Stories by

With less than three weeks until in-person classes resume, Chicago Public Schools has announced it will require all teachers and staff to get a COVID-19 vaccine by the fall.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to formally recommend the extra shots for certain immune-compromised groups after a meeting Friday of its outside advisers.

Nearly 200,000 people downloaded an app, Cicada Safari, created by researchers to track observations of Brood X. Scientists will be reaping the rewards of that communal effort for years to come.

As summer winds down, Illinois continues to see a spike in COVID-19 cases, with more than 3,100 new infections reported by state health officials Thursday. Dr. Susan Bleasdale of UI Health breaks down the latest data and recommendations.

Since 1964, a signature feature of Mad Magazine has been the “fold-in” – a cartoon riddle that is solved when the picture is folded. These days, the fold-in is conceived, written, sketched and painted by cartoonist Johnny Sampson.

Census numbers are released. Analyzing Chicago’s budget picture. We’re live from Avondale. The delta variant risk for children. And inside the colorful world of freak bikes.

The Census Bureau on Thursday issued its most detailed portrait yet of how the U.S. has changed over the past decade, releasing a trove of demographic data that will be used to redraw political maps across an increasingly diverse country.

Located near the Kennedy Expressway and the Chicago River, Avondale has significant Polish, Latino, Eastern European and Asian populations. And like many parts of Chicago, residents and community leaders are concerned gentrification might displace longtime neighbors.

Chicago is facing an uncertain financial future as Mayor Lori Lightfoot prepares to detail how she plans to close a projected budget deficit of $733 million in 2022, budget experts told “Chicago Tonight” on Thursday.

Kenyate Jackson will be held without bail after he allegedly followed a stranger into a Lincoln Park store in broad daylight, grabbed her and choked her for several minutes until a witness could pry him off the woman’s body.

If crack-of-dawn birding isn’t your thing, maybe give under-the-cover-of-darkness moth-watching a try this weekend at Indian Ridge Marsh. 

Chief Judge Timothy Evans issued an order allowing nearly all domestic violence proceedings to go forward by videoconference or teleconference, saying it’s being done “in order to better serve victims” in these cases.

Nostalgia has never been so expensive. Baseball celebrates the myth of its rural roots Thursday when the New York Yankees meet the Chicago White Sox in a game adjacent to the field in rural Dyersville, Iowa, where the iconic 1989 movie “Field of Dreams” was filmed.

Just over 200 people who attended the four-day music festival have tested positive during the 14 days since the event kicked off in Grant Park on July 29, said Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Public Health.

A crowd of Chicago residents gathered Wednesday evening to remember of Ella French, a Chicago police officer fatally shot during a traffic stop.

The city has been testing alternatives to open-trench digging and tree removal during pipe replacement and repair projects. Failure of one new technique spelled the end of the line for a slew of trees in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.

Tension between Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Police Department exposed by the fatal shooting of Officer Ella French widened Wednesday, as the mayor defended the decision by a high-ranking officer to cut short a ritual meant to honor the fallen officer.

From starting a fire to pitching a tent, some Chicago teens are learning what it takes to camp in the great outdoors. We visit the Lincoln Park neighborhood to learn more about the program.

The $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan that advanced Tuesday in the Senate includes $15 billion to replace the lead service lines responsible for contaminating the tap water in approximately 10 million homes across the country.

The mayor unveils the city’s projected budget deficit for 2022. Alderpeople talk policing in Chicago. What’s in the federal infrastructure bill for Illinois? Chicago teens learn about outdoor camping.

Chicago’s revenue remains stunted by the pandemic. Meanwhile, City Council disclosed millions in investments using federal stimulus funds. And tension heightens between the community and police in the wake of Officer Ella French’s killing. Three alderpeople weigh in on these topics and more.

Promising that Chicago is “turning the corner” on the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday the city faces a projected $733 million budget shortfall in the 2022 fiscal year. 

For families around the world and especially in Latin America, receiving money transfers from relatives working in the U.S. provides a critical line of support. With a large immigrant population, Chicago has been a significant source of these money transfers.

Jamel Danzy will be released from jail following his arrest on a federal charge earlier this week. The 29-year-old Indiana man allegedly acted as a straw purchaser to buy the firearm used to kill Chicago police Officer Ella French.

The sculpture was unveiled to great fanfare Wednesday, but the 800-pound bovine was barely visible to observers thanks to steamed-up glass.

R&B star R. Kelly will face an anonymous jury made up of seven men and five women when his New York City sex trafficking trial goes forward next week with opening statements.