joining us on Chicago tonight.

I'm Brandis Friedman.

Here's what we're looking at.

Voters are casting their ballots for the city's board of education.

What you should know about the historic election.

>> A budget that strives to give all the people under our jurisdiction.

The best possible life.

>> We break down Cook County's nearly 10 billion dollar budget proposal.

And how the Chicago based founder of the Harlem Globetrotters shook up the sports world.

>> And now to today's top stories, a University of Chicago professor can now add Nobel Prize winner to his list of accomplishments.

>> I was sleeping in and my wife me up to my phone night so that I didn't really.

They cool.

They called me at 5.15 except the was sleeping on the phone was off.

So one of her friends texted to and worker up.

So that's that's how we who Professor Robinson, along with 2 MIT economist brought home the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics for their research.

>> Explaining why some countries are wealthier than others.

The scholars began by outlining historical moments that contributed to extreme income gaps and found that systems made to benefit European migrants like the system set up in the United States have more long-term success.

The nearly 50,000 runners that took over streets yesterday are now gone.

So with the excitement of the 46 Chicago marathon now over the 26 Plus Mile course that begins and ends at Grant Park is in the midst of being cleaned up.

A big congratulations to Kenya this year.

Both the men's and women's winners are from the East African country.

Ruth Check Knecht get hitched said what a new world record.

2 hours.

9 minutes.

And 56 seconds.

And Jon career ran an impressive 2 hours 2 minutes.

And 44 seconds.

Music dancing and controversy, all accompanied today's annual Columbus Day parade celebrating the city's Italian American community and honoring the divisive historical figure.

Christopher Columbus, Columbus Day is still an observed holiday in Chicago and Illinois.

While some institutions, including Chicago, Public schools.

>> Recognize and celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day.

The Native American Guardian Association participated in the parade.

Their performance has been panned by the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative which said in the statement that the association does not properly represent the city's Native American community.

What you should know about Chicago school board election.

That's right.

After this.

>> Chicago tonight is made possible in part by the Alexander and John Nichols family.

The gym and K maybe family.

The Pope Brothers Foundation.

And the support of these donors.

>> Chicago residents are getting their first crack at picking members to serve on the city's board of education for decades.

The seven-member board has been appointed by the mayor, but now voters in next month's election will pick members in 10 districts.

And the mayor will select 11 more as the board triples in size to a total of 21 members.

Joining us now with more on what you should know about that election is Wbtw news reporter Matt Masterson.

Welcome back, Matt.

So, you know, first, let's back up a little bit and tell us how we got to this point.

How did the elected school board come to be on the ballot?

So Chicago has had in May early appointed board since 1995.

Is that it's been decades in the push to give control back to voters has been going on nearly as long.

It's been a very long process.

>> Until finally in 2021, Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation that would do just that convert this board into one that is an elected body chosen by the public.

Now that isn't happening all at after this election cycle.

The board will jump from 7 members to 21 and those will be split in half between those who are voted by the public in those appointed this time by Mayor Johnson.

But because of the way that's broken up, the board will actually remain under majority mayoral control through this cycle of elections until 2026 during the following round of elections when it will be fully elected for the first time.

Okay.

So what will folks actually be voting for this time?

Yeah.

So the city has been broken up into 10 different districts from school Chicagoans will elect one board member from each of those 10 districts.

Mayor Johnson will then appoint a second member from each of those districts.

But Johnson, the reason he'll have majority control as he also gets to pick an at-large president.

He will serve from anywhere in the doesn't have to pick any particular district.

But that will mean he has control over appointing 11 of the 21 members.

Once that board is all settled, those members will serve 2 years.

I have some unpaid term until 2026 when they're bored will then again be fully elected.

All 21 members will be chosen by the public, which means it sounds like the folks who get elected this time if they wanted to could run again in 2026.

So one of the board members there's a lot of them.

They approve the annual operating budget which is now closing in on 10 billion dollars.

They're tasked with hiring and potentially firing the CPS CEO, which is something that obviously been point of contention recently between with ongoing tensions between Mayor Randy Johnson and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez.

The the mayor cannot fire the CPS CEO the county board, which, of course, the current board, 7 members of a just resigned.

So its new appointees who could choose to do that going forward.

But they also really help set of district policy at large.

They approved the annual school calendar.

They pick student code of conduct to guidelines for each school and more broadly they take on larger issues like eliminating police officers from schools, which the previous board, the outgoing board just did earlier this year became enmeshed in explaining the future Chicago elected school board for us.

Thank you so much.

Thanks, friends.

And find out who is running in your district.

Be sure to check out our W T Tw News Voter Guide.

>> It's a one-stop shop for everything you need to know before voting.

You'll find candidate profiles and questionnaires as well as key dates to know and whether you are registered to vote.

And that is all at W T Tw dot com slash voter guide.

Up next, one on one with Cook County Board.

President Toni Preckwinkle on the budget proposal for the county.

Cook County has announced a quote, good news budget for fiscal year.

2025, unlike the city of Chicago with its looming budget holes and, quote, everything's on the table approach, including tax hikes.

The county's 9.9 billion dollar proposal up 6.8% compared to last year includes no plans to increase taxes, cut services or lay off any workers to cover a 218 million dollar projected budget gap.

>> This year's 9.9 billion dollar balance budget.

And our strong financial position aren't by chance.

They are the product of smart policies year after year.

>> Joining us now with more on the county budget is Cook County Board.

President Toni Preckwinkle.

Madam President, welcome back.

Thanks for joining us.

Thank you.

So what are the priorities and investments of this budget?

Our budget is 9.9 billion.

As you heard 53% of at 5.9 billion is health care.

Half of our budget is health care Stroger Hospital, Providence Hospital in our doesn't primary care clinics and specialty clinics.

17% is public safety.

So that's the courts and the jail Sen.

So that's 70% public health and public safety.

And then 30% everything else.

We do forest preserve the on the budget But it's it's infrastructure work.

Its our violence prevention work.

It's our economic development work.

Its animal controls everything in the kitchen sink.

That's other the other 30% lot of work.

You as we mentioned, you previously expected or projected a 218 million dollar shortfall.

But this budget is balanced.

No taxes, fees or fines.

As we mentioned.

>> How did you do it?

Well, we have a great team headed by Todd Anthony finance and >> we've made some tough decisions and hard choices and our commissioners have been good enough to go along with those tough decisions and hard choices for 14 years.

So we've got ourselves in a pretty good place.

What would you say?

Those tough decisions?

Hard choices were pretty well I first came into office, there was almost a half-billion dollars for your budget gap to close for 87 Million.

And it required 15% cuts pretty much across the board.

It was a brutal year, but next year it was more than 300 Million.

So gradually we've been able to get control of the finances and frankly having us on a firm financial footing has enabled us to take on some of the challenges that we wanted to address.

>> 1, 1, of the things that you all have done is you are keeping 56 jobs unfilled.

And that adds to the 3600 plus jobs that are already begun across Cook County, mostly in health care and public safety operations.

Does that impact as you mentioned that, you know, the 70% of your budget, which is, you know, healthcare in public safety to those positions being empty.

Does that impact the services at those agencies provide?

You know, we've had some challenges as other units of government frankly, corporations have had as we've come out of the pandemic in trying to fill positions, things have gotten better in the last year or so those vacancies are particularly in health care.

to particularly in in health care, you say obviously because it's 53% of your budget there.

That right.

>> But, you know, going to work over the air to fill those positions.

And we believe that we can deliver great services with our present staffing levels.

But we know that we have a ways to go.

>> This budget does not include another year of the Guaranteed Basic Income program that was piloted over the last 2 years.

Cook County Promise.

What is the plan for that program going forward?

>> All we said we're going to this is a pilot we partnered with the University of Chicago, inclusive Economy lap and they have look not just at our participants and outcomes for them, but a control group as well.

Just like you to a medical test and will be that will getting out the last checks to participants in January.

And then the University of Chicago will begin to valuation analysis and we'll look at the outcomes and figure out how we proceed.

But I've committed that This is not the end of that program will continue.

What is preliminary research show about that program that people use it for what you'd expect, you know, food in utilities and rent and to meet financial emergencies.

So, you know, we I think we're gonna be able to show that.

Is that a real positive benefit for the families that have involved 3,250 Families, $500 a month for 2 years.

>> This program was funded using the ARPA dollars.

The COVID dollars is a lot of us refer to them.

as we all know, that money is running out for many agencies.

What is the status of the county's arpa allocations?

>> Well, like everyone else, our money will run on at the end of 2026.

So we've got to figure out what we're going to do in terms of continuing programs, which ones will terminate, which ones will.

We'll reduce in size and which ones will carry on.

But in our our our budget team has given us step down rather than a cliff.

We put money aside so that we can fund over the next 4 years after the money runs out until 2030, those programs that we think are our impact most impactful.

And we can also have a kind of a glide path so that we can look for external resources, whether it's grant programs from the state or federal government or whether its philanthropy to help us meet the needs that we think we need to address.

Does that include Cook County Promise the Guaranteed Basic Income program as well since it's something that's not happening for 2025, but >> when you first in this year initiated it, there were hopes and promises that you would be able to to continue it beyond arpa.

We are going to use our own corporate dollars to fund it going to But we're going to look at the evaluation first to see how we need to tweak the program in order to better make it more impactful, some municipalities and you kind of address this.

But they're finding it difficult to keep some programming going once that arpa funding is going, for example, we know this is something Chicago public schools is dealing with right now.

House Cook County going to going to continue.

I guess what bucket of funds will will cover something like a county promise and other programs that you have have to think about with.

But I think it's into the exact number.

We put money aside, as I said, >> to step down in the years following 2026.

So 27 through 30 money has been set aside so that we can continue those programs which we think have been critical and give us a chance to find resources to to fully fund the things that we we believe have been proving up in the arpa process.

>> Cook County Health has been without a permanent CEO for nearly a year.

Dr. Eric McKay to serving as interim CEO since last November.

Thoughts on when the board of directors might appoint a permanent replacement.

board of Board of Health it for the health and hospitals.

Some thank you.

We'll make a decision at the end of October.

And then followed up by a decision by the county board.

But it also calls for making maybe something in the air.

But the budget also calls for making a 568.3 million dollar pension payment how would you say that that payment amount lines up with the county's pension responsibilities and what is the status of the county's pension responsibility?

Well, 2015, I asked board of Commissioners and again, it was a tough vote.

>> To raise the sales tax by one.

And as a result, we have resources to meet our pension obligations and to invest in infrastructure.

And when we did that, I promise that that's what we would do with the money can use it for regular operating expenses.

And that's what we've got.

And as a result, starting in 2016, we were able to make the actuarial required contribution rather than the statutory one.

And what the actuaries believed was necessary was greater than the statute.

So we had a memorandum of understanding every year.

From 2016 until last year with our pension board to give them more money so that we could catch up and our pensions are funded at about 69%, which is very good for the state of Illinois.

And we're on a path to 2040, I think to be about 80%, 2050, to be about 80% funded, which is fully funded.

So we made some tough choices starting in 2015, we made agreements with our pension fund to give them more money than the law required.

And then finally, we got approval from the state of Illinois to make the actuarial contribution rather than the statutory one.

So we no longer had to do these annual agreements with the pension board to give them more money >> Chicago, the city of Chicago is is struggling financially in bit of a mess at the moment that that budget report or proposal is formally coming later on.

But it how can these 2 municipalities that share the same can be so different financially?

What would you say about what's happening in Chicago?

Well, first of all, I'm a teacher, but I don't it's still possible that officials and as I said in the county side, we've made tough choices and hard decisions for 14 years.

And so we're in a real good place.

And I'm grateful to our finance teams.

>> Over that period of time for for bringing us here.

Used to work with former well with current Mayor Brandon Johnson, who is a former Cook County Commissioner.

>> What are you what you know about his his his work as a chic chief executive?

And do you have any sort of empathy for him after having, you know, who's been a rough few weeks for him?

>> Well, you know, we work closely with both the state and the city we have agreements around meeting the needs of new arrivals.

We work together on the violence Prevention initiative.

So and we we collaborate with them on variety of of, of of of issues.

So.

We have a working relationship with both the city and the state.

>> Cook County Board, President Toni Preckwinkle leave it there.

Thanks again for joining us.

Thank you very much for inviting me.

course.

Up next, we passed the ball to the Harlem Globetrotters.

Stay with us.

The Harlem Globetrotters may have a New York name, but they actually started.

>> In Chicago, the players along with founder, ASAP or Steam disrupted the game of basketball and gave it a whole new look.

A new book Globetrotter how pristine shook up the world of sports reveals the history and legacy of this storied team.

Joining us is Mark Jacob Co author of the new book who is former metro editor of the Chicago Tribune.

Mark, Welcome.

Thank you for joining us this revenue.

you wrote this book along with your brother.

What inspired you both to do this?

Well, we both love sports in the history of sports and we.

>> Both are fascinated by the history of of racism in America.

And, you know, this thing.

>> His subject had both of those.

And plus really inspirational story about.

Person and a team that came out of nowhere and really made impact.

So we'd love As we know the Harlem Globetrotters, not from Harlem, right Chicago.

Why did aides after seeing choose that name?

>> Well, all right.

So apes Christine, this is 5 foot, 3 inch.

She was sky from the north side and he's working in the park district in Chicago and he runs into these black athletes town to black athletes on the South side.

They form a team and they start traveling.

And obviously this is the thank U 20's.

So we're you know, a few years after the 1919, race right in Chicago sentiment.

So so tensions were, you know, higher and misunderstanding was high.

And so he's he's taking this team in a model T Ford that they bought from a funeral parlor.

It would draped on the side so they could have a little privacy.

So they're touring these Midwest towns, almost all white towns and, you know, in the Midwest and Wisconsin and Michigan, Illinois, in.

He wanted to signal to the folks that, hey, I'm bringing these black athletes in the town.

It's going to be fine.

And I think so I that was why he said Harlem is a signal for black indicated that these that these folks are black.

>> Some say that, you know, he found these players, but others say that they already had a black coach before meeting a south pristine, but they were performing poorly.

What was his role for those players and for the team?

>> Well, you know, he really did probably start out as a booking agent where he was these black athletes on the Southside including a teen called the several a Big 5, which was at the way ballroom on the South side.

>> They wanted to do barnstorming tours to make money and they needed.

They needed what they call a white face to 2 to negotiate everything for them and inception was that ever seen was kindness.

20's who love sports and was just a gregarious guy who could get people to be engaged with them in.

So they hired him to do that and eventually he became the coach of the team and took them around and he invented the Harlem Globetrotters as their brand.

>> The first chapter called the disrupter and it centers around that 1948.

Basketball game of the globe, charters versus the Minneapolis Lakers right before they became the LA Lakers.

And now that I know that used to be in Minneapolis in make so much more said but why was that game significant?

Well, >> this is at a time what needs to be understood in we didn't We did a research fully understand that back in those days, a lot of white people thought that black people were good enough to compete in sports that the specially team sports, a black players might be OK, but they're not really very good team sports or the choke in the clutch.

Their all these bizarre myths that today's world seemed liked mind-blowingly stupid.

But but that was with the way it was in sand.

So.

H the Globetrotters is playing against the Minneapolis Lakers who everyone thought was the best team in America and really in the world because America was where basketball was invented.

They have an incredible game with a full house Chicago Stadium in 1948. in the glow pros one and a last second shot.

And it was this glorious moment that we recount in the book and in many ways it was significant for whole history of the NBA.

Because 2 years later, the NBA desegregate and start admitting black players in many people thought that 1948 game was such a.

Was with influential that White America could except black players in the NBA and everyone knew it was no way to keep them out anymore.

He was up.

It was proof that black players could compete.

>> At what point did they start to add sort of the comedy and the tricks in Washington Jeno's.

This is a thing that there are a lot of stories about that.

In fact, kind told stories about, well, you know, we got bored one night and we had to get the fans interested.

>> The truth is, according to our research, they always were a comic team.

They always had they were trying to win the games, but they also were trying to, you know, be entertaining.

And the thing about it is they were playing often.

They're going to these towns and playing factory teams or you or just college teams.

They there beating in pretty bad.

>> And they used the comedy to keep the crowds interested.

>> And also so that they didn't humiliate the team so badly that they didn't want to back the next year because they did They wanted change everyone to go away happy and they want him back the next year.

>> The Globetrotters, they were also, you know, back in the day useful to the State Department.

Yes, the U.S. State Department tell us a little bit about this is where our book breaks ground on this because after the war Cold War is is going on in the Soviet, sir.

>> Really seizing on Jim Crow South, horrible things.

In fact, we have we have there's a memo in which bin says tells us State Department the Little rock desegregation crisis is killing us over here.

You got to bring the Globetrotters over here to show successful, talented black people who are not oppressed.

And so a seen in the Globetrotters work for the State Department in many way secretly 2 used the Globetrotters as a propaganda weapon during the Cold War.

Did the men to the basketball players themselves ever feel any conflict about doing that?

About slick selling America is this great place.

But at at home knowing that them and their people are receiving the end of Jim Crow.

Well, there there's a lot of tension in the book about that, you know, and >> they knew that they were trying to make a living, you know, to some extent.

And so and they also were treated better.

They there's quotes in the book about them being treated better in Europe when they went over than they were treated in their own country.

so they knew what was going on.

And but the same time they were they were because they were stars, least demand Europe and they were and they were highly successful and you know, the thing about apes after seeing the sea is he gave a lot of jobs.

The backpack, athletes at a time when people, you know, we're struggling to get by.

>> Almost out of time, Mark.

But you and your brother dedicated the book to Inman Jackson, who was he?

And what was the role that he played for them in about 30 seconds?

Yes, Inman Jackson was a perception is best friend and was an early start of the globe.

Tryst, in fact, invented many of their tricks.

And this and like a perception.

He's really underappreciated.

And we dedicated the book because we wanted people.

We have more in the book about him and Jackson he's ever been put in about before.

And we're proud of that, OK, IM in Jackson.

We want to tell people about the whole book.

They got to read it.

If they wanted more.

Mark Jacob, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you.

>> Again, the book is called Globetrotter.

How AIDS after seen shook up the world of sports.

And it's out now.

And that's our show for this Monday night.

If you're looking for more context on that complicated issues that matter most to you.

Sign up for our e-mail newsletter, the Daily Chicago and you can do that at W T Tw Dot Com Slash newsletter.

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And Don't forget to check out our W T Tw News Voter Guide for Information you need to know to make informed decisions at the ballot box.

Coming up, folks and join us tomorrow night at 5, 30 10.

Now for all of us here at Chicago Brandis Friedman, thank you for watching.

Stay healthy and safe and have a good night.

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