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  "path": "/wbez-newsletter/2026/05/26/the-rundown-mayor-johnson-set-to-meet-pope-leo-xiv",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-26T20:45:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.wbez.org",
  "textContent": "<p><i>Good afternoon! It’s Tuesday, and </i><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.lollapalooza.com/aftershows\" target=\"_blank\" ><i><u>Lollapalooza aftershows</u></i></a><i> have been announced. Let’s see if the ticket I want will last more than half a second after going on sale. Here’s what you need to know today.</i></p><p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/religion/2026/05/26/pope-leo-chicago-mayor-brandon-johnson-vatican-visit\" target=\"_blank\" ><b><u>1. On his Vatican trip, Mayor Johnson will laud Pope Leo for his pushback against Trump’s ‘godforsaken’ policies</u></b></a></p><p>As WBEZ’s Mariah Woelfel reports, Mayor Brandon Johnson will be the latest Illinoisan to get the otherwise rare chance to meet Pope Leo XIV, who has given locals from his hometown private audiences since beginning his papal ministry a year ago.</p><p>In his first-ever trip to Rome, Johnson plans to thank the pope for his advocacy, which includes pushing back against the U.S. war in Iran, calling for peace in Gaza and criticizing President Donald Trump’s immigration policies that, in Chicago, were carried out with tear gas and aggression during Operation Midway Blitz. Leo’s candor has prompted Trump to pray for a pontiff who is less “weak on crime,” while Johnson has repeatedly characterized Trump’s policies as “ungodly.”</p><p>“We’re going to need the pulpit and the pen to come together to deliver justice for all of humanity,” Johnson said Sunday at a send-off at Peach’s Restaurant in the Bronzeville neighborhood. “The pope has been clear about ending these godforsaken policies that have created endless wars, where more dollars are being spent on wars than how we transform lives. Just as he is using his pulpit, I’m using the executive order pen to protect all of Chicago.”</p><p>Johnson’s harshest critics are lauding the trip, while his allies lightheartedly criticize his plan to give the Sox-supporting pope a Cubs hat — a sign religion and sports are still the two pillars powerful enough to transcend Chicagoans’ deeply held political loyalties. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/religion/2026/05/26/pope-leo-chicago-mayor-brandon-johnson-vatican-visit\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>WBEZ</u></a>]</p><p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/2026/05/26/broadview-six-andrew-boutros-kat-abughazaleh-ice-trump-chicago\" target=\"_blank\" ><b><u>2. Grand jurors in the tainted ‘Broadview 6’ case had contact with Chicago’s top federal prosecutor, the defense said</u></b></a></p><p>Chicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros may have had personal contact with grand jurors in the prosecution against the group of Operation Midway Blitz protesters known as the “Broadview Six,” a defense attorney told a judge today.</p><p>U.S. District Judge April Perry summoned lawyers into her chambers to discuss the question out of earshot from the public, my colleague Jon Seidel reports for the Chicago Sun-Times. Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said it should be discussed privately because it involved grand jury proceedings.</p><p>The case fell apart, days before trial, after Perry discovered improprieties during grand jury proceedings. The alleged misconduct came to light only after a lengthy push by defense attorneys to get Perry to review unredacted transcripts of what occurred.</p><p>It included a prosecutor improperly putting her personal credibility on the line to support criminal charges, a prosecutor having substantive contact with grand jurors outside the grand jury room and a prosecutor excusing grand jurors who disagreed with the case. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/2026/05/26/broadview-six-andrew-boutros-kat-abughazaleh-ice-trump-chicago\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>Chicago Sun-Times</u></a>]</p><p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/education/2026/05/26/how-recent-chicago-college-graduates-are-navigating-a-brutal-job-market\" target=\"_blank\" ><b><u>3. The job market is brutal. Here’s how recent Chicago college grads are navigating it</u></b></a></p><p>Recent grads said they’ve grown used to being “ghosted” by employers, having their applications tossed aside by an artificial intelligence screener or getting beaten out by a more experienced candidate for an entry-level job. Some businesses, such as Morgan Stanley and Block Inc., which both have hubs in Chicago, have laid off thousands of workers and slowed hiring as they grapple with the economic effects of tariffs and the Iran war.</p><p>In March, Illinois unemployment was at 5.1%, up from 4.6% the same time last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Recent Illinois unemployment has been higher than the national average, which was at 4.3% in March.</p><p>The Chicago Sun-Times spoke with three college graduates from the class of 2026 about how they’re changing up their plans — and praying for a job offer.</p><p>In one case, a student decided to go to grad school right away instead of taking a gap year. Another, who majored in accounting and finance for the stability the field has traditionally offered, moved back in with her parents in Wisconsin and took a summer internship while studying for the certified public accountant exam. Multiple graduates reported applying to more than 150 jobs and coming up dry. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/education/2026/05/26/how-recent-chicago-college-graduates-are-navigating-a-brutal-job-market\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>Chicago Sun-Times</u></a>]</p><p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/culture-the-arts/classical/2026/05/26/chicago-lyric-opera-20-million-illinois-negaunee-foundation-arts-funding-economics\" target=\"_blank\" ><b><u>4. Chicago’s Lyric Opera received a $20 million gift from the Illinois-based Negaunee Foundation</u></b></a></p><p>The opera company said the money will be used to expand educational programming and bring more Mozart to the Downtown stage, Courtney Kueppers reports for WBEZ.</p><p>The gift comes as Lyric President and CEO John Mangum completes his second year at the helm of the company. It also arrives as the arts experience an overall decline in philanthropic support and a significant shift in government funding. New York’s Metropolitan Opera, the nation’s largest performing arts organization, recently faced steep financial issues.</p><p>Negaunee, which also gave $21 million to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2024, is the philanthropic organization of suburban investor Richard W. Colburn and his wife, Robin Colburn. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/culture-the-arts/classical/2026/05/26/chicago-lyric-opera-20-million-illinois-negaunee-foundation-arts-funding-economics\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>WBEZ</u></a>]</p><p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/food-drink/2026/05/26/pandan-trend-chicago-restaurants-bars-bakeries\" target=\"_blank\" ><b><u>5. ‘The new ube?’: Pandan hits Chicago’s bakeries, bars and restaurants</u></b></a></p><p>A tropical plant from Southeast Asia has taken root on menus at bakeries and restaurants across Chicago, my colleague Erica Thompson reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.</p><p>Known for its floral taste and bright green color, pandan — specifically the leaves — is becoming a go-to ingredient for several local chefs from Pilsen to Albany Park. Right now, chefs are using it to enhance cakes, cookies, ice cream, lattes and cocktails.</p><p>There’s still buzz surrounding ube, the tuber indigenous to the Philippines that’s also used in sweets, but pandan is poised to be the next big thing. Both are popular among diners who have become increasingly interested in Southeast Asian cuisine and colorful, Instagrammable items.</p><p>“We like to say pandan is the new ube,” said Merrilie Daluz, director of marketing at the Viceroy Chicago hotel in Gold Coast, which houses Pandan Restaurant. “People are always looking for new trends. Ube was really trending for its color and taste. The next logical ingredient was pandan, because of its refreshing notes. Southeast Asian flavor is such a common thing now.” [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/food-drink/2026/05/26/pandan-trend-chicago-restaurants-bars-bakeries\" 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-83ed2860-5941-11f1-9fa9-01f9336d5435\"><li>Progress toward a deal to end the Iran war is up in the air after the U.S. military said it carried out “self-defense” strikes. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://apnews.com/live/trump-administration-updates-05-26-2026\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>AP</u></a>]</li><li>Trump had another medical exam today, putting his health under renewed public scrutiny. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://apnews.com/article/us-trump-health-doctor-annual-exam-dff4cdb714d42ef860531d345c54e7aa\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>AP</u></a>]</li><li>Scientists may have figured out why the T. rex had tiny arms. (Hint: It has to do with the dinosaur’s skull.) [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/25/science/t-rex-tiny-arms-function\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>CNN</u></a>]</li><li>Two people died and 39 were wounded during Memorial Day weekend in Chicago — the lowest number of fatal shootings over the holiday in at least 16 years. [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/05/24/17-people-shot-overnight-chicago\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>Chicago Sun-Times</u></a>]</li></ul><p><b>Oh, and one more thing …</b></p><p>Thirty years after being landmarked, the Raber House still sits weathered and empty and could remain that way for a while; the city has outlined no clear plans for the building.</p><p>The 156-year-old Washington Park neighborhood residence is a surviving example of the 19th-century country estate homes that once occupied the mid-South Side, Chicago Sun-Times architecture columnist Lee Bey writes.</p><p>John Raber, a real estate developer, businessman and politician — this is Chicago, after all — built the home and surrounded it with six lush acres of land. The property was so large, its entrance stood a full block east on what is now State Street.</p><p>As Bey writes: “The Raber’s value isn’t in what it was then, but in what it must become now, in order to serve the folks of Washington Park and the South Side. That means the city and stakeholders must work together to investigate and unlock potential new uses for the Raber.” [<a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.wbez.org/architecture/2026/05/24/sunken-raber-landmark-home-washington-park-uncertain-future\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>Chicago Sun-Times</u></a>]</p><p><b>Tell me something good …</b></p><p>What would you tell or ask Pope Leo XIV if you ever had a chance to meet him?</p><p>Feel free to email me, and your response may be included in the newsletter this week.</p>",
  "title": "Mayor Johnson set to meet Pope Leo XIV: The Rundown",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-26T20:45:01.026Z"
}