Stories by Eunice Alpasan

The nonprofit Remember Him Remember Her has partnered with Nave Wellness Center to provide free monthly grief support groups to people navigating parental loss.

Chance the Rapper’s charity SocialWorks, founded in 2016, aims to empower youth through the arts, education and civic engagement.

The Little Village Arch was built in 1990 by Mexican American Vietnam War veterans Ronald Baltierra and David Ramirez and was designed by Mexican architect Adrián Lozan. The Chicago Department of Transportation undertook a $1.25 million project to restore the archway following its designation as an official city landmark.

The Chicago Fair Trade Museum opened its first permanent location in Uptown this summer with the aim of educating more people about common exploitative and unsustainable trade practices behind the items we use and consume daily.

The U.S. Department of Education reviewed 139 incidents of discrimination reported to the university from 2015 to 2023.

Drivers began a work stoppage on Aug. 16 over low wages and unfair labor practices by employer SCR Medical Transportation. Roughly half of the 600 drivers on strike serve CPS students, including students with special needs.

The NASCAR Chicago Street Race will return to the city next summer for the third year in a row. The Chicago Street Race Weekend will take place July 5-6, 2025.

Human cases of the West Nile virus, spread by a bite from an infected mosquito, is typically at its highest in August and September, according to Rebecca Lee Smith, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

A man whose body was discovered in Wisconsin near the Illinois border in 1993 was known only as John Doe for more than three decades. He is now confirmed to be Ronald Louis Dodge following nearly a decade of renewed DNA testing and analysis.

As the Democratic National Convention continues for a fourth and final day, there have been a total of 72 arrests related to First Amendment activities since Monday, according to the DNC 2024 Joint Information Center.

Young voters gathered in the West Loop at the Epiphany Center for the Arts. The event included speakers and a series of voter engagement workshops. Trainings were on topics such as building inclusive voting coalitions on college campuses, messaging during polarized times and running high school voter drives.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth and U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois were among the elected officials who attended the AAPI caucus meeting on the first day of the Democratic National Convention.

Organizers said 17,000 people have applied to volunteer at the Democratic National Convention, with an additional 15,000 people on the waitlist.

The Chicago 2024 Host Committee and the Illinois Journalism Education Association worked to identify student journalists across the state to join the Illinois Youth Press Corps, providing them with opportunities to cover the convention.

The Damen ‘L’ station, located at North Damen Avenue and West Lake Street, connects a 1.5-mile gap of service that existed between the California and Ashland stations on the Green Line. The station restores rail service in the area for the first time in 76 years.

Community organizations in Chicago are underlining the importance of free and easily available access to the overdose reversal drug naloxone, as it nears the one-year mark since the drug Narcan hit store shelves nationwide for over-the-counter sale.

The Rev. Al Sharpton and civil rights attorney Ben Crump joined the family of Sonya Massey in West Garfield Park on Tuesday, demanding justice for the woman who was shot and killed by police in her Springfield home earlier this month.

The free Saturday events are part of the “Arts for Everybody” campaign led by One Nation/One Project, which brings people together at 18 sites across the country to put a spotlight on the role of arts in the healing and health of communities.

The privately funded plan would redevelop more than 55 acres of land surrounding the United Center. If approved by the city, the first phase of construction could begin as soon as spring 2025.

Ahead of Fourth of July celebrations, local first responders and health care workers are reminding residents to practice firework safety by leaving fireworks to the professionals.

Starting Monday, Illinois residents without U.S. citizenship can receive a standard driver’s license as part of a new law that aims to reduce instances of discrimination. The standard driver’s license replaces Temporary Visitor Driver’s Licenses, used by more than 300,000 Illinois residents.

The NASCAR Chicago Street Race will take place July 6-7. Setting up and tearing down for the race is expected to take 19 days.

People marched the streets in Bronzeville to demand that elected officials and law enforcement authorities do more to resolve missing persons and murder cases. Black girls and women are overrepresented in missing persons cases in Chicago, according to reports.

The Progress Pride flag raised Monday at Daley Plaza features rainbow-colored stripes along with black and brown stripes to symbolize marginalized LGBTQ+ communities of color. The blue, pink and white stripes symbolize transgender and non-binary members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The egg is the product of a recent pair bond between native-born Imani, who hatched at Montrose Beach in 2021, and Searocket, one of the 5-week-old captive-reared piping plover chicks released at the beach last year.

The end of the outbreak comes after nearly six weeks, or two incubation periods, without any new measles cases, according to a news release. The last measles case was reported April 20.