Stories by WTTW News

The latest on a violent 4th of July Weekend in Chicago. The Florida condo collapse: could it happen here? Inside the Bears possible move to Arlington Heights. Meet the new president of Illinois Tech.

Keegan Casteel, 32, was allegedly found in possession of a loaded rifle with a laser sight and multiple ammunition magazines inside his 12th-floor Chicago hotel room overlooking Ohio Street Beach during the Fourth of July weekend.

In Chicago, 100 people were shot and 18 people were killed from 6 p.m. Friday to 11:59 p.m. Monday, according to the Chicago Police Department. There were 69 shooting incidents during that period, police said.

The pressure of hosting an Olympics during a still-active pandemic is beginning to show in Japan. The games begin July 23, with organizers determined they will go on, even with a reduced number of spectators or possibly none at all.

It’s no secret that America is divided across partisan and racial lines. But a new, nationwide survey of white and Black Americans from the University of Illinois at Chicago illustrates just how deep some of those divisions are.

A look at how Americans differ in defining their national identity. A distinctly Latino post of the American Legion. And the pandemic’s impact on plastic pollution and efforts to reduce consumption.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO on Monday, handing over the reins as the company navigates the challenges of a world fighting to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

Rescuers were given the all-clear to resume work looking for victims at a collapsed South Florida condo building after demolition crews set off a string of explosives that brought down the last of the building in a plume of dust.

Calling a vaccination “the most patriotic thing you can do,” President Joe Biden on Sunday mixed the nation’s birthday party with a celebration of freedom from the worst of the pandemic.

This Fourth of July holiday we look at a word that has had different meanings for different Americans: patriotism, and what it means to some members of the Black community.

On this Fourth of July, what Independence Day means in the Black community. The city’s new monument to activist Ida B. Wells. Meet the new head of the Lincoln Museum. And ladies who sing the blues.

Jessica Stern, soon to become the State Department’s special diplomatic envoy for LGBTQ rights, sees a mix of promising news and worrisome developments almost everywhere she looks, both at home and abroad.

Tyson Foods Inc. is recalling nearly 8.5 million pounds of ready-to-eat chicken products because they may be contaminated with Listeria, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Saturday.

Chicago’s “challenging” holiday weekend turned more violent overnight after four people were shot in a drive-by shooting.

A recent South Side Weekly report used city data to show that Chicago’s vaccine disparity is widening between wealthier parts of the city, like the Loop, and areas on the South and West sides with a majority of Black and brown residents.

How some Latino Chicagoans view their own patriotism. Chicago’s vaccine disparity and the delta variant. And “¡Viva la Libertad!” at the Newberry Library.

A new exhibit and programming series at the Newberry Library looks at the ties between the revolutionary histories of the U.S. and countries across Latin America.

For many Latinos, both American-born and immigrants, feelings of pride and patriotism for the U.S. are complicated by history, racial injustice and cultural erasure, leading to questions of what it truly means to be an American patriot.

The Biden administration on Friday gave a rare look inside an emergency shelter it opened to house migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone, calling the California facility a model among its large-scale sites.

With Tropical Storm Elsa looming in the Caribbean and forecast to move toward the state in the coming days, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the building in Surfside is “tottering” and “structurally unsound” and demolishing it is the prudent thing to do.

After decades of organizing by parents, activists and unions, Chicago is on the verge of having a fully elected school board for the first time in its history.

Another day, another aldermanic federal indictment. The mayor coins the name “Burger King Ed,” and battles City Council over summer crime. Trump’s company gets indicted.

AAA forecasts that more than 47 million people will travel by car or plane this weekend in the U.S., a return to 2019 levels and 40% higher than last year. That includes 3.5 million airline passengers.

Friday’s report from the Labor Department was the latest evidence that the reopening of the economy is propelling a powerful rebound from the pandemic recession. Restaurant traffic across the country is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, and more people are shopping, traveling and attending sports and entertainment events.

The Fourth of July holiday weekend will kick off Saturday with fireworks along the lakefront starting at 9:30 p.m. The display should be visible from Grand Avenue to at least 55th Street, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Friday.

The withdrawal from Bagram Airfield is the clearest indication that the last of the 2,500-3,500 U.S. troops have left Afghanistan or are nearing a departure, months ahead of President Joe Biden’s promise that they would be gone by Sept. 11.