Stories by Patty Wetli

This weekend’s picks of outdoor adventures will take you on a time-traveling tour of the region's natural history — from 400-million-year-old rock to an Ice Age “mountain” to more recent remnants of the Atomic Age.

The Chicago Filipino American Theatre Festival coincides with Filipino American History Month in October. Performances and readings will be held Fridays and Saturdays from Oct. 11-26 at PrideArts and Rizal Center.

“This announcement is not made lightly,” Acero said in a statement. “It is made with compassion and an unrelenting commitment to the individuals we serve. We hope to welcome as many transitioning scholars as possible to our other network schools and manage this difficult transition with integrity, mindfulness and clarity of mission.”

The shelter at 27th Street and Pulaski Road, which opened in January at the height of the crisis that strained state and city resources, now houses 146 people, state officials said.

“There are no new taxes, fines or fees in this budget,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle told reporters in a preview of the vision she’ll outline in a Thursday morning speech. “It reflects our choices we made over the last 14 years and strong fiscal management.”

The battle over Chicago Public Schools — CEO Pedro Martinez joins us to respond to critics. And a City Council meeting sees alderpeople fired up over CPS and ShotSpotter.

CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said during an appearance on WTTW News’ “Chicago Tonight” he has repeatedly urged the mayor to use funds from the city’s TIF districts instead of borrowing money or making cuts to classrooms.

Visionary filmmaker George A. Romero started the zombie apocalypse genre in 1968 when “Night of the Living Dead” rewrote the rules for horror movies. Romero films featured social commentary, strong minority characters and a cargo of carnage.

Mayor Brandon Johnson acknowledged Wednesday he decided not to veto the ordinance because of concerns it would set a “dangerous precedent.”

Sixty ComEd employees left Illinois Wednesday, heading to Florida to support workers there, a spokesperson said. And an additional 200 ComEd workers will be redeployed to Florida after finishing restoration in Georgia and South Carolina following Hurricane Helene.

In-person jury selection officially began Wednesday morning in the Dirksen Federal Building, where Madigan and his longtime confidant Michael McClain face charges of racketeering, bribery and wire fraud.

A severe geomagnetic storm is heading toward Earth, likely to hit Thursday, and what that means for Chicagoans is conditions are ripe for another spectacular display of the aurora borealis (northern lights) in our neck of the woods.

Three scientists who discovered powerful techniques to predict and even design novel proteins — the building blocks of life — were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday. 

One on one with Mayor Brandon Johnson on the shakeup at Chicago Public Schools. And efforts to improve the area’s public transportation systems.

With the Chicago area’s transit agencies facing a $730 million fiscal cliff, state lawmakers have been working on a plan to preserve and improve public transportation.

“I’m not going to cut, and take away, layoff, fire, privatize so that other people can benefit, and the people of Chicago can lose,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “Not under my watch.”

The students behind efforts to name the Calvatia gigantea the state mushroom of Illinois had an opportunity to learn more about the “giant puffball” at the Field Museum.

Illinois surpassed $2 billion in tax revenue last year from all types of gambling and the state lottery — a record bolstered by continued growth in video gambling, sports betting and the opening of several new casinos.

The conversation was the final installment of a three-part series, “Ending Gun Violence in Chicago: Connecting Policy, Practice and Community,” hosted by philanthropic group The Joyce Foundation in collaboration with WTTW and City Club of Chicago.

Attorneys for the former Illinois House speaker and his longtime confidant met with prosecutors Tuesday afternoon to iron out any final wrinkles before the trial gets into swing.

“We’re finally addressing an issue that should have been addressed a long time ago,” President Joe Biden said in announcing a new EPA rule that speeds up the deadline for lead service line replacement.

Each Wednesday, Via Chicago presents five must-see shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more. 

“We have to recognize there’s a limit” and perhaps reassess assumptions about when people should retire and how much money they’ll need to live out their lives, said S. Jay Olshansky, a University of Illinois-Chicago researcher.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and top prosecutors from more than a dozen other states filed a lawsuit against social media app TikTok alleging the platform has deceived the public about the dangers it presents to children and teens.

“I truly believe in community input,” Ald. Walter Burnett (27th Ward) said. “I want the people to have a voice. I don’t know every nook and cranny of every neighborhood. And when I say the people, I mean the alderman.”

“As someone that represents Chicago, it seemed irresponsible to completely overhaul the makeup of the board just months before the election,” state Rep. Ann Williams (D-Chicago) told WTTW News.