Mike Lowe
WGN TV News
Chicago, IL, United States
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Past articles by Mike:
How WGN has covered Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day parades
CHICAGO — With the downtown St. Patrick’s Day Parade set for Saturday, WGN-TV went through the tapes to find some of our old broadcasts of the parade, including the first one. In 1956, WGN televised the city’s first downtown parade and showed 36 more up until 2008. St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago is about more […] → Read More
The Master at Work: Tracking a storm with Tom Skilling
As WGN TV celebrates 75 years, we’re looking back with a series of stories on the history and the memories CHICAGO — Tom Skilling has reported the weather from the peaks of Alaska to the valleys of Southern Nevada. He has chased tornados and testified before Congress. He’s been awarded three honorary doctorate degrees and […] → Read More
A 300 mile journey: One of WGN’s original cameras back home
CHICAGO — As we continue to celebrate WGN’s 75th anniversary, we’re also celebrating a special delivery that arrived on Friday. In the back of a van, far from it’s original studio home on Michigan Avenue, a piece of television history is once again finding the spotlight. The camera just arrived at WGN after traveling 300 […] → Read More
For 75 years, WGN News has documented Chicago history — one story at a time
As WGN TV celebrates 75 years, we’re looking back with a series of stories on the history and the memories CHICAGO — From 1948, until the present day, it didn’t matter where the news was happening, WGN had Chicago covered. “It really delivers Chicago to Chicago,” Rick Morris, an assistant dean and professor at Northwestern […] → Read More
Bridgeview group helping support Turkey after devastating earthquake
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — A vast swath of Turkey is growing anxious and desperate as the population deals with the loss of shelter, food and healthcare in the aftermath of this month’s devastating earthquake. Now, a group in suburban Chicago is trying to ship supplies to help those in distress. In Bridgeview, a group is collecting […] → Read More
Donahue Dominated Daytime: How WGN ‘launched’ a new genre of talk show
As WGN TV celebrates 75 years, we’re looking back with a series of stories on the history and the memories The talk show is one of television’s most enduring and ubiquitous genres. It has become a culturally significant stage for comedy, sports, entertainment, and politics. WGN-TV played an outsize role in the development of the audience […] → Read More
WGN sports anchor Wendell Smith, responsible for Jackie Robinson’s rise, broke barriers in baseball and broadcasting
As WGN TV celebrates 75 years, we’re looking back with a series of stories on the history and the memories Wendell Smith left his mark on sports, society, and Chicago. In 1973, the Chicago Board of Education named an elementary school in his honor. In 1975, the Chicago Park District named a nearby park after […] → Read More
‘Chicago’s Very Own’ goes national: The rise and fall of the superstation
As WGN TV celebrates 75 years, we’re looking back with a series of stories on the history and the memories By the 1970s, the era of total dominance by the big three national networks – CBS, ABC, and NBC — was coming to an end, and TV audiences would soon have more choices. In […] → Read More
Chicago’s Millennium Park: From parking lot to park
Millennium Park is Chicago’s most visited location. → Read More
Chicago’s ‘Jack of all Trades’ Brickhouse was the face of WGN-TV for five decades
As WGN TV celebrates 75 years, we’re looking back with a series of stories on the history and the memories Jack Brickhouse was a jack of all trades. From car shows to conventions, and from Popes to presidents, Brickhouse interviewed just about everyone and covered just about every kind of story. “A lot of times […] → Read More
WGN at 75: Jerry Garcia & Grateful Dead’s last concert
The coverage by Channel 9 on that event was featured on Tuesday's show along with a look back at a forgettable moment for a popular member of the Bulls, Crocs replacing Yeezys, and headshot fails in this segment from the WGN Morning News on January 17th. → Read More
‘Our adventure into television’: WGN-TV at the dawn of a new era
The year was 1948. Harry Truman won the presidency, despite what the front page of the Chicago Tribune had mistakenly declared that year. Gas cost 26 cents a gallon. Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra ruled the radio. In Chicago, at Tribune Tower, the newspaper’s colorful editor and publisher Colonel Robert McCormick, was […] → Read More
Illinois is poised to pass an assault weapons ban. Will it withstand court challenges?
This week, the Illinois General Assembly begins its lame duck session and lawmakers will likely use the final days before a new legislature is sworn in to vote on one of the nation’s most hotly debated topics: banning semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. Casting a shadow over the debate in Illinois are the horrific […] → Read More
Mayor Lightfoot talks public safety, COVID, record and more in year-end interview
CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot sat down with WGN to talk about her recent success in city council, the perception of fear over crime in the city and the controversial decision to encrypt emergency radio transmissions. The mayor and WGN were wearing masks during the interview. Lightfoot, who announced she tested positive for COVID-19 […] → Read More
Mayor Lightfoot talks public safety, COVID, record and more in year-end interview
CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot sat down with WGN to talk about her recent success in city council, the perception of fear over crime in the city and the controversial decision to encrypt emergency radio transmissions. The mayor and WGN were wearing masks during the interview. Lightfoot, who announced she tested positive for COVID-19 […] → Read More
‘Barbecue is in our blood:’ Legendary rib joint Twin Anchors celebrates 90 years in business
CHICAGO — A neighborhood anchor is an institution that enhances the quality of life and strengthens the cultural connections of a community. In Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood, you could say there are twin anchors. Gina Manrique is one of three siblings who co-own the restaurant and tavern, which is celebrating 90 years in business. […] → Read More
From rock bottom to top of the world: Chicago man’s sobriety journey takes him to Mt. Everest
Steven Fusak, 30, has been sober for three years. → Read More
Mayor Lightfoot travels to high-crime neighborhoods, holds roundtables to hear from community voices
CHICAGO — Marcellus Moore, a former member of the Vice Lords, has spent time in jail and on the streets of Chicago’s West Side. He’s seen it all — poverty, crime and incarceration. But inside of the Firehouse Community Art Center in North Lawndale, he witnessed something he’d never seen before. A Chicago mayor in […] → Read More
Chicago Treasure Hunter Returns Lost Ring 30 years later
CHICAGO — It’s been said that what’s lost, is nothing compared to what’s found. Adam Rosa, an urban planner who picked up metal detecting as a hobby during the pandemic, was searching for buried treasure in a Chicago Park when he stumbled across a peculiar patch of dirt that — for some reason — caught […] → Read More
Lakeview dress shop, restaurant honors family matriarch, others with beautiful ofrenda
There’s similar imagery, skeltons, spirits, and sweets, but for many Chicagoans with Mexican heritage, the day after Halloween is a holiday that is more spiritual than spooky. And for a family with deep roots in Lake View, this year the Day of the Dead is all about remembering a very special life. If “memory serves” […] → Read More