Cook County jury convicts Jussie Smollett for faking a hate crime. Business leaders blast the mayor for downtown crime. High-stakes debate over sports wagering. And omicron is here in Chicago.

The rallies before and during the Jan. 6 riot are a major focus of the committee’s investigation. Committee members have said they want to know who financed the events and whether organizers were in close touch with the White House and members of Congress as they planned the events.

The court acted more than a month after hearing arguments over the law, which makes no exceptions for rape or incest.

No appointment necessary. All three approved vaccines – Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson – will be available for adults who can mix-and-match their booster. Only the Pfizer vaccine has been authorized for 16- and 17-year-olds.

Displaying a bipartisanship rare in modern government, politicians in office and out came together to pay homage to Bob Dole’s hard-scrabble rise from wounded war veteran to Senate stalwart to three-time, unsuccessful presidential candidate.

One of the country’s longest-running community science projects is about to get underway. We’ve got all the details on Audubon Society’s 122nd annual Christmas Bird Count, including how to join the effort. 

A jury’s guilty verdict that Jussie Smollett faked a racist and homophobic attack isn’t the end of legal proceedings for the former “Empire” actor or others.

Economists are now voicing a more discouraging message: Higher prices will likely last well into next year, if not beyond.

“Everyone is always welcome downtown, everyone is welcome to enjoy all our city has to offer,” Police Superintendent David Brown said. “Chicago belongs to all of us, but if you come downtown or anywhere else, you engage in disorderly conduct or other crimes, you will be arrested.”

A strong storm system is moving into the Chicago region, bringing an “out-of-season” threat of thunderstorms and even tornadoes, with the worst expected to hit after 9 p.m. Friday, the National Weather Service said.

The jury convicted the 39-year-old on five counts of disorderly conduct — for each separate time he was charged with lying to police in the days after the alleged attack. He was acquitted on a sixth count.

WFMT, our sister station, is celebrating 70 years on air. Chicago's classical music and fine arts radio station first hit the airwaves in December 1951. On Monday, the station will be live from Northeastern Illinois University’s Jewel Box Recital Hall for a day full of live performances.

The NFL’s most storied rivalry hasn’t been much of a rivalry in recent years. But the Bears will take another crack at team shareholder Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in prime time at Lambeau Field with rookie quarterback Justin Fields coming back from a rib’s injury.

The Obama Presidential Center announced Thursday that a number of its spaces will be named for historic human and civil rights figures. But as that center marches closer toward its opening date, one neighboring community has concerns about the center’s impact on longtime residents.

A Chicago mother is tapping into her artistic roots with a brand that is inspired by her children, but also pays homage to her mother.