Stories by Matt Masterson

Chicago Public Schools students and staff must continue wearing masks inside facilities and maintain 3 feet of social distancing where possible when in-person learning resumes at the end of August.

The state’s ban on evictions is set to end — what renters need to know. A rundown of safety protocols for Chicago Public Schools. A local musician infuses modern jazz with South American rhythms.

Residents and property owners in the city and state are seeking aid in recovering economic losses or securing housing. But for some Latino residents, language barriers and concerns over their immigration status keep them from getting the help they need.

Illinois is among a handful of Democratic-run states extending health insurance coverage to adult immigrants in the country illegally, including seniors.

Out-of-state crews headed to Montana on Saturday to battle a blaze that injured five firefighters as the West struggled with a series of fires that have ravaged rural lands and destroyed homes.

Two companies seeking to build thousands of miles of pipeline across the Midwest are promising the effort will aid rather than hinder the fight against climate change, though some environmental groups remain skeptical.

After a stunning loss in the opener, the U.S. women’s soccer team vowed to be ruthless against New Zealand. And they rebounded in a big way.

Monitoring stations have been set up at various parks and preserves in the Chicago region for visitors to snap photos, which are then stitched together in a time-lapse series to document environmental changes. 

The U.S. attorney general targets illegal guns. City Council approves civilian police oversight as shootings soar. Lollapalooza goes on despite rising COVID-19 cases. Gov. Pritzker makes it official.

Cleveland’s new name was inspired by the large landmark stone edifices — referred to as traffic guardians — that flank both ends of the Hope Memorial Bridge, which connects downtown to Ohio City.

Ushering in a new era of police oversight and reform, the board will be charged with building trust in officers and police brass and putting an end to repeated allegations of misconduct.

The June 24 collapse at the oceanside Champlain Towers South killed 97 people, with at least one more missing person yet to be identified. The site has been mostly swept flat and the rubble moved to a Miami warehouse. 

The face of gymnastics in the United States is changing. There are more athletes of color starting — and sticking — in a sport long dominated by white athletes at the highest levels.

High temperatures and oppressive humidity levels could combine for a triple-digit heat index Saturday. Air quality continues to be affected by smoke in the atmosphere from wildfires in the western U.S. and Canada.

Belated and beleaguered, the virus-delayed Tokyo Summer Olympics finally opened Friday with cascading fireworks and made-for-TV choreography that unfolded in a near-empty stadium, a colorful but strangely subdued ceremony that set a striking tone to match a unique pandemic Games.

The Justice Department is launching an effort in Chicago and four other U.S. cities to reduce spiking gun violence by addressing illegal trafficking and prosecuting offenses that help put guns in the hands of criminals.

Since January 2018, Whitney Bradshaw has photographed more than 375 women who participated in her “Scream Sessions.” All portraits are now on display together for the first time in a new exhibit at the McCormick Gallery called “Outcry.”

Researchers have developed technology that enabled a man unable to speak because of paralysis to communicate by translating his brain waves into text on a computer screen. Rabiah Mayas of the Museum of Science and Industry has details on that story and others making headlines.

The city is expanding a program that works to keep people from getting a drug offense and, instead, places them into treatment. Eleven police districts are currently eligible for the program, but officials say it will be available in all districts by the end of the year.

Some of the Games’ most high-profile moments will incorporate clever examples of “reduce, reuse, recycle,” like medalists standing on 3-D printed podiums made from recycled plastic collected by the Japanese people. 

The historic Bronzeville neighborhood on the city’s South Side sits just south of McCormick Place, and has been known for decades as a hub of Black arts and culture in Chicago. Wednesday, City Council paved the way for a massive new development that could reshape the community’s future.

The country’s top law enforcement officer visits Chicago. A live report from Bronzeville. How a program to keep drug users out of jail is expanding. And translating brainwaves into text.

A “racial healing and historical reckoning project” launched by Mayor Lori Lightfoot after she removed the city’s three statues of Christopher Columbus has stalled, and the statues remain in storage a year after they were wrenched from their pedestals.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been criticized as “racist” — even as a Black woman — and she’s been called “notoriously thin-skinned” but she remains determined to leave a legacy far beyond her time in office.

A “breakthrough” case is when a fully vaccinated person gets infected with the coronavirus. A small number of such cases are expected and health officials say they’re not a cause for alarm.

“Access to birth control should never be determined by economic status, education or ZIP code. Birth control is a basic health care service. It should be treated as such and readily available for all,” said state Sen. Melinda Bush, a co-sponsor of the bill.