundation Chicago filed a lawsuit in February along with two other nonprofits challenging executive orders that sought to end 'diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility' programs and equity-related grants and contracts. 'Our mission is rooted in ending HIV and homelessness in the communities that are most impacted. And it is very difficult to do that when you are not leading with equity,' Jackson said. These organizations' work has already been affected by the National Institutes of Health funding pause earlier this year, and will continue to be affected by cuts to research funding in the planned budget. Jackson said the recent success of the twice-annual HIV prevention shot, lenacapavir, would not have been possible without NIH and CDC funding. 'This administration does not value science. We see that play out over the huge cuts at the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, which all impact HIV and the work around new HIV treatment and prevention modalities,' Jackson said. Even groups that are not largely reliant on federal funding are experiencing the strain of an uncertain economic future. Chris Balthazar, executive director of TaskForce Prevention and Community Services, a health and wellness group serving LGBTQ+ youth in Chicago, says many of his organization's partners are only signing contracts for quarterly periods, instead of their usual 12-month periods, in case funding disappears. These partners are how TaskForce provides many of its services, which include legal and housing aid, HIV and other STD testing, and connecting patients to medical care. 'Imagine what the impact of that is on the ground. How do you sustain a job on a grant that you don't even have a full 12-month contract for?' he said. Additionally, Balthazar explained that while state funding is not being cut as explicitly as federal funding, it is still expected to decline. The federal government partially funds the Illinois and Chicago Departments of Public Health, which then give grants to groups like TaskForce. Since the health departments don't know what sort of funding to expect in the next year, they aren't able to commit to the same grants they have in years previous. 'So much of the state budget comes from the federal budget. And I think that it's scary that, unfortunately, if this continues and nothing is undone, we're going to see major cuts, and we're going to see more and more people who are on the margins of the margins be even more drastically devastated by this,' he said. Both Jackson and Jones said that the most important thing anyone can do for HIV care and prevention in Chicago right now is to call their representatives and express support for continued HIV funding. 'It's reassuring that we have people who are still engaged, who are still advocating, who are still hoping. And when I go and I talk to community groups, I tell them, we can't go back to the '80s,' Jackson said. 'We're going to do what we have always done in 40-plus years of the epidemic: rely on community to get us through.'
Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Changes to federal student loans leave aspiring medical students scrambling to cover costs
Twenty-year-old Eric Mun didn't want to believe it: Only one kid in the family could make it to medical school — and it wasn't going to be him. Mun had done everything right. He graduated high school with honors, earned a scholarship at Northwestern University and breezed through his biology courses. He immigrated to Alabama from Korea as a toddler. From the quiet stretches of the South, he dreamed of helping patients in a pressed white coat. But dreams don't pay tuition. And with new borrowing limits, Mun's family can only support one child through school. 'My parents already implied that my older brother is probably going to be the one that gets to go,' Mun said. President Donald Trump's sweeping 'big, beautiful' tax and spending bill, signed into law earlier this month, imposes strict new caps on federal student loans, capping borrowing for professional schools at $50,000 per year. The measure particularly affects medical students, whose tuition often exceeds $300,000 over four years. Aspiring physicians like Mun have been thrown into financial uncertainty. Many members of the medical community say the measures will send shock waves through a system already laden with economic barriers, discouraging low-income students from pursuing a medical degree. 'It might mean there are people who want to be doctors that can't be doctors because they can't afford it,' said Richard Anderson, president of the Illinois State Medical Society. Before the passage of Trump's budget bill, the Grad PLUS loan program allowed graduate students to borrow their institution's total cost of attendance, including living expenses. The program was slashed as part of a broader overhaul to the federal student loan system. Now, beginning July 1, 2026, most graduate students will be capped at $20,500 in federal loans per year, with a total limit of $100,000. Students in professional schools, like medical, dental or law school, will face the $50,000 annual cap and a total limit of $200,000. Mun's parents work at an automobile assembly plant. Throughout high school, he knew he would have to rely on scholarships and federal loans to pay his way through college. Mun's voice faltered. 'I'm just trying to remain hopeful,' Mun said. Also folded into the bill: the elimination of several Biden-era repayment plans, cuts to Pell Grants and limits to the Parent PLUS loans program, which allows parents of dependent undergraduates to borrow. Proponents of the Republican-backed bill said the curbed borrowing will incentivize medical schools and other graduate programs to lower tuition. The tuition of most Chicago-area medical schools is nearly $300,000 for four years, not including cost-of-living expenses. Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine has a $465,000 price tag after accounting for those indirect costs, according to the school's website. Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science trails closely behind at nearly $464,000. 'One of the main concerns about the Grad PLUS program is money that is going to subsidize institutions rather than extending access to students,' said Lesley Turner, an associate professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. Still, many medical professionals expressed doubt that schools will adjust their costs in response to the bill. Tuition for both private and public schools has been steadily climbing for decades, up 81% from 2001 after adjusting for inflation, according to the Association of American Medical some evidence that Grad PLUS may have contributed to those tuition hikes. A study co-authored by Turner in 2023 found that prices increased 65 cents per dollar after the program's introduction in 2006. There was also little indication that Grad PLUS had fulfilled its intended goal of expanding access to underrepresented students. But Turner cautioned against the abrupt reversal of the program. After accounting for inflation, the lifetime borrowing limits now placed on graduate students are lower than they were in 2005, she said. Many students may turn to private loans to cover the gap, often at higher interest rates. More than half of medical students relied on Grad PLUS loans, according to AAMC. The median education debt for indebted medical students is around $200,000, with most repayment plans lasting 10 to 20 years. The median stipend for doctors' first year post-MD was just $65,100 in 2024. 'I think for many reasons, it would have been reasonable to put some sort of limit on Grad PLUS loans, but I think this is a very blunt way of doing it,' Turner said. In a high-rise on Northwestern's downtown campus last week, 20 undergraduate students and alums from local colleges gathered for the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative Fellows program. The eight-week summer intensive offers aspiring medical professionals a deep dive into cancer health disparities information and research. Participants like Mun have been left reeling after the flurry of federal cuts. Alexis Chappel, a 28-year-old graduate of Northeastern Illinois University, watched her dad struggle with addiction growing up. She was deeply moved by the doctors who supported his recovery, and it inspired her to pursue medicine. But she has no idea how she'll cover tuition. 'I feel like it's in God's hands at this point,' Chappel said. 'I just felt like it's a direct attack on Black and brown students who plan on going to medical school.' Just 10% of medical students are Black and 12% are Latino, according to AAMC enrollment data. Socioeconomic diversity is also limited: A 2018 analysis found that 24% of students came from the wealthiest 5% of U.S. Pendergrast, who graduated from Feinberg in 2023, relied entirely on Grad PLUS loans to fund her medical education. Juggling classes and clinicals, she had little money saved and no steady stream of income. Pendergrast was so strapped for cash that she enrolled in SNAP benefits — a program also cut under Trump's budget bill. Now an anesthesiologist at University of Michigan Health, she's documented her concerns on TikTok for her 48,000 followers. 'It's not going to improve representation, and it's not going to improve access,' Pendergrast said. 'It's going to act as a deterrent for people who otherwise would be excellent physicians.' For low-income students, the application process is already fraught with economic obstacles, Pendergrast said. Metrics like GPA and the Medical College Admissions Test, or MCAT, are heavily weighted in admissions, and may disadvantage students from underresourced schools. Many students also lack mentorships or networks to guide them through the process, she noted. 'I think the average medical student is going to be richer and whiter, and not from rural areas and not from underserved communities,' Pendergrast said. The elimination of Grad PLUS loans comes amid a mounting nationwide physician shortage. A recent AAMC report predicted a shortfall of 86,000 physicians by 2036. Meanwhile, a significant portion of the workforce is poised to enter retirement: The U.S. population aged 65 and older is expected to grow 34.1% over the next decade. The shortage is particularly concentrated in primary care. In practice, that means longer waiting times for patients, and an increased caseload on physicians, who may already suffer from burnout. 'If the goal is truly to make America healthy again, then we need to have a strong physician workforce … We should be coming up with ideas to make it more accessible for people who want to be doctors as opposed to hindering that,' Anderson said. Sophia Tully, co-president of the Minority Association of Pre-Med Students at Northwestern, said she and her peers have struggled to reconcile with a system that often feels stacked against them. The 21-year-old plans on taking an extra gap year before medical school in an effort to save money. Tully summed up the environment on campus: 'For lack of a better word, people are panicking.'
Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Some ComEd customers seeing triple-digit bill increases as supply rate jump, heat wave converge
The first ComEd bills with a massive baked-in supply rate increase are hitting home for Chicago-area customers, and after a record heat wave in June, they may be in for some sticker shock. The spike in the wholesale cost of electricity, which ComEd buys at an annual auction and then passes through to its customers, paired with increased energy usage, added $67.28 month-over-month to the average June 30 bill, the utility said. Some ComEd customers saw a triple-digit increase in their total June bills, the utility said. 'It's a double whammy when you think about capacity price auctions and a very hot, unusually hot June,' Brad Perkins, ComEd's director of rates and revenue policy, told the Tribune. ComEd had warned that the supply portion of the bill would go up about $10.60 per month beginning in June because of last year's electricity auction, which set a higher price for the utility. But the projected increase was a 12-month average, and most customers were hit with a much bigger hike as the summer air conditioning season kicked off with a bang. Things could get even worse next year, based on another record rate increase at an annual capacity auction held Tuesday, which will set ComEd's price beginning in June 2026. The supply charge generally represents about half the monthly bill and does not benefit ComEd, which makes its profit on the delivery charges. The average residential ComEd customer pays about $108 per month for the total bill across the full year, not including the projected $10.60 supply charge increase, the utility said. But the impact of the increased supply rate varies based on actual usage, which is significantly higher during the hot summer months, when air conditioners work overtime to keep homes cool. The average June 30 bill was $146.08, driven primarily by increased supply charges, up $28.45 over the same month last year, ComEd said. For ComEd customers across the Chicago area, the June and July bills have been an unwelcome surprise. Olivia Odendahl, 26, who shares a Lakeview two-bedroom walkup apartment with a roommate, saw her July 18 ComEd bill more than double month-over-month to $120.83. Her supply charge increased by $36.39 for the monthly cycle dating back to mid-June. 'It was complete sticker shock,' Odendahl said. 'I feel like always in the summer, of course, it goes up just because you have your AC unit running, so I'm used to seeing an increase. But it's never quite been this high.' Her total June/July bill was up $35.23 over the same period last year, driven by a $28.37 year-over-year supply charge increase. In addition to the higher supply charge rate, her energy usage was up 26% over the 2024 June/July bill. Odendahl, a public relations professional who has lived and often worked remotely in the apartment just a few blocks from Wrigley Field for four years, said she is contemplating ways to cut down on her air conditioning and electricity usage, a challenging task this summer. 'It's hard because it's been so hot here,' Odendahl said. 'I don't want to have to turn off the AC all the time, but if my bill continues to be $120 every month … that's very not affordable.' The ComEd bill breaks out the supply costs as a separate line item that shows the number of kilowatt-hours used multiplied by the electricity rate. The cost of electricity rose from 5 cents per kilowatt-hour to 8.3 cents from kilowatt-hour beginning in June, which paired with increased energy usage, nearly doubled the average residential bill in Chicago over the previous month, ComEd said. The increased supply charge is slightly offset by a provision of the state's Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which requires ComEd to issue a credit when energy prices go above a certain level. The 1.7 cent per kilowatt-hour credit shows up as a Carbon-Free Energy Resource Adjustment under the taxes and fees section of the bill. The credit didn't make much of a dent in the current ComEd bill for many customers, however, as the Chicago area experienced the sixth hottest June on record, according to the National Weather Service. Sweltering under a heat dome that brought oppressive triple-digit temperatures and humidity to large swaths of the Midwest and East Coast, average daily highs in Chicago topped 84.1 degrees in June, 3.7 degrees above normal. As such, Chicago-area ComEd customers used 836 kWh for the month, up 367 kWh over May and 90 kWh year-over-year, according to the utility, exacerbating the initial impact of the higher supply rate. While hotter summers may be here to stay, the wholesale price of electricity will definitely increase next year. PJM Interconnection, a Pennsylvania-based regional transmission organization, manages the electricity supply grid for 13 states, including ComEd's 4.2 million customers in northern Illinois. It holds an annual capacity auction for expected reserve electricity needed during peak demand, and last year those supply prices skyrocketed. Results for the annual PJM capacity auction Tuesday saw prices jump up again, rising from $269.92 per Megawatt-day last year to a record $329.17 per Megawatt-day, a 22% increase which will set higher supply prices for ComEd and its customers beginning in June 2026. The annual auction price Tuesday could have been even higher, but was limited by a newly implemented price cap agreed to by PJM following a complaint to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission filed by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, with support from Gov. JB Pritzker. 'While we are relieved that the negotiated price cap prevented capacity costs from soaring even higher, this price spike is unacceptable,' Jim Chilsen, a spokesperson for nonprofit watchdog group Citizens Utility Board, said in a statement. 'CUB is deeply concerned that ComEd customers will continue to bear painfully high costs for another year, largely because of policy shortcomings from PJM.' ComEd issued a statement Tuesday in the wake of the capacity auction results. 'ComEd remains committed to keeping energy affordable today and planning for a more reliable future; and we recognize that rising electricity costs are challenging for families across northern Illinois,' the utility said. 'The latest PJM auction reflects broader market challenges, like increasing demand and fewer available generation resources.' Beyond the higher supply rate and oppressive heat wave, ComEd customers are potentially paying more than they should because of what may be the most inefficient electrical system in the nation, according to Whisker Labs, a Maryland-based company which monitors the safety and reliability of the grid. Whisker Labs has distributed its Ting plug-in sensor to more than 1 million homes in the U.S. to detect electrical faults in the home and on the grid, primarily as a fire prevention tool. In the process, the company has accumulated data on electric service nationwide, ranking regions based on the distortion in power delivered to homes, which reduces energy efficiency and damages appliances. The ComEd territory essentially has the least efficient electrical grid in the country, with 40% of homes experiencing power distortion at 8% or greater, according to Whisker Labs. That means roughly 1.7 million ComEd customers are paying upward of $500 per year in energy waste, according to Bob Marshall, CEO and co-founder of Whisker Labs. 'ComEd in particular shows that they by far have the highest percentage of homes that have harmonics that are outside of industry acceptable limits,' Marshall told the Tribune. 'It causes a reduction in the energy efficiency of everything that uses electricity in the home.' Marshall said there are more than 50,000 homes in the ComEd territory using the Ting sensor, some of which were provided by insurance companies to minimize the risk of electrical fires. The devices monitor power surges, distortion and outages. In turn, the total harmonic distortion levels provide a real time health report on the quality of the electric utility's grid infrastructure, which delivers the power to customers. Chicago-area hotspots for elevated power distortion include Northbrook, Lincolnwood, Schaumburg, Long Grove, Kildeer, Norwood Park, South Holland and Country Club Hills, according to a Ting map supplied by the company. 'It is an accurate measurement, and with 100% certainty, we can say that these problems are originating on the grid,' Marshall said. ComEd questioned the methodology behind the Whisker Labs data, and said it has one of the most reliable electric grids in the nation. At the same time, the utility acknowledged that the increased cost of the electricity is impacting many of its Chicago-area customers this summer, with low-income customers being hit the hardest. Anticipating this summer's one-two punch of the supply rate increase and higher energy demand, ComEd launched a $10 million relief fund July 7 to help struggling customers catch up with rising bills and keep the electricity flowing this summer. But nearly 60,000 customers applied for the one-time grants in the first week, and the fund is fast running out, the utility said. 'The $10 million fund was a step in the right direction, but it's painfully short of what is needed to answer this price spike,' Citizens Utility Board spokesperson Chilsen said. 'And the fact that this fund depleted so quickly is a sign of the urgency of fixing the problems behind the spike: PJM's policy shortcomings.' ComEd plans to launch a low-income discount program for qualifying customers in January, and envisioned the $10 million relief fund as providing 'a bridge' to next year, Perkins said. Relief can't come too soon for Liliana Olayo, 51, who lives in a 65-year-old house in Aurora with her daughter, grandson and mother. On a budget billing plan, Olayo pays ComEd about $80 per month year-round, but she had already fallen behind by about $380 when the June 17 bill landed. The supply charges nearly doubled from May, jumping from $39.27 to $75.36 — a more than $36 monthly increase. The total current charges were up nearly $50 to $143.13, meaning Olayo will likely fall deeper in the red during the sizzling summer of '25, with another blast of heat and humidity descending on Chicago this week. 'It's frightening,' she said. 'I hate to see the bills like that and I'm hoping for a miracle that the charges will be less. But the electricity is always higher in the summer and it's a necessity.' While Olayo qualifies for low-income utility assistance, she likely has missed the window to apply for ComEd's $10 million customer relief fund, and will need to wait until January for cooler weather and the utility's discount program to arrive. In the meantime, she and her family are looking to navigate the sharply rising electricity costs and temperatures this summer, turning off lights and appliances when not in use and visiting the library or mall during the day to cool off. 'So we give a break to our air conditioning and the electricity,' she said. 'But it's very hard.'
Chicago Tribune
4 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Pope Leo XIV renews his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy — Pope Leo XIV renewed his call on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, asking the international community to respect international laws and the obligation to protect civilians. 'I once again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of this war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,' the pontiff said at the end of his Sunday Angelus prayer from his summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo. Pope Leo also expressed his 'deep sorrow' for the Israeli attack on the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, which killed three people and wounded 10 others, including the parish priest. Will Pope Leo forge greater LGBTQ+ inclusion? Chicago-area Catholics pray for 'reconciliation rather than division.''I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations,' the pope added. The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the Israel-Hamas war, now in its 21st month. Israel expressed regret over what it described as an accident and said it was investigating. 'We need to dialogue and abandon weapons,' the pope said earlier Sunday, after presiding over Mass at the nearby Cathedral of Albano. 'The world no longer tolerates war,' Leo told reporters waiting for him outside the cathedral.
