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  "path": "/wbez-newsletter/2026/05/19/the-rundown-phone-free-events-in-chicago",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-19T20:45:00.000Z",
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  "textContent": "<p><i>Good afternoon! It’s Tuesday, and I’m tempted by all these </i><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://cooking.nytimes.com/article/summer-meals-bucket-list\" target=\"_blank\" ><i><u>summer recipes</u></i></a><i> for this week’s grocery list. Here’s what you need to know today.</i></p><p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/arts-culture/2026/05/19/phone-free-arts-events-chicago-bars-theater-coffee-shop-yondr-pouch\" target=\"_blank\" ><b><u>1. Going to a show in Chicago? Be prepared to hand over your phone ’til it’s over</u></b></a></p><p>As my colleague Ambar Colón reports, the “unplugged” trend is growing locally among arts groups responding to a collective desire for more phone-free experiences. Organizers say they aim to deepen human connection and offer spaces for creating art.</p><p>At a River North coworking space for what was billed as a hands-on, phone-free experience, visitors slip their devices into small cloth pouches stamped with the words “Fulfillment Center.” They then make their way to a pair of industrial shelves stacked with activity boxes labeled “make,” “play,” “read” and “write.” Inside the boxes, they found crafts, readable materials and games — plenty of things to do instead of scrolling endlessly on their mobile phones.</p><p>The idea for the phone-free Fulfillment Center — a pop-up for people of all ages — started with a simple question, event creator and Little Council marketing co-founder Jessa Fuller said: “What if we took up a little bit of space in our communities with a center that was geared toward personal fulfillment?”</p><p>Meanwhile, up in Edgewater, theater leaders from [producingbody] are introducing audiences to magnetically locking Yondr pouches starting this week with the Chicago premiere of “Spaceman.” Audiences can sit with their phones in the pouches — but they won’t be accessible for the length of the 100-minute show. The goal is to restore the communal intimacy of traditional theater.</p><p>“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here,” [producingbody] co-founder Taylor Dalton said. “We have lived and engaged with theater and the arts without our phones for longer than we have with our phones.” [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/arts-culture/2026/05/19/phone-free-arts-events-chicago-bars-theater-coffee-shop-yondr-pouch\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>Chicago Sun-Times</u></a>]</p><p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2026/05/18/chicagos-parking-meters-could-be-sold-again-under-deal-requiring-city-council-approval\" target=\"_blank\" ><b><u>2. Chicago’s parking meters could be sold again under a deal requiring City Council approval</u></b></a></p><p>Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office yesterday confirmed the tentative agreement between Chicago Parking Meters LLC and New York-based Stonepeak Partners, Elleiana Green reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.</p><p>The deal, which would change ownership of the meters and who collects their profits, now sits before the City Council, which could seek concessions in favor of the city before approving it.</p><p>The tentative sale is the most recent development in the fight for parking assets.</p><p>In January, Johnson considered purchasing the 57 years that remain on the infamous 75-year parking meter deal, made in 2008 under former Mayor Richard M. Daley.</p><p>Doing so would have required the city to borrow billions of dollars. But Johnson later dropped the city’s bid after determining the $3 billion asking price “would have made a bad deal even worse.” [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2026/05/18/chicagos-parking-meters-could-be-sold-again-under-deal-requiring-city-council-approval\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>Chicago Sun-Times</u></a>]</p><p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/health/2026/05/18/illinois-resident-hantavirus-infection-tested-negative\" target=\"_blank\" ><b><u>3. The Illinois resident suspected of having hantavirus tested negative for the illness</u></b></a></p><p>The Winnebago County resident was tested last week after they were likely exposed to rodent droppings and developed mild symptoms that did not require hospitalization, the Illinois Department of Public Health said at the time. The person did not come into contact with anyone tied to the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak that made headlines in recent weeks.</p><p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested the patient and did not detect hantavirus, according to the state health department. Health officials stressed that the risk for the virus spreading in Illinois remains very low.</p><p>Three people died from the hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius that set off April 1 from Argentina. Nine confirmed cases have been linked to that outbreak. Symptoms can include fever, chills and muscle aches, and they usually show between one to eight weeks after exposure.</p><p>None of those cruise ship passengers were from Illinois, according to the Illinois and Chicago departments of public health. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/health/2026/05/18/illinois-resident-hantavirus-infection-tested-negative\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>Chicago Sun-Times</u></a>]</p><p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/immigration/2026/05/19/joabe-barbosa-visa-brazil-run\" target=\"_blank\" ><b><u>4. A Brazilian’s quest to run on every Chicago street can continue despite a visa scare</u></b></a></p><p>When Joabe Barbosa set out to run on every street in Chicago, he didn’t know how long he’d be allowed to stay in the United States. Now, as the Roosevelt University graduate student prepares to complete his final run next month, he does so knowing Chicago will remain home, my colleague Elleiana Green writes.</p><p>Two weeks ago, Barbosa found out he would be able to stay through 2028 after Roosevelt University arranged for him to teach undergraduate classes while continuing coursework. That followed an outpouring of support from the thousands of followers who tracked his journey through Chicago’s streets, including almost 500 marriage proposals and several offers for his adoption.</p><p>“Truly, after this last lap, it’ll show how much community and how much love there is for people here and how much love there is for people that truly embrace Chicago,” he said. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/immigration/2026/05/19/joabe-barbosa-visa-brazil-run\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>Chicago Sun-Times</u></a>]</p><p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/music/2026/05/19/chicago-synth-pop-group-pixel-grip-warm-love-cool-dreams\" target=\"_blank\" ><b><u>5. Chicago synth-pop group Pixel Grip is ready to step onto a bigger stage with its Warm Love Cool Dreams set</u></b></a></p><p>World Goth Day is going to feel very different for Pixel Grip this year, Selena Fragassi writes for the Chicago Sun-Times. The international celebration of dark culture — held every year on May 22 — is a holiday fit for the Chicago synth-pop act, which takes heavy cues from the city’s Wax Trax era with vibe music that could be played at Neo if it were still around.</p><p>This year, there’s even more reason to celebrate the holiday: It’s the same weekend Pixel Grip will perform at Salt Shed’s Warm Love Cool Dreams Music and Arts Festival. And it’s also the day the band is expecting to finally get paid by Travis Scott.</p><p>Last July, the Logan Square/Humboldt Park trio — singer Rita Lukea and producers Tyler Ommen and Jonathon Freund, all of whom initially met as high schoolers in Crystal Lake — were plucked from the local circuit and thrust into national headlines after calling out the rapper for sampling the song “Pursuit” in his 2025 track “Kick Out” without proper clearance or permission.</p><p>Just weeks prior, Pixel Grip had announced its self-released third album, “Percepticide: The Death of Reality,” and a flurry of interest followed that hasn’t stopped since. On Spotify, the band’s latest darkwave singles, “Reason to Stay” and “Stamina,” are nearing 2 million streams. This fall, Pixel Grip will open for nu metal stalwarts Korn in Europe. Even Trent Reznor requested a meeting last summer when Nine Inch Nails stopped by the United Center. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/music/2026/05/19/chicago-synth-pop-group-pixel-grip-warm-love-cool-dreams\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>Chicago Sun-Times</u></a>]</p><p><b>Here’s what else is happening</b></p><ul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-inline-start:48px;\" id=\"rte-f0c4b175-53be-11f1-939a-9b0bf717cff3\"><li>Six states are holding primaries today that could help to decide the balance of power in Congress and in key state governments. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/18/g-s1-122235/primary-day-alabama-georgia-idaho-kentucky-oregon-pennsylvania\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>NPR</u></a>]</li><li>Five people, including the two accused shooters, died during a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.kpbs.org/news/public-safety/2026/05/18/san-diego-police-respond-to-reports-of-active-shooter-at-san-diego-islamic-center\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>KPBS</u></a>]</li><li>Cook County prosecutors launched a task force to address violence on public transit. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/crime/2026/05/18/crime-transit-cta-cook-county-states-attorney-eileen-o-neill-burke\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>WBEZ</u></a>]</li><li>The Chicago Reader named Malik Jackson, a third-generation Chicagoan from South Shore, its new publisher. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2026/05/18/malik-jackson-chicago-reader-publisher\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>Chicago Sun-Times</u></a>]</li></ul><p><b>Oh, and one more thing …</b></p><p>A Mag Mile building, part of which dates to the 1890s and another to the 1940s, started as a mansion before becoming a casino, then a smorgasbord and puppet theater and later the restaurant Lawry’s the Prime Rib, which served its last meal on New Year’s Eve 2020. Over time, the building had become a hodgepodge of dozens of rooms.</p><p>That setup was exactly what Glen Tullman needed to build his dream: a venue where guests wander among rooms and find different magicians performing, as well as have dinner and drinks. In April, a little more than five years after Lawry’s the Prime Rib closed in the building at Ontario and Rush streets, Tullman’s The Hand & The Eye opened.</p><p>Because the building is layered with history, WBEZ’s “In the Loop” asked Tullman for a tour of the transformation for a rare return to a past “What’s That Building?” subject.</p><p>You can see photos in the link. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/architecture/2026/05/19/whats-that-building-the-hand-the-eye-magic-venue\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>WBEZ</u></a>]</p><p><b>Tell me something good …</b></p><p>Memorial Day weekend hasn’t happened yet, but it definitely feels like summer. So I’m wondering, what plans are you looking forward to this season?</p><p>Colie writes:</p><p>“I finally got my bicycle looked at, bought a portable compressor to easily fill up my tires (no more hand pumping!), and my husband set up our bike rack on our car. Now we can ride our bikes at all the different forest preserves!”</p><p>Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.</p>",
  "title": "The Rundown: Phone-free events in Chicago",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-19T20:45:01.784Z"
}