WGN Radio 720 - Chicago's Very Own

Things every college-bound freshman should know to stay safe

Posted: 22 Jul 2022 04:52 PM PDT

Mary Browning, a crime prevention specialist with the Naperville Police Department, joins Lisa Dent on Chicago's Afternoon News to discuss safety tips every college-bound freshman should know as they prepare to experience campus life for the first time.

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How much is a Bruce Springsteen ticket really worth?

Posted: 22 Jul 2022 04:19 PM PDT

"Elton" Jim Turano joins Lisa Dent on Chicago's Afternoon News to talk about Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing system and how that system doesn't work for fans of live music.

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Uber faces 550-passenger lawsuit over sexual assault

Posted: 22 Jul 2022 02:49 PM PDT

Adam Slater, founding partner of Slater Slater Schulman, joins Lisa Dent on Chicago's Afternoon News to discuss why the firm filed multi-party complaints on the behalf of women who claim they were assaulted by drivers who use the ridesharing platform.

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Study finds tomatoes, but not farm workers, are safe from soil lead

Posted: 22 Jul 2022 02:10 PM PDT

Andrew Margenot, assistant professor in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, joins Lisa Dent on Chicago's Afternoon News to discuss a study he led that showed tomatoes grown in backyards in Chicago are likely safe to eat, even when grown in lead-contaminated soils.

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How Access is helping families in need of a more accessible home

Posted: 23 Jul 2022 08:00 AM PDT

Featured on WGN Radio's Home Sweet Home Chicago on 07/17/22  Access Elevator's VP of Sales Frank Wasilewski joins the show to talk about how Access has partnered with Welcome Home Angels to help families who are in need of a more accessible home.  To learn more about what Access Elevator can do for you go to allaboutaccess.com or call them at 1-630-616-6249.

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Jim Bob Morris with a coast to coast toast as El Bandido Yankee fans make 'National Tequila Day' all their own

Posted: 23 Jul 2022 06:27 AM PDT

Former NFL player, business leader and founder of El Bandido Yankee Tequila, Jim Bob Morris joins Dane Neal on WGN Radio. Hear as Jim Bob shares excitement for National Tequila Day happening on July 24th with celebrations continuing through the end of July. Jim Bob fills us in on the trajectory of Tequila in the market today and how El Bandido Yankee is growing fast and expanding to 17 states and counting with as many as 30 possible by year's end. Listen as Jim Bob talks about great ambassadors in the El Bandido family making news like UFC Contender Dustin Jacoby and NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle star "Flyin" Ryan Oehler. Jim Bob shares the way "Startenders" behind the bar all over are creating new and different cocktails all the time and how Chefs are pairing more foods with tequila than ever before. National Tequila Day features El Bandido Yankee events and special across the country, and in Chicago, be sure to check out Bar Takito on Sat July 23rd, and events at Logan 11 and Mercadito on July 24th with drink specials and signature cocktails.
For more information on locations, events, cocktails and more for National Tequila Day and the Tequila that is "So Smooth it's Criminal" go to www.elbandidoyankee.com

OTL #823: Semi-pro football impacts Chicago, Appraising trading cards online, Funding the fight against homelessness

Posted: 23 Jul 2022 06:46 AM PDT

Mike Stephen visits Columbus Park and sits down with Tom Robinson, the head coach of the Chicago Falcons semi-pro football team, learns about a new local business called Ludex that appraises trading cards through your phone from co-founders Brian Ludden and Heather Denniston, and gets an update on funding the fight against homelessness in Chicago from grassroots leader Harry Williams. 

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Cash windfall for Illinois farm town

Posted: 22 Jul 2022 03:53 PM PDT

There's an unfortunate history of small towns being crushed when a major industry is sold and the new owners sell off the pieces and close the business. That was not the case in Arthur, Illinois, population 2,180. When KKR, a private equity company, sold the C.H.R. Overhead Door Company in Arthur for $3 billion, the proceeds were shared with the company's several hundred employees. Checks for hourly workers average $175,000, with many longtime employees receiving over $750,000. Village president Rod Randall tells WGN's Steve Alexander there's a lot more going on in Arthur besides C.H.I. Along with another major employer, kitchen cabinet maker MasterCraft, there's a vibrant tourist business thanks to the nearby Amish community, the oldest and largest in Illinois. And some of the richest farmland in the world grows corn and soybeans outside the boundaries of the central Illinois town.

You and your neighbors can get a group rate from Andreas & Sons Concrete Company

Posted: 22 Jul 2022 12:00 PM PDT

Featured on WGN Radio's Home Sweet Home Chicago on 06/18/2022: Sara Andreas of Robert R. Andreas & Sons Concrete Company joins the conversation to talk about Andreas & Sons lates project involving the community of Indian Head Park. To learn more about Robert R. Andreas & Sons and what they can do for you go to andreasconstruction.com or call them at 1-708-863-5735.

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Jury convicts Bannon of contempt of Congress

Posted: 22 Jul 2022 11:58 AM PDT

(The Hill) — A federal jury on Friday convicted Steve Bannon of two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The 68-year-old political strategist, who served as former President Trump's campaign CEO and White House adviser, faces a minimum sentence of 30 days and a maximum of one year in jail.

The jury took less than three hours to reach a verdict on the two misdemeanor counts. They began deliberating on Friday after hearing testimony from just two witnesses over the course of a week.

Bannon's lawyers chose not to present their own case, offering no defense witnesses. Evan Corcoran, one of Bannon's attorneys, said in his closing argument Friday that there was plenty of reasonable doubt concerning his client's guilt.

"We didn't feel the need to put on a defense," Corcoran told the jury.

Prosecutors had argued the case presented a straightforward question of whether Bannon met the legal obligations laid out for him in the subpoena last year.

"This case is not complicated but it is important," Molly Gaston, an assistant U.S. Attorney, said in her closing argument Friday. "When it came down to it, he did not want to recognize Congress's authority or play by the government's rules."

Bannon was indicted in November of last year after the House voted to hold him in contempt for failing to show up for a deposition and turn over documents as demanded by the Jan. 6 select committee's subpoena.

The subpoena, issued on Sept. 23, 2021, ordered Bannon to turn over a wide range of documents by Oct. 7 of that year and appear before the committee for a deposition on Oct. 14.

An attorney for Bannon, Robert Costello, said in letters to the committee that his client would not comply because Trump had asserted executive privilege and because of an ongoing civil case at the time between the former president and the select committee.

While Corcoran had told the jury Friday that the defense felt no need to present a case, Bannon's lawyers expressed frustration throughout the trial that they had been "handcuffed" from presenting certain arguments.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols had ruled Bannon would not be allowed to argue at trial that he was relying on the advice of his lawyers in not complying with the subpoena, or that any assertion of executive privilege excused him from meeting the committee's demands.

On Thursday, David Schoen, another member of Bannon's defense team, told the court his client would have testified in his own defense if Nichols had not prohibited them from mounting those arguments.

"He's wanted to testify publicly in this case under oath to tell the court, the jury and the public exactly what the true facts of the case are," Schoen said. "However, on the advice of counsel ... he has decided not to testify, because he understands that he would be barred from telling the true facts explaining why he did what he did, and why he did not do what he did not do in relation to the committee's subpoena. He wanted to testify under oath to explain that at all times, he believed he was doing what the law required him to do, based on his lawyer's advice."

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