WBEZ’s Weekly News Recap: June 18, 2026

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Former Alderman George Cardenas represented the city's 12th ward for two decades.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:37)
He's the second person this month to launch a bid for mayor, joining Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (0:43)
The letter states those council members plan to reject the sale of Chicago parking meters to New York-based investment firm Stone Peak Partners.

**Brandon Johnson** (0:50)
This is a terrible deal in 2008, and that responsibility, based upon city code, rests with city council.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (0:58)
Hey Chicago, I'm Sasha-Ann Simons and this is In the Loop.
It's Thursday, and we're breaking down the big stories of the week in our Weekly News Recap. A new candidate enters the Chicago mayoral race, the Department of Justice challenges Evanston's reparations program, accusing it of racial discrimination, Governor Pritzker signs hemp regulations into law, and a grand opening for a museum Chicago's waited years for.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (1:30)
The Obama Presidential Center is finally opening to the public.

**SPEAKER_9** (1:33)
It's eight-story museum, now a towering addition to Chicago's South Side.

**SPEAKER_10** (1:38)
Regional preparations are under way, with crews getting everything in place for the grand opening ceremony that is supposed to start at 11 o'clock this morning.

**SPEAKER_11** (1:46)
This community embraced me and gave me a chance.

**SPEAKER_12** (1:50)
We've seen mortgages double over the last ten years in the Woodlawn area, and obviously that trickles down to renters too.

**Kristi Ramsey** (1:58)
I never want to see anyone get displaced because of the rising costs of rent.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (2:03)
We'll get into those stories and much more, but let's start today's episode with a closer look at some changes coming to a building in Jackson Park. And this time, we are not talking about the Obama Presidential Center. With me to discuss is Lee Bey, Chicago Sun-Times architecture critic. He's also one of our panelists this week. Wonderful to see you, Lee.

**Lee Bey** (2:21)
Great to see you too.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (2:21)
Great to have you on the podcast.

**Lee Bey** (2:23)
Thank you. Great to be here.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (2:24)
It's our first time for everything.
So you've got some information about changes coming to the Museum of Science and Industry. Do tell.

**Lee Bey** (2:32)
Oh, yes, this is the building's south entrance, which sits by the lagoon, which has been closed, as far as anybody knows, since the World's Fair ended. They're going to open it up to the public and put a cafe and other things in behind the door to really make it a welcoming place, a new entrance for the museum.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (2:56)
That's beautiful, because I'm thinking of the fact that, first of all, I live nearby and I was actually just in the area. I happened to be walking around the grounds on the back, and I was like, it would be so great if there was a way into the museum from here. So you're saying, soon enough, there will be.

**Lee Bey** (3:11)
Soon enough. The museum's CEO, Chevy Humphrey, thinks probably in about a year or a little more. They hired Robert AM Stern's firm to do it. And this was originally the front door of the museum back during the World's Fair days. And then when it closed, and the building was the Palace of Fine Arts then, then it closes and becomes the Museum of Science Industry. They oriented the entrance to the north, which is where it is now, the main entrance, and closed up the back entrance.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (3:43)
So now what's old is about to be new again.

**Lee Bey** (3:44)
Exactly.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (3:45)
Right? And Lee, besides that physical change to the building, you're also hearing about another major possible change.

**Lee Bey** (3:51)
So this is huge.
The CEO, Chevy Humphrey, told me that they want to make the museum free again. So if you're a graybeard like me, you remember as a kid, it was free. Your parents could drop you off there or you could get there on your own and have the wonders of the world in front of you. Now there's been a mission since the 90s, but she wants to make it, she wants to work to make it free again.

**Sasha-Ann Simons** (4:11)
Oh, incredible. Yeah. My fingers are crossed for that day. That'll be awesome. All right. Well, all good reasons for us to make a trip over to the MSI. Let's jump into the full recap. Thank you so much for stopping by, Lee.