A new quarter, the opening on Chicago warming centers and the certification of Trump’s presidential victory
plus, a review of Kendrick’s latest album
Welcome back to ‘In the Loop’! It’s your newsletter team Lauren, Ellie, Noël, Sam, Annabelle and Eli. We’ve got a good one for you today.
To start, we have a personal essay on the movie adaptation of “Wicked” starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. Then we have information on important Winter Quarter dates, a vital Bears victory and intense winter weather across the country. Finally, we have the closure of a Cuban cafe and a review of “GNX.”
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With that, let’s get into it!
In Defense of Wicked: A Letter from a Reformed Theater Kid
By Ellie Shelton
I am a theater kid. It’s a part of myself I have intentionally moved away from as I grew into college because frankly, no one wants to be friends with a girl who listens to the “Legally Blonde” soundtrack while she gets ready for school. My past three years have been spent waiting for two hours alone to sing show tunes without fear, hiding from something that defined a large portion of my younger self.
When “Wicked” was announced, I was quite vocal about my excitement. I spent much of my time with theater kids in high school and conversations regarding the casting were incessant. However, as time ticked on and my connection to theater began to dwindle, I began to worry about things more important than Ariana’s ability to hit a high C in “No One Mourns the Wicked.”
Eventually, I, and the theater friends I had made throughout high school left and “Wicked” quietly began production. For those who are not as invested in the lore as I have been — the production of “Wicked” was incredibly difficult to follow. The first paparazzi shots were released in April of 2023, a whopping two years after my initial conversations with strangers whose lives I knew every detail of at the time. With little to see in those years prior to 2023, “Wicked” was put on the back burner as life continued on and I lost my once fervent affection for musicals.
Let me be clear — I have always loved theater. Even during my darkest moments, I have found solace in live theater and show tunes. However, in 2023, I found myself feeling disconnected from most parts of myself that I loved the most. My transition to college was a tough one — I struggled to find new passions and find a balance between my old and new self. High school Ellie and college Ellie were in a constant tug of war and there was no clear champion.
As the pictures were leaked, I found myself engrossed in the world of “Wicked,” providing me with a much needed escape after a difficult college life thus far. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, I had found a way to bridge the gap between my two selves. And just like that, I had become completely obsessed. For the next two years I spent time reading the original “Wicked” book, falling asleep to “Wicked” video essays and reaching for Easter eggs in Grande’s rare Instagram posts.
This past year, the first trailer was dropped during the 2024 Super Bowl. At this point, I was halfway through my junior year, fresh off a long term, long distance breakup and had resolved to “figure myself out” (whatever that means).
For the first time in a while, life felt so real, so tangible, that I could hold the happiness I felt in my hand and pour it out like a cup of coffee. With the first look of “Wicked,” I got the first look of what seemed to be a new chapter of my life, filled to the absolute brim with new friends, happiness and so much love.
As I sat in the theater alone three days after the film’s release, a girl similar to myself sat down next to me. I commented on her beautiful pink scarf and we got to talking — she, like myself, decided to come alone to avoid having to explain things to our non-theater friends. As we opened onto the first scene, tears began to fall down both of our faces. I became acutely aware of the importance of “Wicked” in not only my own life, but today’s world as I watched 40 non-theater people weep through the entirety of each scene.
As we move into the second chapter of the series with “Wicked: For Good” releasing in late 2025, I find myself finding more reasons to love and connect with the film. I, and many others have found the themes of goodness vs. wickedness, apathy with privilege and genuine love, all too relatable.
“Wicked” has seen the world through an election, a pandemic, an insurrection and countless hardships faced by fans around the world. While I am not going to sit here and harp on about why “Wicked” is technically and aesthetically a perfect movie (although I will if you ask), I urge readers to reflect upon the importance of a movie like this in today’s culture and let it resonate with your own personal experiences. And for the love of all that is good, let yourself cry through “Defying Gravity” with the random girl you sit next to in an Alamo Drafthouse.
Tune into Ellie’s radio show “Freshman Roommates” on Monday, January 13 at 3 p.m. to hear more about her thoughts on “Wicked.”
DePaul News
By Noël Bentley
First day of Winter Quarter! — Welcome back, students! DePaul officially opened for Winter Quarter classes today January 6, 2024. The last day to add classes on Campus Connect is Friday, January 10. The last day to drop classes with no penalty is Friday, January 17, 2024. Any classes dropped after next Friday will appear on their transcript as a ‘W’ for withdrawal.
Basketball double-header — Both the DePaul women's and men's basketball teams have a big week up ahead. Tomorrow, the women's team will be taking on St. Johns University’s Red Storm in New York, and then turn around and head back home to DePaul to take on the Provenance women's basketball team on Sunday. The men’s team is also traveling to New York to play Seton Hall on Wednesday and back to DePaul to take on Xavier University on Saturday. Both home games will be played at Wintrust Arena.
Check DeHub for upcoming events happening on campus — It's officially Welcome Back Week for the Winter Quarter! Lots of events such as The Involvement Fair and movie nights are happening, brought to you by the school. DePaul student organizations are also hosting events that are being showcased on DeHub.
Chicago Headlines
By Lauren Sheperd
Warming centers open as winter weather hits Chicago — The city will open warming centers this week in preparation for an intense winter weather system that began to hit yesterday bringing snow and frigid temperatures. With snow expected to continue falling until tomorrow morning and temperatures expected to fall into single digits at night, these citywide warming centers are open Monday through Friday this week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. According to the Office of Emergency Management and Communication, the city activates warming centers .when the temperature falls below 32 degrees. The Sun-Times Wire has more information.
Church services moved online due to fears of deportation — The Lincoln United Methodist Church in Pilsen has moved its Spanish Sunday services online in preparation for the incoming Trump Administration due to fears of it becoming a target for mass deportations. The church has been servicing families and immigrants for years and, according to Rev. Emma Lozano, does not want to be a “bullseye.” Over the years, the church has also served as a sanctuary for individuals facing deportation and also the victim of white supremacist attacks. The Sunday service in English will continue to be conducted in person. Block Club Chicago’s Francia Garcia Hernandez has more.
Illinois companies now required to post salaries in job descriptions — Pay ranges and compensation information must now be present in Illinois job postings for companies with over 15 people as of the new year. According to activists such as Sharmili Majmudar of Women Employed, this law (Public Act 103-0539) will prevent salary bias — particularly gender-based bias — from occurring. Census data shows that for the first time in two decades, salary disparities rose last year. The goal of the law is to provide individuals and companies with the necessary tools to fight this. WTTW’s Amanda Vinicky has more.
The Bears beat the Packers for the first time since 2018 — The Chicago Bears took a 24-22 victory over the Green Bay Packers — their age-old rivals — yesterday to close out a disappointing season. Led by quarterback Caleb Williams and kicker Cairo Santos, the Bears broke an 11 game losing streak to the Packers and a 10 game losing streak this season. AP and ESPN have more.
National Headlines
By Sam Freeman
Congress meets to certify Trump’s election victory — House and Senate lawmakers met today to certify President-elect Donald Trump’s win. The vote comes four years after pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and disrupted lawmakers certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. "We should be proud that our democracy withstood this assault," Biden wrote in an op-ed published late Sunday by the Washington Post. "And we should be glad we will not see such a shameful attack again this year." There were not any objections to the election results, unlike in 2021. Vice President Kamala Harris conceded to Trump November 6, and no Democrats have challenged the election results. Trump will be sworn into office on January 20. He will return to a Republican-led House and Senate. Alexandra Hutzler from ABC News has more information.
Biden travels to New Orleans after the attack that killed 14 and injured 30 — Biden visited New Orleans today where an Army veteran drove a truck in the French Quarter, killing 14 people and injuring 30 others. Traveling to the scene of a horrific crime is a presidential task that Biden, unlike other presidents, has embraced as someone who has experienced much personal tragedy in his own life. His first wife and daughter died in a car accident in the early 1970s, and his son died of cancer in 2015. Biden brought a message to the grieving families of victims in the New Orleans attack: “It takes time. You got to hang on.” Biden often takes the time to speak in private with the families, talk about grief and give his personal phone number in case people want to talk later. On New Year’s Day, Shamsud-Din Jabbar steered his truck around the barricade and into a crowd on Bourbon Street. He was shot and killed in a firefight with police. Fourteen people died; the youngest was 18 years old, and the oldest was 63. Colleen Long from the Associated Press has more information.
Police Department in California agrees to reforms after federal investigation — The Antioch Police Department in Northern California agreed to be monitored by federal officials for five years after the Justice Department investigated racist and sexist texts that were released in 2023. The agreement also requires a law enforcement consulting firm to review and update the Bay Area police department’s policy on hiring, training use of force and community policing. In the text messages — which were obtained during and FBI investigation and released by the district attorney in Contra Costa County — officers “used racist slurs to describe Black people, bragged about the use of force and, during the protests in 2020 in response to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police officers, used slurs against Mr. Floyd and mocked the public outrage against racism in law enforcement,” according to The New York Times. The investigation also led to four federal indictments involving 10 Antioch and Pittsburg police officers. Orlando Mayorquín of The New York Times has more.
Snowstorm creates dangerous travel conditions — At least four people are dead as a snowstorm makes its way across several states from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic. Blizzard warnings were issued in Kansas over the weekend and at least three people died in car accidents, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports at least one person dead and more than 30 injured. Forecasters predict up to 12 inches of snow to fall from Ohio to D.C. through Monday night. Governors of several states in these areas issued states of emergency beginning last week and continuing into this past weekend. The winter storms also caused flight cancellations and delays for more than 5,000 flights traveling into or leaving the U.S. faced delays as of noon ET Monday, according to tracking platform FlightAware. Chandelis Duster and Ayana Archie from NPR have more information.
14 East Pueblo: 90 Miles Cuban Cafe closes both locations
By Annabelle Rivera
Local restaurant chain 90 Miles Cuban Cafe has shut down their locations in Roscoe Village and Logan Square, with the latter facing an eviction lawsuit.
According to a lawsuit filed in November, property owner Northbrook Partners aims to take back the Logan Square site, located on 2540 W Armitage Ave., along with $62,000 in rental fees and other charges.
90 Miles’s Roscoe Village restaurant, located on 3101 N Clybourn Ave., was closed after it lost its lease, according to Kosti Demos. Demos was brought on to the business late last year to manage both locations by owner Alberto Gonzalez. An eviction notice on the restaurant’s door, dated December 20, says Gonzalez owes $28,000 in accrued and past due rent to the business’s landlord and had five days to make the payment or have the tenancy terminated.
The Logan Square location closed temporarily due to a small fire and a sign on its door said they would be closed until Monday, December 30. As of Friday, January 3, the restaurant was still closed. The Roscoe Village location will not be reopening.
90 Miles Cuban Cafe was founded by the Gonzalez family after arriving from Cuba in 1980. The Roscoe Village location opened in 2008 and the Logan Square location opened shortly after in 2009.
Hey, Check This Out!
With Featured Columnist Eli Smith
Kendrick Lamar has built a legacy by creating albums that are thematically complex, sonically surprising and unquestionably singular. The magic of the music is uplifted by his staunch refusal to cater to the public's desires, as albums like “To Pimp A Butterfly” or “Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers” showcase his ability to push boundaries artistically without making the music inaccessible. However, Lamar’s historic feud with Drake led to “Not Like Us,” a scathing diss track that has become one of the most commercially successful songs of his career. With this in mind, one could argue that Lamar’s album “GNX” is his most unexpected project to date for one key reason – it’s exactly what his audience wanted.
“GNX” is an undeniably west-coast record that sees Lamar deliver his most traditional hip hop album since “Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City.” Tracks like “squabble up” and “hey now” stand out not only because of their unforgettable hooks and vicious verses, but also for the way their production utilizes the bounce trademarked by west-coast hip-hop. On the flipside, tracks like “dodger blue” and “heart pt. 6” showcase the more laid-back side of this style with dreamy synths, thick basslines and steady beats for Lamar to navigate lyrically. Although he has never shied away from proudly repping his hometown of Compton, Lamar has never leaned into the sounds of his city quite like this.
With all that said, “GNX” goes beyond being just an ode to the west-coast. Tracks like “tv off” are made to electrify stadium crowds. “reincarnated” and “gloria” remind us that Lamar is a generational storyteller, and “luther” is a lush duet with SZA that highlights his vocal prowess. Each track on “GNX” comes together to create an inescapable truth – whatever your favorite rapper can do, Kendrick Lamar can do it better.
Resources
Need resources regarding cooling centers, rental assistance, abortion access, COVID-19 testing and vaccines or mental health? Check out our complete list here.
That’s it for today! See you next Monday.
The 14 East Newsletter Team