Happy Friday. WTTW News science and nature reporter Patty Wetli is back with another end-of-the-week column. Plus, stories on gun violence and IDOC from WTTW News. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)  Patty Wetli: I guarantee you that if I used GPS to navigate the route from my home on Chicago’s North Side to my brother’s home in St. Louis, the AI assistant would point me west to the Kennedy Expressway. Maybe that’s the fastest way to go. I couldn’t tell you — I always defy logic and head east to use Lake Shore Drive.

New (old) trend alert: letter writing and analog communication. This Thursday, read a feature from Patty Wetli about the surprisingly thriving stationery business in Chicago. Plus, more stories from WTTW News.  The stationery market is booming, as seen at Chicago's first ever Stationery Fest in March. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) For those who may have predicted that email and text would spell the death of stationery products, think again.

If you’re thinking, “Wow, it’s already Wednesday” or conversely “I can’t believe it’s only Wednesday,” you should read these stories from WTTW News.  Southern Illinois University Carbondale, pictured here on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, is one of the Illinois schools where international students have seen their visas revoked by federal authorities.

It’s Tax Day today. Whether you owed or got a welcome refund, take a minute to read these stories from WTTW News.  Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward) appears on “Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices” on April 8, 2023. (WTTW News) The city of Chicago is on track to exhaust the $82 million officials set aside to cover police misconduct settlements and judgments in 2025, just four months into the year, city records show. With the financial toll of decades of police misconduct likely to grow in the coming months, Ald.

It’s Monday. Start the week with stories on an influential local record label specializing in archival releases, CPD’s consent decree progress and how federal cuts could impact Illinois libraries.  Numero Group Factory Outlet store, 2533 S. Troy Street, in Little Village in 2019. (Leland Meiner / Numero Group) Working out of a small two-flat on Marshall Boulevard in Little Village, Ken Shipley remembers the early days of starting the record label Numero Group with fellow co-founders Rob Sevier and Tom Lunt.

Happy Friday. You don’t have to watch HBO’s "The White Lotus" to enjoy this story from Patty Wetli about the poisonous pong-pong fruit featured in the show and its Chicago connection.  Captive-born Mexican wolf pups being introduced into wild dens in 2018. (Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team) Patty Wetli: You may have heard the news earlier this week that scientists at a biotech company brought back an extinct species, the dire wolf. Full confession: I haven’t watched a single second of “Game of Thrones” or read a single word of George R.R.

Happy Thursday, Chicago. Here’s what’s happening around the city.  A dog at Chicago Animal Care and Control at 2741 S. Western Ave. in the Lower West Side on May 20, 2024. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News) In late March, the city-run animal shelter Chicago Animal Care and Control partnered with rescue groups for a weekend-long adoption event that led to about 60 animals being adopted out from the shelter. Spokesperson Armando Tejeda described the event as a “huge undertaking.” However, the relief was short-lived.

It's Wednesday and we're sick of this weather. Warm up and dry off with these stories from WTTW News.  Chicago City Hall. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News) A proposal that would create a city-owned nonprofit housing developer — the centerpiece of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s effort to reduce Chicago’s massive affordable housing shortfall — will face a key test Wednesday.

This Tuesday, read a column from “Chicago Tonight” host Brandis Friedman on motherhood and Congress. Plus, stories on local grad schools and the City Council approving Anthony Quezada as alderperson of the 35th Ward.  The campus of University of Chicago is pictured in a file photo. (Jacob Boomsma / Stock) The business and law schools at the University of Chicago and Northwestern were each ranked among the best in the country according to a new list from U.S. News & World Report, which looked at the nation’s best grad school programs of 2025.

It’s Monday. Ease into the work week with these stories from WTTW News.  (WTTW News) A pilot program that allows Chicago police officers to file felony gun charges without first getting approval from a prosecutor expanded to a second South Side police district on Friday, despite objections from defense attorneys and police reform advocates.