Stories by WTTW News

The leader of CPS on the district’s latest accomplishments and challenges. What’s behind an increase in animal euthanasia rates in Chicago. And looking at the city’s lofty place in the history of the skyscraper.

With “A Little Night Music” now on stage at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, WTTW News theater critic Hedy Weiss recalls seeing the original 1973 Tony Award-winning Broadway production of the musical.

Bump stocks became the focus of gun control debate following a 2017 mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas. A gunman used weapons equipped with bump stocks to fire more than 1,000 rounds into a crowd in a matter of minutes, killing 60 people and injuring more than 400.

Only one egg had initially been reported at the end of May, but now monitors say Imani and Sea Rocket are incubating a full clutch of four eggs.

Cordale Nichols, 37, will be detained pending trial following his arrest on charges of first-degree murder, felony murder, attempted murder and arson stemming from the June 15 fire that left Charnette Walker dead.

Social media use is prevalent among young people, with up to 95% of youth ages 13 to 17 saying that they use a social media platform, and more than a third saying that they use social media “almost constantly,” according to 2022 data from the Pew Research Center.

The more subdued atmosphere underscores the struggle of many retailers to cater to different groups of customers at a time of extreme cultural divisions. This year’s Pride Month is unfolding amid a sea of legislation and litigation over LGBTQ+ rights.

“I am humbled and grateful to participate in further advancing Chicago as a role model in forming equitable cities,” Kupe said in a statement.

According to the Chicago Police Department, the boy was standing on the sidewalk in the 1300 block of South Independence Boulevard just before 8:30 p.m. Friday when he was shot.

All of the Chicago Park District’s 77 outdoor and indoor pools are expected to be open six days a week from June 17 through Sept. 2. Beaches are also open.

Last year the U.S. had the most heat waves — abnormally hot weather lasting more than two days — since 1936. In the South and Southwest, last year was the worst on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The show is aptly titled “The Devil is in the Detours.” Scenes cruise along with solid laughs and then take a turn no one sees coming, because it is just so nutty.

Migrants with schoolchildren losing shelter. Massive data breach at Cook County Health. And Chicago pays its largest-ever police misconduct settlement.

There is an ongoing shortage of several prescription drugs used to treat ADHD, including Adderall. The CDC urged people to avoid using medication acquired from anyone other than a licensed clinician and pharmacy.

The endangered black-crowned night herons aren’t captive, they just happened to build their nests on the grounds of Lincoln Park Zoo. Why? Because they like having bodyguards.

U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider is an organizer of a bipartisan, bicameral working group that’s exploring what happens after the war ends. According to a news release, the Gaza Working Group will “plan for the ‘day after’ in Gaza once Hamas is defeated.”

Hundreds gathered at hearings this week to voice concerns over Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration’s plans to close and rebuild Logan and Stateville correctional centers. At a Friday meeting, one state lawmaker said, “This is really a concept and not a plan … because a plan has details.”

Ed Burke’s attorneys are seeking to delay his upcoming sentencing date until sometime in mid-July after the U.S. Supreme Court has a chance to rule on an appeal filed by James Snyder, the former mayor of Portage, Indiana, who was convicted in 2021 of accepting a bribe.

The high court found 6-3 the Trump administration did not follow federal law when it reversed course and banned bump stocks after a gunman in Las Vegas attacked a country music festival with assault rifles in 2017.

Chicago’s tree canopy is in decline and ranks far below the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which also indicates a disparity in trees on the city’s South and West sides. The local conservation organization Openlands has been working to reverse these trends.

Mexico elected its first-ever woman president — how some Chicagoans helped make that possible. And a new photo exhibit captures a past life in Pilsen.

Claudia Sheinbaum made history earlier this month by becoming the first woman and first Jewish person elected president in Mexico. Her net is so wide-reaching that it drove thousands of Mexican nationals living outside of their home country to stand in line for hours waiting for their opportunity to cast a vote.

Japanese photographer Akito Tsuda was a student at Columbia College when a class assignment brought him to the Pilsen neighborhood in the 1990s. Now he’s back in the city revisiting the people and places he visited all those years ago.

Terrence Shannon Jr. was accused of committing sexual assault last September while visiting Kansas. He was charged with rape or an alternative count of sexual battery, which led to him being suspended for six games; a federal judge later reinstated him, ruling that his civil rights had been violated.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a military veteran who has used the fertility treatment to have her two children, has championed the bill, called the Right to IVF Act. The bill would have also expanded access through insurance as well as for military members and veterans.

Vivaldi composed “The Four Seasons,” Holst convened “The Planets,” and now we can experience “The Elements,” a themed orchestral suite courtesy of violinist Joshua Bell and five composers. The world-renowned, Indiana-born musician returns to the Midwest to perform these works with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.