Stories by Nick Blumberg

After sitting empty for nearly two decades, the old Cook County Hospital building has been given a new life. Leaders are touting the $140 million project as a sign of hope amid an economic downturn.

Community leaders and elected officials have been making a big push to get the city’s and state’s response rates up.

Latinos are easy to spot at movie theaters, but not so much on the big screen. A one-on-one conversation with the director of the Chicago Latino Film Festival.

A federal judge has ordered the 2020 census schedule to continue until the end of October. We discuss efforts to boost response rates and get as accurate a count as possible.

Despite concerns over using public transportation during the coronavirus pandemic, many essential workers and residents without cars have been relying on the Chicago Transit Authority to get around.

Another Illinois politician pleads guilty. The Cook County Democratic Party turns its back on a long-serving judge. Our politics team weighs in on those stories and more.

Commuter rail agency Metra has seen the largest passenger decline of any of the Chicago-area transit systems. How the agency is working to reverse the slump.

We speak with Angela Tovar, the city’s recently named sustainability officer, about a new air quality ordinance and improving Chicago’s environment.

Football is back. The Chicago Bears are set to kick off the regular season Sunday against the Detroit Lions. It’ll be the first time the Bears face an opponent this year, since the NFL skipped the preseason due to COVID-19.

Chicago Public Schools students are back in the classroom this week — virtually, that is. CPS CEO Janice Jackson tells us more about that and the results of the district’s “Learn. Plan. Succeed.” program. 

Inside a 1907 tavern once owned by Schlitz that's being restored by new owners and heading for city landmark status.

U.S. Reps. Danny Davis, Brad Schneider and Rodney Davis talk about the president’s visit to Kenosha and the next round of coronavirus relief from Congress.

Monday is Overdose Awareness Day, an annual event aimed at reducing drug-related deaths and the stigma of substance use disorders. And it comes this year amid a dramatic spike in opioid-related overdoses and deaths in Chicago.

Chicago is facing a lot of unfunded infrastructure needs in the coming years, according to officials. And it’s not just roads, bridges and streetlights that need work. The city’s lakefront is grappling with another year of high lake levels.

Parts of Chicago’s South and West sides are at risk of being significantly undercounted in the 2020 census. We discuss efforts for a complete count with Marilyn Sanders, the Chicago regional director for the U.S. Census Bureau.

While in-person visits are a lot tougher these days, the fact that Mane in Heaven can do virtual visits means the minis get to connect with people from all across the country.

Thursday marks the final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention – and nominee Joe Biden is in Delaware instead of Milwaukee, which had been chosen as the party’s host city.

Chicago’s streets can have an impact on much more than the way we get from one place to another. That was the message from Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Gia Biagi in a speech to the City Club on Wednesday.

After a tumultuous week, neighbors tell us what they think is good in Englewood.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, electric scooters are back on Chicago streets. What you need to know about this year’s program. 

The unrest that followed a police-involved shooting Sunday in Englewood was a blow to many areas of the city that were still recovering from protests earlier this summer and the economic fallout from the pandemic.

So far this year, 21 pedestrians have been killed by drivers, according to city data and media reports. That puts Chicago on pace to match last year’s 40 pedestrian deaths

Sources tell WTTW News that CPS will announce an all-remote learning plan for the fall as soon as Wednesday, reversing plans for a hybrid model of at-home and in-person learning. Two Chicago aldermen weigh in on this and more.

The new documentary “A Most Beautiful Thing” tells the story of Manley High School’s rowing team on Chicago’s West Side. We speak with some of the men featured in the film.

After a mass shooting outside a funeral home in Auburn Gresham last week, Chicago’s top cop said the city’s problem with gang violence is huge in scope. But do numbers tell the full story?

She broke many barriers as an attorney in a male-dominated arena, but perhaps her greatest battle was as a tough-questioning prosecutor in the Watergate case. We speak with Chicago native Jill Wine-Banks.