Stories by Matt Masterson

Terran McKethan has been charged with aggravated kidnapping and indecent solicitation stemming from the Aug. 17 incident at the Cermak Fresh Market in the 6600 block of North Damen Avenue. He’s also been accused in another incident near that same store.

Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, who has been the public face of Chicago’s response throughout the continuing COVID-19 pandemic as well as the outbreak of monkeypox, said she would work from home while isolating.

Guitar collectors, film noir, doughnut races and Bechdel-Wallace-inspired short plays usher in the weekend. Here are 10 things to do in and around Chicago.

Details on the president’s student debt relief plan. A major new affordable housing project in Auburn Gresham. Busing issues with CPS. And the Chicago Sky advance in the playoffs.

President Joe Biden unveils his student debt relief plan. A conservative group’s political ad darkens Mayor Lightfoot’s skin. Our politics team weighs in on those stories and more.

The average bus trip districtwide is 39 minutes and over 80% of rides are under an hour, according to CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, but 365 diverse learners currently have rides lasting more than 90 minutes each day.

The first of 10 developments planned as part of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Invest South/West initiative to start construction is a 58-unit apartment complex set to be built near 79th and Green streets in Auburn Gresham. 

Defense lawyers at R. Kelly’s child pornography trial in Chicago sought Wednesday to portray a key government witness as a liar and extortionist, contending the man first approached the R&B star in 2001 and demanded that Kelly pay $1 million or he’d go public with video that could put Kelly in serious legal peril.

According to Chicago police, one adult and three teens were shot while at outside a restaurant across the street from Schurz High School in the Old Irving Park neighborhood.

On Sunday evening, in the wake of a thunderous few days of the Chicago Air and Water Show, Enrique Mazzola, Lyric Opera’s Music Director (along with Donald Lee III, the inaugural Ryan Opera Center conductor/pianist), led the Lyric Opera Orchestra and singers from the Ryan Opera Center’s esteemed training center on the same stage of the Pritzker Pavillion.

Borrowers who earn less than $125,000 a year, or families earning less than $250,000, would be eligible for the $10,000 loan forgiveness, Biden announced. For recipients of Pell Grants, the federal government would cancel up to an additional $10,000 in federal loan debt.

As part of a grassroots "depaving" movement, communities are ripping up strips of asphalt and concrete to make way for pocket parks, gardens and nature play spaces. The newly launched Depave Chicago is aiming for a spring 2023 pilot project.

Abortion, which has long been a flashpoint in American politics, has once again taken center stage for both political parties. As the midterm election nears, the abortion issue is very likely to become a driving force in organizing and activism — on both sides. 

In its latest weekly assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.N. health agency said there were 5.3 million new cases and more than 14,000 deaths reported last week. WHO said the number of new infections declined in every world region except the Western Pacific.

Candace Parker had 14 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists to lead the defending champion Chicago Sky over the New York Liberty 90-72 Tuesday night in the deciding Game 3 to advance to the WNBA semifinals.

Congress members on student loan debt and the inflation reduction bill. The latest on the R. Kelly trial. An ominous forecast for extreme weather in this region. And a vending machine for art.

The trial for a class action lawsuit against Sterigenics is underway. That's the Willowbrook company accused of releasing cancer-causing waste in DuPage County. Long before the Sterigenics case, residents in the suburb of West Chicago struggled with health issues stemming from the mismanagement of toxic waste in that community.

The James Webb Space Telescope took the photos in July, capturing unprecedented views of Jupiter’s northern and southern lights, and swirling polar haze.

It is a kind of art gallery inside a vending machine. There’s a new effort to boost the profile of artists and makers in Chicago and put some money in their pockets. Producer Marc Vitali has a look at the lighter side of buying artwork – and other fun stuff – sometimes to just go along with your beer.

Illinois will soon be part of a cluster of states in an extreme heat belt. That’s according to a recent study that finds a quarter of land in the U.S. is at risk of the most extreme levels of heat exposure, that's temperatures exceeding a 125°F heat index.

Charles Freeman, who had worked for Kelly as a merchandiser in the 1990s, testified that he asked R. Kelly and his associates for $1 million to recover an illicit sex tape in the early 2000s.

President Joe Biden has faced pressure from liberals to provide broader relief to hard-hit borrowers, and from moderates and Republicans questioning the fairness of any widespread forgiveness. 

Karol Chwiesiuk, a Chicago Police officer, is set to stand trial for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection nearly two years after he was charged.

The commission, which was formed more than two years ago in the wake of the social justice protests and unrest that erupted after the police murder of George Floyd, also recommended that the city remove the Italo Balbo monument as well as several monuments because of the way they depict Native Americans.

As part of the Green Schools Project, schools engage in project-based challenges to develop and implement creative, low-cost, sustainable practices. Those schools receive resources and support from the Illinois Green Alliance to collaborate on a year-long project which they can present at the end of the school year.

The workers at the coffee shop, located at the corner of Irving Park Road and Ashland Avenue, are seeking to join the seven other Chicago-area Starbucks locations that have so far voted in favor of unionizing.