Here at F Newsmagazine, we know how hard it is to juggle class, work, and life — all while keeping up with the world’s happenings. Bringing current news to your studio is our new column, News in Brief, covering major Chicago, U.S. and global events. We gather our information from reputable sources like NBC, NPR, CBS, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and other journalism organizations.
So while you wait for the train — or the Sharp Building elevator — briefly catch up on the news. Click a link, and go more in-depth on the nuance in a story. Do your own research.
We’re here to be a trusted source for students to disseminate news that we feel is important to students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and our community.
Big Beautiful Bill
What is the Big Beautiful Bill? Why is everyone talking about Medicaid cuts?
The Big Beautiful Bill is a 900-page multitrillion-dollar package of tax cuts and increased military and deportation spending, which, according to whitehouse.gov, will be “restoring fiscal sanity.”
The bill aims to give money back to the American people through tax cuts. However, those who earn less than $18,000 a year would see a 1.1% decrease in income. Those who earn between $18,000 and $53,000 would see a $30 bump in income, or a 0.1% increase. Middle-income households, that is, those who earn between $53,000 and $96,000, would see their income rise by 1.8%, according to CNN Business.
As a result of these minute increases, the bill has been painted as helping the rich at the expense of the poor. The money that pays for these tax cuts comes from cuts to safety net programs like Medicaid. These program cuts mean people won’t be able to get health coverage and food assistance, and the federal deficit will be increased by 3.4 million over the next decade,
Articles discussing the tax breaks on the bill mention they are permanent extensions of the Trump Administration cuts from 2018: “voters heading into the 2018 midterms saw a tangible change on their pay stubs via the newly implemented tax cuts, while the impact before the 2026 cycle will be smaller,” said The Hill.
However, an article from NPR states that the “tangible change” is actually one many households didn’t feel. In 2018, 80% of American families saw their tax bill reduced when the initial cuts were passed in Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. But the savings weren’t enough to be noticeable. The difference this time is the tax cuts are tied to spending cuts, which will affect everyday people.
The effects of these cuts won’t be felt until after the midterm elections — meaning when people notice them, they likely won’t put blame on the bill. This fixes another 2018 mistake — when the Trump Administration tried to repeal obamacare, they were met with widespread outcry.
The effects of the Big Beautiful Bill could take nine years to fully play out.
Gaza Starves
Anas Baba, NPR’s producer in the Gaza Strip, took a journey with thousands of other Palestinians looking for food. His report, which is based on his experience, details facing “Israeli military fire, private U.S. contractors pointing laser beams at my forehead, crowds with knives fighting for rations, and masked thieves” in early July to get food from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — a U.S. and Israel supported group.
Despite Israel saying it would relax the blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza, the United Nations has so far been unable to move any trucks from Kerem Shalom to warehouses inside Gaza. Israel’s two-month ban on food, fuel and other supplies. Gazans are at “critical risk of famine,” stated a May 12, 2025 report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global initiative dedicated to research that improves food security.
According to CBS, two American aid workers with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation were injured in southern Gaza in an attack at a food distribution site on July 5. Without evidence, GHF accused Hamas of being responsible for the attack.
MSNBC and the BBC have reports of Israel using starvation as a war tactic.
Israeli war planes hit Gaza with air strikes on the morning of Thursday, July 10. 15 people were killed while waiting outside a health clinic, the Israel Defence Forces claiming the target to be a member of Hamas. At least 20 people were killed in a crush at an aid distribution center run by the US and backed by Israel, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. This is the first instance of GHF confirming deaths at one of its aid sites. 19 were crushed and one was stabbed.
Zohran Mamdani
Zohran Mamdani was not the predicted candidate to win the primaries for the New York Mayoral Election. Campaigning on a democratic socialist platform, he has been called “a 100% Communist Lunatic” by Donald Trump. Similarities are seen in the two figures and their polarity — in beliefs and with voters Mamdani even took inspiration from Donald Trump’s campaign. He upset former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by 12 percentage points. In June, both Marist University and Emerson College predicted Cuomo ahead in the first round.
The breakdown of Mamdani’s support is complex — he drew young Hispanic and Asian infrequent voters to the polls, a historically democrat crowd that has recently shifted right. He also netted younger professionals and individuals moving to the city looking for cheaper rent and families moving for more space, groups which signal gentrification. Bloomberg writes that Mamdani’s victory comes via a new network of voters in a city that has historically tended to vote more along ethnocultural than income or class lines in primaries.
“Mamdani campaigned on a message of affordability, and it was renters and the city’s middle class who turned out to support him. Some of the poorest and richest New Yorkers, and the majority of homeowners, voted for former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo,” writes Bloomberg.
But Mamdani only won a battle. In the next election, independents and more conservative democrats are determined to unite to stop Mamdani, discussing dropping out of the race to allow one candidate win against him. One opinion from The Hill compares Mamdani’s campaign to Donald Trump, stating “both offered revolution instead of reform.”
In 2020, 36% of voters aged 18-29 voted for Donald Trump. In 2024, that number rose to 47%. Zohran Mamdani’s victory, while unprecedented, signals a shift away from the recent culture of conservatism in youth.
Texas Floods
Deadly flooding in central Texas has resulted in, as of July 12, 130 dead and hundreds of rescuers searching for the 170 still missing statewide. On July 4, the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in 45 minutes as a result of 1.8 trillion gallons of rain. Kerr county was hit the hardest — at least 67 died that Friday and search-and-rescue efforts began for countless missing people.
The New York Times reported that two days after the flooding, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, failed to answer almost two thirds of its disaster assistance line calls due to the firing of hundreds of contractors at call centers. Expired contracts were not renewed until the calls were missed, five days later.
On July 13, while continuing to handle the effects of the July 4 floods, a new flood watch went into effect. Rescue efforts were halted for those missing from the previous week. The rain calmed by the afternoon in some areas.
On determining when to evacuate, Dalton Rice, Kerrville’s city manager, said, “It’s very tough to make those calls,” Rice said. “We don’t want to cry wolf.”
Some Texas officials didn’t feel that there was an adequate warning about the level of danger by the National Weather Service, though the federal agency denies that. The NWS began hiring over 100 employees due to the severe weather season following the workforce cuts by the Trump administration that caused the weather service to lose almost 600 positions. Trump denied that the cuts were to blame. Meteorologists also mentioned the difficulty in predicting the power of the storm and in convincing officials and the public to prepare.
The CTA’s Predicted Budget Cuts
Everyone knows about the Chicago Transit Authority’s more frequent changes to bus routes. Fewer know about the “Doomsday scenario” the CTA is facing regarding funding. The Regional Transportation Authority says that, due to funding legislation that wasn’t passed, the CTA, the Metra, and Pace are staring down a “fiscal cliff estimated to be somewhere between $770 million and $1.5 billion.” The RTA board met on June 13 to discuss budgeting for 2026 with a 20% cut in operating expenses.
Ridership post-COVID on public transit across the country has been down. This has been matched by reduced services in most major cities. According to a March RTA press release, a 20% budget shortfall would require up to 40% cut in service. This means half of the CTA’s lines would be shut down and 60% of bus routes would close. The Metra would stop operation of early morning and late evening trains, weekday trains would come once an hour, and weekend trains would arrive once every two hours. All weekend Pace service could be cut.
Lawmakers and Transit Officials seem to be in conflict over the gravity of the funding issue. ABC7 Chicago wrote a report about the nuance.
Illinois state Sen. Ram Villivalam, a Chicago-representing Democrat, backed the failed funding legislation. Governing conducted an interview with Villivalam discussing the legislation and RTA funding and reforms.
