Patty Wetli: Regular readers of our Friday newsletter know that we typically end with a list of outdoor events. Well last Saturday, pretty much every member of what I think of as the greater Chicago “nature community” spent the entire day indoors. Some 2,000 nature stewards, advocates and educators — myself included — flocked to the Rosemont Convention Center for the biennial Wild Things conference, hosted by Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves.

Yesterday, Mayor Brandon Johnson testified before a congressional committee on Chicago's status as a sanctuary city. Here's what happened and more from WTTW News.  Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responds to questions during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing with Sanctuary City Mayors on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.) Mayor Brandon Johnson fiercely defended Chicago’s protections for undocumented immigrants, telling Republicans on the U.S.

Preservation Chicago released its annual “Chicago 7 Most Endangered” list of threatened buildings, and the list reads like a trip through the city’s history. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul appears on "Chicago Tonight" on March 4, 2025. (WTTW News) In the six weeks since President Donald Trump has returned to the White House, nearly 100 legal challenges have been filed against the administration’s executive orders, according to the digital law and policy journal Just Security.

Happy Paczki Day, Chicago. A true local holiday if ever there was one. Tomorrow, Mayor Brandon Johnson is set to testify in front of the U.S. House Oversight Committee about the city's self-proclaimed status as a sanctuary city. Here’s the latest on that and more. Mayor Brandon Johnson appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Oct. 8, 2024. (WTTW News) Brandon Johnson has faced no shortage of high-profile tests during his 20 months as Chicago mayor.

It’s a new week and a new month. Ease into March with these stories from WTTW News.  (WTTW News)  Approximately 250 positions charged with implementing a court order that requires the Chicago Police Department to stop routinely violating Black and Latino residents’ constitutional rights are vacant, even as Chicago officials are facing increasing pressure from a federal judge to “accelerate” the reform effort, records show.

It’s supposed to hit 50 degrees today. Start your weekend right with these stories from WTTW News. The Field Museum’s beaver diorama, featuring real specimens from the collection. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)  Patty Wetli: Talk about a comeback kid. The North American beaver has gone from being nearly hunted and trapped to extinction, to being celebrated as a viral sensation in the Chicago River.

It’s Thursday. Here’s the latest on the incarcerated men still at Stateville prison, a state-led initiative to erase medical debt, and more.  Stateville Correctional Center is pictured in a file photo. (Andrew Campbell / Capitol News Illinois) In August, a federal judge ordered that most of Stateville Correctional Center’s population be transferred to other prisons due to derelict conditions. But one section was excluded because it “does not exhibit the risks of falling concrete that exists in the general housing units”: the health care unit.

We’re loving the weather this week. Even if it’s not sunny today, it’s still nice not to need a winter coat. Take a minute from your day to check out these stories from WTTW News. Mayor Brandon Johnson (far right) speaks at a news conference on Feb. 4, 2025. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News) Just one day after a Wall Street ratings agency issued a public vote of no confidence in Chicago’s finances, Mayor Brandon Johnson asked the City Council to borrow $830 million to repair Chicago’s crumbling streets, sidewalks and bridges.

Good morning, Chicago. It’s one week until Paczki Day and we’re already hungry.  A Chicago police car is pictured in a file photo. (Roberto Galan / iStock) When a shooting rattles a neighborhood in Chicago, community violence specialists concentrate on making sure the next conflict in the area doesn’t escalate, thanks to careful intervention work that researchers say is showing measurable, if nuanced, signs of success. Chicago is the focus of commentators across the country who draw attention to violent crime that touches all corners of the city.

It’s the last week of February. Spring into March with these stories from WTTW News. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News) Chicago has two years to spend $142 million in federal relief funds officials have promised to use to strengthen the city’s tattered social safety net and provide direct aid to Chicagoans struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a WTTW News analysis.