Stories by Matt Masterson

According to a federal complaint, James Massey posted multiple videos and messages on Facebook calling for people to gather in downtown Chicago and engage in property damage and looting last summer.

While most of this country’s major opera companies are suffering the painful slings and arrows of the pandemic scourge, Chicago Opera Theater continues to soldier on. And its latest production is another example of its musical, theatrical and thematic daring.

After self-imposed winter breaks, Lincoln Park Zoo and Brookfield Zoo are reopening to guests, with a number of safety precautions in place due to the coronavirus. Here’s what to expect.

The first appointments for Illinois residents ages 65 and older to get the COVID-19 vaccine at the United Center mass vaccination site can be made starting Thursday morning. Here’s what you need to know about making an appointment.

Robert Smith spent decades in prison on a wrongful murder conviction. Now, he’s suing the city and several Chicago Police Department detectives who worked under notorious Area 2 Commander Jon Burge, claiming they beat a false confession out of him.

The announcement comes as the White House looks to speed the production of the single-dose vaccine. Officials have said J&J faced unexpected production issues with its vaccine and produced only 3.9 million doses ahead of its receiving emergency use authorization on Saturday. 

Reports that millions of 17-year cicadas will emerge from underground in the Chicago area this spring aren’t true. They’re coming in 2024. 

Acknowledging the overwhelming amount of information — good and bad — circulating about the coronavirus pandemic, a team of women launched an effort last year to answer questions big and small, using language that’s relatable — and sometimes snarky. A year later, they’re still going strong.

Officials also announced the loosening of restrictions on alcohol sales and increased capacity for indoor fitness classes, performance venues, movie theaters and personal services. 

The Cathedral of Grace St. John AME Church hosted a coronavirus vaccination clinic for Black suburban residents as part of a larger effort to vaccinate communities disproportionately impacted by the virus. 

The next chair of the Illinois Democratic Party — the first in nearly a quarter century — will be either Ald. Michelle Harris (8th Ward) or U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Chicago). Whichever candidate emerges victorious will be charged with leading the party into a new era as its first Black and first female chair.

Tens of thousands more Chicago Public Schools students returned to their classrooms Monday, many for the first time in nearly a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the district continues its school reopening plan.

Two thrillingly dramatic works — one by way of dance and another by way of radio theater — now serve as vivid evocations marking the one-year “anniversary” of the pandemic, and all the physical and psychological dislocations it has engendered. 

Residents of Chicago have been experiencing mail delays for months. Some of those delays are simply irritating, but others can be far more consequential. What’s going on at the U.S. Postal Service?

Starting Monday, the city of Chicago is jacking up fines for speeding violations near schools and parks — and that has the mayor at odds with some aldermen. Carol Marin and students from DePaul University’s Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence have the story. 

Trouble for a prominent Evanston hotel. United Airlines increases its Boeing 737 Max order. And a commercial truck company looks to Bolingbrook. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer has details.

Watch the March 1, 2021 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Forget Duke versus North Carolina. This annual contest raises the rivalry stakes, pitting species against species in this annual winner-takes-all online tournament that’s as educational as it is weird.

A senior World Health Organization official said Monday it was “premature” and “unrealistic” to think the pandemic might be stopped by the end of the year, but that the recent arrival of effective vaccines could at least help dramatically reduce hospitalizations and death.

February saw fewer carjackings in Chicago compared to the previous month amid historic snowfall totals and increased policing efforts, while the number of shootings and homicides recorded last month remain on par with totals from February 2020.

The spring equinox is still a few weeks away, but meteorologists mark March 1 as the official start of spring. Someone forgot to tell March. 

Taking the stage for the first time since leaving office, former President Donald Trump on Sunday called for Republican Party unity, even as he exacerbated intraparty divisions and trumpeted lies about the election in a speech that made clear he intends to remain a dominant political force.

A sweeping criminal justice bill becomes law in Illinois. The history of social reformer Ada S. McKinley. Black Voices Book Club checks out “BeBop Fairy Tales.” Plus, a throwback with Sammy Davis Jr.

A Chicago-based community organization established more than 100 years ago serves more than 7,000 people annually, but the story of its founder has largely been erased. 

Gov. J. B. Pritzker signed a criminal justice bill Monday that is massive both in its size – 764 pages – and scope. We discuss the the coming changes and what concerns the bill raises for opponents.

Jazz is the foundation of Mark Ruffin’s entire career as a music historian, journalist and broadcaster. In this week’s Black Voices Book Club selection, the principles of jazz composition also inspired his fictional takes on topics of race and intolerance.