The Lounge

  Brandon Johnson addresses the crowd during a rally at Credit Union One Arena in Chicago on March 30, 2023, (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.) Brandon Johnson, a Cook County commissioner was elected as the next mayor of Chicago on Tuesday in a victory of former Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas. With about 91% of the vote counted, Johnson had 51.4% of the vote compared to 48.6% for Vallas. Johnson will succeed current mayor Lori Lightfoot who became the first mayor in 40 years to lose her reelection bid as she finished third behind Johnson and Vallas. Both political candidates ran on the message of crime in the city which saw a 33% increase since 2019.  Vallas supported a law-and-order crime that would include hiring hundreds of more police officers to patrol the city and take a taking a hard line on minor crimes while Johnson argued that the city instead should invest in mental health treatment, affordable housing for all and job programs for younger Chicagoans...

Oil workers stand in the tear gas thrown by riot police as they block the access to an oil depot in Fos-sur-Mer, southern France on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, (AP Photo/Daniel Cole). Working class Frenchmen staged a massive protest across France in response to President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to pass a divisive bill that would increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a vote from the French Parliament.  The move infuriated the country as 234 people were arrested overnight in Paris with smaller protest taking place in other cities around France which resulted in some degenerating into violence late Monday. A series of political meetings on Tuesday planned by President Macron will have the prime minister, parliamentary leaders and lawmakers from his political party, President Macron is also expected to give a nationally televised speech on Wednesday – the first time since he passed the law to try and explain why he passed such a bill.  

  Doris Marlin, left, of Silver Spring, Md., and fellow activists demonstrated in front of the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 14, 2023 (AP Photo/Scott Applewhite). On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected a lower court restriction to a pill most common with abortions.  The drug had been in use since 2000 and 5 million women have used it. Two of the nine justices – Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, two of the judges that voted to overturn Roe v. Wade – voted to allow restrictions to take effect. President Joe Biden praised the high court’s decision for keeping mifepristone available while the court fight continues.  “The stakes could not be higher for women across America. I will continue to fight politically driven attacks on women’s health. But let’s be clear – the American people must continue to use their vote as their voice and elect a congress who will pass a law restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade,” said Biden. The Supreme Court had ini...

  Newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy holds the gavel and sits on the speaker’s chair after he was elected early Saturday on the 15 th  ballot on Jan. 7, 2023. (Olivier Douliery/AFP) Kevin McCarthy became the house speaker at midnight after a long and brutal process that took 15 votes which was the longest time a speaker has been selected in 164 years. McCarthy and his allies had been in tough negations with a small but critical group of far-right congressmen and women who did not want to see McCarthy become speaker due to the disappointment of the 2022 midterms where Republicans were projected to have a 25-point seat over the Democrats.  Conflict escalated on the Republican side during the break with Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama approached Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida in an aggressive manner, Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, physically pulled him back.  McCarthy finally emerged victorious over the small group of far-right republicans after he was able to c...

  Former President Trump in a Manhattan courtroom for his arraignment this month, (Curtis Means/Associated Press). A Manhattan grand jury decided to indict former President Trump on more than 30 counts on business fraud.  This is the first time in American history that a former or current president has faced criminal charges. Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney has been investigating the former president in connection to his alleged role in a hush money payment scheme with adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election. Trump released a statement on his Truth Social account in response to the indictment claiming that it was merely a “Political Persecution and Election interference at the highest level in history.”  Atlanta prosecutor Fani T. Willis is looking into a wide range of conduct centered around efforts to subvert the democratic process and overturn Trumps’ 2020 election loss in Georgia by asking Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raf...

  A woman is deciding on what vegetables she wants to buy at a grocery store in Greenville, New York, April 30, 2023 (Robert Nickelsberg via Getty Images). For the 10 th  time since March, the Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates to try and defeat high rates of inflation.  The consumer price index rose 0.1% for the month of March while the core CPI increased 0.4% and 5.6% on an annual basis, which were both expected.  A separate measure issued Friday by the Labor Department showed that workers’ pay, and benefits rose 1.2% in the first three months of this year which was faster than the 1.1% rise in last year’s final quarter.  With high prices, consumers are forced to cut back on their spending. Consumer spending was flat in March for a second straight month which includes cuts on autos, furniture and appliances, but consumers continue to spend on services which includes household utilities, restaurant meals and hotels.

  Flowers litter the steps of the Old National Bank in Louisville, Ky., on Tuesday after the mass shooting, (John Sommers II/UPI). America is experiencing a record pace in the amount of mass shootings with roughly once a week so far alone this year. The 17 mass shootings over 111 days so far this year have taken the lives of 88 people which has not happened in America since 2009. The recent mass shooting at the Old National Bank in Louisville, Ky., which left five dead and eight others injured joined a list of other notable mass shootings which include The Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tn., which left three adults and three children dead with one person injured, the Monterey Park shooting which left 11 dead and nine injured. Along with a Sweet 16 party in Dadeville, Alabama, which left four people dead and 32 injured. The deaths of mass shootings represent only a fraction of the fatal violence that occurs in the U.S. as 54% of gun deaths are suicides while the remaining 43...

People carry a body bag as locals wait for their family and friends to be saved from the rubble of collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey, (Al Jazeera). A 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated the people of Turkey and Syria which is one of the most devastating earthquakes in recent international history. The earthquake has killed at least 50,000 Turks and Syrians with many more injured, thousands of people are still missing along with hundreds of thousands of people homeless, the U.N. humanitarian chief said. On Feb.6, the 7.8 magnitude earthquake first struck the southern Turkish province of Kahramanmaras, U.S. Geological survey said.  A 7.5 magnitude quake hit more than 60 miles away from Kahramanmaras which left destruction and chaos in its path. The U.N. agreed to send in $397.6 million to help Turkish and Syrian earthquake victims. 42% of the money will go to the victims in Turkey but it only covers emergency needs for three months. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.  ...

                                                  Members of the Taiwanese military participated in a military exercise in Pingtung, Taiwan, Last month, (Lam Yik Fei for the New York Times). On Monday, China’s military declared that they were “ready to fight” after their three-day military combat-exercises around Taiwan that sealed off the island in response to Taiwanese President Tsai lng-wen trip to the U.S. last week.  China conducted a similar exercise last August, when they launched missile strikes around the seas of Taiwan in retaliation when then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visited the country, however. The previous exercise was smaller and less disruptive.  Military experts say that the exercises both served as a form of intimidation and an opportunity for the Chinese military to practice sealing off Taiwan if China decides to...

                                                                 President Joe Biden walks around Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at St Michael’s   Golden-Domed Cathedral during his visit, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. (US Department of Defense.) President Biden made an unannounced visit to Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Monday in a move of western solidarity with a country that is has been going through a brutal war with Russia as the war begins to enter an uncertain new phase. “One year later, Kyiv stands,” Biden declared after meeting with Zelenskyy at Mariinskyi Palace. He continued: “And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.”  The United States along with other western nations have seen sending in arms, tanks, ammu...

 Past My first interactions with social media that I can remember specifically were through video games, computer games, and apps on my mom or dad's iPhone 1. I first remember playing with the app titled Super Gerbil on my dad's iPhone 1 and other games such as Angry Birds and Plant's versus Zombies. Then my parents bought me a Wii in 2008 which I used to play video games like Super Mario Galaxy, Lego Batman, Lego Star Wars, and Lego Indiana Jones which helped me connect with my friends by bringing them over to play the games with me. Then when I bought a PS3 (Playstation 3), it allowed for me to buy new types of games such as call of duty, Assassins Creed, FIFA, NBA 2K, and Maddon which gave me the ability to connect with my friends and other people through my headset and it gave me the opportunity to meet new people.                                         ...

Jane Meighen prepares for an interview about how she got interested in cooking. Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic , a lot of people have picked up cooking their own meals or have been cooking more and Jane Meighen of Wadsworth, Ohio, is one of those people who have been constantly been cooking meals. She started to get an interest in cooking when she watched her mother cook and began cooking when she was 16 and continued to cook throughout her teenage years and when she got married and had a family of two. "My mother was always a great cook and I would always watch her and eventually I started learning when I was 16 and then getting married, I've always followed the way that I was brought up," said Jane Meighen When her kids were really young, she would always cook them pancakes and French toast for breakfast usually on the weekends when they did not have school. But on school days she would make them regular toast with a side of yogurt. "I always really enjoyed w...

Murphy's Bleachers  has been one of America's premier sports bars since it opened in 1941 and is the go-to destination for Chicago sports fans who want to watch the game without attending the game and to just hang out with a group of friends. But it is most well known for being the hot spot whenever the Chicago Cubs play whether it be at home or away. Murphy's was ready to begin the 2020 season with not only high expectations for their business but also high expectations for the Cubs as they had a team that was equipped to go deep into the playoffs and possibly make it to the World Series. But out of nowhere, the 2020 MLB season was postponed and Murphy's had to close down due to the lockdown. "We were really looking forward to the 2020 MLB season and we were hosting some Spring Training parties to kick off the season, but, when the MLB announced they would postpone the season because of COVID-19, we were eventually told by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to close for in-pers...

PR Italian Bistro  is an award-winning Italian restaurant in Wrigleyville and it is a perfect place for Chicago couples who want to go out for a nice fancy meal to eat. As summer approaches Chicago, everyone from the owner to the employees is ready for people to come in and enjoy their delicious food. As they are getting ready for the hot Chicago summer months, they have gotten out their chars and tables for outside and are cleaning every single one of them along with opening the windows on nice summer days. "We are really excited to welcome everyone back for the summer because unfortunately we were not able to have indoor dining and we had to have about an average of six people eat outside last summer, so it just never felt the same as it did in previous years but we are ready to welcome everyone back," said Jean Martino who has been a manager for 7 years. This could not have come at a better time because they really struggled last year during the lockdowns in Chicago and be...

  TAC QUICK of Wrigleyville is a popular Thai restaurant for Wrigleyville residence and for students who go to Lake View High School. People who have eaten at the restaurant have always raved about how delicious the food is and now that Chicagoans are getting vaccinated. They are excited to fully get back to normal and to have full capacity. Last year, they were unable to open their restaurant for in-person dining for the whole year even when other restaurants were allowed to during the summer and early parts of winter but now that the vaccines are being produced and being made available. They decided to open back up for the spring of 2021. "While other restaurants opened up for customers last year, we decided not to do open up for indoor dining but rather just continuing to have order and pick up dining because we were worried that someone with COVID-19 would come into our restaurant and get my employees sick," said Anong Suwan the owner of TAC QUICK. But during the fall of...

 

  Ken Stewart's Grille  of Akron, Ohio, is a great spot for Akroners who are looking for a fancy place to eat if there is a special occasion or if there is not a special occasion and just want to go out and have a nice fancy dinner. But unfortunately, they have had to deal with the effects that COVID-19 has brought upon them. "When we heard the news about the state of Ohio announced that they would go into lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19 we were worried that we might close down for good because we were permitted from having in-person dining but we did understand the fact that we did not want to contribute to the spread of COVID-19," said Dylan Stencil the owner of Ken Stewart's Grille. Due to the lockdown imposed, they lost a ton of money during the height of the pandemic and were concerned about the future of their restaurant because they knew that if this were to keep up then they would have to look at the option of closing their business for good. "We ...

Like a lot of Americans, I am an avid sports fan and have been so since I was seven years old and I have been attracted to all kinds of sports. But if I had to list my favorite sports to watch and play. It would be Basketball, Football, Soccer, MMA, Boxing, Ice Hockey, and Baseball. But that got me thinking about if most Americans who enjoy watching sports like me would agree with my ranking or would they have something different from my list. So that got me interested in doing some research on this particular topic. In the latest Gallup Poll  on the topic of America's favorite sports helped me to better understand what types of sports Americans are watching and which sports they tend to prefer over other sports. So I took the data that was given to me by the Gallup Poll and I made it into a graphic to show the top 3 sports that are popular in America According to the statistics and data that the Gallup Poll gathered, Football still remains the favorite sport with 37% of Americans ...

 

                                                   Every spring and summer, the people of Wadsworth, Ohio, go to Bidinger's Ice Cream to enjoy a special treat with either themselves or their friends and family. They continued to remain open last summer and this spring with some changes that they had to make because of the pandemic. "One of the things that we had to do was we created stickers that separated people six feet from each other whenever we had a big line and we also install a policy that requires the employees and the customers to wear a mask," said Linda Ling who has an ice cream maker for 2 years. They put the stickers on the floor in the summer of 2020 when the pandemic was not as bad during the spring but still bad that they had to install them. But over time as the vaccines started to roll out,...