Stories by Acacia Hernandez

Illinois is set to become the first state in the nation to entirely eliminate cash bail. This is after the Illinois Supreme Court upheld a contentious portion of the criminal justice reform law known as the SAFE-T Act.

It’s going to be a weekend full of vendors, artists and local food at the Fiesta Del Sol festival in Pilsen. This year, organizers are celebrating 51 years of a festival that spans an eight-block space along Cermak Road.

It might come as a surprise given our proximity to Lake Michigan, but some of Chicago’s neighbors could soon be facing a water shortage. According to a new report, flooding and scarcity can “wildly alternate in the same place or transpire in proximity to each other.”

The program pushes $250 million in funds to the state’s hardest hit communities. Designed to interrupt and prevent gun violence, it’s a three-year investment that started at the end of 2021.

It’s almost go time for NASCAR in Chicago. The 12-turn, 2.2-mile street course will run on Lake Shore Drive, Michigan Avenue and South Columbus Drive. People are feeling all sorts of emotions — from excitement to curiosity to concern.

Andre Castro is making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut this Saturday in Chicago. He’s used to street racing and skyline views, but stock cars will be a new one for him.

More than 10,000 asylum seekers have arrived since last August — many sleeping on police station floors after congregate shelters reached capacity, spurring community organizations and churches to step in and help. Chicago is now aiming to create a model to operate as a truly “welcoming city.”

A group of students is countering violence on Chicago’s West Side by planting a peace garden and creating peace corners in classrooms in honor of Juneteenth. But this isn’t something out of the ordinary for them. They’re known as Peace Warriors — born out of North Lawndale College Prep almost 15 years ago.

Englewood had six elementary schools close in 2013 — the most in any neighborhood that year. But in the years since that upheaval, residents have found ways to help the community.

Chicago Department of Public Health officials determined last year the operation posed an “unacceptable risk” to the health of nearby residents, following Environmental Protection Agency investigations and activism from local residents who said their neighborhood could not withstand the pollution they believe the new Southside Recycling facility will bring.

Broadway Armory Park is one of Chicago Park District’s largest indoor and active recreational facilities. Residents are worried this would mean youth and senior programs getting canceled or postponed and said it would be a loss for the neighborhood ahead of summer.

On Monday, WTTW News reporter Joanna Hernandez moderated the latest edition of our “Latino Voices” community conversations and discussed with community leaders what being a sanctuary city to immigrants really means.

A 2022 Guardian analysis found that majority Black and Latino neighborhoods had the highest concentration of lead in their tap water. As of a few months ago, the city of Chicago had replaced fewer than 300 lead service lines out of about 390,000.

Hope Learning Academy in March abruptly announced it was closing its doors at the end of this school year — a surprise to parents and teachers alike because the school had just inked a four-year contract with CPS weeks prior.

The search is underway for Chicago’s next police superintendent. The city’s Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability is in charge of recommending three candidates to Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson by July 14.

The Mexican Consulate in Chicago is partnering with the government of Jalisco to offer Mexican and Jalisco-inspired dishes, traditional dances and music, children’s workshops and much more.

City officials are calling this a humanitarian crisis, with stretched resources and few housing options, now that more than 8,000 migrants have arrived.

It's been three months since a group of migrants was moved into the shuttered Wadsworth Elementary School in the Woodlawn community following objections from some nearby residents. Now, some locals have joined forces to help integrate their new neighbors into the community.

On Monday, community leaders weighed in on expectations they have of Johnson’s administration regarding crucial issues that impact Chicago’s Black and Latino communities, and the city as a whole, as part of the latest edition of our WTTW News “Voices” community conversation series.

“Chicago Tonight” co-anchor Brandis Friedman sat down with Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson for a wide-ranging interview. When he takes office on May 15, Johnson will be the first mayor in nearly a century to call the West Side home.

When he takes office on May 15, Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson will be the first mayor in nearly a century to call the West Side home.

Today marks 100 days on the job for Robert “Wes” Wheeler Jr,, Chicago’s new FBI chief. It's already been an eventful few months involving bribery, kidnapping and carjacking cases, and of course, there are ongoing corruption cases that the FBI’s had a hand in pursuing. 

Portillo’s is celebrating 60 years of Chicago-style hot dogs and its famous Italian beef sandwiches. Meanwhile, workers at the company’s production facility in Addison are leading efforts to form a union with Iron Workers.

Chicago City Council will look a lot different this year following Tuesday’s runoff election — made up of many younger, more progressive alderpeople who will be working with Chicago’s Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson.

Chicago’s Invest South/West project is underway in the Back of the Yards. A $58 million mixed-use development, known as United Yards, will include retail, a health clinic, brew pub and affordable housing.

United Airlines is partnering with Archer Aviation to offer flyers an air taxi service from Vertiport Chicago on the Near West Side to Chicago O’Hare International Airport.