Stories by Andrea Guthmann

According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the average age for Chicagoans to witness a shooting is 14. Research also shows that exposure to violence can lead to long-lasting mental health issues.

The center will now offer all its art classes on a contribution-based model in order to ensure more equitable access to artmaking, education and community engagement.

Measles cases in Chicago account for more than half of reported cases in the U.S. so far this year. More than half of the measles cases in the city were in children ages 4 or younger.

The news that the Bears now want to remain the Chicago Bears in more than just name is the latest twist in the team’s high-profile search for their forever home that faces at least two major obstacles: the need for millions of dollars from taxpayers to subsidize the new stadium and an all-but-certain legal challenge.

The student-led volunteer effort started years ago as an offshoot of a DePaul University program offering college credit classes at the jail on the city’s Southwest Side for students and detainees. 

Walter Payton College Prep checked in at No. 5 in U.S. News & World Report’s annual list of top high schools in the country.

Minnesota is one of several Democratic-leaning states where lawmakers are now pursuing bans on book bans. The Washington and Maryland legislatures have already passed them this year, while Illinois did so last year.

The CPD released multiple surveillance footage clips of a man, who can be seen entering a pair of convenience stores. Investigators believe that man is connected to Huesca’s death.

How much are taxpayers spending to settle lawsuits alleging police misconduct from the 2020 protests? Safety concerns over a swimming event in the Chicago River. And protesters blocking roadways could soon be charged with a felony.

The nonprofit A Long Swim is planning an open water swim event in the Chicago River this fall. Proceeds will support ALS research and Learn to Swim, a program that teaches children in underserved communities how to swim.

The bill comes on the heels of recent pro-Palestinian protests that blocked traffic on I-190 near Chicago O’Hare International Airport, causing many travelers to pull their luggage along the freeway to catch their flights.

Nearly $2 million of that toll went to pay private lawyers to defend the conduct of CPD officers from late May until mid-August 2020, one of the most tumultuous periods in Chicago history, according to records obtained by WTTW News.

Voter turnout for the March 19 Illinois primary election was 19.07%, the lowest in at least the last 50 years, according to official vote totals certified Friday by state election officials.

For WTTW News theater critic Hedy Weiss, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s recent Chicago run brought back vivid memories. She first saw the company in New York City in 1972.

For the second year in a row, the Cook County government has celebrated Earth Day by announcing a new south suburban recycling facility aimed at taking some of the nastiest garbage out of the waste stream.

“Vigilance: Learning From the Legacies of BIPOC Environmental Leaders” is inspired by the work of Hazel Johnson, a Black Chicagoan known as the mother of the environmental justice movement.

Judge Michael Mullen’s decision upheld the effort backed by the city’s largest police union to upend the system used for 60 years to punish officers for serious misconduct, but “split the baby,” said Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara.

The commencement of the proceedings set the stage for weeks of unsavory and salacious testimony about Trump's personal life and placed his legal troubles at the center of his closely contested campaign against President Joe Biden.

Chicago police Officer Luis M. Huesca, who was fatally shot as he returned to his Gage Park home following his shift early Sunday, was among three people killed by gunfire across Chicago over the weekend.

Asthma drugs can be pricy, so much so that the U.S. Senate health committee opened an investigation into the situation in January. Shortly afterward, three of the biggest makers of asthma inhalers pledged to cap out-of-pocket costs for some U.S. patients at $35.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s initiative targets many of the “utilization management” practices insurance companies use to hold down costs by either denying claims or steering patients toward lower-cost options.

With a month and a half left in the General Assembly’s spring session, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration is readying its proposal to address Illinois’ chronically underfunded pension system.

Gasoline with 10% ethanol is already sold nationwide, but the higher blend has been prohibited in the summer because of concerns it could worsen smog during warm weather.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker puts his foot on the gas pedal calling for changes at the CTA. And what’s in store for the Chicago Sky as WNBA ticket sales soar.

The approval represents a major win for Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has touted the proposal as a way to make Chicago a more equitable place to live by “investing in people” and expanding the city’s economic capacity — without raising taxes on Chicago property owners.

Officials expect it will cost an additional $321 million through the end of 2024 to care for the migrants. The Chicago City Council and the Cook County Board of Commissioners have approved plans to contribute $70 million each. State lawmakers are expected to set aside $182 million as part of the state’s budget for the next fiscal year.