The next chair of the Illinois Democratic Party — the first in nearly a quarter century — will be either Ald. Michelle Harris (8th Ward) or U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Chicago). Whichever candidate emerges victorious will be charged with leading the party into a new era as its first Black and first female chair.

Tens of thousands more Chicago Public Schools students returned to their classrooms Monday, many for the first time in nearly a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the district continues its school reopening plan.

Two thrillingly dramatic works — one by way of dance and another by way of radio theater — now serve as vivid evocations marking the one-year “anniversary” of the pandemic, and all the physical and psychological dislocations it has engendered. 

Residents of Chicago have been experiencing mail delays for months. Some of those delays are simply irritating, but others can be far more consequential. What’s going on at the U.S. Postal Service?

Starting Monday, the city of Chicago is jacking up fines for speeding violations near schools and parks — and that has the mayor at odds with some aldermen. Carol Marin and students from DePaul University’s Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence have the story. 

Trouble for a prominent Evanston hotel. United Airlines increases its Boeing 737 Max order. And a commercial truck company looks to Bolingbrook. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer has details.

Watch the March 1, 2021 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Forget Duke versus North Carolina. This annual contest raises the rivalry stakes, pitting species against species in this annual winner-takes-all online tournament that’s as educational as it is weird.

A senior World Health Organization official said Monday it was “premature” and “unrealistic” to think the pandemic might be stopped by the end of the year, but that the recent arrival of effective vaccines could at least help dramatically reduce hospitalizations and death.

February saw fewer carjackings in Chicago compared to the previous month amid historic snowfall totals and increased policing efforts, while the number of shootings and homicides recorded last month remain on par with totals from February 2020.

The spring equinox is still a few weeks away, but meteorologists mark March 1 as the official start of spring. Someone forgot to tell March. 

Taking the stage for the first time since leaving office, former President Donald Trump on Sunday called for Republican Party unity, even as he exacerbated intraparty divisions and trumpeted lies about the election in a speech that made clear he intends to remain a dominant political force.

A sweeping criminal justice bill becomes law in Illinois. The history of social reformer Ada S. McKinley. Black Voices Book Club checks out “BeBop Fairy Tales.” Plus, a throwback with Sammy Davis Jr.

A Chicago-based community organization established more than 100 years ago serves more than 7,000 people annually, but the story of its founder has largely been erased. 

Gov. J. B. Pritzker signed a criminal justice bill Monday that is massive both in its size – 764 pages – and scope. We discuss the the coming changes and what concerns the bill raises for opponents.