Stories by Sean Keenehan

The Chicago City Council on Wednesday passed the "snap curfew" ordinance by a vote of 27-22. Mayor Brandon Johnson has pledged to veto it.

According to recent data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 41% of adults in the U.S. have medical debt. That equates to more than 100 million Americans who owe upwards of $220 billion in health care costs.

A heated race is already unfolding to replace longtime U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in next year’s primary elections. Since the 80-year-old senator announced his retirement last month, three Democratic candidates have launched campaigns.

CTA, Metra and Pace are facing a $770 million hole in their budget next year and are urging the Illinois General Assembly to pass a public transportation funding and reform bill to avoid service cuts and major layoffs at each agency.

The single-term Republican leaves behind a complicated history. He spent five years in federal prison after being convicted of racketeering, bribery, extortion, money laundering and tax fraud for actions during his term as secretary of state. However, while in the governor’s mansion, Ryan commuted the death sentences of 167 men on Illinois’ death row in 2003.

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, which is also known as the fall of Saigon. The conflict killed millions of Vietnamese and 60,000 American service members.

On Monday, alderpeople approved Anthony Quezada with a 32-11 vote as the new alderperson of the 35th Ward, despite some opposition from City Council members over an anti-Black slur he wrote on a social media post in 2014.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in 2023, diversity is in decline at medical schools nationwide.

The U.S. restaurant industry relies on the labor of undocumented immigrants. But in the wake of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation orders, some Illinois restaurant owners are raising concerns.

Undocumented immigrants account for 16% of America’s food supply chain, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 42% of farm workers are lacking legal immigration status.

Chicago’s immigrant communities are preparing for the worst amid President Donald Trump’s promises of mass deportation for undocumented immigrants.

As Inauguration Day approaches, President-elect Donald Trump’s declaration to launch the “largest deportation operation in American history” is spreading fear across immigrant communities around the country.

Sports betting is raking in record revenues across the United States as the industry skyrockets in popularity. This includes in Illinois, which represents the third-largest sports gambling market in the country.

Preckwinkle’s $9.9 billion plan calls for investments in opioid addiction remediation, community violence intervention, firming up how generative artificial intelligence can be used, adding employees at the assessor’s office to help with property valuations and adding solar panels to county properties.  

African Americans were fighting for their rights through common law long before what many people know conventionally as the Civil Rights Movement. That’s the conclusion award-winning scholar and author Dylan Penningroth came to in his book “Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights.”

Nearly a week after the Chicago School Board approved a new five-year plan for Chicago Public Schools, tensions among CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union are mounting.

Pew Research projects more than 34.4 million Black Americans will be eligible to vote this November. Black men are emerging as a potentially key voting bloc in this year’s presidential race.

Pew Research estimates Latinos make up nearly 15% of the eligible voting population in the United States, with roughly 36.2 million Latino voters. That’s up from 32.3 million in 2020.

The federal lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. According to the complaint, the five plaintiffs claim they were unfairly targeted by off-duty police officers who work as security guards at the Home Depot store at 47th Street and Western Avenue.  

Advocacy groups are sounding the alarm on a spike in domestic violence cases. A new report from the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence says domestic violence deaths in Illinois rose by 110% last year, with 94 incidents of domestic violence leading to 120 deaths in 2023.

The stories of five asylum-seekers who arrived in Chicago from Latin America are told in a new documentary series from WTTW. “Firsthand: Homeless – The Migrant Experience” profiles five people who left their home countries and traveled across continents to begin a new life.

For some local advocates who work on immigrations issues, the action is a welcome one.

According to the study, Black households have a median net wealth of zero dollars compared to $210,000 for White families, and Black families have the lowest estimated rate of home ownership at 34% compared to 72% for White households.

Chicago’s tree canopy is in decline and ranks far below the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which also indicates a disparity in trees on the city’s South and West sides. The local conservation organization Openlands has been working to reverse these trends.

Chicago’s Latino lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer communities are embracing the city’s progress toward equality, while recognizing there’s still work to be done. Particularly when it comes to providing safe and welcoming environments for today’s LGBTQ+ youth.

For low- and middle-class families feeling the pressures from the rising costs of living, the passing of a state-level child tax credit is a “big win,” said Ameya Pawar, a senior advisor at Economic Security Project and former alderperson of Chicago's 47th Ward.