Black Americans have historically been the most reliable voting block for the Democratic Party for decades. But in her book, “Black Skinhead: Reflections on Blackness and Our Political Future,” Chicago native and Harvard research director Brandi Collins-Dexter says the picture is much more nuanced.

Thanks to a “little-known loophole,” hedge funds, private equity firms and real estate investors have “siphoned” approximately $280 million from schools, parks, libraries, fire departments and other government agencies between September 2015 and September 2022 in Cook County. 

Comedian and actor Jeff Garlin is back home in Chicago. He’ll be appearing at the Chicago Humanities Festival this weekend for an event titled “Jeff Garlin: Our Man in Chicago.”

The final debate in the race for governor turns out to be short on substance but high on name-calling. Our politics team weighs in on that story and more.

Borrowers who apply before mid-November should see forgiveness before Jan. 1, when payments on loans are scheduled to restart after a pause during the pandemic.

With U.S. union ranks swelling as everyone from coffee shop baristas to warehouse workers seeks to organize, Illinois voters will decide next month whether to amend their state constitution to guarantee the right to bargain collectively.

According to a community alert issued by Chicago police, there have been 19 such robberies reported — many of which have occurred in the 6700 block of South Elizabeth Street — between July and October.

The president will also open the door to additional releases this winter in an effort to keep prices down. But administration officials would not detail how much the president would be willing to tap, nor by how much they want domestic production to increase to end the withdrawals.

Chicago’s top doc on upping the vaccine booster rate. Why Mayor Lori Lightfoot is sitting on federal COVID relief money. A look at why Cook County Forest Preserves is asking voters for a small tax hike. And Hedy Weiss reviews new productions.

The tunnel of gory scenes snaking through the northwest side church basement is one of, if not the, longest-running haunted house experiences in Chicago. What began in 1979 with just a few classic horror characters in the St. Pascal’s boiler room has transmogrified into a 15-minute tour of terror run entirely by volunteers in support of the parish school.

Hedy Weiss joins “Chicago Tonight” to preview a new program from Joffrey Ballet, Goodman Theater’s production of “Swing Stat” and to recap the Joseph Jefferson Awards. 

Reuben Jonathan Miller, a sociologist, criminologist and social worker, whose work studies the long-term impacts of incarceration on individuals and their families, was awarded a MacArthur fellowship. 

Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said COVID hospitalizations remain a point of some concern in the city.

For the eighth year in a row, Chicago reigns supreme over Orkin’s Rattiest Cities list, but not everyone is convinced the city deserves the dubious distinction.

The FBI labeled the Proud Boys as an antisemitic white supremacy organization and several current and former members of the Proud Boys have been charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.