For 30 years, Paul Meincke covered local, national and international news for Chicago’s ABC7. Now, he’s in the midst of another adventure: a canoe trip along the length of the mighty Mississippi River. We check in via Skype.

A massive food festival, live music, fine art and Irish fiddles usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

Chicago might be called the Second City, but we can lay claim to a few big historical firsts. Geoffrey Baer shares his favorite firsts in this encore edition of Ask Geoffrey.

Lincoln Park Zoo will give away hundreds of condoms this week as part of a nationwide outreach program to draw attention to the link between human population and endangered species.

Artwork by Lilly Wachowski, best known as co-director of “The Matrix,” honors 27 transgender people killed last year—and allows the viewer to look them in the eyes.

As the national debate over gender-neutral bathrooms continues, Northwestern says its new facility is the first of its kind at a major Chicago university.

A new Illinois program aims to educate the public on how to identify individuals at risk of radicalization, a strategy critics say unfairly targets Muslims. 

Try our smoky twist on the classic bloody mary in honor of a crime scene pioneer who trained police detectives with her gruesome dioramas.

Since 1981, FitzGerald’s in Berwyn has played host to an array of talent as part of its American Music Festival. Meet the club’s owner and a Bay Area singer-songwriter performing at the fest this weekend.

A new book and a Chicago-area survivor recall the infamous internment of Japanese-Americans that took place 75 years ago.

After finding the first known moving images of the 1915 Eastland disaster, a UIC graduate student uncovers a treasure trove of vintage films about a neighborhood church and its congregants.

Fireworks, festivals and plenty of live music usher in the holiday weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago. 

The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet also served as the state's poet laureate from 1968 until her death in 2000. Today's poets are finding creative ways to remember her.

Geoffrey Baer drops the curtain on an opera house mystery in this week’s encore edition of Ask Geoffrey.

A new exhibit at the Art Institute showcases the little-known woodworking and ceramics of artist Paul Gauguin.

In an address to the American Library Association’s annual conference, the former Democratic presidential nominee addressed the importance of literacy and libraries.