For many communities around the country, the only place to buy grocery staples like milk, eggs or baby formula is a corner store, or gas station. This is especially true for more impoverished Illinois communities like Washington Park and East St. Louis. And nationwide, about 45% of all retailers authorized to accept SNAP benefits — the government food assistance program — are convenience stores. But as Cara Anthony, Midwest Correspondent for Kaiser Health News, recently reported, residents around East St. Louis Illinois are facing another barrier to food access: the safety of these corner stores. Some residents are making efforts, though to provide access to healthy food in these areas, including some corner store owners. Shantez Rias is co-owner of Chalie’s Convenient Market in Washington Park, Illinois. Evan Krauss is director of East Side Aligned, a coalition of organizations and partnerships that works to support health initiatives and investment in young people in the East St. Louis area.

Corner Store Safety Concerns And Food Accessibility

When it comes to our taking care of our skin, most of us know we should be avoiding too much time in the sun and cutting down on trips to the tanning bed. But, generally skin cancer is thought to be mostly a problem for older people. According to The Skin Cancer Foundation, the majority of people who develop melanoma are white men over age 55. But, cases of head and neck melanoma in young people actually increased more than 50% in less than two decades, according to research from St. Louis University. Dr. Nosa Peters is the co-author of that study from St. Louis University where he is an assistant professor. Dr. Shani Fracis is a dermatologist based in Gurnee. She’s also a spokesperson for The Skin Cancer Foundation.

Increased Rates Of Skin Cancer

More than a dozen Chicago-area McDonald’s workers have filed a lawsuit against the fast food giant and several franchise owners.  The workers claim the restaurant chain, one of the largest and most profitable in the world, created unsafe working environments. The lawsuit sites violence in stores, sexual harassment and unsafe building designs as part of the problem.  Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz is a business reporter for the Chicago Tribune who focuses on the food industry. She’s been following the story and joined us to tell us more about the lawsuit.  Also joined us to provide some more insight into this is lawsuit and what it could mean is Alison Dickson. She’s an instructor at the University of Illinois School of Labor Relations in Chicago. She focuses on issues affecting workers in the U.S., particularly low-wage workers.

McDonald's Workers Lawsuit

For thousands of years, only men have been allowed to join the Roman Catholic clergy, but supporters of women’s ordination are hopeful that may change soon. Back in 2016, Pope Francis agreed to a request from the international organization of religious sisters to set up a commission that would explore the role of female Deacons in the early church. After commission concluded their work in 2018, the results were never released to the public. But, this Fall, the issue made headlines again when Pope Francis said he would reopen the possibility of female deacons and that he would have the commission recalled. Phyllis Zagano joined us and she is an author and a senior research associate-in-residence at Hofstra University. In August of 2016, Phyllis was one of just 12 people world-wide to be appointed by Pope Francis to his Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women.
Heidi Schlumpf also joined us. She’s a senior correspondent with the National Catholic Reporter based in Chicago.

A Possibility of Female Deacons in the Catholic Church

For baseball fans outside of major cities like Chicago or St. Louis, going to a MINOR league game can be a great way to get your baseball fix. Whether it’s the Kane County Cougars in Northeastern Illinois or the Peoria Chiefs in the central part of the state, minor league games can be a fun- and cheap- way to enjoy the sport. But, a new proposal from Major League Baseball could make some drastic changes to the minor leagues. The proposal would sever the MLB’s affiliations with 42 minor league teams nationwide. The MLB has said that the move is a necessary step in making the minor leagues more efficient and improving conditions at minor league facilities. Although no Illinois teams are currently on the list, there IS a possibility that the Quad Cities River Bandits could be added to it. For more on what this potential change could mean for baseball players and fans, Kevin Reichard joined us, he is the founder and publisher of Wisconsin based Ballpark Digest.

Shrinking Minor League Baseball

Most people stop seeking out new music by their 28th birthdays.That’s according to a survey from music streaming services.  But discovering new music can be good for you. In fact, studies show discovering new music can lift your mood and even create new pathways in the brain. So if you’re looking for some recommendations, we have some suggestions for you. Tim Crisp is a Chicago Music Writer and the host the “Better Yet” music podcast. He joined us to offer some of his favorite music recommendations from 2019 all from Midwest artists!

Best of Midwest Music

Many colleges and universities around the country have made the decision to “ban the box” -- that’s the box on college applications that asks students about their criminal histories. The University of Illinois System announced this fall that it would not be banning the box… But rather, moving it on their application. Prospective undergraduate students will not be asked about their criminal histories until after they’ve been admitted. Students applying for the fall 2020 semester will have already seen this change on their application. Lee Gaines, is an education reporter at Illinois Public Media and Illinois Newsroom she has been reporting on this over the past year. She joined us to give the latest updates to this policy. Chris Miner is pursuing a masters degree in social work at the University of Illinois he also joined us.

An Update on Ban the Box Regulations

It’s that time of year again, maybe you felt the slight shift in the air last week as you wrapped up your Thanksgiving dinner. Christmas is just around the corner. Whether you break out the plastic tree from storage, head to a local lot or even cut down your own at the farm, the Christmas tree is one of the most iconic images of the season.  But, today we wanted to hear more about the farmers and the business owners behind the trees. Bill Inks is the owner of AB Hatchery & Garden Center in Bloomington. Bill and his team sell hundreds of trees on their lot every year. George Richardson and his family have been farming in Spring Grove, Illinois since 1836. Every year they welcome thousands of visitors to Richardson Adventure Farm to cut down their own Christmas trees near the border with Wisconsin.  WBEZ Chicago’s Monica Eng also joined us. She spoke with some of the folks behind the business in Chicago for a Curious City listener.

Christmas Tree Shopping

Campus Voices

Mother Murphys

Illinois's statewide news talk show. Hosted by Niala Boodhoo, produced by Illinois Public Media. Stream us live weekdays at 11 am CT: http://bit.ly/21stShow

The 21st

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