Spare bedrooms are bringing in decent money for some Chicago residents: According to vacation rental website Airbnb, Chicago-area hosts earned an average of $4,100 in 2016.

SEIU Healthcare Illinois members reached a tentative agreement on a three-year contract with the Illinois Association of Health Care Facilities late Wednesday night, avoiding a strike in which 5,000 nursing home workers across 53 Chicago-area facilities were expected to participate.

A new report shows that in 2015, Illinois ranked among the five worst states in terms of largest populations served by water systems with health violations. 

May 1 has historically been a day of labor rights marches. But this year, groups are protesting a number of different causes, mostly in opposition to the presidency of Donald Trump.

Robert Nelson’s at-times tumultuous tenure as Chicago’s “harbor boss” is chronicled in his new book “Dirty Waters: Confessions of Chicago’s Last Harbor Boss.”

The Chicago Park District and Chicago Public Schools are teaming up this summer to help ensure safe travel for thousands of youth participating in recreational programs and sports leagues.

Thousands of nursing home workers at 53 Chicago-area facilities have threatened to go on strike beginning next week, according to an announcement from SEIU Healthcare Illinois.

Do you have old prescription medicines in your cabinet? Safely dispose of them at drop-off sites set up by the DEA for Saturday’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

This Saturday, bookstores across the country will celebrate their status as indie shops, including two dozen stores across the Chicago area. “It’s like a pub crawl for bookstores,” said Lynn Mooney, co-owner of Women & Children First. 

“This could be a critical week for the future of our schools,” CPS CEO Forrest Claypool said Wednesday at a Chicago Board of Education meeting. “Ending school early would be a tragedy for Chicago students.”

Chicago teachers will spend the coming weeks preparing for a new course on the history of the disgraced former Chicago Police Department commander who, for two decades, systematically abused and tortured suspects on the South Side to force confessions.

According to organizers, an estimated 60,000 people attended the March for Science Chicago, making it the largest of those that took place Saturday in 400-plus cities worldwide. But some area institutions did not officially support the event.

A program called Speak Up connects formerly homeless individuals with seasoned storytellers so they can learn how to speak more effectively about their life experiences. We meet a recent graduate of the program.

Aldermen fight to keep their discretionary “menu money” funds for ward improvements to streets, sidewalks, alleys and other projects.

Studies estimate that more than 100 billion plastic bags are used annually in the U.S. But in Chicago, many shoppers have switched their habits since the start of the city’s tax on plastic and paper bags, a new study shows. 

As Chicagoans usher in spring and get outside, the Chicago Park District is highlighting its efforts to limit the use of pesticides at nearly 600 parks across the city.