Hundreds of Southwest Airlines checked bags are piled together at baggage claim at Midway International Airport as Southwest continues to cancel thousands of flights across the country on Dec. 28, 2022, in Chicago. (AP Photo / Erin Hooley, File)
,

The compensation would be in addition to ticket refunds when the airline is at fault for a flight being canceled or significantly delayed. It would give consumers in the United States protections similar to those in the European Union.

The Field Museum of Natural History. (Field Museum / Facebook)
,

With a NASCAR street race set to take place outside their front doors, Chicago’s lakefront museums have had to shift gears and adjust operations in advance of the big event July 1-2.

(WTTW News)

With a pandemic-related dip in business, Furry Paws Dog Day Care owner Carolina Ayala began looking for small business support options.

Construction workers install roofing on a high rise in Manhattan’s financial district on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo / Bebeto Matthews, File)

The unemployment rate dipped to 3.4%, matching a 54-year low, the Labor Department said Friday. The jobless rate fell in part, though, because 43,000 people left the labor force, the first drop since November, and were no longer counted as unemployed.

(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Construction often means disruption. That’s certainly been true in Edgewater and Uptown as the CTA’s been working to rebuild century-old tracks and stations. And with that project kicking off just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the challenges have been felt even more acutely.

A United Airlines jetliner lifts off from Denver International Airport, June 10, 2020, in Denver. United Airlines said Wednesday, May 3, 2023, that it hired 7,000 new workers in the first four months of this year and plans to hit 15,000 new hires by year end, matching the number it hired last year. (AP Photo / David Zalubowski, File)

United said 3,800 of its new jobs this year will be in Chicago, where the company is headquartered and runs a big operation at O’Hare International Airport. 

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference in Washington, Wednesday, May 3, 2023, following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting. (AP Photo / Carolyn Kaster)

The Fed's rate increases since March 2022 have more than doubled mortgage rates, elevated the costs of auto loans, credit card borrowing and business loans and heightened the risk of a recession.

This photo provided by Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society shows the Truesdell Bridge in Dixon, Ill., in 1873. On May 4, 1873, a crowd of more than 200 gathered on the bridge to watch a baptism when it toppled over, trapping dozens of victims just inches below the river's surface. (Charles Keyes / Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society via AP)

Post-Civil War Dixon, 103 miles west of Chicago, was a growing city split by the formidable Rock River. On May 4, 1873, the 4-year-old bridge twisted, splintered and rolled over. Forty-six people perished, many immured by the unrelenting gridiron just below the water’s surface. 

Small business owner Gia Davis gives “the last word” on why she says hiring returning citizens just makes good business sense. (WTTW News)
,

About 26,000 people leave Illinois prisons each year, and many of them report having trouble finding employment once they’re home.

FILE - An American Ethanol label is shown on a NASCAR race car gas tank at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, Nov. 1, 2014. (AP Photo / Randy Holt, File)

The EPA framed its decision as a way to reduce gasoline prices at a time of market supply uncertainty because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The agency said its action also encourages U.S. energy independence and supports American agriculture and manufacturing.

Nearly 350 job seekers filled CTA headquarters the morning of April 28, 2023, for the agency’s fifth job fair of the year. (WTTW News)

The CTA is still short more than 600 full-time bus and rail operators. As the transit agency tries to reverse service and staffing losses, it’s been putting a big focus on hiring.

Jeremiah Johnson and his mother, Lamira Samson, climb over a parked freight train on their way to school. (Courtesy of ProPublica)
,

It’s the stuff of nightmares for parents: children crawling under and over idling trains in order to get to school on the other side. Two ProPublica journalists spent months reporting on railroad safety and the kids who are risking life and limb to go to school.

Save A Lot is set to open at the site of a former Whole Foods at 63rd and Halted streets. (WTTW News)

It’s been a year since Whole Foods made the surprise announcement it was shutting down its Englewood location. The store has been the site of controversy since it was announced that Save A Lot operator Yellow Banana was taking over the lease.

A Tesla Model 3 on display at the Tesla store in Santa Monica, California. (Allison Dinner / Getty Images via CNN)

Sixteen new models and some of their variations are eligible for all or half of the new credit, while nine models — mostly foreign-made vehicles — are no longer eligible, for now. Most of the eligible cars so far are made by the “big three” EV automakers in the US — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — plus Tesla.

(WTTW News)

The 6th annual Hospitality Hires Chicago event puts job seekers face-to-face with industry employers who are ready to interview and hire for a variety of open positions.

(WTTW News)

The Black unemployment rate hit a record low of 5% last month, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The news comes three years after the rate spiked to nearly 17% during the early months of the pandemic.