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COVID-19 cases are on the rise again — what it means. Next steps for the planned Ryan Field development in Evanston. And how exit numbers are assigned on the highway. WTTW News explains.

To fully fund renovations without direct taxpayer subsidies, Northwestern University said it needs revenue from at least six concerts. Many Evanston neighbors, however, are pushing back on that proposal. The issue is so divisive that a City Council meeting this week is expected to last several days.

The city is seeing a rise in lab-confirmed cases and emergency room visits. A new vaccine is expected to be ready for the fall season.

Featuring nearly 40 hit songs, “A Taste of Soul” takes an exceptionally clever approach to celebrating the irrepressible exuberance and heartache of soul music, WTTW News theater critic Hedy Weiss writes.

A group of businesses filed a complaint with state regulators alleging that Chicago electric company Commonwealth Edison improperly raised customer bills this summer. The complaint claims the utility failed to follow proper regulatory channels.

Do you ever find yourself wondering how all the exits got their numbers? It’s relatively simple — but not necessarily intuitive. WTTW News Explains.

No Power Five conference has tended to rely more on defense and the running game than the Big Ten. The arrival of Southern California, UCLA, Oregon and Washington next year just might change that.

Monthly CPD data published Tuesday shows that the city has recorded 418 homicides, 1,677 shootings and 1,988 shooting victims in 2023 through the end of August. Each of those totals is the fewest through the first eight months of a year since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This summer, the state libraries in Montana, Missouri and Texas and the local library in Midland, Texas, announced they’re leaving the ALA, with possibly more to come. Right-wing lawmakers in at least nine other states demand similar action.

A short-term funding measure to keep government offices fully functioning will dominate the September agenda, along with emergency funding for Ukraine, federal disaster funds and the Republican-driven probe into Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings.

A pair of water rescues on Chicago's lakefront over the holiday weekend resulted on one person dead and another in critical condition, according to the Chicago Police Department. Indiana officials report a teen drowned in East Chicago.

According to preliminary Chicago Police Department data, 39 people were shot in 33 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Monday. In addition to the six people who were fatally shot, a seventh person died of blunt force trauma.

A slate of county and state offices is up for grabs in March, including state’s attorney and circuit court clerk as well as a key seat in the Illinois House to represent the city’s Northwest Side.

Beetles, and weevils in particular, are thought of as destructive pests. Bruno de Medeiros, assistant curator of insects at the Field Museum, is upending those preconceptions.

As workers in Illinois celebrate Labor Day, a new report shows there has been a surge in efforts to organize labor unions in workplaces throughout the state, while overall public approval of labor unions nationally is the highest in nearly six decades.

For the many volunteers helping migrants living at Chicago police stations, raising funds is essential. One group teamed up with a Venezuelan migrant to design the logo on merchandise being sold to raise money for food, clothes and medicine for asylum seekers.

The early-September tribute to workers has been an official holiday for almost 130 years — but an emboldened labor movement has created an environment closer to the era from which Labor Day was born. 

Nationally, students suffered deep learning setbacks in reading and math during the pandemic. Last year’s third-graders, the kids who were in kindergarten when the pandemic started, lost more ground in reading than kids in older grades and were slower to catch up.

This week marks one year since the first bus of asylum seekers was sent to Chicago from the southern border. More than 13,500 migrants have arrived in the city to date.

According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Trinidad was built for the Great Lakes grain trade between Milwaukee, Chicago, Buffalo and Oswego. The ship’s owners did not invest much money into its upkeep, leaving its career relatively short.

The 18th annual 79th Street Renaissance Festival returns to Auburn Gresham on Saturday, Sept. 9, with entertainment, food, community resources and a carnival including a 50-foot-tall Ferris wheel.

From the moment the first bus of migrants arrived in Chicago a year ago, much of the ongoing work of supporting migrants has been done by volunteers, mutual aid groups and community organizers who swung into action.

The picture for student loan debt has been pretty tumultuous over the last couple of years. Borrowers will soon begin repaying their federal student loans after a forbearance period ends this month.

Student loan payments are resuming — what’s being done to provide relief. What’s behind the soaring number of opioid overdose deaths. And a sit-down with the new leader of Rainbow PUSH.

“Seeking Sanctuary: One Year Later.” How community members are supporting migrants. Officials plea for federal help. And rebranding the Chicago flag with special meaning.

Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who popularized beach bum soft rock with the escapist Caribbean-flavored song “Margaritaville” and turned that celebration of loafing into a billion-dollar empire of restaurants, resorts and frozen concoctions, has died.