Stories by Erica Gunderson

Kids in mentorship programs might not yet appreciate how their mentors have helped keep them on a successful path. But Hector Perez of the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs says these programs are critical to shaping productive futures.

My Block My Hood My City founder Jahmal Cole says bringing back basketball to our parks will lead to a safer city. Cole is leading the Save Street Ball campaign to replace and restore rims and nets across city parks.

The kitchen at Chesa’s Bistro & Bar is entirely gluten-free, meaning customers with severe allergies can dine without worrying about cross-contamination.

The Department of Veterans Affairs found Black veterans may be more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than their White counterparts. However, an internal VA report shows Black veterans were more often denied benefits for PTSD.

Service in the U.S. military can be a speedier route for people hoping to get citizenship, but it’s not a guarantee. Non-citizen veterans are subject to deportation for crimes committed after the military service, and application of those rules can be inconsistent across states.

Officials try to clamp down on holiday weekend crime. Mayor Brandon Johnson passes first City Council test. State lawmakers have a budget — we think. And a damning report on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

For a bunch of hardened urbanites, Chicagoans sure do have a soft spot when it comes to animals.

“At best, the cardinal’s claims of being blindsided are misleading,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul said. “At worst, they are more of the same, a continuation of the church’s decades-long pattern of turning a blind eye and covering up allegations of child sex abuse to the detriment of survivors.”

Millions worldwide have had long COVID, with dozens of widely varying symptoms including fatigue and brain fog. Scientists still don’t know what causes it, why it only strikes some people, how to treat it -– or even how to best diagnose it.

Memorial Day is supposed to be about mourning the nation’s fallen service members, but it’s come to anchor the unofficial start of summer and a long weekend of discounts on anything from mattresses to lawn mowers.

The $50.6 billion spending plan (SB250) passed the Illinois Senate late Thursday night, with only the support of Democrats who drafted it.

Beach season will run through Sept. 4. The city’s pools are expected to open by June 23.

The Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to build a 25-foot-tall “toxic tower” on Lake Michigan has hit a speed bump.

The mayor and police unveil the city’s weekend safety plans. The latest from Springfield as the budget deadline approaches. And how Chicagoans are celebrating AAPI Heritage Month.

May marks Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month. Across Chicago, members of those communities have made the city their home while keeping their cultural traditions alive.

“The Gospel at Colonus” is based on “Oedipus at Colonus,” Sophocles’ 2,500-year-old play about an aging king who seeks redemption after a life of sin. The revival just opened at Court Theatre in Hyde Park.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that narrows the Clean Water Act’s authority to regulate certain wetlands has met with disappointment, frustration and head-scratching among Great Lakes environmentalists.

The mayor was joined by several community leaders and city department leaders at 63rd Street Beach Thursday afternoon to outline Chicago’s public safety plan ahead of what has historically been a violent weekend.

Legislators and environmental activists alike say they were caught off guard by fast-tracked proposals that would pave the way for a private entity to own a piece of an expanded I-55. 

A music festival, wreath ceremony and giant sculptures usher in the weekend. Here are five things to do in and around Chicago.

The audit documented a lack of accountability that undermines efforts to rebuild trust in the Chicago Police Department, Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said.

Chicago has recorded less than half an inch of rain in May, leading to what climate experts call a flash drought.

The White House and House Republicans are working to reach a budget compromise before June 1, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the country could run out of cash to pay the nation’s bills. A debt default would be potentially devastating for the U.S. and global economy.

A more than $50 billion dollar budget agreement Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the leaders of the legislature trumpeted on Wednesday afternoon isn’t a done deal yet.

Mayor Johnson’s first City Council meeting — how’d it go? Hours ticking away in Springfield with budget talks heating up. Visiting with the former head of CPS. And where you can make your own rug.

Janice Jackson serves as CEO of Hope Chicago, a two-generation scholarship program that aims to remove financial barriers for thousands of CPS students and their parents by allowing them to attend college debt-free.