An icy dip in the lake, film festivals, Mardi Gras pastries and a shopping cart race usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

The Litter Free Chicago River project will soon include a stretch of the river from North Avenue to Foster Avenue, where the North Branch connects with the North Shore Channel.

Attorneys for inmate Janiah Monroe say she suffers from PTSD and has been a constant target for sexual harassment and abuse inside her all-male prison.

R. Kelly is looking at the possibility of decades in prison if convicted, but there’s no official word on whether his manager or anyone else in his inner circle might face charges.

Political outsider Lori Lightfoot, who was a federal prosecutor in northern Illinois, and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle were the top two vote-getters among 14 candidates in the race for mayor.

Authorities on Wednesday released photos of an offender they believe was involved in the fatal shooting of Emanuel Gallegos outside a high school Monday evening in the Old Irving Park neighborhood.

Several incumbent aldermen were voted out of office and others are headed into a runoff. And despite scandals and investigations, some others prevailed.

Chicago’s longest serving alderman, has been re-elected to an unprecedented 13th term despite a highly publicized federal charge of attempted extortion.

Calling Tuesday’s election a referendum on the “crumbling political machine of the past,” former Chicago Police Board chair Lori Lightfoot claimed a spot in the historic mayoral runoff set for April 2.

A recently discovered collection of old political buttons may tell us something about the voters of an earlier era.

The push for nonpartisan elections began after the 1983 election of former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. What it means for elections today.

Fourteen mayoral candidates? A possible runoff? Political reporters and political scientists give us their take on this unprecedented election.

Watch the Feb. 26, 2019 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

More than half the ballots cast as of 6 p.m. Tuesday came from voters who were 55 or older, according to unofficial totals from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

Authorities have released the audio of 911 calls reporting the Feb. 15 shooting at the Henry Pratt Co. facility that resulted in five deaths.