Talks between Chicago school leaders and the teachers' union resumed Sunday amid a standoff over remote learning and other COVID-19 safety measures that canceled three days of classes. 

Skokie Lagoons may look like an oasis of green but a lot of that lush vegetation is actually an invasive species called European buckthorn. WTTW News tagged along as a group of volunteers charged into the thicket and tackled this enemy. 

Advocates for closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center were optimistic when President Joe Biden took office. Many are now increasingly impatient.

Illinois officials are seeking answers after the killing last week of a state child welfare worker during a home visit — the second such tragedy to occur in less than five years.

The Chicago Domestic Workers Contract Mandate covers jobs like nannies, home care workers, and home cleaners. It requires their employers to give them a written contract with mutually agreed-upon terms.

The standoff between CPS and the teachers union leaves parents in the lurch. Plus, contracts for domestic workers. And meet a local man turning his pandemic hobby into a business. 

Parents react to this week’s shutdown of Chicago Public Schools. The story of civil rights legend Mamie Till Mobley gets told on the small screen. Plus, a downtown office building partners with a Black-owned art gallery.

The pandemic has had a disproportionate effect on the physical, emotional, and financial health of restaurant workers, especially those in the Latino community. Three years ago, a group of hospitality workers created a nonprofit aimed at getting mental health care for struggling workers.

 Students briefly returned to class for the first two days of this week, but since Wednesday, classes have been outright canceled as teachers refused to work in person and CPS refuses to go remote, leaving families in limbo once again.

In the early days of the pandemic, many Chicagoans used social media to learn new skills and hobbies. One of them is Juan Lopez, a lifelong East Sider who used TikTok videos to teach himself a new skill that he turned into a small business last summer.

The exhibit titled “African Diaspora: Chicago” features 20 collage and acrylic mixed media pieces, all related to Chicago.  It opened in May, and a new collection of pieces just went up in November.  The current exhibit will run until May 22.

Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union have been battling all week over whether it’s safe to have kids in the classroom as COVID-19 cases rise. The dispute has led to classes being canceled for three days as teachers refuse to work in-person, and the district refuses to go remote.

In a major announcement this week, longtime Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush announced he will not be seeking another term.

The Chicago Teachers Union on Saturday sent a new proposal to the city hoping to resolve its ongoing labor action in which its members have refused to work in schools in-person during a spike in COVID-19 cases