The Weekly Show: 8/15/25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to the weekly show here on iHeartRadio
on ninety three nine Light FM, one All three five
Kiss FM, and Rock ninety five to five. Every week,
we're here to discuss a variety of topics that matter
to Chicago Land, from health, education, to finances and so
much more. Today on the show, Brady is chatting with
our friends at pause for their pause five K that

(00:20):
is coming up. It is that time of the year
and I'll be chatting with the Clerk of the Circuit
Court of Cook County, Marianna Siperopolis, and we'll be talking
about the Second Chance Summit, the resource fair for expungement
and ceiling happening on October eleventh, and we'll be talking
to AARP and we'll be talking about Illinois Social Security
and what is currently at risk when it comes to

(00:42):
Illinois social security and what you can do today to
help fight Let's kick off the show. Hi, It's Paulina
here with iHeartMedia Chicago, and we are talking on the
Community Affairs show for the weekend of iHeartRadio. And we're
talking to our friend, the Clerk of the City Court
of Cook County with Marianna's Baropolis. How are you today?

Speaker 2 (01:02):
I'm doing great, and I'm the Clerk of the Circuit
Court of Cook County, all of Cook County, all of
Cook County.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
I love it. I am in Cook County, so that's
really good to know. I'm just kidding. That is good stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
So first and foremost, I would love since our first
time having you, I believe on our show. You know,
just overall, I would love for you to sort of
give us a little bit of a background about yourself
and then you know, kind of your current role and
kind of how the first you know, six months of
the year have been for you here.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Oh well, Paulina, thank you so much for having me
on here. You know, as the Clerk of the Circuit Court,
we are the record keeper of the court system because
there are several clerks in government, but my role is
to keep the record for the court system. We have
clerks in four hundred courtrooms throughout Cook County. We have

(01:53):
approached this role stressing transparency, accessibility, making sure that we
are professionalizing, modernizing this office. It takes a little bit
of time because we are one of the largest court
systems in the United States. La County is larger, but
with that comes a lot of employees. It also comes

(02:17):
with a lot of files. We have over a million
cases that are filed each year, and so that requires
a lot of organization. And I have worked in the
system before. I'm an attorney. I've been an attorney for
a few decades now, graduating from what used to be
John Marshall Law School here in Chicago. So I'm very
familiar with the court system and working in government because

(02:41):
I served as a commissioner at the Water Reclamation District
for years, having been the president over there, So I'm
familiar with a government organization, but it's really about our
employees and serving the public amazing.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Well, that's incredible, and we're really happy to have you
on the show because I do believe this is our
first time connecting, so I'm sure we'll have you back
on many of times, which is you know why we
love kind of having that connection with the city and
being able to have you guys on for you know,
anything coming up, which speaking of, we're talking about the
Second Chance Summit. I would love for you to give
us a little bit of a background on this particular summit.

(03:16):
It is happening October eleventh, so who can attend.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
What is it? And where is it, of course happening.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Okay, so we're calling this the Second Chance Summit. It's
formerly been known as an Expungement Summit or Sealing Summit,
and we also have a resource fair as part of
this summit. And what it is is it's a free
event where you can get your record, a criminal record
expunged or sealed. You can participate in a resource fair,

(03:45):
you can gather job information from Second Chance organizations, and
we have attorneys on site that are available at the
event to provide free legal advice and assist with the
process of your expungement or ceiling. They'll talk to you about,
you know, if you're eligible for it, what you qualify

(04:07):
for it, and it's free. The only thing that you
would have to pay for is you There will be
once you file a petition for expungement. There is a
court fee that goes with that filing. But to talk
to the attorneys, to attend the summit is a free event.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
Incredible, and that is happening on October eleven from a
thirty until four pm.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
Yes, that is a Proviso Math and Science Academy, which
is on Roosevelt Road Road in Forest Park, Illinois.

Speaker 3 (04:38):
Awesome.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
So anybody attending, what should they bring in particular as
far as any materials that they'll need. Are we talking resume?
Are we talking? I mean even as far as bringing
any kind of records with them. Is there anything they
should bring in particular?

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yes, you need to bring a rap sheet or a
statewide criminal history report which is issued by the Illinois
State Police. Rap sheet would be issued from whichever police
agency was the issuing agency. So for example, if you
were convicted in Chicago, then CPD would the one be
the one issuing the rap sheet. A statewide criminal history

(05:14):
report is maybe if you have convictions in multiple counties,
then the Illinois State Police would be the ones that
could provide that for you. And I have more information
with regards to how to contact each of those agencies
if you wanted me to provide that you would also
you also want to bring any relevant court documents that

(05:35):
relate to the case that you are trying to either
expund your seal, and then you also want to bring
a valid ID and a form of payment for any
fees that will be connected to the case that you're
going to be filing, so you know, bring those and
the rap sheet you want to give yourself a little
bit of time to process that. For example, if you're

(05:56):
someone that had something in the city to Chicago, you
want to call three one two seven four six six
thousand to schedule an appointment with CPD. You're going to
go to thirty five ten South Michigan Avenue in Chicago,
bring a photo i D be prepared to pay a

(06:17):
fee for that rap sheet or a money order, and
then it takes, you know, two or three weeks to
get that. If you have an arrest outside of Chicago
or across multiple areas, you're going to want to go
and it's called a criminal history report. You're going to
want to get that from the Illinois State Police, so
you're gonna have to contact them, bring a valid photo ID,

(06:39):
request a personal review by them, and then they will
send it directly to you. So once you get your
wrap sheet, then you go to our website Cookcounty clerkfcourt
dot org and you we encourage pre registration. This is
going to be a huge event. There's going to be
a lot of people and pre registration will guarantee you

(07:01):
a spot talking to attorneys and in that registration process
at our website, Cookcountyclerkofcourt dot org. You're going, you can
download your rap sheet so that we have it in advance.
We can start looking at things, and we'll have an
attorney that will be assigned to you who will be
able to talk to you to see if you're eligible

(07:21):
either for expungement or ceiling, or maybe you're not eligible yet,
and so better for you to know beforehand rather than
you know, wasting your time and going to the summit.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
Absolutely well, this is great advice, and thank you for
all of the resources additional resources that you're providing to
get everybody ready for this Second Chance Summit happening October eleventh.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
One question for you, I'm very curious why is this very.

Speaker 1 (07:46):
Important for those who are looking right for maybe some
kind of employment or jobs or opportunities. Why is this
summit or even an opportunity like this so important for
anyone looking for it.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Well, a lot of times, you know our pasts sometimes
if we have a criminal record can get in the
way of employment, maybe credit records of how obtaining housing,
and so this is a chance for you to either.
So an expungement is erasing your criminal record, and then
ceiling is another option, and that hides your record from

(08:19):
the public, but law enforcement and some employers can still
see it. For example, the FBI still gets everybody's criminal
record and that's not something that you can get rid of.
And it would probably play a role if you try
to apply for a TSA at the airport position, but applying,
you know, working somewhere else, it doesn't play as big

(08:42):
a role. So it's important, you know, for people to
enter that next chapter of their life if they can,
And just so people know, and expungement is not a guarantee.
You still have to go before a judge and the
state's attorney, the prosecutor is still involved in the case.
But oftentimes if the person has gone through the supervision

(09:04):
or whatever, you know, the terms of their case are,
oftentimes expungement does happen and then they can enter the
next chapter of their life free of the mistakes that
they made in the past.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
I love that absolutely, and listen, everybody needs a second chance.
So that's something that I strongly believe and I think
you definitely agree. And I really love that this opportunity
in this resource is really available for everyone attending October eleventh,
one last time, Where can we register and what is
the website to do that?

Speaker 2 (09:34):
At Okay, you can register at Cookcounty Clerkofcourt dot org.
We will have volunteer attorneys on site who will give
free legal advice and help you navigate how you can
obtain an expungement, whether you qualify for expungement, whether you
qualify for sealing of your criminal record, please go to

(09:56):
our website. Pre Registration is strongly encouraged because it will
be a highly attended event. But but we are there
to help. Our voluntary attorneys are volunteers. They want to help,
and we have worked to put this together to provide
a resource fair so that people not only are going
to get an expungement, but they'll have an opportunity to

(10:18):
see if there's housing that's available, to see if there's
a job available. Everyone is there for the same reason,
and it's to help people with a second chance.

Speaker 3 (10:27):
Awesome. Thank you so much for being here with us today.
We really appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
Thank you, Cook County Clerk of Court dot org.

Speaker 4 (10:33):
Thank you very much, and here with me. It is
that time of here. It's crazy because summer is I
hate saying winding down, but it kind of is. But
one thing to look forward to in September. As always,
it is the Pause Chicago five k Run Walk for
Their Lives and Carrie from Pause is joining me today. Carrie, Hello,
Hey Brady, how's it going. It's going great. Cannot wait

(10:56):
for this event. I'm thrilled to be you know, A'm
seeing the Pause five k and this is a very
special year for this event, isn't it.

Speaker 5 (11:04):
Yes, this is our twenty fifth anniversary year of the
Pause five k, which will be on Saturday, September thirteenth.
We're so excited.

Speaker 4 (11:14):
Manchos Harbor is the location, and just talk about the
event as a whole. So paint the picture for people
that have been living under rock or maybe they're new
to Chicago and they haven't been to this super fun,
fun day.

Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (11:25):
So the Plus five k is Chicago's largest pets friendly event,
So we get about three thousand humans and one thousand dogs.
So I like to say it's what heaven looks like.
There's dogs everywhere. And while it's a family friendly event,
the day really is entirely about the pets. We have
everything from dog agility courses, we have sponsor that giveaways

(11:49):
that are pets themed. We have a doggy oasis with
pools that they can cool off, photo stations, and then
of course we have the five k walk run portion
which you can do. Some pets like my dog, only
makes it not even halfway and then we have to
turn around and count back. But it's really all about spoiling,

(12:10):
loving on our pets and raising funds for plat Chicago,
it really.

Speaker 4 (12:15):
Is, and it's the Chicago Animal Lover's Capital, that of
the world. That day of our city. Everybody gathers and
you kind of meet, You meet new people, and you
meet new pets, and everybody becomes one big giant family,
which is another thing I love. And it's of course
all to raise critical funds to help these pets and needs.
So talk about pause and where this money is going.

Speaker 5 (12:33):
So right now, registration is open online. It's forty five
dollars for adults and twenty dollars for children twelve and under,
and then once people register they will also get a
personal fundraising page where they can raise additional funds for
all sorts of amazing swag prizes that we have everything
from water bottles to zip up hoodies. And then also

(12:56):
for those who raise two hundred and fifty dollars or more.
They get the ultimate VIP experience on race data to
be in our hero hangout, which includes food stations, adult beverages,
a raffle, and a swag filled goodie bag with Usually
we get about twenty five thirty items in there, and
all of the money that's raised will go to help

(13:17):
help PAS Chicago continue our life saving work.

Speaker 4 (13:20):
I want you to talk about that, your life saving
work and what you guys do year in and year out,
because it's pretty extraordinary for those that don't know.

Speaker 5 (13:26):
Yeah. So PAS Chicago we rely entirely on donations from
the community, so the past pat K helps us in
that regard. Since our founding in nineteen ninety seven, we've
helped reduce the killing of homeless cats by more than
eighty nine percent, and so in a typical year, we're
finding homes for about forty five hundred dogs and cats.

(13:48):
We perform nineteen thousand free and low cost bay and
neuter surgeries for under resource communities, and we also operate
Chicago's only high volume spay neuter clinic with one of
the largest medical centers of its kind in the nation
for homeless pets.

Speaker 4 (14:03):
So so awesome. I love what you guys do. And
it was important to say that it's a run walk, right.
You don't have to run it. You can walk it,
you could stroll, but you can bring your dog. And
that's the best part because there's really nothing like the
Pause Annual five k run walk exactly.

Speaker 5 (14:16):
You can run, you can walk it, or just enjoy
the party. Some people never even make it on the
actual course of the starting question. They're like, well, I'm
not a walker or a runner. It's like, no, that's fine.
Come enjoy the party, celebrate PAD Chicago and all of
the work we're doing and help us raise such critical
funds for homeless pets.

Speaker 4 (14:34):
Yes, and I always always always say this. Nobody puts
on quite an event like Pause does. And this is
one of my favorite ones of the year that you
guys do, and it's a big one. It's the twenty
fifth anniversary. They go up so quick, Carrie, twenty fifth anniversary.

Speaker 5 (14:48):
I know, I know. This is my ninth one working
for Pause. It's funny how like quickly it flies by
so but it's it is one of I'm not supposed
to have favorite, but personally this is one of my
favorite just because it's so great. To see so many
of our Pause alumni come out and they wear their
right alumni bandanas. We take a big alumni photo during

(15:11):
our opening ceremony, which you're m seeing with Sylvia Prez
from Fox News. Yes, and we're so excited to have you.
And I love seeing that big picture grow every year
as more and more adopters are part of that photo
because it really just drives home the point of what
we're doing, not just having a big party out at

(15:34):
Montros Harbor, but also really helping find homes for these
homeless pets.

Speaker 4 (15:39):
That's what it's all about. I love it. So let
everybody know one last time how they can get involved,
how they can donate, and how they can be a
part of this extraordinary day.

Speaker 5 (15:48):
The number one stop for anything Pause related is our
website pas Chicago dot org. There you can get information
on adoption, fostering, volunteering, or donating, and then if if
you're interested for the Pause five k, it's just pas
Chicago dot org backslash five k and for Kiss FM
listeners use the promo code Kiss twenty five and you'll

(16:11):
get ten dollars off of your registration now until September tenth.

Speaker 4 (16:15):
Wow Kiss twenty five. Use that code. I want to
see everybody out there. Let's make this the biggest Pause
five k run walk that there's ever been. It's the
twenty fifth anniversary. I'll see you Carrie September thirteenth at
Mantras Harbor. And thank you and your amazing team at
Pause for all you do, and.

Speaker 5 (16:32):
Thank you and kiss at them for all your support
and raising awareness for PAUS Chicago. We really couldn't do
it without you.

Speaker 3 (16:38):
Hi, It's Paulina ro here with iHeartMedia Chicago.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
And today we have a guest on our show, Ryan Grunenfelder.

Speaker 3 (16:45):
How are you today?

Speaker 6 (16:47):
Great?

Speaker 3 (16:47):
Thank you, thanks for being here.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
So Ryan is the senior advocacy manager for AARP Illinois,
and I would love for you to tell our audience, well, I.

Speaker 6 (16:55):
Work for a yourp Illinois and fight to add gate
for people fifty plus across the state of Illinois. And
one of those things that we are fighting hard for
is social security.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
So Ran, we are.

Speaker 1 (17:07):
Talking about the ninetieth anniversary of Social Security of Illinois
residents and that we rely on social security for our livelihoods. Here,
can you give us a little bit of the background
of you know, the marking of the ninetieth anniversary and
sort of, if you don't mind, kind of the backstory
of what social Security is and kind of with the
with the you know where it is today.

Speaker 6 (17:29):
Yeah, So social Security was signed in the law ninety
years ago yesterday actually on August fourteenth, nineteen thirty fuck five.
And it's a program that people of all ages are
relying on. In fact that a recent AARP survey revealed
that ninety six percent of Americans consider this program important.
And that's across all ages and backgrounds. And no matter

(17:53):
where I go across in Illinois, I constantly hear from
people how important Social Security is to them. Actually been
hearing it the last couple of days. I've been working
out at the Illinois State Fair. We have AIRP Illinois
has a tent there where we've been welcoming thousands of
people into our tent, and in fact, Wednesday was Democrat
Day and yesterday was Republican Day, and both days our

(18:15):
tent focused on Social Security has been overwhelmed with people
who have been taking a pledge to help in this
fight to protect the program first future.

Speaker 3 (18:26):
So I kind of want to dive into that because
I'm a millennial.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
Right, So I'm thirty three years old, but even my
parents and grandparents growing up, I heard that term a lot.
So my parents both worked for they still do the
city of Chicago, right, So I hear the words social
security a lot and the words pension a lot. It
just says a millennial growing up here in Illinois. So
what has changed in the past several years, Because from

(18:49):
my understanding, it's something that is solely but surely almost
is it declining? What we say, it's something that that
that seems to be going away or that is in
danger of actually going away, because I think it's so
important for us to fight for it.

Speaker 6 (19:03):
In my opinion, yeah, absolutely, it is really important to
fight for it. And we understand that many people are skeptical,
especially millennials, about whether the program will be there for them,
and we hear you, and that's why we are doing
these interviews and talking with people and making sure that
they understand the importance of Social Security and how it's

(19:23):
factual that Social Security has never missed a payment in
all ninety years that it's been in existence, and it
has ensured that people are feeling some retirement security within
their years when they are retired because it's not missing
a payment. People are hearing that the Social Security program

(19:45):
itself will not be able to pay one hundred percent
of benefits in starting in the year twenty thirty four,
But it is also true that the program with no
changes at all, will continue to pay be able to
pay around eighty percent of benefits, meaning that when we're
talking about the shortfall, there's only about a twenty percent
gap that needs to be made up. And there are

(20:06):
some small changes that could be made to the program,
and we're working with both parties. We're working with Congress,
we're working with President Trump, and we are making it
clear to them that they need to go in and
fix the program and make some small changes to make
sure that Social Security will be one hundred percent funded
beyond the year twenty thirty four. We have time to

(20:29):
do it. We just as Illinoisans and as Americans, need
to make sure that they understand that this is a
very high priority. And like I said, our survey even
showed ninety six percent of Americans feel that way. You
can't get more bipartisan than.

Speaker 1 (20:44):
That, absolutely, so, Ryan, what are some tips or what
can we do, like you mentioned, to fight for this
and then obviously, you know, to sort of make sure
that it is it is a priority for us as well,
for my generation, and then and of course the one
you know coming after us.

Speaker 3 (21:01):
Gen Z.

Speaker 1 (21:02):
I know, they're very involved in politics as well and
for our well being and especially when you know, become
older too. A lot of these things we truly don't
think about. I'm not even gonna lie to you, Ryan.
Growing up, I never I've heard the term, but I
didn't think it applied to me. I didn't think much
of it. And now I'm thirty three years old, and
oh boy, yes I am thinking about it.

Speaker 3 (21:18):
So what can we do today?

Speaker 5 (21:20):
Right?

Speaker 6 (21:21):
Right? Yeah? And gen z Ers millennials, we have talked
with them too, and they all have told us that
they find the program important to it. It's been really
incredible to me, and how much gen xer myself, it's
been really incredible to me. When I've gone out and
I've talked with even college students, they already realize that
the program is important, but when we've talked with them,

(21:43):
it has become more urgent to them. They have expressed,
oh wow, maybe I should be thinking about this now,
Maybe I should be making that call to a member
of Congress. Maybe I should be signing that pledge that
AARP is collecting from people all over the country, saying
we're with you and we're going to stand with you
in this fight to protect Social Security and its benefits.

(22:04):
And we should also call our member of Congress and
tell them that I've earned this. I am earning this
money by paying into a little bit of Social Security
into my paycheck every single paycheck, and I expect it
to be there other things that we're doing to raise awareness.
You might have noticed that if you're in Chicago, the
buildings have been lit up this week at the City

(22:27):
of Chicago has been lighting it up. The building's up
with the color blue to recognize Social Security's ninetieth birthday
and the importance of it to even Chicagoan's future. We're
holding events all over the state of Illinois right now,
in fact, all over the country this entire month of August,
where we're inviting people in to hear about the urgency
of this program and urging them to also sign our

(22:49):
pledge to call their members of Congress. But we need
more and more of this. We need people to be
talking about the program constantly, and it can't just be
people who are fifty plus. It can't just be people
who are retired and currently relying on the program. We
need a movement across all ages to make sure that
this program is protected. And like I said, it's through conversation.

(23:12):
It's through this conversation that you and I are having
right now that people are going to understand that the
time to act is now, no matter whether you're twenty
five years old, thirty five, or fifty.

Speaker 1 (23:25):
Absolutely, and I'm glad that we're able to do this
and have this conversation. Ryan, before I let you go,
is there a website that we can point our listeners
to or any kind of resource for everyone to check out.

Speaker 6 (23:35):
Absolutely, people can go to AARP dot org, board slash
we earned it, and it's there that they can find
the pledge and they can find more links that can
educate that people can learn about Social Security and how
important it is to Americans and even details about what
the program's about.

Speaker 1 (23:55):
Ryan, thank you so much for being here with us today.
We really appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (24:00):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (24:01):
Thank you so much for listening, and thank you for
tuning in to the weekly show Here and iHeartRadio. We
place this show and all other episodes up on our
free iHeartRadio app. Just simply search for the weekly show.
We do this for one of three five Kiss FM,
Rock ninety five to five and ninety three nine Light
FM every single weekend. And if you or you know
anyone who should be on our show, please reach out

(24:23):
to me at Paulina at iHeartMedia dot com and we're
gonna try our very best to make sure that we
get you on our show if you are doing amazing
things for our city and our suburbs. And remember you
can always catch up on this episode and previous episodes.
Once again, just search for the weekly show on our
free iHeartRadio app. Thank you so much for tuning in,

(24:45):
Stay safe, Chicago, and we will talk to you again
next weekend. Don't forget to check us out on our
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